Alan’s TTIM Stories #52

A moment to look at 2024.

The year 2024 included 52 Alan’s TTIM Stories! Considered a matter of personal pride (wasn’t sure I could do it).

The country endured the anxiety-ridden, ridiculous, exasperating, annoying, and devastating general election.

A Middle East War across the ocean with ramifications of campus protests in the United States.

The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence interpreted as an essential tool in technology or an uncontrollable foretelling of the doom for the human species.

Corporate troubles for Boeing, Boar’s Head, and chain restaurants.

Beginning of the end for television series Yellowstone and Outlander.

Russian-American prisoner exchange marking the troubling success of international extortion.

In our area, 2024 will be remembered in Baltimore with the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

On a brighter note, the year will be remembered for advances in sports, financial effects, and personal hours of entertainment with women’s basketball explosion of popularity.  

Excitement grew with the with record-setting college career of Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes with amazing three-point proficiency, reaching the record for points scored as a collegiate (male or female).

The trend continued with a record number of viewers for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Clark’s Hawkeyes took revenge in the semi-finals with a win over LSU and competitive nemesis, Angel Reese, falling to unbeaten South Carolina in the finals.

Popularity continued with the WNBA draft. As predicted, Clark was first chosen to join the Indiana Fever. Cameron Brink of Stanford chosen 2nd by the Los Angeles Sparks, Jacy Sheldon of Ohio State 5^th for the Dallas Wings, and Angel Reese 7^th for the Chicago Sky.

Attendance at WNBA games grew from 5,703 in 2022, 6,615 in 2023, to 9,807 in 2024 – a 48% increase from the previous year. Television viewership jumped an incredible 170%. I especially enjoyed following former Ohio State Buckeyes Jacy Sheldon, Kesley Mitchell, and Celeste Taylor (photos below).

Star power was one explanation of the growth of popularity. Another factor, people discovered the quality of play. There are only two major differences between the NBA and WNBA – player average height and average salary. The future looks bright for salary equality.

I don’t have psychic powers to predict what will become of us in 2025. I hope we can continue to look to sports for a pleasant distraction. And of course – World Peace!

Sources:
WNBA.com
Wikipedia
Photo credits:  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Follow announcements of Alan’s TTIM Stories at Facebook.com/alan.vandervoort or Instagram & Treads vandervoort_author, with all available posts at www.alanvandervoort.com. Novels by the author include: Sandhills – A Novel and Key Largo Summer, found at Booklocker.com and other online booksellers.