![Caitlin Clark]()
Play really weird games, get hit with reasonable suspensions.
That doesn't roll off the tongue as well as "play stupid games, win stupid prizes," but I wanted to make it clear that Indianapolis Star reporter Gregg Doyel was not winning any prizes. He actually got hit with a two week suspension from the company he reports for because of a weird situation that he brought to life back on April 17th.
In case you missed it, during former Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark's introductory press conference after she was selected with the number one overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the 22-year-old was fielding questions from the media.
Doyel made sure to make things weird right from the get go, and made a heart with his hands put together and directed it at Caitlin, a gesture that Clark made many times during her playing days at Iowa.
Caitlin handled it well, smiling and asking if he’s a fan of the heart sign. Doyel creepily responded:
“I like that you’re here. I like that you’re here.”
Very awkward. Clark tried to break up the nervous laughter in the room by responding with:
“Yeah. I do that at my family after every game. So, it’s pretty cool.”
That was a very professional answer from Clark, and might I add a veteran job of deflecting for the new WNBA rookie. But ol’ Gregg Doyel doubled down and cranked the cringe up to MAX when he fired back:
“Okay, well, let’s start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine.”
https://twitter.com/_MLFootball/status/1787886067762262085
Social media ripped Doyel apart after that strange, cringeworthy interaction with Caitlin Clark. Shortly after the whole thing went down, Gregg put out a statement and also
wrote an article apologizing for being "a part of the problem," despite the fact that there wasn't ANY problem during the presser other than Gregg Doyel being weird:
https://twitter.com/GreggDoyelStar/status/1780735900000866690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1780735900000866690%7Ctwgr%5E968b404f536b4b3bd761cdac9243803c9fd003dd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2024%2F04%2F18%2Freporter-apologizes-for-creepy-comments-to-caitlin-clark-during-indiana-fever-press-conference%2F
And it was recently discovered that Doyel's employer, the Indianapolis Star, quietly suspended the reporter for two weeks because of his weird interview with Caitlin Clark. According to reports, Doyel also won't be allowed to cover Indiana Fever games in person, though he'll still be able to watch the games remotely and write about them.
https://twitter.com/_MLFootball/status/1787886067762262085
Doyel's suspension appears to have started on April 29th (the last time he published a story), which means that the Indianapolis Star reporter should be back in the saddle on May 13th.
However, he reportedly won't be allowed anywhere near Caitlin Clark, which might be for the best...
