Kudos to Erin Andrews for defending athletes against grandstanding reporters - Opinion

Recently, during her iHeart podcast with Charissa Thomson titled “Calm Down with Erin and Charissa,” Fox Sports journalist Erin Andrews rightfully called out certain sports reporters for badgering or talking down to some professional athletes in an attempt to either score political points, make a name for themselves, or both.

Her point of view on this subject not only deserves more attention, but additional discussion. 

To be clear, I don’t care what a sports reporter’s political affiliation is as long as he or she keeps any personal biases out of sports.  Unfortunately, as with much of the media, academia, and entertainment, much of the sports world — most especially in “The Age of Trump” — has become a bit more “about me” as well as politicized and polarized.

Said Andrews in part during the podcast:  “I just have to get this off my chest.  There have been a few instances or circumstances lately and also during the year that I find myself getting on the phone with athletes after they happen. You don’t have to be an a–hole. How about this? Stop worrying about trying to make a name for yourself or be clickbait with these questions that tie these guys down or put them in a bind or you want to be the person [who gets attention] in the press conference. Don’t do that.”

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If anyone does bother to tune into the press conferences after the conclusion of a professional sports game, be it the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL, it’s now almost impossible to not hear at least one clickbait question being asked of the athlete or athletes on the podium.  To Andrew’s point, often, these reporters aren’t asking off-topic questions of the athletes expecting a serious response.  Some are simply doing it to put that athlete on the spot as a way to bring social media attention to themselves.

Diversity in the sports reporting world was long overdue and has been a blessing in so many ways.  I grew up in the Cro-Magnon days of the sports world when the only women on the sidelines were expected to be cheerleaders.  Thankfully, the age of enlightenment and equity has caught up to the sports world and reporting, commentary, and play-by-play by exceptionally knowledgeable women – and men and women of color -- is now commonplace.

Way back in the day, I had just enough athletic ability to get invited to several professional hockey camps and one Major League Baseball camp.  And again, back in that time, there were a great many ignorant men in the nation who would have resented Erin Andrews speaking out in defense of players simply because she was a woman. 

Erin Andrews knows her sports

To any of those knuckle-draggers still out there, I’ve got news for you:  Andrews has more sports knowledge in her baby finger than all of your minds combined.  More than that, she had to overcome institutional chauvinistic male bias for years to attain her dream and success.  As did so many women now in the sports reporting world. 

As a fan of sports, a person’s gender, color, or sexual orientation is never a concern.  Those are simply – and thankfully – a reflection of our human race.  What is a concern is: does that person know what he or she is talking about with regard to the sport they cover and are they inserting unnecessary bias.

With the NFL as an example, if Erin Andrews, Charissa Thomson, or M.J. Acosta-Ruiz and Cynthia Frelund at the NFL Network are analyzing a team and its players, I’m going to pay strict attention.  Why?  Because they are flat-out experts in the game.  Period.

In this particular instance, Andrews was courageous enough to speak out in defense of some of the athletes she covers.  Often against our will, almost every bit of our lives has been politicized.  For the moment, sports mostly remains a refuge for millions of human minds seeking an escape from our increasingly polarized and confrontational daily lives. 

"Reporters” looking to grandstand at the expense of professional athletes so they can bring attention to themselves is the last thing we need in the world of sports.

Three cheers for Erin Andrews.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the book:  The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence.