I am watching the pre-game show for the Lakers Suns. I have watched a lot of Ernie Johnson over the years and we know that he has battled cancer, and I like him. He is such a basketball nerd, that it is endearing. But his face has changed, and there is some disfigurement. I am wondering if it were a woman that had been the host, and then all of a sudden her face was disfigured in the same way, would she be kept on the air? I can't imagine that happening. I like Ernie and I am glad that he is still on the air, but I just can't imagine that if a woman underwent a similar transformation if any network would keep her on the air.
In the news business there are a lot of old wrinkled women as well as old wrinkled men. I think that sports journalism is just a little farther behind in its development. Cheryl Miller will likely still be around when she’s old and not as attractive because people will have gotten used to her as a personality. And Namath’s tastes aside, Suzy Kolber is by no means a classic beauty.
I agree, but most of those women are reporters, and not manning the desk. In addition I wonder if they started out one way, and then underwent events that altered their face, and weight, if they would be kept.
Ahh, its just too much playoff basketball. There are so many good series in this first round, that I guess I am getting a little obsessive about it. My wife was actually the one who mentioned it and got me thinking about it.
That’s a good question. Katie Couric is going to be an anchor now, isn’t she? So maybe we’re just seeing that start to happen with prominent news anchors. I suspect that in sports if someone was enough of a personality that they would be kept around. Eye candy is an attraction, though, subconsciously if not consciously, so I suspect that entry level sportscasters will mostly be lookers.
If she was one of the hosts, it'd be pretty noticeable if they just got rid of her all of a sudden, and it'd be bad press if they did it, indirectly, because of an illness. Sports media is just as opinionated as any other form (remember the "controversy" about the WNBA drafting lists of all of its married players?) so there would definitely be complaints, editorials and talk radio commentary about something like this. Now, if her Q rating dropped because of her face, then the network might be justified in firing her (although Gloria Allred might have something to day about it).
It isn't like Ernie was hired based on his looks. If your only asset is that you are good looking (like Gillian Barberie or Melissa Stark) then losing your looks is not going to be good for your career. If you were hired without regard to your appearance, then looking worse than your previous not-great appearance will not hurt your prospects as much. In addition to that factor, the majority of the audience for Inside the NBA is probably hetero males (because there are more hetero males than homo males and more male NBA fans than female) who don't really care what Ernie or any of the other dudes on the show look like.
Yeah I agree that most people don't care what Ernie looks like. But if there was a female who was good at hosting from the desk and talking b-ball with Kenny and Charles, and also good looking, would she keep her job if 1/4 of her face ballooned up and she put on some pouds? I think pouhe had a good point about if their rating dropped because of it. Maybe it isn't the network that is so sexist but the nation as a whole, or sports fans as a whole.
