Brady White
As you’re probably aware, LSU’s success in the women’s NCAA tournament has been riddled with drama. As much as I don’t want to diminish their success, it seems like the last thing any of the players want to focus on is basketball. In the days following the national championship, Angel Reese went through countless interviews and podcasts, to air her concerns about the first lady of the United State, Jill Biden. Before this year, I never realized how big of a role the first lady played in this game.
Reese’s first complaint was that the first lady tried to come into their locker room before the game. On the ‘Paper Route’ podcast, Angel Reese commented that “[the team] didn’t want her coming into the locker room.” While nobody knows for certain, some people speculate her beef stems from the fact that neither of the Bidens had LSU going to the finals. She was quoted in saying “he didn’t even put us on his bucket to get out of Baton Rouge, so I was like, bet.” I’m not really sure what she means by this but it’s apparent she ain’t happy with the Commander in Chief. Maybe I’m wrong on this but it just doesn’t seem that deep considering only 2.9% of brackets had LSU in the finals. Also, if you think the president of the United States should be dialed in on college basketball, you got your priorities out of wack. The guy literally has a country to run, and I highly doubt he was the person who even filled the bracket out.
Others argue that the LSU head coach, Kim Mulkey, didn’t want Biden in the Locker room because she is a major Trump supporter. At the end of the day, we’ll never know for certain why Jilly B wasn’t allowed in, but who really gives a shit. I don’t understand why these players insist on making it the center of attention. The one thing me and Angel Reese agree on is Jill Biden wanting Iowa to go to the White House is complete bullshit.
Year after year the participation trophy becomes more and more prevalent, but now it has made its way to one of the highest levels in sports. Giving kids participation trophies in little league pisses me off, forget about giving college athletes a consolation trip to the White House. As you can imagine she got absolutely flamed on Twitter. Jill Biden got so much heat from this statement that her spokesperson, Vanessa Valdivia, had to release an apology to the LSU women’s basketball team in response to the negative press. I feel like a formal White House apology is a little over the top. What’s even crazier is that Angel Reese publicly refused to accept the apology.
At this point, it’s no longer about the sport. The girl is just trying to make headlines and make money from NIL deals. She announced today that she will be going to the White House. At the end of the day, she is going to do the right thing and accept the invite but I feel like this was just one big publicity stunt.
