It’s Mark🏒🥅 🏆🍻🎸

I had something of an epiphany today regarding Angel Reese. And it took me about 30 years of sports fandom to recognize the irony. 😂 Let me explain. Before the 2023 national championship game between Iowa and LSU, I had absolutely no idea who Angel Reese was. My introduction to her was watching her follow Caitlin Clark across the court, repeatedly making the "you can't see me" gesture and pointing to her ring finger. As a lifelong Iowa fan and enormous CC fan, I was PISSED. You just won a national championship. Go celebrate with your teammates! Why the hell is Caitlin Clark the first thing on your mind?! And from that moment forward, I couldn't stand Angel Reese. Every missed layup? Hilarious. Every arrogant comment? Insufferable. Every bit of trash talking? More evidence of why I couldn't stand her. And let's be fair. Reese gives opposing fans PLENTY of reasons to dislike her. She's cocky, confrontational, talks a tremendous amount of trash, and sometimes comes across as though everything revolves around her. But something interesting happened. Watching her play alongside Caitlin in an exhibition setting, seeing their chemistry, and then watching Reese make significant improvements offensively this season, I found myself developing a greater appreciation for her actual basketball abilities. I've previously compared her to Dennis Rodman. Elite rebounding. Defensive intensity. Relentless effort. A willingness to do the dirty work. But today, something occurred to me. The similarities between Reese and Rodman extend well beyond basketball. I grew up a HUGE Michael Jordan fan. And when Dennis Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons? I HATED THAT MAN. 😂 Rodman and Bill Laimbeer were practically the embodiment of everything I despised about the Bad Boys Pistons. Arrogant. Physical. Antagonistic. Constantly talking trash. Deliberately trying to get under opponents' skin. I couldn't stand them. Then, in 1995, Rodman joined the Chicago Bulls. And suddenly? I FUCKING LOVED DENNIS RODMAN. 🤣 Did he change? HELL NO! He was the exact same obnoxious, trash-talking, confrontational Dennis Rodman I'd spent years despising. But now he was doing all those things FOR Michael Jordan instead of AGAINST him. And I absolutely loved it. Which brings me back to Angel Reese. Imagine, for a moment, that Reese became Caitlin Clark's teammate. Imagine an opposing player getting overly physical with CC, and Reese immediately getting in her face. Imagine Reese grabbing 18 rebounds, talking trash, intimidating opponents, and getting under their skin. I'd be sitting there screaming: "FUCK YEAH, ANGEL! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" 😂 The very things I currently can't stand about her would suddenly become things I absolutely loved. And that's when it hit me. Sometimes we don't actually hate the behavior. We hate whose side the person exhibiting that behavior is on. When OUR player talks trash, it's competitive fire. When THEIR player talks trash, it's arrogance. When OUR player gets physical, they're tough. When THEIR player gets physical, they're dirty. When OUR player celebrates in someone's face, they're passionate. When THEIR player does it, they're classless. And the funniest part? We can recognize the hypocrisy and STILL feel exactly the same way. 😂 So, has this revelation made me an Angel Reese fan? Absolutely fucking not. I still can't stand her. 🤣 But I've realized something important. If she ever becomes Caitlin Clark's teammate, there's a very good chance I'll become one of her biggest defenders overnight. Because 30 years ago, Dennis Rodman taught me something about sports fandom that apparently took me until today to fully appreciate: Sometimes the difference between an asshole and a fan favorite is nothing more than the jersey they're wearing. And THAT, my friends, is sports. 😝 – at Byron, MN