Sexist announcers on MLB.TV
I'm watching the Nationals/Astros game right now on MLB.TV, and the announcers have made a number of comments that made me cringe under the weight of their sexist nature. Who are these guys anyway??
First, they mentioned Alyssa Milano's recent blog post where she says this about Dmitri Young:
He isn't built for power. He isn't built for speed. He is built for comfort and has the loveliest way about him.
One of the announcer's responded with something along the lines of:
There are some people out there who would say Alyssa is built for comfort too… Tony Danza was the luckiest housekeeper on TV.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Let's not forget that Alyssa's character on that show was a child. This makes this comment even grosser than it already is.
Next, they started talking about the annual toy drive, spearheaded by the wives and fiancees of Nationals' players. They commented that the drive "gives them something to do" and proves that "they have their own personalities". Really? The women in the lives of these men actually have personalities? Well, of course they do! They don't just hide behind the shadows of their great men!
One of the announcers went on to say that Felipe Lopez' wife is, gasp, pursuing a degree! Well, why shouldn't she?! Am I being naiive to assume that many of guys' partners actually have an education?
These announcers suck. What I really despise about MLB.TV is that I can't load up Gameday Audio at the same time, even on a different computer. I would MUCH prefer to listen to the radio announcers. Team by team, the radio guys are WAY better at calling a game than any of the TV announcers.
[…] Yesterday, I griped about not being able to access MLB.TV and Gameday Audio simultaneously. Today, I have a new round of MLB.TV complaints: […]
As a minor league radio broadcaster looking to make into the majors, I completely agree with you that baseball on the radio is better from a broadcasting perspective.
I look at it this way. My job is to paint a picture and give you fans the best description of the game as possible and have some fun along the way.
You hit the nail on the head: without the TV images, radio broadcasters have a taller order to fulfill. That extra "freedom" afforded to TV broadcasters has a tendency to result in filling the air with jabber that's unrelated to the game. Enjoying baseball on the radio simply has a more "classic" feel to it, uncluttered by visuals. What I really miss is listening to baseball in French! Deux balles, un prise! Vive les Expos!