Great pride in Hawkeye women

The Hawkeye basketball women make us incredibly proud these days. The peak — so far — came in last Sunday’s game when they earned their Final Four slot. It’s wonderfully uplifting to hear commentators on national broadcasts “oohing and aahing” about Iowa’s team, coaching staff, fan base, and of course, Caitlin Clark.

Two particular aspects of ESPN’s coverage of this game stick out, things beyond what we usually see and hear:

Late in the game when Caitlin was shooting free throws the camera focused on her knees and the commentators talked about her bruises. We don’t recall any broadcast focusing on a player’s knees when at the line. This is another badge of honor bestowed on Caitlin due to her outstanding grittiness — a well-deserved recognition in addition to all her other accolades.

When our Lisa Bluder and the Louisville coach, Jeff Walz, connected in the obligatory handshake line after the game, the screen showed something quite unusual and very uplifting Following many games it appears that rivals who were competing just a few moments earlier don’t want to get close to each other, to say nothing about being civil in those forced encounters. The obviously heartfelt connection between Lisa and Jeff lasted several moments, and showed both of them to be caring people who are in this coaching business for the right reasons. That’s exactly the kind of role model we want in leaders of our young people.

We love being close-to-rabid fans of Iowa's WBB program. Go Hawks!

Gene Knutson

Iowa City