Sports Journalism’s double standard blamed on Bloggers

Posted on August 7th, 2008. Written by Emmett Jones.

You know, I hear that Hitler had a blog too…

Honestly, what did the sports world blame all of its ills on before blogging became so popular?

Bloggers, now that they’ve ruined the way the world looks at athletes, have decided to set their sights on a lower income bracket, namely, sports journalists.

The whole “to-do” stems from Mike Nadel, of the Gatehouse News Service, and his comments regarding ESPN’s femme fatale news reporter, Erin “Pageviews” Andrews. To recap Mr. Nadel’s comments,

Erin Andrews, the ESPN “it” babe who clearly isn’t afraid to flaunt it, sauntered around the visiting clubhouse, flitting from one Cubs player to another. Her skimpy outfit — designed to accentuate her, um, positives — had players leering at her. Some made lewd comments under their breath. Others giggled like 12-year-olds.

Moments later, the blonde reporter was chatting with Alfonso Soriano. At one point, she placed her hand suggestively on Soriano’s left biceps.
Was I reading too much into all this? I don’t think so. I’ve been a paid observer for a long time … and I wasn’t exactly the only one who noticed.

As two Cubs stood near their lockers, one asked the other: “Hot? Or just attractive? Does she do anything for you?”
The inquisitor then made eye contact with me as if saying — to use a term my uncle might have — “Hubba-hubba!”

This went on for at least an hour. Finally, Piniella emerged from his office, ready for his dugout media session. As he turned the corner, there was Andrews in all of her bare-legged, high-heeled, low-necklined glory.

“Hey, hey, hey! Look at this!” Piniella said, loudly and excitedly. “Are you doing a baseball game today or a modeling assignment?”

Okay, lets tackle these issues one at a time. First off…Mr. Nadel, did you really just waste paragraphs of your article talking about Erin Andrews attire? And how she “suggestively” (and that is very open to interpretation, I would assume) touched Soriano’s arm? Does that qualify for sports news now a days? I heard a rumor that Suzy Kolber once brushed up against A-Rod’s leg on a crowded elevator…can we get Peter King on that one?

Mr. Nadel’s ability to write about the absurdly unnecessary aside, the next question is, How do bloggers fit into all of this?  Well, I’ll tell you…I have heard two different radio personalities on two different ESPN radio shows mention that bloggers have exacerbated this whole situation, and maybe even caused Nadel to write his article because he knew the blogosphere’s slight obsession with Andrews would garner a lot of attention (which it did).

Really? Bloggers are the only men in the world obsessed with T&A?  Who knew?  Thankfully, all of the non-bloggers and their bright and shining moral compasses are around to keep Hell from opening up and swallowing every blogger from their mother’s basement.

Look, the world, and sports as a microcosm, have gender issues in general.  Men and women sports writers are treated differently, and that’s in part because…well, male viewers would rather watch an attractive women, WAY more than a man.  This thought was summed up perfectly by Patrick Imig on The Big Lead,

“It’s the Law of Nature: men are biologically engineered to internally froth at physical beauty…Whether that comes to the surface is what separates the men from the pervs.”

Bloggers certainly didn’t create the standard that it was okay, right or wrong, for Erin Andrews to dress the way she does, that’s a combination of her own personal choices and the choices of her bosses at ESPN.  Yes, surprise, surprise…the real culprit in this whole ordeal is the World Wide Leader.  Are you going to tell me that they couldn’t dictate policy regarding Erin Andrew’s dress code at sporting events?  That seems like nothing more than a provision in an employment contract.  Its actually more likely that they’re telling Ms. Andrews to dress more suggestively in order to reel in that key 18-35 male demographic.  And obviously, that goes across the board…Fox Sports, NBC, ABC, etc…Companies don’t hire “ugly” female newscasters because of sports journalism’s double standard…men are judged on their content, while the credibility of a woman journalist is only examined AFTER its determined that she is attractive. Bloggers who enjoy Andrew’s “assets” are merely confirming the marketing technique of ESPN and others; they watch her on TV because she’s attractive, and if she actually says something intelligent, its just a bonus.

Can anyone even name an ugly female reporter?  I can only think of one, which I won’t name.  So, is it mere coincidence that every female reporter just happens to be moderately attractive?  Is it possible that there are no “ugly” women who know anything about sports?  Where is the female version of Beano Cook?  Where are we hiding her at?

The point? lets not be in such a hurry to blame bloggers for the double standard that exists in sports journalism and the deeper gender issues that have existed in the world for years…We sports bloggers can only handle so much from our mom’s basement anyway, right?

…now if you’ll excuse me, I’m on my way to read Adolf Hitler’s sports blog.

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