The NCAA wrapped up march Madness last weekend, and for once the ladies took center stage. The women’s tournament was compelling basketball, pitting an underdog LSU team that had a losing record two seasons ago against Iowa and Caitlyn Clark, the face of the women’s game.
LSU ultimately prevailed in a hotly contested final, and they are expected to visit Joe Biden in the White House to see if they pass the sniff test. What wasn’t expected was Dr Jill inviting the Iowa team as well. Dr Jill said: “So I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come but, you know, I’m going to tell Joe [Biden] I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”
Whether she was joking or not is irrelevant. While the White House has tried to walk back Dr Jill, LSU wasn’t having it. The damage was done and LSU star Angel Reese was justifiably insulted.
On an episode of the “I am Athlete” podcast, Reese had this to say: “I don’t accept the apology because you said what you said … You can’t go back on certain things that you say … They can have that spotlight. We’ll go to the Obamas.’ We’ll go see Michelle. We’ll see Barack.”
Reece is referring to the fact that the Obama’s Tweeted their congratulations to her and LSU, and teammate Alex Morris subsequently reached out via Twitter asking the former president and Barack Obama if the team could come there instead.
The hypocrisy is not lost on Angel Reese. She went on to say: “I just know if the roles were reversed, they wouldn’t be the same. If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House.”
Reese is correct, as the runner up never gets an invite to the White House, no matter the sport or circumstances. The White House has subsequently walked back Dr Jill’s statements, with the first lady’s press secretary releasing this: “were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House.”
Angel Reese rejects First Lady Jill Biden’s apology: ‘We’ll go to the Obamas’
(📹 @IAMATHLETEpod) pic.twitter.com/QlLCeJjoXF
— Hot Freestyle (@HotFreestyle) April 5, 2023
The Obama’s so far are silent on the subject, but LSU coach Kim Mulkey has indicated that the team will go to the White House if they are invited.
Star Iowa player Caitlyn Clark, who had a now famous back and forth with Reese had this to say: “I don’t think runner-ups usually go to the White House. I think LSU should enjoy that moment for them and congratulations, obviously, they deserve to go there. Maybe I could go to the White House on different terms though,” Clark said. “That’s for LSU. That’s a pretty cool moment and they should enjoy every single second of being a champion.”
Clark, displaying sportsmanship and class, perfectly summarizes the situation. As always, the Biden administration has managed to take even the simplest situation and turn it into a cluster. Imagine if Melanie Trump had overstepped her role like Jill Biden did in this instance. The cries of racism would be deafening.
LSU deserves the invite. Even though Iowa played a great tournament, and both teams are responsible for sparking interest in women’s basketball, it is as the saying goes, “to the victor goes the spoils”. It is a shame Dr Jill tried to spoil it for the victors.
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