The Caitlin Clark Experience

I went to a road Fever game as a fan. Here’s what I saw.

Last Friday I did something I’d been looking forward to for over seven months: watch the Indiana Fever play in my hometown.

The Fever are my favorite WNBA team, and have been since they selected former IU standout and CQ fave Grace Berger with the seventh overall pick in last year’s draft. When the WNBA released its full 2024 schedule in December, I saw Berger and the Fever would be in D.C. to take on the Mystics on June 7, I immediately cleared my calendar.

I’d never been to Entertainment & Sports Arena, the Mystics’ 4,200-seat home barn in southeast D.C., before but was looking forward to the pilgrimage. I figured tickets would be cheap and the crowd would be relatively small.

Then the Fever drafted Caitlin Clark.

The game quickly became the hottest ticket in town and Washington moved the contest to Capital One Arena, home of the Capitals and Wizards (and “Georgetown basketball”, lol) to satisfy the demand. They did the same for Thursday’s game which saw Maryland native Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky down the ‘Stics, 79-71 in front of 10,000 fans.

Clark and the Fever doubled that figure as 20,333 people, including yours truly, packed the Phone Booth to take in The Caitlin Clark Experience. Here’s everything I noticed from the 400 level, high above Washington, D.C.

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First off, it was a beautiful day in the District. We’re in those few weeks of pleasurable weather before humidity makes the whole region dank and tons of people were out and about. Many of them had “Clark” on their backs.

I’ve covered a handful of Iowa/Indiana clashes and am very familiar with her game (do not ask what I did after the 2023 Big Ten finale) but hadn’t seen #22 play in person since February of 2023. Clark was a superstar then, and won her first of two straight Naismith Player of the Year Awards that season, but said game was before she ascended to superstardom and became one of the biggest names in America.

That game took place in Assembly Hall, too, and despite rumors of Clark pulling in the crowds I can attest that the home team decidedly won the battle in the stands. The same could not be said Friday as Clark gear outdid Mystics gear at least five to one. Mind you: she is a single player.

I’ll mention that all the big college WBB programs also put up decent numbers in the arena. It reminded me of an NFL game in Europe where people were more there for the experience rather than to cheer on their team and that was super cool.

This “Experience” factor also brought in a bunch of families and groups of people who maybe hadn’t been to a pro sporting event before. Listening to them socialize themselves to the scene was super sweet and emphasizes how crucial this generation of basketball players will be on the future of women’s sports. We want everyone to feel welcome at the game and they did on Friday.

That’s the cultural part, which is what I was really looking forward to. On the floor, anyone in CQ’s Twitter circle knows how the game went.

Caitlin Clark had the breakout game we’ve been waiting on and dropped 30 points with seven makes 3-point range. It was insane. The crowd got loud each time she touched the ball and audibly booed whenever she picked up a foul or had a shot blocked by a Mystic. Reminder: She is on the other team!!!!!

Nothing to do but laugh when she gets in that zone. It is so cool when she does that to anyone other than your favorite team.

Watching Clark go ballistic in the second half was a shared experience I’ll keep with me for a long time. Whether it was someone who knows her game All Too Well or an average Joe who didn’t know who she was six months ago, everyone laughed and cheered and enjoyed it because it was great.

The Fever as a whole played one of their better games of the last two seasons and picked up win number 3 on the year. It was disappointing that Grace Berger was a DNP but a Caitlin Clark 30-burger that is of no consequence to your professional life is one nice consolation.