Common Ground

In the wake of the State of the Union, something we can--or should--all agree on. Plus: going 1-on-1 with Caitlin Clark.

In a country where too many people struggle to distinguish fact from fiction, especially in the political realm, can we all just concede that our secular religion is none other than football?

Not everyone is a believer, to be sure, but the Gospel of Pigskin brings more people to football games (either in person or through their screens) than faith-based gatherings. Here in Chicago, you can tell when football season has rolled around by the sprinkling of Bears jerseys throughout my church’s congregation.

With that backdrop in mind, I have encouraging news for our deeply divided country: Even through our differences, all roads somehow lead us back to the gridiron.

On Thursday evening I augmented my State of the Union viewing with a Newspapers.com search for some of the earliest coverage of both President Joe Biden and Republican Senator Katie Britt, who gave the GOP response to Biden’s remarks from her Alabama kitchen.

Didn’t take long for me to come across this December 3, 1955 clip below in The News Journal. There on page 22 of the Wilmington, Delaware newspaper was 13-year-old Joseph and his teammates on St. Helena’s squad.

The boys “swept through five games without defeat in annexing the championship of the Catholic Youth Organization’s Parochial Football League,” according to the caption.

(Only 17 years shy of his election as Senator, Joe’s in the first row, second from the left.)

Once I learned Britt’s maiden name, Boyd, it took only a few seconds to see that she’s been flashing her gleaming white teeth for at least the past quarter-century.

Forty-four years after Biden’s Catholic team ran the table on their overmatched parochial league foes, 17-year-old Katie Boyd got the “Cover Girl” treatment in the Nov. 23, 1999 edition of The Dothan (Ala.) Eagle.

Obviously, there’s no need to dig further to know that Katie cheered on many a football team in her day. And, you might ask, how did she come to have Britt for a last name?

Glad you asked: 14 years (and one day) ago, she married—now here’s a shocker—former professional football player Wesley Britt.

As I rest my case for football being the United States’ common ground, just envision me doing a metaphorical victory dance in The Inside Edge End Zone.

Going 1-on-1 With Caitlin

Five weeks ago, I shared my experience covering Caitlin Clark when she and her Iowa teammates put a thumping on the Northwestern Wildcats. (To read it, click on “read full story” below.)

Covering Caitlin

That piece prompted a friend—who, like me, played on his high school basketball team in the 1980s—to inquire: “How would you have done one-on-one against her in your prime?”

I replied that Clark would have crushed me. My assessment prompted push-back from my friend, who thought I was underestimating myself and/or overestimating Clark.

It sparked a conversation that got me thinking: What kind of responses would I get if I asked other men who had my caliber of skill—or, in some cases, exceeded my decent, but hardly legendary, high school-level ability?

So, one by one on individual threads, I texted seven men between the ages of 25 and 59.

“At your peak athletically and as a basketball player, how would you do versus Caitlin Clark 1-on-1? Who'd win? Why? Best of 7, is it a sweep for either one of you? I am intrigued to get your candid take.”

I’ve played with each of them. Two played college basketball, at the Division II and Division III levels. Two served as practice players for Division I women’s basketball teams:

Their responses rolled in pretty rapidly. Some were brief and emphatic (on both ends of the win-loss spectrum); others were nuanced, technical and thoughtful. I could actually picture these matchups as they described the strengths and weaknesses of their games, and how they projected it would all stack up against Clark.

I had struck some kind of chord, with a few acknowledging that they had been thinking about the topic before I reached out.

I followed up with each one, asking for permission to include their reply in my column. Four agreed and three declined; “too much of a cancel culture,” replied one who took a pass.

I’ve thought about including the answers of those who gave me the go-ahead to do so. But even more so, prompted partly by the strong reluctance of some to “go public” with their views, I’ve been mulling over a few other questions:

• Why do I (and some others) even pose hypothetical `Battle of the Sexes’ questions like this one?

• Is asking the question some sign of insecurity?

• Is it inherently sexist to engage in this type of discussion?

• Or is it legitimate curiosity?

If you’ve read this far, then please take a few moments to answer the poll. And you might have noticed that I haven’t shared the responses that I got from my fellow hoopsters. Though I might share the replies in a future column, I wouldn’t bet on it.

************************

A heads-up for folks in the Chicago area: Over the next three weeks, I lead four public workshops on communication.

The first is this coming Wednesday, March 13^th at the Cook Park Library in Libertyville. At 1 p.m. I will share `How to Write a Personalized Front-Page Story.’

More details here.

The following week, on Thursday, March 21, starting at 6 p.m. I will deliver “PR Secrets From a Media Insider” at the Orland Park Public Library. You can get the skinny on that here.

And the next week, on back-to-back nights, I bring the “PR Secrets” roadshow to Naperville and Addison. Here’s info on the Wednesday, March 27th session at Naperville Public Library; and for Thursday, March 28th, at Addison Public Library, check out the details here.

************************

In addition to subscribing to The Inside Edge, you can support my writing for any amount you choose.