In a scintillating saga that could only unfold in our content-ravaged, era of perpetual controversy, the Indianapolis Star has banished one of its most recognizable voices from chronicling the Caitlin Clark phenomenon up close this summer. Seasoned columnist Gregg Doyel committed the unpardonable sin of being….awkward?
It was just a few short weeks ago that Doyel, grizzled veteran of the Indy sports scene, did something undeniably cringeworthy and inexplicable at Clark’s introductory press conference after she was drafted No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever. With the eyes of the basketball universe fixated on the Iowa scoring machine’s professional arrival, Doyel engaged Clark in an exchange that left jokesters and social media peanut galleries aghast.
The offending party flashed the unique heart-shaped hand signal that Clark frequently uses to celebrate big moments, asking the rookie sensation to “start doing that to me and we’ll get along just fine.” The befuddling interaction instantly went viral amidst a howling maelstrom of WTFs, only amplifying in furor when an appropriately perplexed Clark reacted with visible confusion.
In a flash, a 60-year-old dude had become a living, breathing embodiment of every cringeworthy trait we despise – lack of self-awareness, male entitlement, persecution of personal boundaries – all wrapped up in one monumentally ill-advised quip towards a younger female athlete positioned for a stratospheric level of fame and admiration.
The takes rained down in searing fashion. How could someone so unrepentantly corny still have a job in 2024? Didn’t Doyel’s editors have even an inkling about avoiding appearances of impropriety with underage aspiring icons? The furor propelled the paper to issue an extreme preventative measure – removing Doyel entirely from any event involving direct access or coverage of Clark and the Fever’s upcoming season.
In the grand scheme, it’s both an understandable reaction given the oversensitivity of modern discourse…and also maybe a tad overzealous? Doyel hardly committed a firing offense or irredeemable transgression against Clark, who escaped the incident unscathed. He simply got too dry-witted and awkward for his own good, failing to read the room with misplaced attempts at building rapport.
But in 2024’s zero-tolerance climate, that’s rarely an excuse anymore. Doyel was swiftly condemned to the pillory of public shaming, issued half-hearted mea culpas about being “part of the problem”, and will now take his punitive measure on the nose – no closer than arm’s length from immortalizing Clark’s maiden odyssey in the WNBA.
It’s the Indianapolis Star’s defiant stance in disassociating entirely from the haze of impropriety, emerging as a woke guardian against even perceived missteps towards its community’s newly-minted hoops goddess. And In doing so, they’ve firmly drawn battle lines over what constitutes behaviorally acceptable vs. gross overreactions when dealing with generational talents wrapped in Teflon-levels of fame.
For in one breath, the paper can be applauded for dismissing flippantly any hairs out of place in respecting Clark’s orbit, establishing a defensive safeguard to proactively avoid additional public relations maelstroms orbiting her coronation. But it’s also hard to miss the punitive overcompensation at play, amounting to a fireable level of discipline against Doyel for mere old man cluelessness devoid of legitimately lecherous intent.
Ultimately, Clark’s basketball prowess, flair and personality will render this footnote into ancient history faster than Doyel can launch into another ill-advised attempt at manufacturing comical relief. Her game’s prodigiousness is a shooting star set to scorch complementary stratospheres beginning immediately, captivating WNBA diehards while cultivating new fanbases worldwide.
The sport’s latest certifiable supernova will blaze regardless of what corny columnist provides cringe-inducing viral moments at her expense. Though the Indianapolis Star’s stern stance inadvertently thrusts Doyel – and their institution by extension – as the jester ultimately remembered for providing Clark’s first rite of passage in having to rise above someone else’s dumbassery.
