Saturday, June 3, 2023

Women Sports Announcers

When I was younger women didn't announce sports. They just didn't.

We all heard the story, or maybe you didn't, of what happened when Jayne Kennedy announced the scores on the NFL Today as, 15 to 10, 35 to nothing, 27 to 14. Didn't say the teams just the scores. 

Now, I don't know if that's true but that's the kind of stuff we heard.

Guys were used to sitting around the telly, hollering at it, drinking beer and getting their info from male announcers. Football games, basketball games, baseball, hockey.  

Soccer wasn't even a thing then but that's another story.

What changed that perception? ESPN.

Bristol, Connecticut. 

At first they showed junk like penguin racing (I'm being facetious but you get the idea). See, we never had a sports network. And like many things it started slow. No SportsCenter, no Top Ten plays, no,"He could go all the way." 

And then it began rolling.

And with it came women who knew their sports. 

At first I, like most men, had to be on that learning curve. BUT. If you go to games you'll see women yelling just as loudly, their faces painted just as much, and their number one fingers held just as high.

At first there were just a few women. It wasn't a tidal wave. Yet. But here it came. What began as just women has turned into gorgeous women. Who all know their sh@t.

Turn on SportsCenter now and that's what you'll see, pretty women who all know their sports.
Anchors and reporters.
.
And then there's Doris Burke.

You might say who?

She was the first female commentator to call a New York Knicks game on radio and television. The first woman to be assigned a full NBA regular season role. She was the first woman to host the NBA Finals on ESPN radio.

That's just a few of her firsts.

I'm very used to her thoughts and insights and am used to seeing her behind the mike at NBA games.

We've come a long way.

Yes we have.

 



#MarkMcEwen
Subscribe to my blog: Mark McEwen's World
Follow me on twitter: @mcewenmark
Like my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/markmcewensworld
And also visit my website: www.markmcewen.com