Let the record stand with no questions

by J. Patrick Reilly

Caitlin Clark.

That young woman has made college women’s hoops fun to watch and has set the bar for future female competitors.  And it is a high bar to say the least.

When she recently broke the college basketball all-time scoring record set by “Pistol Pete” Maravich with a pair of free throws on a technical foul the basketball world was electric.

But then came the questions.  Should she get the honor all by herself seeing that when “Pistol Pete” played freshmen could not play college basketball, there were fewer games and no 3-point line?

I say so what?

We should have learned when the baseball powers decided that Roger Maris should have an asterisk after his name when he hit 61 homers in 1961 to break Babe Ruth’s record.  My question is did he hit 61 or not?  After all, records are made to be broken, aren’t they?

I played basketball back in the 1960’s and with four years of varsity totaled over 600 points.  I have been asked why didn’t I reach 1000?

A couple reasons are that our season was 16 games and now the seasons are 26 games long.  And we did not have the 3 point line. Add 40 games to my career and multiply it by the 15 I averaged per game and 1000 would not have been difficult to reach.

Again I say so what? I played under certain conditions the same as players today, even though they are different conditions.  Today players in high school are reaching 2000 points and over. It is how it should be.

So, leave Caitlin Clark’s record alone.  She may be playing under different conditions but she has created the same magic that “Pistol Pete” did.  

Her record deserves to stand without question.