I mentioned at the beginning of the month that Fanhouse had decided to use the WNBA as an advertising vehicle, and more recently that they chose to broadcast a curious set of ads for their new Fantasy Football product, but I think this current move is the biggest head-scratcher of them all. I give you the "'House's Fantasy Sports Girls"....

It all makes total sense now. Look, no site on the Internet is without sin when it comes to objectifying women. An attractive woman like Erin Andrews will bring hits to a site, and that's just a known fact. But what we saw above is just wrong on so many levels.

Fanhouse has employed a ton of very talented females involved in editing and content since its inception and this has to be a slap in their collective face. Even more disturbing is that AOL's recent deal with the WNBA included a sponsorship of the league's "Dads and Daughters Program" that will, "celebrate the special connection between dads and daughters by inviting them to experience female athleticism at its best." I'm sure they'd love to come across this trashy video.

The real reason this is such a shame though, is that Fanhouse was one of the sites that brought huge credibility to all Sports Blogs. There's room for all types of websites in the 'Sphere (yes even the dirty and profane), but when a great site with all sorts of talented writers (of both genders and all backgrounds) gives up a respectable model and decides to drop multiple employees and content for something like that....it's just downright depressing. This is a far cry from the engine that Jamie Mottram developed as a positive outlet for Sports fans back in 2006.

I think you'll see more and more of your favorite names disappearing from the site over the weeks to come (which will add to a growing list) as Fanhouse tries to emulate the oh so successful BDSSP model. Good luck with that.

Fantasy Sports Girls in the 'House (AOL Fanhouse)
WNBA and AOL Partner to Honor Dads & Daughters During 2008 Season (WNBA)
The WNBA Has Some Interesting Advertisers (Awful Announcing)
Sports Blogs Are So Meta (Awful Announcing)

I am an unabashed fan of College Softball. For some reason 200 foot fences and players high-fiving at the mound after every out is extremely exciting. Anywho, the Women's College World Series is starting up this Thursday and none other than John Kruk will be an analyst for most of the games on ESPN.

ESPN’s coverage of the entire Women’s College World Series – up to 17 games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com beginning Thursday, May 29 – will feature ESPN’s John Kruk as a game analyst on 10 games, including the best-of-three Championship. Kruk, an analyst on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight studio show and select MLB games, will work with Beth Mowins and analyst Jessica Mendoza, a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist and member of the U.S. team headed for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

ESPN’s 27th consecutive year of televising the event will also include Eric Collins and analyst Michele Smith, a two-time U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist (2000 and 1996), calling games. Smith will work as a field-level pitching reporter on the best-of-three Championship. Holly Rowe will serve as the field reporter on every game.

That's a very interesting collection of announcers, but it could be pretty fun. Here's the schedule if you care about that sort of thing.....

Thursday, May 29

1 p.m.- Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Florida- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
3 p.m.- Virginia Tech vs. Texas A&M-Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
7 p.m.- Arizona State vs. Alabama- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)
9 p.m.- Arizona vs. UCLA- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)

Friday, May 30

7 p.m.- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)
9 p.m.- Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN2)

Saturday, May 31

Noon- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
2 p.m.- Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
7 p.m.- Game 6 loser vs. Game 7 winner- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)
9 p.m.- Game 5 loser vs. Game 8 winner- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)

Sunday, June 1

1 p.m.- Game 5 winner vs. Game 9 winner- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
3 p.m.- Game 6 winner vs. Game 10 winner- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)
7 p.m.- Game 13* - If Necessary- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)
9 p.m.- Game 14* - If Necessary- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN2)

Monday, June 2

8 p.m.- Championship – Game 1- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)

Tuesday, June 3

8 p.m.- Championship – Game 2- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)

Wednesday, June 4

8 p.m.- Championship – Game 3*- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)

* If necessary

(Via ESPN PR)

Whoooo! I now know how I'm spending my afternoon!!! It's that time of the year folks! The time that I don't know the WNBA Draft is coming on until a randomly surf by it changing channels!!!! All the Stars are out for this momentous occasion and I'll be live-blogging the whole thing*.

ESPN2 will televise live the first round of the 2008 WNBA Draft presented by adidas Wednesday, April 9, at 1 p.m. Pam Ward will host the one-hour telecast, from Palm Harbor, Fla., with analysts Doris Burke, Carolyn Peck and Nancy Lieberman and reporter Rebecca Lobo.

So if you're near a TV right now and you want to watch teams such as the Lynx, the Monarchs, and the Dream draft players you've probably never heard of....then by all means turn it to ESPN2.

(Via ESPN PR)

*- There's no way in hell I would ever do this and/or subject you to that.

I know it's kind of played out to make fun of Women's Sports but it's just so damn funny at times. This is a clip from the sketch comedy show West Palm Wrestling on MTV from last night (I was waiting for Human Giant to come on....I swear!) and it's a look into the new video game sensation that's sweeping the Nation!!!

Very Jordan vs. Bird like, but I like it!

I'm not posting this to poke fun at Women's Sports in any, but just to point out how having a Studio Team with no energy doesn't do it any favors. Sure the Women's Tourney only had two upsets outside of the 8-9 matchups and the top three seeds and each region won by an average of just under 31 points, but seriously ladies....give me something to work with here....

Kara Lawson has to be just about the most boring person on the planet. Stacey Dales was trying, but I just about fell asleep by the time she started talking about scrappiness. I don't care what the Sport is, can we get at least some people who are the least bit excited to be making six figures and talking about games?

I always thought March Madness was simple and a perfect moniker for the Month long Championship run and the Sweet Sixteen has a nice ring to it as well. Then people started trying to name other things in the same vein....The Frozen Four (okay, i'll let that one slide), the Elite Eight (same), and etc. Naming things like this has kind of jumped the shark if you ask me.

Well ESPN is trying to coin another one like those above......February Frenzy (seriously)....

February Frenzy features a total of 16 teams (11 of which appeared in the 2007 NCAA Tournament), including Kay Yow’s N.C. State squad hosting Boston College during the 4 p.m. block. The eight games will be regionalized throughout the country with frequent switches to and updates from the other games as action dictates. In the16 home markets of the competing teams, ESPN2 will start and remain with the game of local interest. ESPN360.com, ESPN’s broadband digital sports network, will offer every game in its entirety.

In addition, ESPN2’s Big Monday telecast on the next day, Monday, Feb. 11, will also serve as a platform to support the initiative. The prime-time game-of-the-week for women’s college basketball will feature a rematch of last year’s National Championship contest, #7 Rutgers at #2 Tennessee at 7 p.m. Mark Jones, Carolyn Peck and Rebecca Lobo will call the game live from Knoxville.

Okay, whoever greenlit that needs to be fired. First off, the last thing I think about when I think about Women's Basketball is frenzy....wait come to think of it, with all of the missed shots and scrums on the floor that's actually a perfect name. I take it back.

I kid I kid. It's for charity so that can't be a bad thing. Here are the games and announcers if you care about that sort of thing....

Februaray 10th- ESPN2/ESPN360.com

2 p.m.: #21 Georgia at #8 LSU- Mark Jones and Carolyn Peck
East Carolina at UTEP- Lou Canellis and Nancy Lieberman
#16 Oklahoma State at Nebraska- Pam Ward and Brenda VanLengen
#15 Pittsburgh at #17 Notre Dame- Bob Picozzi and Fran Frashcilla

4 p.m.: Boston College at N.C. State- Beth Mowins and Jimmy Dykes
#19 Ohio State at Wisconsin- Dave Barnett and Stephen Bardo
Washington at UCLA- Jon Sciambi and Mary Murphy
Louisville at #25 DePaul- Dave O’Brien and Rebecca Lobo

(Source: ESPN)

This just completely threw me for a loop yesterday. I knew Gus Johnson had done some coverage for Women's College Basketball (which he did Saturday) but now CBS has Bill Cowher working overtime and providing insight for the Sport...

There's nothing really wrong with using him for extra coverage considering his wife was a professional BBall player and his daughter plays for Princeton, but the timing was pretty odd. This clip aired about 5 minutes before the NFL Today Pregame Show.

Cowher wasn't on set at first so the group had Charlie Casserly there to fill in. By the time he was on camera CBS had the rare and pointless 6-man desk. They couldn't even move their arms.

Back in 2000 ex-ESPNer Jill Arrington won the first ever Sexiest Sportscaster Contest put on by Playboy and proceeded to disappear from the face of the earth. Well almost 8 years later they're back with their second installment and here are the 12 Ladies you have to choose from....

You can click below for a larger version if you can't see the entrants, but the rundown is:

Erin Andrews, Colleen Dominguez, Alex Flanagan, Shana Hiatt, Jamie Little, Hazel Mae, Rachel Nichols, Lisa Salters, Lindsay Soto, Sage Steele, Krista Voda, and Jeanne Zelasko.

I had to look up a few of those candidates up (namely Soto and Little), but I think we all know who's taking home the crown. That's right folks.....Lisa Salters! I kid, all are beautiful women and take their jobs very seriously (although Playboy could have done a better job picking the photos).

If you're asking where the likes of Bonnie Bernstein and Pam Oliver are.....Playboy doesn't repeat any of it's entrants and they were all in the First Edition (Angie Arlati, Jill Arrington, Jillian Barberie, Bonnie Bernstein, Lisa Guerrero, Inga Hammond, Pam Oliver, Summer Sanders, Melissa Stark, and Hannah Storm)

Feel free to head over to Playboy and vote, but for the results you could just head over to The Big Picture for the "Would You Do Tourney" and save yourself some time.

America's Sexiest Sportscaster (Playboy.com)

(SFW and thanks to C-Mott for tip)

SbB gives us a sneak peak at Amanda Beard's new Go Daddy ad, and I must say....I'm kinda bored with her and Go Daddy in general. But if you can still stand her.....here it is.....

Amanda Beard "Shock" Go Daddy Commercial (Sports by Brooks)

Back a few weeks ago I let you know that the "program" known as the Best Damn Sports Show Period is likely to be done for good by spring. Well apparently Producers got wind of this and are trying one last ditch effort to get viewers from the 18-34 male demographic. They've hired Swimmer and recent Playboy Covergirl Amanda Beard to be a "correspondent".

Among her new roles will be to do interviews and features from the World Series, Super Bowl, the Allstate BCS National Championship Game, Daytona 500 and other big events.

“Amanda’s personality fits in perfectly with the show,” said John Entz, executive producer. “She has a great sense of humor, other athletes love talking with her, and she’s a natural in front of the camera.”

Umm, great.....Alyssa Milano Version 2.0. Actually.....I guess there's nothing REALLY wrong with that. Just don't have pop up video interviews all over the place like on MLB.com. Oh wait....BDSSP doesn't have a website what am I saying? Oh crap, they do.....look at that. You learn something new everyday.

FSN Sports Show Nabs Beard (Media Week)

UPDATE: According to a source close to the hiring let me know that the deal has been in the works for months actually and not a recent effort. At least they're trying at FOX. I'm rooting for you personally.

Three posts back I was talking about how woman aren't respected in Sports and Suzyn Waldman's crying was not helping them at all. Everyone knows that men run the Sports World and it's extra tough to get ahead if you're a woman....that's just a fact. Well Frank Deford's latest piece on Monday Night Football proves my point for me perfectly....

So, on Monday night football, I love it when the sideline announcers are allowed on stage for a moment or two. Sideline announcers are sports television's way of acknowledging that women can now be let out of the kitchen. Sideline announcers are role models for little girls. And I love sideline announcers myself. Not because they are women, but because they have women's voices. I finally come to life when I hear a sideline announcer. I am like a dog who can suddenly hear a shrill sound no human being can.

It is babblebabblebabbleboth-feet-were-inboundsbabblebabble/safetyblitz/yadayada/
two-tight-ends-clock-management/yadayada and then (in falsetto) babblebabblebabble/concussion-team-trainer-babblebabble/turf-toe-gone-to-the
-locker-room/yadayada/halftime-pep-talk.

Wow. Thanks Frank. First of all, whether you're being sarcastic or not, the women/kitchen line....uhh that's not kosher. Second, like I said above....thanks for proving my point.

It's people like Deford that discredit and make a joke about women in Sports to keep them down. So when crying is looked at mostly as a "Female Emotion" (I don't necessarily believe that...just stating the facts), it's not going to help any women in Sports if you do it on the air. Look I'm not a fan of Sideline Reporters either, but you can't go off the deep end with remarks like this. I've always enjoyed Deford in the past, but I think I'll change the channel/turn the page when he's featured.

Three's a crowd (CNNSI)

P.S.- You can't tell the MNF Announcers apart? Really???

P.P.S.- I wonder how your lovely wife (pictured above) feels about that comment?

I can't believe the fervor this story has created, but it's gotten all the way to the person herself. Suzyn Waldman addressed her on-air crying in an interview with Newsday's Neil Best, and I have to tell you......I respect her even less. You would think that after someone goes back and listens to themselves....after a breakdown like that....they would make an apology, say they went a bit over-the-top and we'd all move on. But of course not.....not within the Sports Media. Before I tear her argument apart get into the quotes I just want to make just one thing clear......

To me this is not a woman/man issue (and was never portrayed that way on this site) on the surface, or a local/national broadcaster issue. This is about being professional at what you do, and remembering that this is just a game. Just wanted that to be known.......onto her reaction....

"This one's getting me angry, because I don't play this card a lot, but this is as sexist as it gets," the Yankees' radio analyst said Wednesday. "What's the big damn deal? That I cried for four seconds of a 10-minute postgame?

"The idea that I can't choke up because a man I went through cancer with 11 years ago is going to lose his job and I was describing his coaches crying? It's absolutely ludicrous."

Here's the thing Suzyn, and everyone....the criticism from this site has NOTHING to do with you/her being a woman! Nothing at all. If John Madden cried on-air after Brett Farve retired, I would have (and everyone other right-minded individual would) hammer him too. As a newscaster/broadcaster/journalist covering Sports you don't cry unless someone has died or there's a National Tradgedy. You just don't! Why do I have to explain to anyone that what you/she did was unprofessional? It's a game.....A GAME! Why can't people (especially Sports Talking Heads) EVER admit when they do/say something wrong?

As far as everyone else......Women should be just downright pissed at you/her. You/everyone knows that people already discredit and demean women in Sports. Think Lisa Olson in the Patriots locker room or more recently Suzy Kolber and Joe Namath. When women are already relegated to the sideline, and not given opportunities like you to be in a booth, incidents like this (and everything Pam Ward says) make it even harder for the Pam Olivers, Suzy Kolbers, and Erin Andrews of the world. I have no idea whether they want the opportunity to be in the booth or not, but they sure the hell deserve it. I don't think that being a woman has any bearing on whether you should be a lead play by play person, but you know the rest of the world does.

"I'm not Walter Cronkite," she said. "Who are these arbiters of journalism who are. ripping me on the radio?"

"I take it seriously that I am a conduit between that locker room and fans," she said. "Every person was so busy ripping me for crying, they didn't hear what I was saying. ... If I got choked up doing it, so what?"

See it's quotes like this that make me lose all respect for someone. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! We couldn't understand what was going on because we couldn't get over the fact that a grown person interrupted a broadcast by crying on-air. Suz, we're people and fans who understand that what you did was ridiculous and unprofessional (well most of us). For some reason broadcasting is all about shock and awe now, and your over-the-top antics have caught up with you. Homerism is one thing, but this is/was just a joke. Local broadcasts have turned into just person after person trying to get ESPN to notice them. Well guess what? Combine this with your WWF Roger Clemens rant......they've noticed you.....and Sports Center mocked you. Congratulations.

Sorry but that's the bottom line.

(Yes, pun intended)

Waldman defends her on-air tears (Newsday)
Suzyn Waldman Cries On-Air Following Yankees Defeat (Awful Announcing)

UPDATE: For another hard hitting report watch this YouTube Clip from the Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society of Gentleman.....

Leave Joe Torre Alone!