A few years ago, or rather, a few decades ago, as time flies by, the group Coz placed a song on the charts that today sounds like the clearest example of the machirulo genre, according to the lexicon in use.
The title, Girls are Warriors, was already a warning. She said (she says if she goes to YouTube) things like “and the most thistle can taste like tangerine…”. In that tangle of aberrations there was a phrase, “playing with them is like handling nitroglycerin...”, which half a century later has exploded.
The boom. In the United States these days there has been information of admiration for the glimpse of new times. Highly competitive sport is no longer masculine or, at least, it is no longer just masculine. Women have proven to be competitive, in the best sense of the word, and with a calling capacity that could not be imagined not so long ago.
It's what they call the Clark effect, after Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa player whose quality has ensured that the college league final has been watched much more than the boys'.
The match between Iowa and South Carolina had an average audience of 18.9 million, with a peak that climbed to 24.1 million. They (Connecticut and Purdue) stayed at 14.2 million and 17, respectively. They have surpassed the NBA finals and the decisive baseball games.
There were other star players, but Clark is the standard bearer of this revolution. He has broken all scoring records, to the anger of some who preceded him on the podium. They also accuse her because he is going to make the leap to professionalism with the emptiness of not having won any title. In the last final she was the best. She scored 30 points, but they weren't enough.
He has had good defenders, like LeBron James. “If you don't enjoy Caitlin Clark, you're just a hater. Stay away,” he tweeted.
Even more eloquent was Dawn Staley, coach of the victorious South Carolina team. “I want to thank Caitlin for elevating our sport. She has carried a very heavy load. You are one of the best in our sport. We appreciate you,” she declared as soon as she was crowned.
The Clark effect is the same one that Mbappé suffers from. Extraordinary footballer who was denied the great success of the Champions League by fate. Florentino Pérez may discover that his magnificent new Bernabéu only serves to celebrate a warrior like Taylor Swift, who loves football, but American football.
