Inappropriate exchange with Caitlin Clark overshadows introduction at Indiana Fever press conference
The social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has an uncanny knack for producing a main character every day.
Someone who was previously unknown or at least not a full-on celebrity gets elevated because of something they did, and the moment goes viral — especially if it is captured on video. The next day, the process repeats itself with a new main character.
On Wednesday, Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel put himself into “main character” territory. At the introductory news conference for the new Indiana Fever megastar and WNBA No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark, perhaps the most popular athlete on the planet in this moment, Doyel introduced himself when it was his turn to ask a question.
He then made a heart sign with his hands, as Clark does to her family after games. You can hear and see the rest of the interaction and watch from Clark’s perspective:
I don’t know Doyel other than from periodically reading his work over the years. His latest column — an apology for his interaction with Clark — accomplished two things.
First, it gave Doyel at least some benefit of the doubt. He establishes himself as someone known for having awkward conversations with athletes. I think we can accept that what happened Wednesday was clumsy and ignorant as opposed to malicious. .
But the ignorance piece is, well, hard to ignore. Writes Doyel of his self-professed ignorance:
