Thank You, Hawkeyes
If any of you know me, you know my sport of choice during the winter months is wrestling. It’s a sport I’ve grown up around and, quite honestly, have fallen in love with. It teaches hard work, discipline, and passion. The competition is also pretty darn fierce.
However, the Iowa women’s basketball team has opened my eyes to just how special another winter sport can be. Watching a lot of women’s basketball this season has shown me how competitive and exciting basketball games are. Obviously, the team was exciting to watch, since the Hawkeyes were led by one of the game’s greatest collegiate players in Caitlin Clark. But, it just wasn’t Caitlin - it was also the glue, the dawg, the headband, and so many others. Throughout the season, the Hawkeyes put on a display of teamwork at its finest. You saw this in the team’s run to the national championship game. Players stepped up and cheered after a big bucket or came together after someone got fouled. The Hawkeyes brought their team together, but they also brought together fans all across the country and of all ages, too.
The Iowa women’s basketball team sold out visitor arenas, set viewership records throughout the season and NCAA tournament, and earned flowers from many celebrities like Jake from State Farm, Travis Scott, Jason Sudeikis, and many others. Vanessa Bryant and Sabrina Ionescu even gave the team some gifts throughout their NCAA tournament run. This showed the special quality of this year’s team in bringing people together and putting women’s sports on full display.
The momentum around the support and growth of women’s sports won’t stop with the Iowa women’s basketball team and the Caitlin Clark effect. It’s going to continue. This exciting season and all of the accolades that came along with it have proven that women’s sports is full of star players, supportive teammates, and passionate fans - just like the Iowa Hawkeyes.
So, to the beloved Iowa women’s basketball team, you have been a true joy to watch all year. It’s been amazing to see how a team can come together, but more importantly, how big of an impact one team can have on women’s sports. From a wrestling fan, thank you, Hawkeyes. Thank you for showing me what women’s basketball is all about. Keep your heads held high, because you are true champions in every sense of the word - on and off the court.
On Iowa!