An Indiana Reporter Explains His Sexist Exchange With WNBA Star Caitlin Clark & We Aren't Buying It
The ink on WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark’s contract hadn’t even dried when she was exposed to a rampant problem in sports journalism: sexism. Her first Indiana Fever press conference on Wednesday turned awkward very quickly, thanks to Indianapolis Star reporter Gregg Doyel.
He started off his line of questioning by giving her the heart gesture Clark makes with her hands during basketball games — it’s her way of showing love to her family and friends in the crowd.
“You like that?” Clark asked hesitantly after he made the gesture.
Doyel responded, “I like that you’re here.”
“I do that at my family after every game, so it’s pretty cool,” Clark shared.
OK, well, start doing it to me, and we’ll get along just fine,” Doyel added. Clark didn’t let his uncomfortable response affect her, but we certainly reacted to the reporter’s conversation with her because we were waiting for this to happen at some point in the basketball star’s fast rise in the sports world. The sports reporter tried to take the wind out of her sails. Doyel did have a response in a column titled, “Caitlin Clark, I’m so sorry. On Wednesday I was part of the problem.”
He started his apology by recognizing that he “screwed up” during the press conference with Clark and admitted that he’s “sort of known locally, sigh, for having awkward conversations with people before asking brashly conversational questions.” Of course, all of his signature lines of questioning have come with male athletes and coaches. It begs the question of how often he was covering women’s sports in his career before Clark’s arrival in Indianapolis.
Doyel, to his credit, revealed that it took a respected female colleague to point out what he did wrong. He said his “heart dropped” when the lightbulb went on about how he treated Clark in that moment. “After years of being so sure I was on the right side of these arguments, I was now on the wrong side, and for the oldest reason known to man and woman: Ignorance,” he wrote. He apologized to the talented basketball star, and of course, it’s up to her to forgive him, but Doyel’s actions shine a light on how female athletes find themselves continually in this position with male journalists. The sexism creeps in when you least expect it.
As expected, Twitter is hammering him for both his actions and his response, and a lot of the criticism is coming from other men. One account wrote, “Gregg, all due respect, your apology continues to miss a big part of the point and “that’s just the way I am” is not an excuse for anyone above the age of 5 years old.” Another added, “Nothing says, “I’m sorry,” like making us click on your column so you can get clicks.” And of course, there’s always the person who says what everyone is thinking, “Just be quiet for like 2 mins guy.” So, Doyel isn’t winning many fans over right now, but Clark is sure to make her mark on and off the basketball court — and that’s the light that’s going to shine the brightest.
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