![\"\"](\"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Oscar-Madison-2-268x300.png\")
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By Joe Torosian<\/p>\n
Kick it!<\/p>\n
As the first day of my third camp in five weeks begins, I\u2019ve had plenty of time to listen to sports and sports talk while driving north.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t believe my first thought \u2014 it couldn\u2019t be true \u2014but it was later confirmed when I saw the lowlights of the WNBA All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
It was infuriating. First off, overall, while the league has a few stars, they\u2019re just not that good, and they put on a clown show.<\/p>\n
Second, if I were invested\u2014not necessarily with money\u2014but in wanting and generating goodwill toward the league, I\u2019d be yelling at the commissioner and calling out every player on social media.<\/p>\n
Third, as a fan who is drawn to the league by the one thing it offers\u2014competitiveness\u2014I would have been\/and was insulted.<\/p>\n
If you needed a demonstration of the privileged athlete, making more than they deserve, with contracts they shouldn\u2019t have, it was on display at the WNBA All-Star game.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s bad enough when the NBA does it, but at least\u2014the very least\u2014you can fall back and appreciate to some degree the athleticism when they put on a clown-show.<\/p>\n
The WNBA\u2019s already a clown-show that people are investing heavily in to make work. The improved contracts the players and league have received need to be viewed for exactly what they are\u2014investments.<\/p>\n
Investors said, \u201cYou\u2019re playing hard, you\u2019ve got some talent, here take this and develop it.\u201d <\/p>\n
The WNBA, in the absolute delusion it lives in, actually believes it has earned its current salaries and standing in mainstream sports. So much so, it thought it could take its showcase weekend and do a weak imitation of the NBA.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve worked really hard to watch, learn, and give the league the appropriate props. And I came to appreciate its best asset\u2014beyond Caitlin Clark\u2014and that\u2019s a regular season that matters. Weeknight games where the players played like they knew the investors were watching.<\/p>\n
For 16 years I was getting a paycheck writing sports for Mid Valley News when others were losing their jobs writing sports\u2026I never missed a single deadline\u2014never thought it was acceptable.<\/p>\n
(And I never wrote a column listing my top sports movies of all time.)<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been told going on three days a week in the offseason with \u201cRamView\u201d is a bit much. I asked the individual who said that what would be enough for the people who have invested in me? <\/p>\n
Investors I need to honor with my best work possible. All the while never thinking\/believing\/or deluding myself into everything being cool, or that I\u2019ve made it.<\/p>\n
I co-direct five different camps a year for young people through our Outsiders program. We have investors, and we never\u2014Never!\u2014take our foot off the accelerator and chill.<\/p>\n
The WNBA\u2014with so many warts to call out\u2014really biffed a major opportunity and gave its detractors massive ammunition.<\/p>\n
#85\u2014May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth.<\/p>\n
The Dude abides\u2026<\/p>\n
1,332
\nRomans 10:14-15
\njtbank1964@yahoo.com
\n\u201cRamView\u201d M-W-F
\nFollow Joe on X: @joet13b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Joe Torosian Kick it! As the first day of my third camp in five weeks begins, I\u2019ve had plenty of time to listen to sports and sports talk while driving north. I didn\u2019t believe my first thought \u2014 it couldn\u2019t be true \u2014but it was later confirmed when I saw the lowlights of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fanview"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97480,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97479\/revisions\/97480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}