FSN's Sam Marchiano told Keith Olbermann last night she
received a request for a photo from Playboy to participate
in the magazine's "Hottest Sports Babe" online poll.
Marchiano: "I chose not to participate. In a television
climate that currently exalts the 'Sports Babe,' this was
quite possibly a poor career move (for me). So be it. At
the risk of sounding like Charles Barkley: I am not a sex
symbol. ... Many female sportscasters share my belief.
Others do not. I feel sorry for them. They just don't get
it. ... No, I'm not a sex symbol. I'm a reporter."
Olbermann told viewers, "Don't participate in the poll.
Instead, judge my colleagues as you have been kind enough to
judge me and the other men in this business: Not on how any
of us look, but on how we have, or have not, informed you"
("Keith Olbermann Evening News," FSN, 12/10). In Oakland,
Art Spander wrote that the poll "does a disservice to every
woman sports journalist, beautiful or not." Playboy Sports
Editor Blair Fisher, when asked if he believed the women
receiving the most votes would pose nude, said, "I think
everyone has his (sic) price." Spander added, "The price
the contestants in the Playboy poll will pay is greater than
they might imagine" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 12/10). On ESPN's
"The Sports Reporters," Mitch Albom said, "The truth is,
most sports fans are men. Men like looking at pretty women
and TV execs picked up on this long before Playboy. All the
magazine did is strum a nerve between the serious
broadcasters and the Barbie dolls. Which is which? Well,
here's an acid test, ladies. Ask your boss what happens if
you win the poll. Should you pose nude? If the boss says,
'We think it would be good for the show,' you can bet you're
not there for your brain" ("The Sports Reporters," 12/10).
In Orlando, Jerry Greene wondered, "Harmless immaturity --
or disgusting sexism setting back sportscasting a million
years? Well, let me point out that none of these women is
likely to suffer from this. Because as they say in showbiz:
Exposure, exposure, exposure" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/9).
