Hawaii wrote in My Broadcast Team Can Beat Up Your Broadcast Team:
Tim McCarver is the broadcaster from my younger years, so like you said, everyone after that seems like an interloper.
And added in A Dent in Keith’s Wallet?:
Did you hear Dana Jacobson in Dan’s time slot yesterday? I just caught the end of the show – and it was completely accidental too as I have given up listening to the fill-ins – and she was really pretty good. I thought she was funny, interesting and different than what ESPN has on the rest of the day. And in the singular segment that I heard her, she did not scream at me even once.
What are the chances that ESPN Radio puts a female sportscaster in the 1-4pm ET time slot?
Slim-to-none?
Yeah, probably.
Women in the sports media are treated kind of like interlopers. (I love that word, Hawaii. All the folks who have been showing up in DP’s old time slot are interlopers, too.) I remember what a big deal it was when female reporters were first allowed into locker rooms for post-game interviews. Here’s a great piece on Lesley Visser that describes some of what she had to endure. There are a lot more female sportscasters and reporters these days, but none has yet risen to the level of an Al Michaels or a Bob Costas. Or a Dan Patrick. Game analysts are usually ex-coaches or ex-players (e.g., John Madden, Mark Jackson) so women are at a disadvantage for that position in the broadcasts of the major sports. Cheryl Miller, Reggie’s sister, played basketball in college and the pros, but I think she is used mostly as a sideline reporter. One of my favorite analysts is Mary Carillo, a former tennis pro who broadcasts tennis events for CBS and various cable outlets.
I enjoyed listening to Michele Tafoya and Dana Jacobson when they co-hosted Not The Dan Patrick Show with Mike Tirico last week. Linda Cohn hosted once in July and co-hosted last Friday (I think) with Scott Reiss. I also heard part of Thursday’s show, which was hosted by Jacobson.
I like Cohn. She has a nice style; enthusiastic without being overbearing, although a little too emotional sometimes for my taste. Not quite DP’s fireside chat style, but not bad. She comes across as being motherly, and I mean this in a good way. I’d heard Jacobson on the radio before, but just a bit. She’s good, but I’m not sure if she could carry a three-hour show. (I didn’t hear the entire show on Thursday.) I’ve seen Tafoya mostly on tv, doing Monday Night Football. While most of the female sideline reporters are just there as eye candy, giggle too much, and lob softball questions to the athletes and coaches, Tafoya knows the game and asks good questions. I’m not sure if she could carry a three-hour show, either, but she had great chemistry with Tirico when they were on together.
I wonder what’s harder to do: Be a female sports reporter/broadcaster or be a female construction worker or firefighter or police officer. All those fields can provide a hostile work environment for women.
