About the author

czabe

Steve Czaban is a 25 year sports radio veteran, who hosts an afternoon drive show in Washington D.C. "Czabe" also writes and edits his own commentaries for www.czabe.com and other on-line and print publications. He can be reached at czabe@yahoo.com.

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3 Comments

  1. 1

    Matt D.

    Czabe, do you find it at all hypocritical of guys like Golic are talking on the radio about how women know sports and have every right to ask questions in the locker room without the sexist attitudes, but say that guys like Kornheiser don’t have any place in the booth because they never played pro ball? I’ll hang up and listen to your response.

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  2. 2

    Cail Corishev

    Steve, you were right, Cam is a douche. He’ll be fine, though. The league isn’t going to come down on him now, when they’re having a hard enough time keeping hundreds of their players from flipping off the flag before games. No, sexism doesn’t trump racism right now. Maybe last year.

    The problem with women sports reporters isn’t that they ask about things like routes; it’s that they usually don’t. This reporter didn’t either; after throwing in some jargon, she asked how Cam felt about his teammate’s improved play. That’s what they constantly ask: how so-and-so felt about such-and-such that happened. It’s no surprise, because that’s what women are interested in. When they’re not asking about feelings, they’re asking open-ended questions like, “What do you need to do better in the second half?” Which amounts to, “Could you do my job for me?”

    There are exceptions. Dottie Pepper and Linda Cohn ask real, relevant questions about the play, and they get real insights from players. But most of them don’t, so it’s no surprise that the players don’t take them seriously. They just manage to hide it better most of the time.

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  3. 3

    Cary Clayborn

    Gotta say that this post really surprised me, Czabe. I didn’t peg you for one to jump on the overreaction bandwagon on something like this.
    First ….. should Cam have said what he said in that press conference? No.
    Second …. was what he said completely incorrect? I don’t think so.

    I don’t think he at all was going with the “you never played the game” angle. Not at all.
    “My uncle was admitted to the hospital today, which is ‘funny’ because I saw him last night and everything seemed fine”. Is it truly ‘funny’ that my uncle has been hospitalized? Of course not! It’s very surprising though.
    THAT is what Cam meant. It’s surprising to hear a woman talk in depth about wide receiver routes, only because it’s not something you hear everyday. And face the facts, it’s NOT something you hear every day in the real world. It doesn’t mean that a woman is incapable of learning football (of course), it’s just still surprising when a woman REALLY knows football. I can honestly say that in all of my professional career, I can never remember one single female co-worker of mine EVER joining in any sort of in depth sports discussion. Ever! I have three sisters, and I would be very surprised if any of them ever tried to intelligently speak about the finer details of the cover 2 defense. Just like I would be surprised and find it ‘funny’ if the dude in the cubicle next to me at work came in talking about how he couldn’t wait to watch tonight’s Hallmark Channel move of the week. Nothing wrong with it ….. just not something you hear everyday. Thus …. ‘funny’.
    Like it or not, there are still things in our society that are considered feminine, and there are things that are considered masculine. And it is surprising when someone doesn’t fit in to that mold, only because it is not all that common.
    If I go home tonight and start asking my wife about her particular choice in makeup or hair products, you can bet she will find it ‘funny’.
    Maybe it’s a southern slang to use the word ‘funny’ like that … I don’t know. But like Cam, I am from the Atlanta area and it made perfect sense to me.
    I totally respect women who are in sports journalism and work hard at their craft! I think it’s awesome. They are still the vast minority, however, and I’m sure it does feel funny to these extremely masculine guys to have a woman ask them details about wide receiver routes.
    Just my two cents … I’ll hang up and listen.
    – CARY

    Reply

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