As Cammi Granato "struggles in her first year as the
Kings' radio color announcer," Bill Plaschke of the L.A.
TIMES wrote that "it is unfair to criticize her for being
something she can never be. Namely, a man." Plaschke wrote
that listeners "aren't used" to a woman's voice yet and
added, "Is she smooth on the air? No. Her comments are
often rushed, forced. And sometimes she states the obvious.
But is any jock smooth during the first months in the booth?
Shouldn't we give her the same respect and patience afforded
the ex-hockey player she replaced, former color announcer
Mike Allison?" Granato: "I'm the first to admit that people
are hammering me. And yeah, it's tough for me. ... But what
I say is, 'This builds character.'" Plaschke noted that the
first question posed to Granato during her first postgame
call-in show was, "Cammi, what percentage of Olympic hockey
players are lesbians?" Granato: "I was like, man, I guess
I'm just putting myself out there to be criticized." A
letter last week in the L.A. TIMES read, "Did anyone from
the Kings front office ever think to give Cammi Granato a
tryout before naming her to the radio broadcast team?"
Plaschke: "Granato knows the sport as well as even the most
knowledgeable fan. Listen to her for 30 minutes and you
will learn something. ... The problem is that she has yet to
fully understand how to tell us" (L.A. TIMES, 11/11).
