Sandy Stephens was my first. Oh, there have been others to be sure, but there’s always something special about your first.
Before I ever heard names like Killebrew and Tarkenton coming from an old-timey radio, there was Sandy Stephens and the University of Minnesota Gophers football team. Pro sports hadn’t yet arrived in North Iowa via Minnesota, which happened in 1961. But in 1960, the Gophers were not only good, they competed for best team in the country. And their quarterback was Sandy Stephens.
Team allegiances are often created during tender early years, which helps explain my affinity for the Twins and Vikings. (See also Killebrew and Tarkenton.) That said, my FIRST team was the Gophers. Dad grew up in nearby Austin, Minnesota, which may be how he became a Gopher fan living in Iowa. His oldest son joined him wholeheartedly.
I don’t think that six-year-old knew the Gopher quarterback was an African American, among the first to take snaps for a major college football team. How could I? There was minimal television coverage. Photos appearing in the Minneapolis Tribune “Peach” Sunday sports section didn’t feature player close-ups. For all I knew, Sandy’s name was derived from bleach-blond hair. But I surely knew he’d guide “my” Gophers to another victory on Saturday afternoon. What fun!
At any rate, the seed was planted. Now, 64 years later, I still cheer for the Gophers (plus the Twins and the Vikings, who came shortly thereafter). But here’s where this ramble turns. Lacking in-state major league pro sports, Iowans generally follow our college teams, where we’ve had plenty to cheer about during my lifetime. Remarkable seasons, teams, games, and athletes – football, wrestling, and basketball teams come to mind. Male sports, male athletes.
Enter a rare (extraordinary? unique?) female athlete, who both breaks records and breaks through public consciousness, not just in Iowa but nationally, with exceptional biweekly performances. An added bonus: she’s native to our state, not some exotic import. To write about Caitlin Clark, I first made an unscientific compilation of attributes describing her from two national newspapers, the Washington Post and the New York Times, during the last twelve months. There aren’t enough column inches in my weekly ramble to share ALL the glowing tributes. A mere sampling:
The face of women’s basketball / the most prolific and reliable scoring machine in the sport’s history / a must-see attraction all season / never been anything like it in women’s basketball / plays in a different dimension and realm / someone that inspires (girls) and someone that they aspire to be like / leads the nation in both scoring and infatuation / the most dynamic player in the history of college women’s basketball / how one woman can positively impact a whole generation / makes the game look so easy, so pure, so fun / model(s) a competitive streak as blazing as anyone’s in modern basketball / one who attracts casual fans and turns them into real fans (… and so on.)
One of my favorites, a tweet last week from Candace Buckner, Washington Post sportswriter: “Clark’s greatest impact will be felt five, ten, twenty years from now, when we’re not going gaga over moments like she produced Saturday night. Years from now, a game like Saturday will be just another amazing night in women’s basketball.”
Remember, these are NOT snippets emanating from home-state reporters. I’m talking about the Post and the Times. Within the last 24 hours, a fresh cascade of superlatives. From Iowa coach Lisa Bluder, in the Times: “What she’s done to uplift our program and women’s basketball nationally is spectacular.” Meanwhile, the Post notes, “She has tallied more 30-point games than any player in the last 25 years. Clark now has a chance to topple Pete Maravich’s record of 3,667 points to claim the NCAA’s overall scoring record.”
I’m a lousy predicter of things future, but if Sandy Stephens is any indication, children – both girls AND boys – will be fans of women’s basketball, specifically, Iowa women’s basketball, long into adulthood. That’s almost as great as our incomparable Caitlin Clark.
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I’m pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. My (rare, unique, incomparable) colleagues: