Game of the Week: Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics at Baltimore's CFG Arena

I strained Caitlin Clark's left quadriceps.

Let me explain: The Washington Mystics are unhoused this season thanks to the renovations at their normal digs, D.C.'s Capital One Arena, and while they've temporarily moved to the much smaller CareFirst Arena, that wouldn't do when Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever come to town. When the Washington Mystics announced that their home games against the Fever would be played at Baltimore's CFG Arena (a ten-minute drive from my house), I began scouting tickets immediately. I say "scouting" and not "buying" because prices were astronomical in anticipation of Clark's arrival, and it took me a while to find a hook-up with prices I was comfortable with.

But I just had this...feeling. An ominous feeling. I saw something on Sports Twitter that said something like, "Caitlin Clark has never missed a game in college or the WNBA," and I turned to Taylor and joked, "Knowing my luck, she'll get injured right before she comes to Baltimore." And that's exactly what happened. A few days later, sitting at the bar, CLARK OUT TWO WEEKS WITH QUAD INJURY scrolled across SportsCenter's ticker. I know that I jinxed her. I strained her left quadriceps.

Now, I'm not going to say I bought these tickets exclusively to see Caitlin Clark play basketball. But I did buy these tickets at that price for that reason. She was a big deciding factor, as I believe you need to see all of the great athletes play live (I've seen Ohtani, Trout, Ovechkin, and many more - LeBron is next on my list) and this was a pretty easy way to do it, considering the short drive and overall convenience. I like any experience that starts at 7:30p and I don't have to even think about putting my shoes on until 6:30p. 

While many just let their tickets go to waste, we decided that it was still worth going to. I had never been to a WNBA game before and although I tend to keep events that evoke a "Sure, that seems like fun" response to weekends (this was a school night), I figured it would still be fun to do something different. Plus, it was the first WNBA game ever played in Baltimore and, in a city that will take wins, it was a momentous occasion for us. Folks traveled from all over to see this game.

And it was a good time! I've become disillusioned with basketball over the years, as the game I grew up loving is almost unrecognizable in a post-Steph Curry world. I understand that things grow and evolve (I would've hated the universal DH in baseball just a few years ago), but I just don't like what it is anymore. I felt some of that nostalgia watching my first game with the W. Playmaking was real, defense was played, and not every shot was a 3. It felt like...basketball! And the Mystics, who I suppose are my team now, got the win after looking outmatched in the first quarter.

A ton of folks were wearing t-shirts that said EVERYONE WATCHES WOMEN'S SPORTS, and while that is factually not true, I do agree with the aspirational sentiment. Approximately 85% of my sports watching is baseball (which doesn't have a gender parity equivalent, but maybe that's changing), but it did make me think that I could be doing better. I'm still trying to see Caitlin Clark (the Mystics will meet the Fever in Baltimore again in September...but I already have concert tickets for that day...), but now I'm also trying to see Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson and Baltimore's own Angel Reese. 

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