Jan 03 2011

Female Sports Reporters Get Treated Like Crap

Today’s lesson for the boys — women should be treated with respect. For example, female sports reporters get treated like crap. They shouldn’t be.

ESPN’s Rod Franklin was “pulled off ESPN’s Saturday Fiesta Bowl radio broadcast by ESPN executives” according to Sports By Brooks. What did he do? He called reporter Jeanine Edwards “sweetcakes”. When Edwards, who is female, said “don’t call me sweetcakes, I don’t like being talked to like that,” Franklin replied, “okay then, a–hole.”

What a charmer.

I don’t watch college football much, and I hadn’t heard of Jeanine Edwards. So I Googled her. Admittedly, I did it to see what she looks like. Because I’m a guy. Here’s the first video that pops up, Billy Clyde Gillispie tells Jeanine Edwards she asked a dumb question.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrXeBAoF3sM]

Nice, right? I’m sure Gillispie would have said that to a male reporter.

Through the wonders of YouTube Suggestions, up pops Bruce Pearl feels up Erin Andrews.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsGCItJ7q4I]

Again, I’m SURE this would have happened if Pearl were being interviewed by Stuart Scott.

Those are both clips from ESPN. This next little gem is courtesy of a fan with a cell phone camera. Here is Rey Maualuga grinding on Hotty Erin Andrews.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdDGYsYXHKc]

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Look at that. Are you serious? Was Rey Maualuga raised by wolves?

Unfortunately, probably not. A lot of guys seem unaware that there is a behavior line that shouldn’t be crossed; “they just don’t get it”, to bring back a popular phrase from the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas days. Jezebel points out that Ron Franklin has made similar comments in the past. And look at what happened with Ines Sainz and the Jets earlier this year. I can guarantee you that very few of the players and coaches who were involved in hooting, hollering, and trying to get a better look at her ass think that they did anything wrong. They all need to learn what Bill Clinton never could — that “harass” is one word.

Obviously I’m not immune to looking at women. This post started because I wondered if Jeanine Edwards was hot. The difference is that I’m a guy with a laptop Googling someone’s name. I’m not putting my hands on a woman. Or sneaking up behind her like a serial killer. Or even referring to her as “sweetcakes”, followed by “a-hole” when she tells me to cut it out.

Women are allowed to be hot, and to get jobs that based in part on their hotness. Erin Andrews is a perfect example. Not that she’s not a good reporter; I have no idea if she is or isn’t. I do know that she’s way hot. Which is why someone creep made a video of her showering, which led to her appearance on Dancing With The Stars. If she looked like Ernest Borgnine, would either of those things have happened? It’s OK for her to want to be looked at, and it’s OK for me to look at her. It is not OK for her to be spoken to in a rude manner based solely upon her being female. It is even more not OK for her to be touched, fondled, or be subjected to backdoor grinding, especially when she’s trying to do her job.

In case this seems like a double standard, here are some visual aids.

This video is tacky (and a tiny bit amusing). It is the work of an anonymous person with minimal video/photo editing skills. It is certainly in poor taste but doesn’t really hurt anyone.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEI9k_oxtZo]

This video is of a gigantic guy physically imposing himself on a woman who is doing her job. It’s ridiculous behavior.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdDGYsYXHKc]

Do I want my kids to be making videos celebrating Erin Andrews’ posterior? I would hope that they would be more creative and have better things to do. I wouldn’t care if they watched it, however. (When they’re older.) But if they thought it was acceptable to speak to a woman with disdain due to her gender? Or worse, put their hands on her, or sneak up behind her and make grinding motions because they think she’s hot?

Here’s a tip. Make sure your boys know that it’s one thing to be Beavis with your buddies. It’s another to be a Butthead in public. Make sure they know how to treat women with respect.