With women’s college basketball setting viewership record after viewership record during the NCAA Tournament leading into the national title game there was always bound to be a little bit of a learning curve or an introduction to the sport for some of the newer fans.
Like Samuel L. Jackson.
Jackson was clearly tuned into Sunday’s championship game between Iowa and South Carolina, taking to Twitter to tweet his thoughts on several occasions.
He didn’t find one of the viewing options all that palatable, commenting on The Bird & Taurasi Show, in particular. That was a viewing option on ESPN, while ABC had the main broadcast of the national title game, featuring Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe.
“Who TF @ESPN thought this podcast commentary is a good idea??!!” Jackson wrote on Twitter. “I never knew I needed an ABC feed before!!!”
The Bird & Taurasi Show has aired before from major women’s basketball games like the championship game, offering fans an interesting alternate viewing angle. Sue Bird and Dianna Taurasi get together and chat about the game while watching live on the air. It’s a much more informal session, though it allows the two to share their considerable basketball knowledge.
They even have guests on. During Sunday’s national title game, for example, they had bothJason Sudekis and Jalen Hurts on to discuss the game.
Alas, it’s not for everyone, and Jackson likely switched to the main feed pretty quickly after sussing out his options.
Caitlin Clark speaks to growth of the sport
One major takeaway from this NCAA Tournament and the national title game will be just how big the women’s game can get with the right combination of players and teams squaring off.
Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark made for appointment television and she’ll be gone in the future, off to the WNBA. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the viewership will vanish, she said.
“When I think about women’s basketball going forward, obviously it’s just going to continue to grow, whether it’s at the WNBA level, whether it’s at the college level,” Clark said. “Everybody sees it. Everybody knows. Everybody sees the viewership numbers. When you’re given an opportunity women’s sports just kind of thrives, and I think that’s been the coolest part for me on this journey.
“You know, we start our season playing in front of 55,000 people in Kinnick Stadium. Now we’re ending it probably playing in front of 15 million people or more on TV. It just continues to get better and better and better. That’s never going to stop. When you continue to give them the platform, things like this are just going to continue to happen.”
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