Colin Cowherd predicted that Tennessee would win the national championship -- much to the chagrin of many Tennessee fans. Photo Credit: FS1 Photo Credit: FS1

Time Magazine has been hard on the Caitlin Clark beat for the past year — until now. This week, Colin Cowherd shredded the legendary publication for its “idiotic” decision to snub the Indiana Fever sensation from its annual “100 Most Influential People” list.

On The Herd on Wednesday afternoon, Time released its list for 2024, which includes numerous major sports figures but not Clark; Cowherd said the ranking was “the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Caitlin Clark to the WNBA and they set all-time ratings records. If Caitlin Clark’s not in this, the list is nonsense,” Cowherd said. “Who did the list? TIME magazine? And there’s no Caitlin Clark? That’s idiotic. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Time’s list includes several names from the sports world. Jalen Hurts, Serena Williams, Léon Marchand, Simone Biles, and Joe Rogan all made the cut, as did Unrivaled League cofounders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.

While Stewart and Collier faced off in the 2024 WNBA Finals and launched Unrivaled, their inclusion over Clark will only contribute to a fight that Cowherd has been at the front of since Clark was drafted. Cowherd is one of the many sports media hosts who wants Clark to receive more credit for growing the WNBA and believes any marketing opportunity that Clark is not included in is a mistake.

“The WNBA, it was being subsidized by the NBA. They were going to small arenas, they flew on commercial flights,” Cowherd added. “Time magazine, if you don’t have Caitlin Clark…that’s a dumb media rank. Don’t know what they’re doing.”

It is surprising that Time did not include Clark. She was its 2024 Athlete of the Year, and the WNBA has been a core part of the magazine’s investment in sports coverage.

So perhaps Cowherd has a point that an accurate accounting of the biggest sports figures of 2024 ought to include Caitlin Clark. But nobody would kid themselves into thinking that Clark or the league need the publicity.

About Brendon Kleen

Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.