Wednesday, February 24, 2010

pardon the interruption...

Upon driving home from my swim this afternoon, i was enlightened to find out that, Tony Kornheiser, the co-host of ESPN's 'Pardon the Interruption' has been suspended for on-air comments he made on his ESPN Radio show regarding Sportscenter anchor Hannah Storm...

The Washington Post, (incidentally Kornheiser's other day job—he is a columnist), reports about the incident here. It seems Kornheiser commented on the wardrobe of Storm, while she anchored the morning program that runs live, and back to back on the network. ESPN, in the infinite wisdom, took the knee jerk/politcally correct route in suspending Kornheiser from his late afternoon TV program which he hosts with friend and co-writer Michael Wilbom. Kornheiser has personally apologized to Storm for his comments and continues to host his own radio show...

While i have multiple issues with ESPN, and its parent company Disney, i do not have an issue with Kornheiser or PTI. Its one the few produced programs i watch on the network. As for Storm, i find her to be a conscientious anchor and reporter, as she has been throughout her career which began on NBC as an anchor of that networks sports updates, and my issue is not with her. She is free to wear what she or whatever her wardrobe assistant decides is appropriate for her work on-air. My issue is with ESPN for propagating a classic example of a double standard...

sex sells, like it or not, sex sells like pancakes at IHOP. If we are to believe that Storm's wardrobe is not picked out with the issue of aesthetic, including sexuality, in mind, then we must be made to believe that the Brooklyn Bridge is indeed for sale. Not many among us walk out of our doors without thinking or at least wanting to look good to others, let alone stand in front of a television camera for three hours...

the question is whether this would be an issue if, say, Joan Rivers, or Tyra Banks made mention of the appropriateness of Storm's outfit? How about Isaac Mizrahi or Michael Kors?...

Woman reporters and anchors in sports have to eat a lot of misogyny, to be sure, but don't you think Storm should be insulted that the policy thugs at ESPN have to fight her battle for her because of a wardrobe comment? i'm insulted and you should be too...

Kornheiser is paid for his commentary, just as Storm is paid for her effort and expertise in reporting. Am i to think that if Storm had commented on Kornheiser's wardrobe or hairline she would have been suspended?...

Storm has not commented on the suspension, which is par for the course if she wants to keep her job, ESPN is all over this. This is yet another reason why i have been fading ESPN out of my television viewing routine. The network has become an entity above sports—even to the point of eating itself. It has overshadowed the sports it covers and created a generation of athletes that care more about the highlight than the sport they play, or the team they play for. This has led to a deficiency in the sports we love. The Me-Generation personified. The idolizing of a Michael Jordan led to the lack of fundamentals in younger players in the game of basketball. The network's cannonizing of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa led to the eventual demise of those player's integrity and then quickly jumped ship to burn them at the stake of the steroids scandal. They dress up broken down ex-players to report on the NFL in May, two months before any meaningful workouts will take place, four months before any meaningful game and so on, i mean; the network is just as responsible for the floundering of hockey as the 1995 lockout was...

Now ESPN suspends Kornheiser for making a comment that, i would think, some people would find valid. But then again moral superiority is hypocritical. Disney doesn't mind trotting out pop tart after pop tart for the young boys and girls to fawn over, knowing full well what sort of kind Freudian-stew they are creating, only to allow its arm, ESPN, strike down any comment against it machine...

Do as i say, not as i do...

Well, here's to you Tony, for speaking out about a skirt that was indeed shorter than the Cat Mom's camo skirt i love so much (and believe you me, its short), that a Sportscenter anchor was wearing at 9 am in the morning. While i think you be hard pressed to find a male viewer outraged by it, you still have the right to voice your opinion, even if your bosses think you should keep your mouth shut to their hypocrisy...

good night Cananda...

2 comments:

catmom said...

Kornheiser's mistake was clearly not being a gay man. A proper gay man could have commented on the gyno skirt at 9AM, being as wrong and ill advised as seamed stockings w/ flats.

TW said...

She's a tall woman, she probably was wearing flats.