Angel Reese talked a lot of trash and pissed a lot of people off during her collegiate career at LSU. All one has to do is go back and watch the infamous "face wash" she handed to Iowa's Caitlin Clark during the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Classy? Of course not. Within the boundaries of what happens during any heated athletic encounter? Of course it was. People have been hazing, washing, taunting, verbally slapping away at the competition since the first time a gladiator found himself up against a lion that had already eaten. It happens, as they say, in the "heat of the moment". Of course, taunting could be considered a lower form of communication by some. Those are usually the people who have never been in a truly competitive athletic environment. The "taunter" and the "tauntee" are usually dug deep into their roles and hand them off with ease. In a lot of sports, taunting is almost considered an art form. In the National Hockey League, for instance, "chirping" is a part of the game and has been for these players since they were knee high to a hockey stick. Sure, it may rile a few feathers here and there, but for the most part, and not for a moment condoning when it becomes physical, violent or profane, it's considered part of the game. I've heard a lot of it up close and thought, "Here, let me write that one down".
At the time Reese dealt her fingers and face snap, during my syndicated sports show, even I got caught up in the maelstrom. I slapped back at Reese for dipping into the mud and questioned her sportsmanship, which in hindsight was another "GET OFF MY LAWN!" moment from someone who has always sided more with the athlete than the sporting establishment.
It wasn't like me at all, which is why after sitting back and allowing the usual entitled knee-jerk indignance wash away, I regretted my comments and retracted them on an ensuing show. Part of that was remembering some of the in-play antics I had displayed from time to time in a wayward competition youth. Some of them weren't even in an athletic sense, rather in a professional broadcast setting.
Oh yeah, I paid for those.
So when I caught wind of Reese's post-game press conference after LSU was beaten by the same Caitlin Clarke and the same Iowa team en route to a berth in the NCAA Final Four, watching as the usual social media trollops hammered away at her for being emotional and "faking it", there was that case of just enough bile in the back of my throat.
Following the physical and mental drain of defeat, Reese let the emotional words flow for all to see and hear. The events of that moment and of the past year or so were just overwhelming, as she talked about receiving death threats, the verbal attacks, the sexual innuendo, all of which undoubtedly stemmed from her taunting a year earlier. It was a powerful few moments of admission, and frankly, it took a lot of guts and fortitude to do that in front of the world.
As for the 2023 event, she certainly isn't the first athlete/entertainer/politician/wanker with a keyboard to try and make a silent statement. In retrospect, it was much more amusing than it was insulting.
From what I've been told by those inside the program, all off the record, she was mercilessly hammered along social media, at LSU, at other basketball courts and in her personal life after getting into the "can you see me" nonsense with Caitlin Clark.
I'm also told a lot of the crushing was racial in tone, a sense of the "black girl" insulting the "white girl". Try and wish it away, but a black athlete doing something found by the "social warriors" to be against their beliefs still drags up old tropes from these mental midgets. Through it all, Reese remained silent, held it all in check, and did what was best for her and her team.
Anything she did sure as Hell shouldn't mean keyboard idiots and the hateful have a right to try and destroy someone's life. Then again, we live in the era where to some, communicating means insults, degradation and the demeaning of others.
Such was the case when Emmanual Acho, a former short term NFL player who bounced around 3 teams before being cut, took to his cable television bully pulpit and basically told Reese to, in essence, "shut up and take your losing instead of being a coward". It was, sadly, an expected moment from a male athlete whom some have surmised may be "harboring a deep disdain for black women". Either way, it was the usual gutless and insulting thing these so-called "experts" are called upon to mumble in order to garner clicks and ratings.
I was also struck by a good number of social media keyboard warriors who wanted to know all about what Reese meant when she talked about death threats and sexualization. They wanted evidence, background, more of "the dirt", or they would likely question if she was lying just to get attention.
Make no mistake about it. I've been here before and witnessed this first-hand. This is standard fare for those who, for whatever reason, seek to denigrate athletes or entertainers, and in those cases, there is without question a sexual and racial element involved.
Reese doesn't owe anyone another word. If she prefers, it can remain locked away forever, and allow the vermin to speculate. That is her privilege, not as an athlete, but as a human being.
Personally, I hope she finds the courage to make it all public. Name some names. Drop the hammer right back where it belongs on the festering sores of society. If she did speak up, damn straight it would make more than a ripple and go one more line toward shutting down the clowns.
If she chooses not to say another word, then also, good for her. It's her choice, and we should respect it. Not we MUST respect it, as perhaps forced, but we SHOULD have the decency to respect her decision.
This is yet another underlying current in the hate permeating this country at the moment, tied directly to the social media despicables who use these platforms for anything and everything negative.
It's still just a game, dammit.
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