Let’s talk about what happened on Sunday April 2, 2023 between the LSU Tigers and

Iowa Hawkeyes during the National Championship. First off, it was a great game between two amazing teams that have done a lot of exciting things throughout their season. LSU is ranked number three and Iowa is number two. Both teams have outstanding players all round, and set new records personally and as a team. LSU had a total of five transfers and four freshmen, so overall it was a brand new team.

On the other hand, Iowa only had one transfer and three freshmen, and had been playing together a little longer than LSU. Halftime rolled around, and at 59- 42 LSU was up.. Every time Iowa had an answer, LSU came back and had their own. Eventually, at the beginning of the fourth quarter at 75- 64, LSU just couldn’t be stopped. The game ended with LSU on top with a whopping 102 points to Iowa’s 85. LSU was crowned the National Champs and broke the all time scoring record.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it was a great game but afterwards it wasn’t what I suspected. So, let’s break it down- during the elite eight Iowa guard Caitlin Clark had been doing the John Cena celebration “ you can’t see me” and some taunting on the court. The media really liked what she was doing. Everyone said it was “swag” and “cool,’’and it seemed like everyone was here for it. No one thought anything negative of it because it’s a competitive sport, and taunting and trash talking happens all the time.

Going into that game, both teams knew emotions were going to be high. They’re playing for a national championship, and no one wants to lose. The end of the fourth quarter comes with LSU up, knowing they’re about to win their first national title for the first time in school history. During that time, emotions are even higher than before. The forward from LSU, Angle Reese, had an amazing year and hit Caitlin with the same celebration “you cant see me.” The game ends and LSU wins, celebrating that they just made history. Iowa, being respectful and showing sportsmanship, lined up to shake hands and only LSU staff shook their hands. Not one player did.

So, the media went crazy. Angles Reese was called “ghetto” and “classless” for doing the John Cena celebration. I didn’t think she deserved to be called those names because all she was doing was competing and doing a little trash talking like everyone does when they’re doing something competitive. Also, I felt that LSU could have shown a little more sportsmanship by shaking hands. Many people I feel were trying to change the narrative to a race thing because Iowa is a team with all white women and LSUis a team full of all black women. So, you can see there were some racial things being thrown around about both teams. I wish people didn’t throw race into everything because all they were doing was competing for a National Championship.