Scott Whitmore of the EVERETT (WA) HERALD recently had a long piece on what he seems to think is the shameful exclusion of women from the “major league” sports broadcasting booth. He gets Andrea Kremer to back him up, as she laments the inability to land play-by-play opportunities and in-game analysis gigs.
There’s only one gap in Kremer’s otherwise glittering resume: She’s never done play-by-play of a major league game. Nor has she ever been asked to be the “color” analyst on a game broadcast. “That,” she says with a slight twinge of anguish, “is another story.”
Erin Andrews is also part of the piece, but is predictably more diplomatic:
“I’m really content with what I’m doing right now. That’s not to say that women don’t have a place in play-by-play, but … I really like being the eyes and ears on the field.”
The same can’t be said though for Kremer an anonymous female sports media member quoted by Whitmore:
But privately, some women seethe with resentment. “This is the most misogynist part of society,” says one, wary of offending her bosses. “It’s the last bastion of acceptable sexism.” Another adds, “I truly believe you could put Pam Oliver (of Fox), Suzy Kolber (and) Michele Tafoya (of ESPN), Lesley Visser and Andrea Kremer in a booth and they’d completely hold their own. But they’ve never, ever been given a chance.”
Guys, there’s a reason you aren’t doing play-by-play for NFL games, and it has absolutely nothing to do with competence. (John Madden proved that last Sunday.)
Like professional soccer in the U.S., and the NHL in the southern states, women doing PBP for “major league” games just doesn’t fit the time and place we exist in. It doesn’t work and won’t in my lifetime. That isn’t to say that it won’t happen in the future, but for now, that’s why you haven’t seen a booth breakthrough.
The better question is, why are we debating this? Why do we need to have forced, unnatural diversity in every single little area of our lives? If you’re a member of the tiny fraternity of female announcers like Kremer, obviously you’re going to push for inclusion into everything. But does anyone else care that Kremer isn’t doing PBP? Including the majority of women who watch games?
It makes me laugh to here a gutless female media member call TV execs sexist for not giving PBP duty to women. If there was a demand for it, you bet there’d be women in the booth.
The WNBA is another example of forcing something on us that most don’t want. The league has lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the years and could never be sustained without a bi-monthly welfare check from David Stern. So why continue the experiment?
Just as soon as soccer makes it in the U.S., hockey becomes huge in South Florida and the WNBA flourishes, women will be in the broadcast booth for major league sports.
OK, maybe it won’t ever happen after all.
8:10 pm on February 3rd, 2009
What about Pam Ward?
8:12 pm on February 3rd, 2009
I'd rather see Erin continue as a sideline reporter than calling the games in the press box. Not because I don't think she wouldn't do a good job, but we wouldn't see as much of her if she was stuck in a booth all game.
8:15 pm on February 3rd, 2009
Did anyone notice how flat & monotone Alex Flanagan sounded during the Super Bowl? Someone forgot their pre-game coffee.
8:16 pm on February 3rd, 2009
I wouldn't mind hearing a woman do play-by-play. It wouldn't hurt to at least give them a shot. Why not try it out during a preseason game?
8:18 pm on February 3rd, 2009
Eager:
They're talking about women in the broadcast booth. Pam Ward straddles the line.
8:25 pm on February 3rd, 2009
Erin Andrews doesn't belong in the broadcast booth - she belongs in my bed!
8:54 pm on February 3rd, 2009
Hey I've been doing color for the Yankees since '95!
9:31 pm on February 3rd, 2009
OK, Suzy - no need to cry about it.
9:38 pm on February 3rd, 2009
Why not have the best of the business doing it? If the women don't have a chance at trying out to do PBP, who knows whether or not they could do it?
It has nothing to do with public demand and everything to do with wondering if they've been given a fair shake at getting a chance in the booth.
11:30 pm on February 3rd, 2009
I can hardly stand it when women work the side lines. It is forced diversity, it doesn't work. Ex-players make better side line reporters.
2:58 am on February 4th, 2009
There's a woman who does some of the color commentary for NBA games for ESPN, (she also does WNBA, which doesn't matter, since nobody watches it). She has a grating voice and drones on for hours without paying any attention to the game itself… a female Doug Collins, basically.
7:22 am on February 4th, 2009
Be careful what you wish for…The Golf Channel tried it with Kelly Tilghman and she is just terrible.
8:16 am on February 4th, 2009
Listen to the Devils radio broadcast on 660 in New York. The Color commentator is a woman and has been for a few years now. So quit your whining. It may not be what they want but it is there and honestly I trust Troy Aikman's football analysis, even with all the concussions, more then a woman who never played the game.
8:39 am on February 4th, 2009
It actually has to do with credibility, as in, Andrea Kremer, who never plaid the game and has no clue what is involved in playing the game, and could never play the game even if she wanted to, would have no credibility at all commenting on the strategies and intricacies of the game from the booth. Andrea Kremer should thank the Lord above that she has been given the incredible opportunity to make gobs of money for adding absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever to any broadcast she has ever worked. Making money as a "sideline reporter" is no different than robbing the bank in broad daylight and getting away with it. At least Erin Andrews adds a little eye candy to the games she works - the others named in this piece don't even do that.
9:53 am on February 4th, 2009
The last time I looked, football is played by men, right? And can anyone guess what the demographics are like for football fans? While I am sure that there are plenty of diehard women fans, who watch every minute and know the rules and the strategy, the breakdown of football tv viewers is overwhelmingly male. There is nothing wrong with having a woman doing play by play, however, most male viewers would prefer to here their football announced by other men. As far as analysts go, most are ex players or ex coaches and gms. Honestly, most men watch their football as an escape from women. The last thing they want is to spend the entire game listening to one.
11:14 am on February 4th, 2009
In Canada, the CBC ran a little experiment during a couple of its NHL games by having Cassie Campbell in the booth to colour a couple of games. It was Bob Cole, her and I think Greg Millen. She didn't stand a chance really…Bob's pretty old and can't really see that well anymore (still calls a great game regardless if he has the teams wrong), Millen is a mic hog and Cassie gave it a good shot but didn't really get er done as it were. She did a couple of games but you could tell that she wasn't comfortable OR the folks in the booth with her were not comfortable with her there… the CBC does have women calling other sports, especially during the Olympics. Granted those sports aren't mainstream (equestrian) but they do good work!
11:49 am on February 4th, 2009
This conflict is similar to the conflict which first emerged in the late 1970's over women as news anchors. Originally the networks and broadcast journalists were very resistent, preferring to put their most experienced, gray-haired journalists in the anchor booths, both to establish credibility and trust, and as a reward for decades of hard experience in the reporting trenches. But putting young women at the anchor desks increased ratings (followed thereafter by young men, also), and TV news became more of an entertainment vehicle than an information source.
So it really depends upon whether the NFL audience wants to be "entertained", or whether they prefer to have someone with intricate knowledge of the game be the announcer. If they switch to having women in the broadcast booth, the broadcast of the game will shift dramatically, with frequent shots of the broadcasters, as opposed to the action on the field or replays.
Most NFL viewers played the game at least at some level, if only at the high school level. They, and the friends/family members they are watching the game with, already know quite a bit about the game. Most prefer booth broadcasters who can provide accurate information which is not obvious to the average viewer, as well as background information acquired by years of being involved with the game, both on the field and off. There may be some women broadcasters who can fit that role without having played the game at the college or NFL level, but not many. Ironically, by the time most can fill that role, they would be too old to be the "eye candy" that gives them the best chance to get such a position.
We also have to ask how many have put in time as broadcasters of minor college games. It's a bit of a mistake to assume that a sideline reporter can make the jump to the NFL broadcast booth without several years of experience doing play-by-play in the boonies.
12:15 pm on February 4th, 2009
let them do the WNBA….noone watches that anyway
1:25 pm on February 4th, 2009
I think Bonnie Bernstein is one of the few that can make it work. She is hot and knows her football so that's all right with me. Otherwise, no I don't want ditzy women that don't know anything. I would love to be a sideline reporter myself, but I'm a man who never played beyond Manti High so in honor to my Italian heritage I say fuhgedaboutit.
2:03 pm on February 4th, 2009
who the hell wants to listen to a women in play by play
2:04 pm on February 4th, 2009
Valentine's Day is coming up. Letting a gal call a game from the booth would be a great present from any producer who's currently dating a sideline reporter.
5:34 pm on February 4th, 2009
let them do play by play for a cooking show
bernstein couldnt get that nose of hers in a play by play booth
erin andrews can do play by play on my crotch
6:13 pm on February 4th, 2009
I say whoever wins Playboy's Sexiest Sportscaster Contest gets the chance to do play-by-play for a major league game.
1:12 pm on February 5th, 2009
Why ya gotta dog on soccer?
5:07 pm on February 5th, 2009
As an addendum to the comment at 8:25 pm on February 3, 2009, I think it's safe to assume that it is not all she straddles.
4:01 pm on October 18th, 2009
The argument that Erin shouldn’t be doing pbp about Football is valid. For pbp commentators have to know what they are talking about when they editorialize about penalties, play calling, what should be done etc.
Erin might be great on the sideline but it requires instinct based on previous battles to be able to spontaneously comment on a play choice.
Jamie Sale is great pbp during Figure Skating or Chris Evert during tennis. But, when it comes to football give me John Maden,Terry,Steve,Chris and people who have actually played the game.
If Erin wants to do pbp about football then let her go out and get banged up (no sexual innuendo intended, I mean,, well no way to describe) feel what it’s like to be 4th and 20 with 20 seconds left down by 5 on her opponent’s 25 in The Super Bowl then I’ll turn up the volume.