The NJ.com's Rutgers Football blog posted an item this past Thursday when they learned that Erin Andrews would not be on sideline duty with her normal team for the Fresno State-Rutgers game yesterday. The post stated that Rob Stone was to replace her and the commenters were not very happy about the switch....

Posted by cojoneka on 08/21/08 at 9:49PM
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Posted by rurockin on 08/22/08 at 7:31AM
Can I write my congressman about this. So unfair!

Posted by scarletpig on 08/22/08 at 12:16PM
I have never felt so betrayed in my entire life.

Okay so there were only seven total quotes, but you could tell it greatly upset Rob Stone. So much so that he and the booth decided to address it part of the way through the fourth quarter....

The guy just continues to crack me up during every report. Also, if Erin Andrews is going to be faxing out letters to read on air, she might want use a little bit nicer kind of letterhead. Maybe something with subtle off-white coloring, tasteful thickness and a watermark? Just a suggestion.

Rob Stone to replace Erin Andrews on the sidelines for Rutgers-Fresno State game (NJ.com)

You knew it was just a matter of time before some men's product swooped in and made Erin Andrews their spokesperson and the first company to do so is Gillette. The shaving cream company has a campaign through Major League Baseball called the "Gillette Rookie Reporter Showdown" in which 48 guys compete to win....well I can't quite figure it out actually. They do have an entire Erin Andrews section though and are using the following clever tagline for the contest....

ERIN ANDREWS- The hardest-working, sexiest sideline reporter in Major League Baseball® wants YOU!

Get it? She WANTS you! There are about 4,000 videos on the site with random guys doing reports, but it's the actual Gillette ad with Erin Andrews in a Baseball locker room that got my attention. Here it is for your enjoyment!

Again....I'm not quite sure what all of that is for, or what you can actually win, but here is by far the best feature on the site. You can print out your very own Erin Andrews baseball card! Don't think for a second that I'm not going to print this out and keep it in my pocket like Bob Costas does with that Micky Mantle card of his....


Gillette 2008 MLB Rookie Reporter Showdown (MLB)

(Thanks to JT for the tip)

I was waiting all night for EA or someone to joke on the whole dressgate (or whatever they're calling it) from last week, but alas....nothing. Well that's not entirely true. Rick Sutcliffe decided to make fun of Dave O'Brien's fancy tie last night, which prompted the following exchange....

"I'm going to leave the wardrobe comments alone this week OB."- Erin Andrews

My favorite part of that whole exchange was Dave O'Brien saying he never comments on EA's out and, to Sutcliffe, "as you should too." I think that's the perfect note to end this whole thing on.

Erin Andrews Wardrobe Watch 2008 (Awful Announcing)

(Thanks to HK for the clip)

Since I know some of you were interested in which direction would take this whole wardrobe thing, I think you have your answer. She's chosen yet another dress for tonight's Yanks-Rangers game. Just sharing, not commenting on it....


Erin Andrews Was A Clubhouse Distraction For The Cubs Last Night (Updated) (Awful Announcing)
Erin Andrews Talks About The Locker Room Incident (Awful Announcing)

We've obviously beat this story to death, but I wanted to share EA's side of things. She spoke with Michael Rand of the Star-Tribune earlier today and took the obvious stance of ignorance....

“These players are not into me like that,” Andrews said. “If anything, I think these guys look at me like a little sister or one of the guys. I don’t look at myself as a sex object. I’ve never carried myself in that way. I’m a girl that loves sports. I’m a tomboy. That’s the last thing on my mind when I’m in the clubhouse — worrying about players checking me out.”

Concludes Andrews: “I’m no dummy. I’m conscious that every day I have to prove myself. Being a woman, I thought at some point we were all past this. I’m not going to change. I can’t change. ESPN puts me on the best games not because of the way I look, but because they trust me. … The cool thing for me is that I trust ESPN with everything I have. I think that if I was conducting myself in a wrong manner, this would have been an issue a long time ago.”

I guess that's a fair assessment of the situation, but I always find it weird when people in Sports take the stance that people shouldn't consider them stars. If you're on television people are going to notice you and comment on you. That's even more the case if you're a woman. It isn't always fair, but it comes with the territory.

With that said, her claiming that wearing a short dress around men isn't going to distract them seems like someone saying what people want to hear. I still think that she likes the attention, but I could be wrong.

(Moving on....)

Erin Andrews: “My overall reaction is that it’s really sad.” (Randball)

Mike Nadel of the Peoria Journal-Star made so many waves with his piece on the distracting Erin Andres that ESPN found it necessary to release a brief statement. Well it's not really a statement at all, but more of a justification passage. From Norby Williamson via Deadspin....

"Erin is a tremendous reporter. She's a prepared and a hard-working journalist, who is well respected and asks excellent questions. We're proud to have her as an important part of our coverage team. Beyond that, we feel it's unnecessary to even respond to any of the specifics outlined."

Of course they wouldn't say anything different than that, but hopefully they got the message. I know not everyone is going to agree on this issue but her dresses reek of, "Hey you! Look at me!!!" It's not necessary and it distracts people from Andrews' good work that Norby mentioned above.

Nadel himself had this to say on the topic, and comes across like a geuinely good reporter that just got caught up in the moment....

I was expecting to write a baseball column Wednesday. But as the scenario unfolded in the clubhouse, I began to notice - it would have been impossible for me not to have. And when Cubs manager Lou Piniella saw Andrews and bellowed: "Hey, hey, hey! Look at this! Are you doing a baseball game today or a modeling assignment?" I realized that pretty much everybody was thinking exactly what I was thinking. In my mind, that made it a viable angle. (I also bounced the idea off my editor to make sure it worked.) As I've learned, A LOT OF PEOPLE CARE DEEPLY ABOUT ERIN ANDREWS. Many, a tad too deeply.

It'll be interesting to see what ESPN's approach to this will be considering their "any press is good press" approach, but I think we've learned one good thing from this whole thing. Enough Erin Andrews. It's time for everyone to take a break from her (including myself) and focus on something else for awhile.

Mike Nadel Got Your E-mail And Is Actually Quite A Reasonable Fellow (Deadspin)

I was trying not to do back to back posts on someone I've covered to death, but alas this story just needs to be examined. Erin Andrews obviously wears different outfits in the clubhouse, or on the sidelines, than traditional reporters and finally someone is calling her out because of it. Mike Nadel of the Peoria Journal Star wrote a piece this morning about how Erin Andrews was the fodder of Cubs' locker room talk and even refers to her as a sexpot....

Erin Andrews, the ESPN “it” babe who clearly isn’t afraid to flaunt it, sauntered around the visiting clubhouse, flitting from one Cubs player to another. Her skimpy outfit — designed to accentuate her, um, positives — had players leering at her. Some made lewd comments under their breath. Others giggled like 12-year-olds. More on that later, as the scene was just one part of Bizarro Wednesday at Miller Park.

Moments later, the blonde reporter was chatting with Alfonso Soriano. At one point, she placed her hand suggestively on Soriano’s left biceps. Was I reading too much into all this? I don’t think so. I’ve been a paid observer for a long time ... and I wasn’t exactly the only one who noticed. As two Cubs stood near their lockers, one asked the other: “Hot? Or just attractive? Does she do anything for you?” The inquisitor then made eye contact with me as if saying — to use a term my uncle might have — “Hubba-hubba!”

This went on for at least an hour. Finally, Piniella emerged from his office, ready for his dugout media session. As he turned the corner, there was Andrews in all of her bare-legged, high-heeled, low-necklined glory. “Hey, hey, hey! Look at this!” Piniella said, loudly and excitedly. “Are you doing a baseball game today or a modeling assignment?”

Did she really feel playing the sexpot was necessary to practice journalism? She is good-looking enough and has enough of a high-profile job that she would get plenty of interviews and attention even if she showed up in a burlap sack.

Guys acting like this in locker rooms is nothing new, but like Nadel said, she's talented enough to leave the short dresses at home. It's a shame if she feels she HAS TO use this method, but hey....it's her career and body. She's already wearing thin on myself and other websites, and with this method it'll just be a matter of time before she's "phased out" in the Sports World. I don't know if someone is tell her to wear these things (last night's above), but they might want to tell her to tone it down a bit....


(See also: Jill Arington)

Update: Another shot via Deadspin....


Nadel: Blonde bombshell can't distract red-hot Cubs (PJ Star)
Erin Andrews - what she was wearing that got the Chicago Cubs and Lou Piniella all bothered (Stiles Points)

I have to admit that while some of these are insanely lame, they're still making me chuckle from time to time. Here's our good friend Steve singing a little diddy for Erin Andrews during last night's game....

I wonder if he wrote that down first and then thought, "Hey, what song would this work with? Oh I know...Werewolves in London!" Steve's been pretty entertaining to say the least but if you haven't enjoyed him, at least it's different than seeing the same thing over and over again.

Oh and just so you know, they're not even halfway done with these spots. There's over two hundred more to come.

Hot Clicks features a look inside Erin Andrews' time at Fan Fest today and it's equally interesting and creepy. Apparently High Pitch Erik from the Howard Stern Show was on hand and not only did he ask for EA's phone number but he invited her on the show....

We watched her interact with fans of all ages, including a baby who didn't want to be held by Andrews (he'll regret that later in life) and a middle-aged man who just stood about a foot away from Andrews and stared at her for about a full minute while shaking his head in disbelief and commenting over and over about how much prettier she is in person (which is true, but the scene was still creepy). But the highlight (or maybe, lowlight) was when Howard Stern wack packer High Pitch Erik stepped up. The longtime Stern character didn't get a picture taken with Andrews. He just asked her who she was and if she wanted to go on Stern's show. When Andrews told him that the show should go through ESPN to book her as a guest, he then asked her for her phone number. Seriously.

If ESPN approves Andrews' appearance on Howard Stern, I will lose my s**t. You know what though? Stern is probably the only person that wouldn't get the same rehearsed answers from her. Let's make this happen.

Hangin' With Erin Andrews (Hot Clicks)

Nothing really exciting happened in this clip below but I thought you'd still like to see the King and Queen of the prom speaking to their Court. Enjoy!

The two of them together on the screen is just too much. There's so much hotness and cool oozing through your computer right now isn't there? And again, I don't know how a city that doesn't have any professional teams would win something called Titletown, but okay.

I had this pic emailed to me late last night and all I know is that the TV is already set for July 14th when ESPN's airs the Gainesville edition of Titletown....


I really don't have anything clever to add to this photo, so feel free to make it an impromptu caption contest. Keep it (relatively) clean people.

Yes! I love when information surrounding "celebrity" games comes out. It's such a random collection of people and you can almost make out the bad jokes and terrible interactions ahead of time. Well lucky for us this year is no different. I give you the 2008 Taco Bell Legends and Celebrity Softball Game participants....

Celebrities scheduled to participate include Chris Rock, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Spike Lee, Andy Roddick, George Lopez and James Denton; legends include Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Goose Gossage, Ozzie Smith, Dave Winfield and more, along with Yankees legends Tino Martinez and Paul O’Neill. Kenny Mayne (miked during the game) will participate as a player/manager, with Gary Thorne (play-by-play), analyst Rick Sutcliffe and reporter Erin Andrews.

You know what? That's not a half bad group of people. Well, if you get rid of Billy Crystal. Also, it'll be interesting to see if Rick Sutcliffe keeps his eyes on the action as opposed to EA's dress choice. Good times! The action gets underway after the Home Run Derby (more info coming on this in the next post) next Monday.

(Via ESPN PR)

Man I'm starting to feel bad for this girl. She can't go more than ten minutes at a ballpark with either a fan, player or colleague hitting on her. Well last night at during the Sox-Rays game it was Dickie V's turn...

Not all that out of the ordinary, but I'm waiting for EA to freak out on some unsuspecting guy who just wants to buy her a beer. "NO! I am not interested in your penis!!!" (If you get that reference +1 to you). Be careful out there boys.

I'm probably just as sick of Erin Andrews news as you are, but when someone takes the time to make something this creepy I have to give it some play. A website named Stoopster is trying to capitalize on EA's fame with this new t-shirt....


Obviously the next logical step is to get this shirt on an ESPN broadcast, but seriously people....let's take a break from EA shall we?

The "Mr. Erin Andrews" T-shirt (Stoopster)
We Haven't Mentioned Erin Andrews All Week (Hot Clicks)

A weird exchange took place during last nights ESPN Baseball game between Rick Sutcliffe and Erin Andrews last night. The conversation started with Dave O'Brien commenting on the color of Andrews' dress and ended with Rick Sutcliffe talking about her skirt possibly blowing up and people staring at her during batting practice. Seriously. Via Big League Stew....

I love Rick's attitude towards his battle with Cancer, but good lord he made OB a little uncomfortable at the end there didn't he? Not to mention how much of a stoner he sounded like when he said, "I've got a new favorite color, I know that, man."

Just a bit more than awkward there, and I'm sure EA doesn't mind it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sut got a talking to before his break. USS Mariner though thinks the penalty should be a little harsher.

Rick Sutcliffe is concerned for Erin Andrews' skirt in Chicago (Big League Stew)
Rick Sutcliffe is a horrible person and ESPN’s no better (USS Mariner)

Umm....

So last night, Erin Andrews -- the Erin Andrews who said we were "so cute" (here's the url if you don't believe us: http://misterirrelevant.com/index.php/2008/06/03/blog-show-no-51-espns-erin-andrews/) -- was on Jimmy Kimmel's special NBA Finals pregame show. Within five minutes of Andrews appearance, this e-mail, from Neel, of Brantford, Ontario, landed in our inbox: "If you do not make great mention of Erin Andrews on Kimmel, I do not check Hot Clicks from this day onwards as per my usual work procrastination schedule. Wow. Just Wow. Saying more would be an injustice." Here's the reason Neel was so flustered. And for those of you who would personally like to tell Erin how great she looked, she says you can call her at 973-409-3327.

Wow. I'm scared to call it. Anyone want to take the chance while I ask Jimmy Traina what's going on?

Update: Okay that was kind of funny. Call the number if you can and I'll say what it was in the comments.

Speaking Of Imaginary Girlfriends... (SI)

Erin Andrews was in DC for the Scripps National Spelling Bee this past Friday, so the Blog Show decided to try and get the Internet sensation (well blogging sensation) on the show. She agreed.

Watch as the guys (try to) act cool around her, talk to her about people grabbing her, and telling her to start a blog.

Wow, I'm going to be honest here but that Steinz line about posting photos in the workout clothes kind of creeped me out. I love you DS, but that one was a little out of left field. Anywho, she really seems like a genuinely good person (and she wonders why everyone is in love with her?) and that was a great interview.

Blog Show No. 51: ESPN’s Erin Andrews (Mister Irrelevant)

So the Scripps National Spelling Bee is in full swing this morning and people are getting knocked out a feverous pace. Erin Andrews is on hand and Chris McKendry is doing her best to make analogies to Sports to make the viewing audience interested. She seriously compared the Dr. Jacques Bailly to a pitcher throwing a no-hitter after nine people in a row got the word wrong. Good stuff.

The current word is xerach, and I'm currently praying for some kid to pass out either at the mic or when EA interviews them. Until that happens please be trying your hands at spelling obscure NBA or MLB names!

1st Annual Ball Don't Lie NBA Spelling Bee (Ball Don't Lie)
Addition of MLB player names expected to wreak havoc at National Spelling Bee (The Sports Hernia)

It's good to see Erin Andrews dressed in bee colors for the Spelling Bee....


Please to be spelling for me....Travis DIENER.....

Who knew that Travis was a laboratory assistant? Good times. Now if they fit in Krzyzewski I'll be really impressed.

I don't know how we all missed this but Erin Andrews was on CNBC's Big Idea last week for a sit down with Donny Deutsch. Lucky for us The Sports Point has pulled the video....

She's not really saying anything different than she has in past interviews, but it's interesting to see how far she's come. Why is she on CNBC again? Next thing you know she's going to be on Leno or Letterman. Just crazy.

Erin Andrews Knows We Love Her (The Sports Point)

Interviewers have been trying to get inside what Erin Andrews likes in a man and Men's Health finally has an answer for all you hornballs....

I have no problem with a guy who uses products—I'm for whatever regime works, from cleanser to moisturizer, even eye cream or toner. And I don't see it often but I love when players lather up the SPF. There's nothing sexier than a man protecting himself from skin cancer.

In getting to know a man, the face is a great place to start. I work in an industry that praises guys for playing gritty, getting physical, going all out. Needless to say, I don't mind a scar or two on the face; it's part of the life. In my opinion, a man has no need to be self-conscious or to hide it. It shows character, and we could all use more of that.

Whooooo! Protecting yourself from UV rays is soooooo hot these days! I'm not saying I'm disappointed in her answer, but geesh....eye cream??? Come on. Oh wait I just read the title of the article.....nevermind.....

"There's nothing hotter than a guy who has the confidence to take a quick shower." (Men's Health via Hot Clicks)