Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better.

Throughout history we have seen women prove that they can do just about anything that man can do. They have stepped on the moon, made medical breakthroughs, and held a stable job to support their family. One field that has taken some work is the world of sports, or what men would like to call their "domain." Ofcourse women have played in their own leagues and broadcasted on their own games, but at what point did we branch into men's sports...

Her name was Phyllis George and she was the Miss America winner in 1971. It was in 1974 that she was hired on at CBS and one year later promoted to the cast of NFL Today as one of the first woman with a leading role in a sports broadcast. After George there was Jayne Kennedy who was the first African American woman with a role in TV sports and the first reporter to be on the cover of Playboy magazine. As you can see the beginning roles of women in sports was to be a pretty face on TV and someone for all of the men viewers to fantasize over. It wasn't until Leslie Visser in 1984 that a woman looking to enter the sports broadcast world was hired. Accoring to the Doug Mead, featured columnist for The Bleacher Report, she is the only person to ever cover the Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series, Monday Night Football, the Superbowl, the Olympics, and the US Open network broadcasts. A number of female athletes branched over to men's sports including tennis player, Mary Carillo, Canadian hockey player, Cassie Campbell, and basketball player, Doris Burke. Some of the more recent women include one of the first sideline reports Bonnie Bernstein, Lisa Guerrero, and Erin Andrews.

 

Many of the women listed above have set themselves apart from the men in the field and even been titled some of the best in their specific sport. If there is any doubt that women do not belong in sports broadcast just take a moment to view some of their tape or check the ratings on broadcasts that include women versus those who don't. We have a role in sports and I don't think there is a man around now that could deny that.