William Houston of the TORONTO GLOBE & MAIL has yet another piece on the so-called persecution endured by female sportscasters in sports blogdome. Yes, we get the obligatory out-of-context, anonymous blog comment references and 49-year-old Andrea Kremer saying that blog coverage of women in the TV sports media is “frightening” and that, “the vitriol that is spewed out is unbelievable.” (Andrea, 1998 called, they want their line of complaints back.)

(Canadian sports media hottie calls her appearance “a fact of television”)

But leave it to Canada to have the right approach when it comes women in a sports media setting. Take for instance, the lovely, amply-blessed Nikki Reyes, who hosts a show for the Canadian Sports Network “The Score”. (and video after the jump)

The Score’s Nikki Reyes, 28, took a different route to sports television. After high school, she moved to the Philippines to work as an actress before returning to Toronto and completing a radio and television course at Centennial College. After working a year at The Score, Reyes, 28, is the co-host of its morning show.

Like Orlesky, Reyes says she is a long-time sports fan, but had no experience in sports journalism.

She described her physical appeal as a “fact of television.”

“Obviously, people like eye candy,” she said. “But I think that only goes so far. What you have to say matters the most.”

Exactly. Tell me, why do you think Erin Andrews gets all the plum sideline reporting gigs on ESPN, and poor Holly Rowe ends up covering Northwestern every week? Because Andrews is so much better as a reporter? *giggles*

But don’t tell that to Houston, who proceeds to then go out of his way to mock Reyes in the same piece:

On her posted biography, she lists her career highlight as “being the only reporter who spoke to Michael Jordan at his red carpet birthday party in Houston for all-star weekend 2006. … Yeah sure I only said eight words to him, and he responded with ‘I don’t know’ … but WOW. That moment was paramount for me.”

So if you were in your first reporting gig and met Michael Jordan, how would you react? You might not write it on your personal blog, but the reax probably wouldn’t be that different from Reyes.

Kremer and Linda Cohn complain in Houston’s piece that they are held to a higher standard by fans when it comes to reporting acumen and sports knowledge. Really, guys? Maybe 10 years ago, but not now. All we care about is speed and accuracy. I could care less if Cohn or Neil Everett is reading me the news over a teleprompter. If Everett makes an embarrassing gaffe, he’s going to be raked over the coals just as readily as a female newsreader or reporter. Zero difference.

It’s like NFL players who carry guns calling themselves “targets”. Guys, we hate to break the news to you, but 99% of people really don’t care enough about you to single you out in a robbery attempt. Especially considering pro athletes could mostly beat the a$$ of the vast majority of our population.

I worked in management in the sports media biz for a major corporation for several years, and I can tell you that I was forced to give women an edge when it came to hiring for on-air positions. Women have a distinct advantage when it comes to opportunities in the business. And when it came to mistakes and second chances, they would always get the benefit of the doubt.

So stop whining, Andrea and Linda. You’re like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton after Barack Obama was elected president. The more you complain, the less credibility you have. Not that your cause doesn’t still resonate with some well-meaning, politically correct dinosaur media members. But do yourselves a favor and leave it alone.