{"id":394594,"date":"2024-05-16T23:20:32","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T23:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=394594"},"modified":"2024-05-17T06:06:18","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T06:06:18","slug":"crazy-indy-500-upstaged-by-wnba-rookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=394594","title":{"rendered":"'Crazy': Indy 500 upstaged by WNBA rookie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caitlin Clark<\/a> had yet to even be drafted by the Indiana Fever before fans openly called for her to be given an honorary role at the Indianapolis 500<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She's been a resident of Indianapolis for just about a month and is already one of the biggest stars in the city with a full billboard of her image outside the arena. Little girls donned her No.22 jersey and painted their faces with a \u201cC\u201d on each cheek.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can't ask for a better home opener. This is what gets people excited,\u201d Clark said before Thursday night's game against the New York Liberty. \u201cIt's fun, as you look around you soak it up and I couldn't have scripted it any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Indianapolis 500 on May 27 only on Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> All the action streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

A reporter then asked Clark if she'd watch a 30-second video made by patients at a local children's hospital all wishing Clark luck in her first season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThat's cute, I really appreciate that. Thank you, that was amazing,\u201d she said of the video.<\/p>\n

Clark held two lengthy interview sessions \u2014 one following a midday shootaround, the other about 90 minutes before tipoff against the Liberty, last year\u2019s WNBA runner-up.<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t just some run-of-the-mill stuff either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such a new thing,\u201d Fever coach Christy Sides said, looking at a crowd of about three dozen reporters. \u201cI mean, there\u2019s never been this many people in this media room, so we\u2019re all still trying to figure it out ourselves. We just want to make sure we\u2019re taking care of our players, taking care of Caitlin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark, who so far has been quite accommodating to the interview onslaught, joked she does have one request.<\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Latrell confronts TV host at Sydney restaurant<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> NRL looking into 'serious' sexual assault allegations<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Drunk' Socceroos star's major wedding day blunder<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI know, that\u2019s crazy, I think we\u2019ve got to cut that back,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is my job, like it\u2019s my responsibility so I think it\u2019s something you just accept and it comes with it for every single player, whether you\u2019re talking to the media or not. This is something we all have to do and other players around the league are doing it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her WNBA home debut comes deep into preparations for Indianapolis' truly big event, the 108th running of the Indy 500. Anticipation to see the No. 1 overall draft was so high that drivers were checking their daily schedules seeking room to try to see Clark play at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I know who Caitlin Clark is \u2014 everybody does. She's like the most marketed woman in the world right now,\u201d said driver Colton Herta, who is sponsored by Gainbridge. Clark in March signed with the company as a brand ambassador, and Gainbridge is the presenting sponsor of the May 26 Indy 500.<\/p>\n

Even though tickets still remained 90 minutes ahead of Friday's game \u2014 secondary sales sites have seats that start at $4.50 but run over $1,496 \u2014 there were plenty of fans who wished they were going to see Clark.<\/p>\n

Calvary Lutheran, an Indianapolis private school which brought 42 middle school students to the speedway Thursday on an excusion, screamed their answer in unison when asked if they'd rather be at the track for an Indy 500 practice day or Clark's debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cFEVER!\u201d they shouted.<\/p>\n

A few of the students then raced to the concession stand to retrieve 11-year-old classmate Blessing Li, an aspiring basketball player and, per her classmates, an \u201cobsessed Clark fan.\u201d A few even accused Li of crying as she spoke of Clark's inspiration for young female athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cGirl power!\u201d Li exclaimed about Clark's impact. \u201cShe's just so great.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of her peers seemed disappointed that his chaperone grandfather had left the speedway after lunch to prepare to moonlight for his job as an usher at Fever games. The student said he wanted to go with his grandfather \u2014 not as a slight to the Indy 500, but because he's been to the speedway before and yet to see Clark play in person.<\/p>\n

Penske Entertainment, owner of the speedway, IndyCar and the Indy 500, has used Clark at series events before. She was a guest of Hy-Vee at the inaugural 2022 race at Iowa Speedway and returned last year as Grand Marshal.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CgdK5uZtNS5\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp<\/a><\/p>\n

But getting her involved in the Indy 500 has proved to be a more difficult task.<\/p>\n

Series officials want nothing more than to include Indy's newest star in the pageantry of \u201cThe Greatest Spectacle in Racing\u201d but the Fever play in Los Angeles on next Friday's \u201cCarb Day\u201d and then in Las Vegas the night before the race. The only gap in Clark's WNBA schedule comes this Monday, when the Indy 500 pole is decided.<\/p>\n

Clark's first home game is being marked by a souvenir ticket that has the technology to save a photo on a QR code for a forever keepsake. The Fever hosted a pregame party at Bicentennial Unity Plaza for ticket holders that included a DJ, face-painting, games and caricature and balloon artists.<\/p>\n

Clark had 20 points while setting a record with 10 turnovers in a WNBA debut in the Fever's season-opening loss to the Connecticut Sun. The game had record viewership with an average of 2.1 million viewers on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+ to top ESPN\u2019s previous mark of nearly 1.5 million viewers for a 2004 game between the Phoenix Mercury and Connecticut.<\/p>\n

In Clark's lone preseason game in Indianapolis, the Fever set a preseason attendance record at 13,028 spectators. The Fever averaged just over 4,000 fans per game last season.<\/p>\n

Clark was excited to see the turnout against the Liberty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time you can have a real home opener and have the support that we've had, our preseason game was tremendous and now we get to play for real,\u201d Clark said. \u201cI think it's just going to be loud. We're going to need to use the environment to our advantage and I think just learn to move on and get ready to play. Embrace it and enjoy it because it is special, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The vibe around Indianapolis is electric as the NBA's Pacers remain in the playoffs during Indianapolis 500 preparations for the first time in a decade. Many current IndyCar drivers are regulars at Pacers games and Clark attended one of the games against the New York Knicks in a suite with her Fever teammates.<\/p>\n

The Pacers are down 3-2 headed into Saturday's AEST game in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

But even the Pacers have taken a backseat to Clark's arrival in Naptown. Indy native Conor Daly, one of IndyCar's biggest ambassadors, is wearing an Indy-themed helmet in the Indy 500 that includes the Fever logo for the first time.<\/p>\n

When the Fever drafted Clark, Daly looked into becoming a season-ticket holder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole city feels very sporty, that's the best way to put it. The electricity, every time I turn on ESPN, there's something about the Pacers or Caitlin Clark,\u201d Daly said. "I keep waiting for a third segment about the Indy 500, but it's just awesome to be from here right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI noticed that if you want season tickets for the Fever, they went up a lot,\u201d he continued. \u201cI did my research for about three weeks trying to get them. And every two days they'd message me and say \u2018Now it\u2019s this (higher) price.' But we did do our research on becoming Fever season-ticket holders.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caitlin Clark had yet to even be drafted by the Indiana Fever before fans openly called for her to be given an honorary role at […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":394599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=394594"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":394605,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394594\/revisions\/394605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/394599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=394594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=394594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=394594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}