Bluder’s broadcast debut felt like a family reunion
The former Drake and Iowa coach brought positivity, insight, and authenticity to the Hawkeyes’ blowout win over the Bulldogs
Lisa Bluder made her debut as a women’s basketball commentator as two of her former teams, Drake and Iowa, played in Iowa City.
The game was a mismatch. Iowa was bigger and stronger. My beloved Bulldogs were down a couple of starters, and their three-pointers weren’t falling. The Hawkeyes blew out the Bulldogs 100-58.
But I can’t imagine a better match than Bluder calling a Drake–Iowa game.
She coached Drake for a decade and took the little school between Forest and University avenues to the NCAA Tournament four times.
I was lucky to be on press row for four of those seasons. I won’t write yet another sonnet about how much I loved covering Drake in the 1990s.
Bluder, of course, moved to Iowa for the 2000-01 season and won more games than any Big Ten coach ever.
Jan Jensen, Iowa’s current coach, was Bluder’s top assistant at Drake — and one of the greatest Bulldog players of all time. (Her No. 13 hangs in the rafters at the Knapp Center.)
The game felt like a love letter to women’s basketball in Iowa. The Big Ten Network even produced a halftime feature with former Bulldog players Tammi Blackstone, Julie Rittgers, and Allyson Glazebrook talking about the Bluder–Jensen–Jenni Fitzgerald era at Drake.
I’ll repeat what I’ve long said: If you want to make a list of the nicest people in Iowa, you have to start with No. 4 because Lisa, Jan, and Jenni are tied for No. 1.
My dad and I watched the game at my Drake neighborhood enclave. Dad noted what appeared to be Bluder’s lone rookie gaffe — she wore large gold earrings that poked out from under her headset.
“I bet her ears are going to hurt in the morning,” he said.
That’s a mystery we’ll likely never solve, as neither of us has ever worn earrings.
Bluder was everything you would expect her to be as a color commentator: insightful, thoughtful, and enthusiastic.
The quality that draws people to Bluder is her seemingly boundless positivity. Even when she criticized one of her teams, she did so with a soft touch.
Both Drake and Iowa got a couple of players in early foul trouble. Bluder’s harshest critique: “You don’t like to see that.”
I know Bluder can be more withering than that. One of my favorite memories of her run as Drake coach came during the 1996 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship at Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State.
I was working in the pressroom, which happened to share a wall with the visiting locker room. Drake trailed at halftime against the perennial MVC champions.
Bluder gave a scorching halftime speech to her Bulldogs.
It wasn’t some Bobby Knight–style tirade, but she was loud and sometimes harsh. Even then, her intensity trended toward the positive.
“We have not shown them what we are capable of,” she shouted.
The Bulldogs responded. They beat the Bears on their home floor to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
By contrast, Bluder sounded like she was smiling the entire game Thursday.
And why wouldn’t she? Every time Drake and Iowa play, it feels like a family reunion.
That was literally true in this one. Sisters Taylor and Peyton McCabe play on opposite sides of the rivalry — Taylor for Iowa and Peyton for Drake.
Bluder, of course, knows the intricacies of the game, but she is already a good enough commentator not to get lost in the complexities of every offense.
Her tone was casual and informative. She didn’t force tortured metaphors. She didn’t reach for zingers or one-liners.
Bluder was what she has always been — a classy woman who loves basketball.
We could all use a little more Bluder in our lives. Positive without being saccharine and interesting even in a blowout.
Bluder occasionally slipped and said “we” when referring to Iowa’s depth or “for us” when talking about a Hawkeye player’s impact.
But who can blame her?
She spent 23 seasons as Iowa’s coach. She retired after taking the Caitlin Clark–led Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA championship games.
Now she’s back on the sidelines, albeit with a headset rather than chasing after refs and shouting in plays.
Maybe other teams in the Big Ten will say she’s too pro-Iowa. Who cares? Everyone always believes the commentators and referees are biased against their team.
I can hardly be objective in any critique of Bluder as a commentator. She’s a good friend and one of my heroes.
I treasure the idea of spending a couple of nights a week with her calling games.
As an exiled newspaperman, perhaps I could muster up some criticism.
But why bother giving Lisa Bluder notes?
She’s always been at her best simply by being herself.
DANIEL P. FINNEY teaches middle school English. He was a reporter and columnist for the Des Moines Register, Omaha World-Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and USA Today during a 27-year newspaper career. His column appears in the Indianola Independent Advocate and is distributed by the Iowa Writers Collaborative.
I've been a Drake basketball fan since the 1960s and was a 1975 Drake grad, but am also a Hawkeye (and Cyclone and Panther) fan, so it's always fun to watch the teams play each other. I loved hearing Lisa do color analysis on last night's game. She and Jan have a wonderful history together, and I love to hear them talk about their friendship and experiences. Classy people!
Great to see Lisa continuing her love of women’s basketball. She is a class act.