This week: It is not looking good for Chicago to land a PWHL team. 3 of the 4 expansion teams have been announced and the 4th is likely to be San Jose.

Detroit, well-deservedly, landed their team a few weeks ago. Earlier this week we learned that Hamilton, Canada and Las Vegas will also get teams. Hamilton has turned out for the Take Over games, even if they are 90 minutes from Toronto. This feels risky. Is there enough support for two teams that close? Will this be such a rivalry that it’ll be like a Crosstown Classic?

THEN there’s Las Vegas. They seem to be awarded a team based on the fact it’s a huge entertainment city and possibly due to how well the city has turned out for the Aces. Their 2022 championship seemed to signal a change in how women’s sports was being viewed and accepted. The Sky’s 2021 championship parade was mocked by many here and not well attended, while the Aces parade appeared to be really well attended and/or benefiting from higher production value. They are part of the Raiders family and we know they know how to put on a show. Thus, Vegas earned a team by showing they know how to invest in women’s sports as a city.

A muscle Chicago is still working on flexing.

— Veronica

I didn’t want to center Caitlin in this Chicago-centric newsletter, but the universe is saying I must. Because the media keeps centering Caitlin. Let’s get into it.

Hold the Beef: It is honestly hard to find a player that doesn’t have a beef with Caitlin or the fans and media have decided beefs with Caitlin. But the Sky has at least one of them! Milla has praised Caitlin.

Angel: The OG beef is/was with Angel Reese. Honestly, I haven’t checking with my Atlanta friends to see if Angel brought her beef with Caitlin in her carry-on. To sum it up for new fans, Caitlin did a “You can’t see me” taunt to Angel back in their college days. Then Angel did it to her and made a motion to her ring finger where Angel would soon sport a NCAA championship ring. The media and fans played up this rivalry. They both had phenomenal rookie seasons, but were plagued by sophomore year injuries.

Red Wave: During the 2024 season I attended one Sky-Fever game and OMG, Fever fans will travel. There was absolutely more red in the stands than Sky blue. It was embarrassing. Especially the loss I witnessed.

This turn out and how much I could have sold, should have sold, my tickets is why teams moved their Caitlin Fever games to larger venues. This season the Sky host the Fever twice and one game will be at the United Center.

While I am opposed to giving the Bulls any Sky money, cause they refused to bring Chicago a WNBA team, I did go last season cause FOMO. Of course then I was RIGHT THERE when Sloot tore her ACL. And also witnessed another terrible loss at home filled with red shirts.

Who else: A quick search for players + Caitlin Clark turns up a lot of stories with fans and/or media alleging rough play against Caitlin. Diggins was too rough, Cloud called out the racism that is underlying a lot of cries to protect Caitlin, and, then there was the fingernail in the eye incident with DiJonai Carrington.

Frankie de la Cretaz covered Fingernail Gate well. The accusations, the fan reactions, and how little the W and Caitlin are did to calm the waters.

What’s next: Given the accumulation of alleged Caitlin bullies on the Sky roster, the Sky v Fever games are still ones to watch.

The early hype for her as MVP, when many don’t even consider her the best player on her team, much less the league plus her ongoing issues around race and fans thinking game commentary is biased for her, well, things are not gonna settle down much this season.

Buckle up.

While this newsletter and the larger project of supporting women’s sports is my passion project, I still need to buy groceries and buy nachos at games.

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