The WNBA Finally Has Stars. Why Is It Fighting Them? | The Riley Gaines Show
Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham are giving the WNBA exactly what every league says it wants: attention, rivalry, ratings, personality, memes, and real fan emotion. So why does the league keep looking uncomfortable with the very energy that is making people watch? On this episode of The Riley Gaines Show, Riley breaks down Clark’s return to elite form, the Fever’s surge, the technical foul controversy, and Sophie Cunningham pushing back on the “enforcer” label. This is not about painting Caitlin Clark as a victim. It is about a bigger question for women’s sports: can the WNBA embrace stars who are intense, competitive, physical, marketable, and unapologetically themselves? From officiating debates to viral moments the league seems hesitant to monetize, Riley argues that women’s sports do not grow by sanitizing rivalry. They grow when athletes are allowed to have edge, personality, loyalty, toughness, and a point of view.
‘Nightcaps’ is a daily column that catches you up on the biggest sports, news and culture stories you may have missed while pretending to do work at your desk. It runs Monday–Friday on OutKick.com.
Second half of August, boys and girls. Time is FLYING this month. Feels like we were just celebrating the big 2-5-0, and now we’re dropping AP Top 25s for college football, and gearing up for Week 2 of the NFL preseason.
This should be the final week, by the way, but the NFL insists on making them play a third game for whatever reason. I assume money. Who knows? Regardless, it’ll be gone in a few years when they add an 18th game to the schedule.
That’s neither here nor there, though. Today, we look forward, and we keep GRINDING through the second half of August.
Let’s grind.
Welcome to a Monday Nightcaps — the one where the best TV ref in the business tells a WNBA ref to keep Caitlin Clark’s name out of her MOUTH.
I think Terry McAuley has a point here, too. It was odd. But, the whole WNBA is odd, to I wasn’t surprised.
What else? I’ve got Shane Gillis quickly calling a Bud Light off the bench, a quick reminder about today’s Top 25 poll, Kristin Cavallari gets in on the peptide craze, and this Hollywood death hits hard for us football fans.
“He’s gettin’ beat like he stole somethin’, Mr. Bosley!”
Sad. Very sad.
Grab you whatever you’d like to start the week — dealer’s choice on this Monday — and settle in for a second-half-of-August ‘Cap!
Referee Terry McAulay makes a call during the first quarter between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers during a preseason game Aug. 20, 2016, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. Tampa Bay defeated Jacksonville 27-21. (Getty Images)
Terry McAuley is calling foul here
Yes, I know, it’s almost football season. And I promised to keep the WNBA talk at a minimum once football season rolled around.
But, it’s only almost football season. Close, but no cigar. So, we started the week with Caitlin Clark and yesterday’s weak foul call.
Take a look:
“I’ll be stunned if they don’t overturn that call.”
*Two seconds later*
“The contact by Caitlin Clark is deemed illegal.”
First of all … what are we doing here? I’ve seen a lot of bad officiating in my days — across all sports — but the WNBA easily has the worst refs in the game. They’re just awful. In what world is that a foul? I don’t get it. What am I missing?
Just horrible.
Caitlin Clark No. 22 of the Indiana Fever reacts during a WNBA game against the Atlanta Dream on Aug. 16, 2026, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
But that’s not why we’re here today. The Xs and Os of the call have been written about a dozen times already. Ultimately, the Fever won, so it didn’t matter.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese rivalry gets a new chapter in Fever-Dream overtime thriller
I’m here to talk about the actual call itself …
I have never, in my life, heard a ref call a player by his or her name while making a call. I’m not sure it’s ever happened.
This girl did it yesterday, and former NFL referee Terry McAuley was quick to call out the nonsense:
Remembering Hayden Panettiere
“Using a player’s name during a foul or review announcement is incredibly unprofessional,” he wrote on X. “I’ve never heard it done before in any sport I’ve watched or been involved with. It personalizes the ruling which should always be avoided.”
Bingo. Get her, Terry! Don’t let this nonsense slip through the cracks. Wild move by the head ref here. Again, I’ve never heard anything like it.
Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever compete in the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge during the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star weekend at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on July 18, 2025. (Getty Images)
Terry, by the way, is an excellent TV ref. I’d put Fox’s Dean Blandino at the top of the list for obvious reasons, but Terry is a close second.
You know who’s awful? Gene Steratore for CBS. You know who was even worse? Mike Carey, who Gene replaced on CBS years ago.
You remember the Mike Carey years? It got so bad towards the end. He became a weekly punchline on Twitter:
Man, I miss Mike. He had some bangers back in the day. A true legend of his craft.
Anyway, let’s move this thing along and say goodbye to one of the most underrated actresses of all time, Hayden Panettiere.
She died last night at just 36. It was stunning to wake up to. Just stunning.
Even more stunning? I didn’t realize she played Coach Yoast’s daughter in Remember the Titans. It’s, easily, my favorite sports movie of all time, and I found out this morning that Sheryl Yoast was played by Hayden Panettiere.
And let me tell you something … that little 10-year-old girl acted her butt of in this movie. She went toe to toe with Denzel the entire time, and it was incredible.
Shane’s beer switch, a look at the Top 25, and Kristin!
Lordy, what a movie. What a scene. What a cast!
Denzel. Ryan Hurst. A young Ryan Gosling (who was a terrible DB). Hayden. Will Patton (underrated actor). Just amazing.
Anyway, Sheryl Yoast was an iconic character for people my age when that movie came out, mainly because we were the same age. She played the part so well.
I have no idea what happened, but I’m sad it did.
OK, let’s rapid-fire this Monday class into a big Monday night. First up? Bud Light spokesman Shane Gillis got caught indulging South of the Border over the weekend, and the PR team had to make a quick call to the bench:
That’s the good stuff right there. Solid head’s up by whoever the hand is in the picture. You did well. I don’t blame Shane, by the way.
I’d take a Dos Equis over a Bud Light. I’d also to a Busch Light over a Bud Light.
I think I’d take a Miller Lite over all of them.
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Next? Happy AP Top-25 Day to all who celebrate!
Thoughts? First impressions?
I think Miami is a little low. Same with LSU. ‘Bama’s probably too high, but I get it. Missouri at 25 feels like a “F–k it, let’s just pick one and get this over with” move by the AP voters. Again, I get it.
Regardless, and I cannot emphasize this enough … Absolutely none of this matters:
Nearly HALF of last year’s Top 25 finished the season unranked. HALF. That’s insane. It’s the most useless poll in all of sports, but boy, does it feel good to have football (almost) back.
Few more weeks, folks. Hang tight.
Kristin Cavallari walks the runway for Resa x Uncommon James during Miami Swim Week at Mondrian South Beach in Miami, Florida, on May 28, 2026. (Thomas Concordia/Getty Images)
OK, that’s it for today. Good start to the week, everyone. Let’s have another strong one. Let’s keep grinding our tails off. There’s a light at the end of this WNBA tunnel. I can see it!
Take us home, Kristin Cavallari.
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Is Remember the Titans the greatest sports movie ever? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.
