July 10, 2025 • 7 mins
Christine Brennan talks with Mendte in the Morning to talk about Caitlin Clark’s rise to superstardom over the last few years and Christine’s new book about the WNBA star.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, I'm really excited to talk to our next guest,
especially because of the book that she wrote about Caitlyn Clark.
As I'm sure many of you are fascinated by Kitlyn
Clark as I am. She has changed not only the
WNBA but women's sports, and every time I see her
name on a post or anything, I want to read it,
like I want to read this book. Christine Brennan is
(00:21):
the award winning USA Today columnist and television commentator and
author of this new book, which I have in my
hand right now, on her game, Caitlyn Clark and the
Revolution in Women's Sports. I was fascinated by the way.
Good morning Christine, Well, good morning Mary.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Sure. I was fascinated by your title because you took
this maybe further than I would have taken it. But
I agree with you the revolution in women's sports. You
think she's leading a new revolution in women's sports.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Oh, I absolutely do. And in the book I talked
about all kinds of stories and basically it's your interest
in love in Kate and Clark and everyone listening. I
think people are probably nodding their heads, going yeah, yeah,
that you know, you wouldn't have paid much attention to
women's basketball. And then you're watching the logo threes. You know,
she's chucking it from the parking lot, from the next county,
(01:13):
and it's going in and like you're saying, as I know,
I was in my kitchen watching some of these games
early on. What am I seeing here? You know, I've
covered a lot. I've been so fortunate in my career,
the Tiger Woods, you know, Olympics, super Bowls, and I
was kind of like, oh, this is something new and different,
certainly to see a woman playing that way, with reckless
abandon with the speed, the passes. She's really, of course
(01:37):
a basketball player, Larry, but she's really an entertainer, the
high wire act. And I think that's what I try
to get at throughout the book, and I think that
is the allure for so many millions of people.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, and her story reads like a novel, and even
the way she's playing now and the fact that she
doesn't get along with certain players, and there's a bad
person and there's a good person, just like in a
good novel, and there's someone that comes to her defense.
It reads like a story, but it's playing out almost
like a Broadway play. That's why. That's part of the reason,
(02:10):
aside from her immense talent, that's part of the reason
everybody's fascinated in this.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Actually, I like that idea, you and I we can
collaborate on what you think, you know, what people would come.
I'm in Ohio, my hometown, and we just had unbelieve
people were parking on like the soccer field hockey fields
to come in last night in the suburbs of Toledo. So,
you know, I think that there might be something here
with this woman. But you know that's the thing too.
(02:37):
Think about this. We're watching someone from the University of Iowa,
the heartland taking over the nation, including the two coasts, right.
And you could see this when she was in college
those last two years where there were lines in January
February and the cold, you know, really cold weather in Columbus, Ohio,
in outside of DC and Maryland, in Michigan and Indiana
(03:02):
waiting to get into a huge college basketball arena to
watch a woman play basketball, kind of like it was
a Springsteen or a Taylor Swift concert. Again, that's what
I thought. I thought, My goodness, you know, having been
around a while, you know, I'd never expected to see
this in my lifetime, which then led to my fascination
(03:22):
starting to write columns, meeting her, and then eventually the book.
And even just a year ago right now is when
I was talking with my editor at Scribner just to
begin the process. So we really scooted along and its
current goes up till April. So lots and lots of
anecdotes and stories about college and also that first year,
that rookie year, and of course, as you said, the drama.
(03:46):
All of that's in there. The WNBA Angel Reeves, Caitlin Clark,
the Kennedy Carter hipcheck, you know what I mean. That's
all there because that's all a part of a journalistic
look at one of the most famous, not only athletes
in our country, one of the most as people in
our country.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
She's raised attendance, she's raised salaries, she's got them all
private planes. But there seems to be, as has been
reported several times, a jealousy in the league. Can you
understand that.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I do a little and I really try to explain it.
I have some great voices in the book, lots of
voices in the book throughout, but in this particular case,
Briana Scurry, the goalkeeper from the ninety nine women's soccer team,
the first black superstar of that team. I quote her
about exactly that, about the issues, like you know that
the players need to understand. This is the moment seventy
(04:34):
four percent black league. I think we can all understand.
A white woman comes in, there could be tension in
this polarized society of ours, right, That's that's not a surprise.
So what someone like Briana Scurry is saying is that
it's time to work through it and everyone makes more money.
The rising time less all boats. Doctor Harry Edwards, great
civil rights leader, the man behind the Black Power, saluted
(04:57):
the nineteen sixty eight Mexico City Olympics same saying he
said there should have been seminars and conversations get people
in sociologists to talk to the players. Last year in preparation,
Larry of Caitlin Clark's arrival, not because they're damsels in distress, No,
they're college graduated, great athletes, but because this was just
(05:17):
so unusual for majority black league. I deal with all
of that, and unfortunately, the WNBA, to me anyway, just
did not seem to be prepared for the moment, wasn't
anticipating it, and certainly wasn't anticipating the national scrutiny that
they have received.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
In defense of them. How could they? I mean, this
is a phenomenon that we haven't seen in a long time.
Can you explain it? Can you explain why her story
when there's been so many superstars in all the sports
is such a phenomenon?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And you know what you said, Yeah, how could they?
I mean I understand that maybe they didn't believe it
would be possible for a league that always got short
shrift right from the male dominated mainstream sports media. I tried,
others tried to get coverage of women's basketball back in
the nineties and in the early part of this century.
Didn't happen. But they also could have seen those crowds
and those TV ratings and four million more watching the
women's final in the NCAA in twenty twenty four, four
(06:11):
million more people than watch the men the next night.
We'll never see that again, at least I'd love to
see it, but probably not. It is the entertainment value.
People who don't know anything about basketball will tune in grandmother's, grandfathers,
you name it. The guy who said he'd never watched basketball. Right,
that guy's now wearing a twenty two jersey not only
the games, but to the grocery store and you know,
(06:33):
the DAS station. It's because, as I've got a chapter
title on her game, you can't take your eyes off her.
That's a quote from Curtis Strange, two time US Open
Men's golf champion. He will not leave the room. He said,
if that ball's coming up the court, if she's bringing
up the court, you have no idea what's going to happen.
You have to watch. And that's it again. I think
(06:54):
it's much more than basketball. It is about entertaining everybody.
And as you said, sure's doing that.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Well. I'll tell you what. You sound excited about the book,
which is really great to hear. I'm excited about the book.
I'm sure a lot of people are. I haven't been
able to dive into it yet, but I promise you
I'm probably going to read it this weekend on the beach. Christine.
Congratulations on the book. By the way, you can buy
the book on her Game, Caitlin Clark and the Revolution
in Women's Sports right now at any place you buy books,
(07:23):
including Amazon, Christine Brennan, Award winning USA Today columnist and
television commentator. Thanks a lot for your time, Christine. It
was great to talk to Larry.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
My pleasure, Larry, thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Sure,
Well, I'm really excited to talk to our next guest,
especially because of the book that she wrote about Caitlyn Clark.
As I'm sure many of you are fascinated by Kitlyn
Clark as I am. She has changed not only the
WNBA but women's sports, and every time I see her
name on a post or anything, I want to read it,
like I want to read this book. Christine Brennan is
(00:21):
the award winning USA Today columnist and television commentator and
author of this new book, which I have in my
hand right now, on her game, Caitlyn Clark and the
Revolution in Women's Sports. I was fascinated by the way.
Good morning Christine, Well, good morning Mary.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Sure. I was fascinated by your title because you took
this maybe further than I would have taken it. But
I agree with you the revolution in women's sports. You
think she's leading a new revolution in women's sports.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Oh, I absolutely do. And in the book I talked
about all kinds of stories and basically it's your interest
in love in Kate and Clark and everyone listening. I
think people are probably nodding their heads, going yeah, yeah,
that you know, you wouldn't have paid much attention to
women's basketball. And then you're watching the logo threes. You know,
she's chucking it from the parking lot, from the next county,
(01:13):
and it's going in and like you're saying, as I know,
I was in my kitchen watching some of these games
early on. What am I seeing here? You know, I've
covered a lot. I've been so fortunate in my career,
the Tiger Woods, you know, Olympics, super Bowls, and I
was kind of like, oh, this is something new and different,
certainly to see a woman playing that way, with reckless
abandon with the speed, the passes. She's really, of course
(01:37):
a basketball player, Larry, but she's really an entertainer, the
high wire act. And I think that's what I try
to get at throughout the book, and I think that
is the allure for so many millions of people.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, and her story reads like a novel, and even
the way she's playing now and the fact that she
doesn't get along with certain players, and there's a bad
person and there's a good person, just like in a
good novel, and there's someone that comes to her defense.
It reads like a story, but it's playing out almost
like a Broadway play. That's why. That's part of the reason,
(02:10):
aside from her immense talent, that's part of the reason
everybody's fascinated in this.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Actually, I like that idea, you and I we can
collaborate on what you think, you know, what people would come.
I'm in Ohio, my hometown, and we just had unbelieve
people were parking on like the soccer field hockey fields
to come in last night in the suburbs of Toledo. So,
you know, I think that there might be something here
with this woman. But you know that's the thing too.
(02:37):
Think about this. We're watching someone from the University of Iowa,
the heartland taking over the nation, including the two coasts, right.
And you could see this when she was in college
those last two years where there were lines in January
February and the cold, you know, really cold weather in Columbus, Ohio,
in outside of DC and Maryland, in Michigan and Indiana
(03:02):
waiting to get into a huge college basketball arena to
watch a woman play basketball, kind of like it was
a Springsteen or a Taylor Swift concert. Again, that's what
I thought. I thought, My goodness, you know, having been
around a while, you know, I'd never expected to see
this in my lifetime, which then led to my fascination
(03:22):
starting to write columns, meeting her, and then eventually the book.
And even just a year ago right now is when
I was talking with my editor at Scribner just to
begin the process. So we really scooted along and its
current goes up till April. So lots and lots of
anecdotes and stories about college and also that first year,
that rookie year, and of course, as you said, the drama.
(03:46):
All of that's in there. The WNBA Angel Reeves, Caitlin Clark,
the Kennedy Carter hipcheck, you know what I mean. That's
all there because that's all a part of a journalistic
look at one of the most famous, not only athletes
in our country, one of the most as people in
our country.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
She's raised attendance, she's raised salaries, she's got them all
private planes. But there seems to be, as has been
reported several times, a jealousy in the league. Can you
understand that.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I do a little and I really try to explain it.
I have some great voices in the book, lots of
voices in the book throughout, but in this particular case,
Briana Scurry, the goalkeeper from the ninety nine women's soccer team,
the first black superstar of that team. I quote her
about exactly that, about the issues, like you know that
the players need to understand. This is the moment seventy
(04:34):
four percent black league. I think we can all understand.
A white woman comes in, there could be tension in
this polarized society of ours, right, That's that's not a surprise.
So what someone like Briana Scurry is saying is that
it's time to work through it and everyone makes more money.
The rising time less all boats. Doctor Harry Edwards, great
civil rights leader, the man behind the Black Power, saluted
(04:57):
the nineteen sixty eight Mexico City Olympics same saying he
said there should have been seminars and conversations get people
in sociologists to talk to the players. Last year in preparation,
Larry of Caitlin Clark's arrival, not because they're damsels in distress, No,
they're college graduated, great athletes, but because this was just
(05:17):
so unusual for majority black league. I deal with all
of that, and unfortunately, the WNBA, to me anyway, just
did not seem to be prepared for the moment, wasn't
anticipating it, and certainly wasn't anticipating the national scrutiny that
they have received.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
In defense of them. How could they? I mean, this
is a phenomenon that we haven't seen in a long time.
Can you explain it? Can you explain why her story
when there's been so many superstars in all the sports
is such a phenomenon?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And you know what you said, Yeah, how could they?
I mean I understand that maybe they didn't believe it
would be possible for a league that always got short
shrift right from the male dominated mainstream sports media. I tried,
others tried to get coverage of women's basketball back in
the nineties and in the early part of this century.
Didn't happen. But they also could have seen those crowds
and those TV ratings and four million more watching the
women's final in the NCAA in twenty twenty four, four
(06:11):
million more people than watch the men the next night.
We'll never see that again, at least I'd love to
see it, but probably not. It is the entertainment value.
People who don't know anything about basketball will tune in grandmother's, grandfathers,
you name it. The guy who said he'd never watched basketball. Right,
that guy's now wearing a twenty two jersey not only
the games, but to the grocery store and you know,
(06:33):
the DAS station. It's because, as I've got a chapter
title on her game, you can't take your eyes off her.
That's a quote from Curtis Strange, two time US Open
Men's golf champion. He will not leave the room. He said,
if that ball's coming up the court, if she's bringing
up the court, you have no idea what's going to happen.
You have to watch. And that's it again. I think
(06:54):
it's much more than basketball. It is about entertaining everybody.
And as you said, sure's doing that.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Well. I'll tell you what. You sound excited about the book,
which is really great to hear. I'm excited about the book.
I'm sure a lot of people are. I haven't been
able to dive into it yet, but I promise you
I'm probably going to read it this weekend on the beach. Christine.
Congratulations on the book. By the way, you can buy
the book on her Game, Caitlin Clark and the Revolution
in Women's Sports right now at any place you buy books,
(07:23):
including Amazon, Christine Brennan, Award winning USA Today columnist and
television commentator. Thanks a lot for your time, Christine. It
was great to talk to Larry.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
My pleasure, Larry, thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Sure,
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