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Colin Cowherd With a Good Monologue on Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and the Farcical Athletes-and-Politics Topic
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As you know, the Caitlin Clark/Sophie Cunningham/trans athlete/WNBA/etc. conversation is the most exhausting and ridiculous in sports right now. It could possibly be the most preposterous running combination of topics in the history of the universe, this incredible intersection of politics, sexuality, race, gender, human physiology, and related subjects. It’s a shit show. The far left and far right get so worked up about every development that they whip themselves into a frenzy and all common sense and temperance immediately goes right out the window.
So here comes Colin Cowherd, of all people, to make some rational points:
Let’s react to some of these thoughts, in order:
“(Sophie Cunningham’s opinion on trans athletes) is one, according to polls, that over 50% of Americans agree with…”
It’s higher. The polling numbers are typically in the 65 to 70% range, some pushing up to 80%. More than two-thirds of Americans, on average, think that women’s sports should only be played by biological women.
The conversation becomes tricky and dense when you start talking about hormone replacement and testosterone suppression, and the average American cannot speak about these complex medical topics with any sort of expertise, but Occam’s Razor does a lot of figurative slicing and dicing here. Biological boys have an innate advantage over girls. Always have, always will. If you need affirmation via the eye test, put your kid in co-ed sports. My older daughter is 7 and last season she barely touched the soccer ball because the boys on her team were bigger, faster, stronger, and more aggressive. She got maybe 2-3 touches in a 20-minute game, while the boys were on the ball for 18-19 minutes on average. She’s really looking forward to starting her new season next week, which is U8 girls only, no boys.
The other thing is that you can be pro-women’s sports without being anti-trans. If Lia Thomas wants to be a woman and wants to swim, who gives a shit? Let her compete solo or post numbers against other trans swimmers around the country. These situations are often less complicated than we make them.
“I’m good with that, and I’m good with Sophie. I’m good with both, it’s a free country… I think believing that political comments are courageous is a misdiagnosis of expertise…”
Caitlin Clark is under no obligation to participate in a divisive conversation that she didn’t start. She’s been turned into a political football over the last several years and if her non-participation bothers people like Matt Walsh and Jon Root, so be it. Maybe she just wants to play basketball without the circus.
Why do adepts typically stay in their lanes? Well, it’s probably because they can’t speak with expertise on things that are outside of their knowledge base. What does Caitlin Clark know about politics and social issues that is more robust than any of the political partisans trying to turn her into a monolith? Likewise, are you going to Sophie Cunningham or Michael Smerconish for discussion of the Iran War and 2026 midterm elections? You don’t go to the podiatrist for an EKG.
“By the way, if you’re an athlete, you can’t win, LeBron and Aaron Rodgers dipped their toe in the pool with politics, they get crushed… Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods said ‘nah, pass,’ they get crushed, so where’s the win?“
You’re damned it you do, damned if you don’t. It’s always been a catch-22. If Caitlin Clark comes out and says, “yes I agree with Sophie Cunningham,” she gets lambasted by people on the left who think trans women should be able to play with biological women. And if she says nothing, she gets lambasted by people on the right for remaining silent, which is happening currently.
“People say keep politics out of sports, that’s not true. You like politics when you agree with it, right?”
Correct. This is the most pathetic and flimsy stance ever. When people say ‘stick to sports,’ it’s because they don’t like what side you’re on. But they’re fine with political talk that matches their personal beliefs. Both sides are pitiful with this. Nobody on the left had a problem with Colin Kaepernick or Eric Reid or Malcolm Jenkins in the same way nobody on the right had a problem with anything Nick Bosa has ever said, done, or worn. The lunatic fringes only invoke ‘stick to sports‘ when the opinion fails to match theirs.
“I don’t believe in ‘shut up and dribble,’ but I also don’t believe in ‘speak up and dribble’ for everybody. If you choose, sportscaster or athlete or chef, to have a strong political opinion, it is up to you. I’d warn you it is divisive.”
There’s just very little upside in all of this, especially for publishers. If a media outlet or a journalist decides to come out and say “Donald Trump/Joe Biden is the worst President ever and I am taking a stand,” you have successfully invigorated half of your readership while possibly losing the other half. So you’ve done what? Cleared your conscience at a cost that might tank the business? If you feel like you need to do it, go for it, but it’s probably not worth it.
More than anything, deciding not to participate in socio-political discussion doesn’t necessarily mean you think socio-political topics are unimportant. Maybe you just defer to people who actually know what they’re talking about. Now THAT’S a concept!
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com