Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark didn’t like what she heard from a fan late in the first quarter of Wednesday’s playoff loss at Connecticut and motioned for officials to remove the man from his second-row seat. In the relative blink of an eye, security tapped the person on the shoulder and escorted him to a less visible area, where a discussion took place.

Ultimately, the person was allowed to return to his seat. And although the incident lasted only a few minutes, the optics figure to linger within the WNBA community because they raised the question of whether the league has a double standard when dealing with harassment complaints. More starkly, the swift resolution of a complaint from a White athlete stood out against the months of silence Black players received from the league office as they were targets of race-fueled hate on social media and in arenas.

Security had a conversation with a fan after Caitlin Clark pointed them out to the ref. pic.twitter.com/N6RCnAv1qz

— ESPN (@espn) September 26, 2024

The influx of attention to the WNBA that followed Clark and fellow rookie Angel Reese into the league has threatened the reputation it has worked hard to cultivate, for inclusivity, empathy and tolerance. It also has called into question the leadership of commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who contributed to the toxicity earlier this month when she ostensibly said racism is good for a growing business.

She was asked during a CNBC interview what the league was doing to stay ahead of the “darker” and “more menacing” commentary from fan bases on social media. Instead of directly condemning the vitriol, she sidestepped the question by suggesting that the rivalry between Clark and Reese is good because it has brought a lot of eyes and interest to the league, not to mention more corporate dollars to players. They should simply ignore unsavory comments, she said.

She may not have meant to imply that increased revenue is an acceptable excuse for overt racism, but that’s how the players union and some of its members interpreted her words. Their public condemnation of Engelbert’s comments caused the commissioner to clarify her remarks the following day on social media — “To be clear, there is absolutely no place for hate or racism of any kind in the WNBA or anywhere else,” she posted — and send letters to every player in the league promising future engagement.

That was a positive, if obvious, first step for a problem that continues to worsen. Connecticut standout Alyssa Thomas spoke about it Wednesday night after knocking the Fever out of the playoffs.

“In my 11-year career, I’ve never experienced (anything like) the racial comments from the Indiana Fever fan base,” she said, adding: “It’s unacceptable, honestly. There’s no place for it. We’ve been professional throughout the whole entire thing, but I’ve never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media. There’s no place for it. Basketball is headed in a great direction, but we don’t want fans that are going to degrade us and call us racial names. … Something needs to be done.”

The WNBA issued a statement condemning racism and pledging to work with teams, arenas and law enforcement to address the issue, but what does that really mean? And why should anyone believe Engelbert has the answer? It’s mind-numbing how ill-prepared she has been to meet this moment, even when everyone knew Clark and Reese were bringing large and loyal fan bases to the league that tend to fall along racial and cultural lines.

Engelbert’s failure to get it right the first time was disappointing and disturbing because you only get one chance to make a first impression on a topic of such importance.

Lost lot of respect for wnba this year and I’m a former player. Leadership valued dollars over the protection of their players and now at end of the season we get a statement. Nah. Miss me with that. #isaidwhatisaid https://t.co/K60SwHMbXP

— Tynesha Lewis (@iamtynesha) September 26, 2024

Connecticut wing DiJonai Carrington provided a reminder of the league’s sidestepping before Wednesday’s game with a post on her Instagram story. It featured a screenshot of an email she received after she inadvertently, according to her and Clark, poked Clark in the eye in Game 1. The email called her a “worthless n—– b—-” and said, “I hope someone rapes you and cuts your head off.”

Some fans at Mohegan Sun Arena on Wednesday went beyond the normal cheers and jeers seen at most sporting events. A woman wore a T-shirt that read “BAN NAILS,” and held up hands that featured uncomically long nails made of colored paper, a troubling caricature of Carrington and Black culture. Another man, wearing a red Donald Trump baseball cap, held up a sign that read “Make Basketball Great again #22,” a nod to Clark’s jersey number. So much for those calls to keep politics out of sports, right?

Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner said Thursday there should be a uniform harassment policy.

“I don’t appreciate the new fans that sit there and yell racial slurs at myself, my teammates and the people that I play against,” she said, adding: “We all deserve to play in a safe environment.”

Carrrington’s girlfriend is NaLyssa Smith, who plays for the Fever. Following Wednesday’s game, Smith disclosed that Carrington has been followed and received death threats.  Reese has described receiving the same treatment after mocking Clark in LSU’s NCAA championship game victory two seasons ago. She expanded on that Thursday in a social media post.

“For the past 2 years, the media has benefited from my pain & me being villainized to create a narrative,” she wrote. “They allowed this. This was beneficial to them. I sometimes share my experiences of things that have happened to me but I’ve also allowed this to happen to me for way too long and now other players in this league are dealing with & experiencing the same things. This isn’t ok at all. Anything beyond criticism about playing the game we love is wrong. I’m sorry to all the players that have/continue to experience the same things I have.”

Clark on Friday also criticized the attacks in terms similar to comments she has made previously this season.

“Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats,” she said. “Those aren’t fans. Those are trolls and it’s a real disservice to the people in our league, the organization, the WNBA.”

While Clark’s sentiments are welcome, calling these attackers “trolls” is too simplistic and dismissive. Racist attacks are perpetrated by racists. This isn’t about being edgy or simply gaslighting.

The league and its teams are not helpless in this matter. Hate can never be fully eradicated; it’s as much a part of this country’s history as stars and stripes. But there are steps that can be taken. For one, teams can control who and what are brought into their arenas. The only reason someone would connect Trump’s campaign slogan to a sporting event featuring predominately Black and/or queer women is to provoke a response that has nothing to do with basketball. Ditto for the woman wearing Wolverine-like paper fingernails.

Teams also can cross-check the names on social media accounts that post hateful content with names of season ticket holders. If a match is found, that person can be banned from attending games.

Lastly, Engelbert can hire someone who has the expertise and skill to help the league navigate the intersectionality of race, culture, sexuality and misogyny. That person would help restore the league’s reputation as a place where the concerns of Black and queer players are as important as those of a straight, White, Midwesterner.

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(Photo of Cathy Engelbert: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

The game everyone had circled on their calendars lived up to the hype, and some.

Saturday’s Alabama-Georgia contest was a rematch of last season’s SEC title game, which Bama won as the eighth-ranked team in the country – Georgia had been ranked No. 1 after winning 42 of their previous 43 games, but Bama’s victory propelled them into the College Football Playoff, and knocked Georgia out.

Well, this matchup, like their last one, was simply epic.

After squandering their own four-touchdown lead, No. 4 Alabama scored a late touchdown to come away with a 41-34 win over No. 2 Georgia in an instant classic.

Alabama scored four touchdowns in the first 19 minutes of the game to take a commanding 28-0 lead, leading to everyone thinking the game was over early. But, Georgia fought all the way back. 

Georgia chipped away to make it a 30-15 game, and then after Bama kicked a field goal to go back up three posessions, Georgia found the end zone when they desperately needed it. They failed the two-point attempt, but after forcing a punt, the Bulldogs scored again. All of a sudden, Bama’s lead shrunk to just four points. 

Georgia then forced another punt, all while Bama did not waste the clock, getting the ball back for a shot at the lead with 2:42 to go and all their timeouts. Well, it only took one play for Georgia to take the lead, as Carson Beck found Dillon Bell for a 67-yard score to go up, 34-33. Beck’s rush on the two-point conversion was short, but nonetheless, the comeback was complete, and Bama, who had dominated early, suddenly was in desperation mode.

No worries – it was the 17-year-old, Ryan Williams, who took a 75-yard pass from Jalen Milroe to the house, and after a successful two-point conversion, Bama was back up seven points.

The Bulldogs faced a 4th and 2 with 1:22 to go at the Bama 47, and Beck found Colbie Young for the first down, and three plays later, the Bulldogs were in the red zone. But, Beck was intercepted after going for the end zone, and with the touchback, Bama was able to knee out the clock to get the incredible victory.

Jalen Milroe #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates after scoring a rushing touchdown against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 28, 2024 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

FANS BOO TIM WALZ AS HE LEAVES MICHIGAN-MINNESOTA GAME: ‘GET OUT OF HERE!’

After allowing the four touchdowns early, Georgia finally scored a touchdown midway through the second quarter. Later on, though, Beck was called for an intentional grounding in his own end zone, resulting in a safety. But apparently, despite trailing 30-7, all Georgia needed was halftime.

Beck found Arian Smith for a 12-yard touchdown for the first score of the third quarter, and the two-point conversion brought them to within 15. A Bama field goal, though, made it a three-possession game late in the third. On Georgia’s ensuing drive, Beck lost a fumble. But they weren’t dead, and the comeback began on their next drive. However, they couldn’t get a stop when they needed it most, and Beck’s final turnover came at the worst time.

The game is Georgia’s first loss of the season, and after losing just one in a 43-game stretch, they’ve now lost two in their last five. They are 45-3 in their last 48 games, but all three losses have come to Alabama (although, one of those victories is the national championship in 2022 against the Crimson Tide). Bama, meanwhile, improved to 4-0.

Milroe finished with 373 yards on 27-for-33 passing, throwing two touchdowns and running for another two, while the 17-year-old Williams made sIx catches for 177 yards and a touchdown. Beck turned the ball over four times, but still managed to throw for 439 yards and three touchdowns. Smith went for 132 yards, while Bell added 100.

The game was also headlined by Donald Trump’s appearance. The former president, and current Republican nominee, received an ovation from fans while walking in the halls and when he was shown on the jumbotron.

Former President Donald Trump looks on during the first quarter of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 28, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Alabama will head to Vanderbilt next week, while the Bulldogs will host Auburn.

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The Dodgers have often remarked this year that, with all their injuries and stretches of inconsistent play, they haven’t felt like the team with the best record in baseball.

Saturday was not one of those days.

Even before they took the field, the Dodgers clinched the best record in the majors this season, earning the distinction — and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs — for the fourth time since 2017 thanks to a loss by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Then, in the penultimate game of the regular season, the Dodgers played up to that status in a 13-2 rout of the Colorado Rockies.

It was the first time this year they truly had nothing to play for. Yet, they kept their foot on the gas all the same.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched five solid innings, giving up just two runs in his final regular-season outing.

Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández mashed three-run homers, highlighting the team’s 18-hit outburst.

Shohei Ohtani also continued his late chase of a potential (albeit long-shot) National League triple crown, going two for five, with his 58th stolen base of the season, to finish the day four batting average points behind Luis Arraez for the batting title.

Dodger Tommy Edman congratulates Kiké Hernández as he crosses home plate after hitting a three-run home run against the Colorado Rockies Saturday in Denver.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

The most important item on Saturday’s to-do list was Yamamoto’s start, his longest since returning from a shoulder injury earlier this month.

Yamamoto’s first three starts back had gotten progressively less impressive, following up a pair of four-inning efforts with a three-inning, four-run clunker against the Rockies in Los Angeles last week.

After that last appearance, Yamamoto started feeling “under the weather,” according to manager Dave Roberts, with an illness that left him with “a little weakness” leading up to Saturday.

Yet, there were few signs of trouble in the rookie Japanese right-hander’s four-hit, six-strikeout performance, the first of his career at hitter-friendly and high-altitude Coors Field.

He gave up one run in the first, after a couple of bloop singles and a sacrifice fly. Ezequiel Tovar took him deep in the third, on a first-pitch cutter Yamamoto left up in the zone. Outside of that, the $325-million offseason signing faced little stress, finishing his debut MLB season with a 7-2 record, 3.00 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 90 innings over 18 starts.

While the Dodgers haven’t yet finalized their pitching rotation for the National League Division Series, Yamamoto seems likely to go in Game 2 of the best-of-five set a week from Sunday.

Before Saturday’s game, Roberts said his best guess at the moment is that Jack Flaherty will start Game 1 next Saturday. Given the team’s preference to start Yamamoto on no less than five days rest — a routine he has followed all year after pitching roughly once per week in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league — that would mean the 25-year-old would only pitch once in the NLDS and be unavailable for a potential Game 5.

The Dodgers, of course, are hoping that Flaherty, Yamamoto and the rest of the pitching staff perform well enough to keep the series from going that long.

Before the Dodgers turn their attention entirely to October, however, there is one last point of intrigue entering Sunday’s regular-season finale.

Ohtani does still technically have a chance for what would be the National League’s first triple crown since 1937. However, it will take a monumental effort in Game 162.

While Ohtani finished Saturday with a .310 batting average — having raised the mark a whopping 24 points while going 26 for 38 in his last nine games — Arraez didn’t play in the San Diego Padres’ win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, getting a day off after they clinched home-field advantage in next week’s wild-card round.

Roberts didn’t ridicule the decision pregame, but noted he’d be “shocked” if Arraez doesn’t play Sunday.

“Hopefully he plays tomorrow and goes 0-fer, and Shohei has another 4-hit game,” Roberts said.

If Arraez does go 0 for four on Sunday, his final batting average would be .312 (or .3119 to be more precise). To top that, Ohtani would have to go three for four or better.

Not impossible. But also not very likely.