*Let’s put the Erin Andrews’ case in perspective. Andrews is the attractive sports reporter who was secretly videotaped by some low life. Then, predictably enough, it wound up on YouTube. Then academia and the media weighed in with outrage.
The comment that resonated with me was that of Christine Brennan, the USA Today sports columnist. “Women journalists need to be smart and not play to the frat house,” she noted on Twitter.
Brennan should have first directed her remarks to the networks including ESPN, the one that employs Andrews. That’s because the networks actually want – and actually court – frat-house appeal. That’s precisely what female sideline reporters are for. They’re not “journalists.”
Networks know their demographic – and they know, frankly, it transcends the actual “frat-house” years. And they know they don’t need real journalists to report that the back-up quarterback is warming up or that it’s rumored that Tim Tebow has a girlfriend. Networks want babes, not “journalists.”
Of course, it doesn’t excuse what some slugs might do, but it does explain why some of them watch.
*You cannot talk about salaries in sports without acknowledging that they are part of a parallel universe — free enterprise’s skewed-priority, bizarro world. Two recent examples:
New York Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning just agreed to a six-year, $97-million contract. He’s now the highest-paid player in the National Football League at more than $15 million a year. Seems like there ought to be at least an unwritten law that says if you’re not the best quarterback in your family, you can’t be the highest-paid player in the NFL.
Then there’s University of Florida football coach Urban Meyer’s new deal. He’ll be making $4 million a year. And he’ll be worth it – even though cancer researchers should, in a perfect world, be better compensated than a college football coach.
UF football is big business and Meyer is its uber-successful, driving force. His teams, which have won two national championships in the last four years, bring in big revenues and no state money is used to pay him. He also gives some of it back. His commitment to the Florida Opportunity Scholars program is $1 million.
Most importantly, Meyer must be judged in the proper context. He succeeds in a high-pressure meritocracy. Others make more for less success. Charlie Weis, the Notre Dame coach with the notably undistinguished four-year record, makes more than Meyer. For that matter, so does Pat Burrell, the Rays’ designated out. He makes nearly twice as much.
Sure, it’s all relative, but, absolutely, Meyer is worth it.
*Zack Greinke, the Kansas City Royals’ outspoken, All-Star pitcher, recently criticized the Rays for their “stupid stuff” promotions. “It almost doesn’t feel like you’re playing baseball when you’re playing here (the Trop),” said Greinke. “…They have dancers everywhere, they have a DJ. They just do a bunch of stupid stuff that isn’t baseball.”
Maybe it was sour grapes as the Rays won nine of the 10 games played between the teams this year. Maybe Greinke’s just not a fun guy. Maybe he just doesn’t get “marketing.” Maybe he’s right.
*Few things in sports make less sense than NFL preseason point spreads. After all, these are EXHIBITION games where teams’ best players typically put in cameos. Where many of those who DO play will ultimately be jettisoned because they’re not good enough to make the team. These are games where winning isn’t everything. And bets are placed?
By the way, the Bucs open their preseason on Saturday at Tennessee. The Titans are 4-point favorites.
*How is it that local TV focuses more on the Bucs than the Rays right now? The Rays are heading down the homestretch still in the hunt for a playoff spot. The Bucs are PRACTICING.
*So, B.J. Upton, the Rays’ underperforming, petulant centerfielder didn’t like being “demoted” from the lead-off position to hitting ninth. His replacement at lead-off, Jason Bartlett, had previously hit ninth without complaint – although he was one of the leading hitters in the American League and an All-Star. Upton said he felt like he had been given a “kick in the face.”
Hardly. Upton was moved down to a lower-profile spot in the order while he hopefully works on something other than his spitting acumen. While he didn’t get, in Upton-speak, a “kick in the face,” he certainly has earned a kick in the ass.