MikeHamiltonFan
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It has been interesting to watch as media like Deadspin that are not prone to introspection or repentance have flogged themselves over their participation in the Erin Andrews crime.
Erin Andrews for those who do not know is a girl who was born in Maine, who grew up with a dad who was a reporter. After graduating from UF where she served on the dance team, she worked for Turner Sports covering the Braves and other small broadcasts until she started working for ESPN. Erin has lived in Atlanta for much of her career and she loves SEC football. Erin also was the victim of a crime. Various reports speculate that she was videotaped secretly while getting ready in her hotel room by an ESPN cameraman, or by a person who worked in the hotel where she was staying. The bottom line is that Erin has never so much as posed for a swimsuit calendar, and now she is forced to hire lawyers to try to remove a 5 minute video of her naked from the internet.
What does this have to do with sports and what does it have to do with the Vols? If you remember there was a minor scandal when other schools fans claimed that Bruce Pearl assaulted Andrews during the halftime of the Tennessee Memphis basketball game. She asked him something to the effect of "how are they stopping your offense" and he replied by saying "they are grabbing us" and he kind of bear hugged her for less than a second. It was not a big deal, but you felt pretty sure that Bruce would not have demonstrated in the same manner on Lee Corso.
Later Erin Andrews had another incident where she was covering the USC game on the sidelines last season and their all conference safety Rey Maualuga did a suggestive dance from behind her for which he later apologized.
She also gave Pat White a kiss on his cheek and a hug while working covering WVU and that was a minor story.
Andrews will return to work for ESPN this fall and will certainly be present when Kiffin faces Meyer in Gainesville.
Now to my thoughts about this. This crime and its coverage come at a time when I have my first child, a little girl. For years as a single guy I heard people say "what if that was your daughter" and I thought in most cases, "that could never be my daughter." When someone like Britney Spears, or Paris Hilton is dismissed or treated in a sexist manner, you know that in large measure they are a product of the system they exploited. Britney Spears is and has been from her post Mickey Mouse club start, a kind of high class prostitute like Madonna. She sells herself as a sex object and many Americans are happy to bid. This is not an opening to moralize about America and modesty etc. rather I am saying that Britney Spears is nothing like my daughter and when people lust after her, it is something she invites and is getting paid for (her dad and Joe Simpson are amongst the people I despise most, pimping their daughters).
Erin Andrews is nothing like Britney Spears. I could see my daughter growing up to be like her. She does not dress suggestively, she does not sell calendars, she is just a woman who loves sports and who thought it would be a great job to cover sports. One of the reasons this crime has promoted such an outcry is because of the atmosphere created by the coverage and by the comments on her work especially in the media, especially amongst people who love college football. The nerd in many of us who watched college sports was extremely attracted to a reporter who wore tasteful sweaters in various SEC colors and who asked good questions, but who was still good looking. When men who go to church, who are fathers, husbands, brothers etc to women they would never tolerate disrespect towards are on the internet sometimes they say extremely disrespectful things. That type of snark is something many have engaged in, and it caused the most sorrow after this happened. I heard it described like laughing at the fat guy eating alot but feeling horrible when he dies of a heart attack. Erin is not like the fat guy, she did nothing wrong, but the lighthearted lustful joking was like the fat guy, and a pervert secretly taping her nude is like a fatal heart attack, it exposes the whole for the gross nature of leering at someone who is not trying to turn you on.
Part of the question we have to ask is regarding the type of affirmative action that occurs with pretty women in sports. Can you imagine a sideline reporter with acne? What about one who weighed 240? Because we all know that a large part of the reason beautiful women are on the sidelines is because they are more attractive for us to watch, for players to interact with etc, we think it is appropriate for there to be a little acknowledgment of that from time to time. We consider it good natured fun when people make posts linking to Erin Andrews eating a hotdog. If it was a tape of her doing the act people are joking about in the above post, many of those who laughed about the hotdog would feel shame and guilt and would not look at it at all.
The Erin Andrews affair tells lots of us that we should do better. We should not joke in ways that degrade innocence. We can call a whore a whore but we should not project lust and evil on someone who is innocent. Beautiful women are one of the great gifts God has given the world, and in the South, and at football schools, you can see lots of beauty on display. It is fine to respect and admire that without being trashy or dirty. Whether it is signature pictures of models put up by old men who are lonely, or comments about how someone has a busted nose by guys who are fat and have enough back hair to knit a sweater, our sports boards do not need it. "Hottest vol basketball player" can quickly devolve in a horrible direction and for the many of us with wives and daughters we should be saying no. I appreciate that the problem I described above while a huge problem on many Vol sport sites paid and free, does not seem to plague Vol nation. The comment however will apply in that most people on this site are on the others as well from time to time and know just what I am talking about.
I love TN football, I love TN basketball, I love the SEC and I plan on taking my family, wife and daughter to games. I have already experienced enough leering at my wife (who was dressed modestly) to bring the redneck out in me, but I avoided fighting and headed to the seats. The culture has gotten worse and more blatant in its lust and its lechery and I hope TN athletic events will be places where I can take my family without worrying about it.
If those of us who profess to care about the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" can live it out in a meaningful way, I think the wholesome fun of being at a game and cheering for your team or having a nice tailgate will be a delight I look forward to, instead of an opportunity to feel sick at the hoots and whistles directed towards women who are not strippers or prostitutes but students and daughters and fellow fans.
Erin Andrews for those who do not know is a girl who was born in Maine, who grew up with a dad who was a reporter. After graduating from UF where she served on the dance team, she worked for Turner Sports covering the Braves and other small broadcasts until she started working for ESPN. Erin has lived in Atlanta for much of her career and she loves SEC football. Erin also was the victim of a crime. Various reports speculate that she was videotaped secretly while getting ready in her hotel room by an ESPN cameraman, or by a person who worked in the hotel where she was staying. The bottom line is that Erin has never so much as posed for a swimsuit calendar, and now she is forced to hire lawyers to try to remove a 5 minute video of her naked from the internet.
What does this have to do with sports and what does it have to do with the Vols? If you remember there was a minor scandal when other schools fans claimed that Bruce Pearl assaulted Andrews during the halftime of the Tennessee Memphis basketball game. She asked him something to the effect of "how are they stopping your offense" and he replied by saying "they are grabbing us" and he kind of bear hugged her for less than a second. It was not a big deal, but you felt pretty sure that Bruce would not have demonstrated in the same manner on Lee Corso.
Later Erin Andrews had another incident where she was covering the USC game on the sidelines last season and their all conference safety Rey Maualuga did a suggestive dance from behind her for which he later apologized.
She also gave Pat White a kiss on his cheek and a hug while working covering WVU and that was a minor story.
Andrews will return to work for ESPN this fall and will certainly be present when Kiffin faces Meyer in Gainesville.
Now to my thoughts about this. This crime and its coverage come at a time when I have my first child, a little girl. For years as a single guy I heard people say "what if that was your daughter" and I thought in most cases, "that could never be my daughter." When someone like Britney Spears, or Paris Hilton is dismissed or treated in a sexist manner, you know that in large measure they are a product of the system they exploited. Britney Spears is and has been from her post Mickey Mouse club start, a kind of high class prostitute like Madonna. She sells herself as a sex object and many Americans are happy to bid. This is not an opening to moralize about America and modesty etc. rather I am saying that Britney Spears is nothing like my daughter and when people lust after her, it is something she invites and is getting paid for (her dad and Joe Simpson are amongst the people I despise most, pimping their daughters).
Erin Andrews is nothing like Britney Spears. I could see my daughter growing up to be like her. She does not dress suggestively, she does not sell calendars, she is just a woman who loves sports and who thought it would be a great job to cover sports. One of the reasons this crime has promoted such an outcry is because of the atmosphere created by the coverage and by the comments on her work especially in the media, especially amongst people who love college football. The nerd in many of us who watched college sports was extremely attracted to a reporter who wore tasteful sweaters in various SEC colors and who asked good questions, but who was still good looking. When men who go to church, who are fathers, husbands, brothers etc to women they would never tolerate disrespect towards are on the internet sometimes they say extremely disrespectful things. That type of snark is something many have engaged in, and it caused the most sorrow after this happened. I heard it described like laughing at the fat guy eating alot but feeling horrible when he dies of a heart attack. Erin is not like the fat guy, she did nothing wrong, but the lighthearted lustful joking was like the fat guy, and a pervert secretly taping her nude is like a fatal heart attack, it exposes the whole for the gross nature of leering at someone who is not trying to turn you on.
Part of the question we have to ask is regarding the type of affirmative action that occurs with pretty women in sports. Can you imagine a sideline reporter with acne? What about one who weighed 240? Because we all know that a large part of the reason beautiful women are on the sidelines is because they are more attractive for us to watch, for players to interact with etc, we think it is appropriate for there to be a little acknowledgment of that from time to time. We consider it good natured fun when people make posts linking to Erin Andrews eating a hotdog. If it was a tape of her doing the act people are joking about in the above post, many of those who laughed about the hotdog would feel shame and guilt and would not look at it at all.
The Erin Andrews affair tells lots of us that we should do better. We should not joke in ways that degrade innocence. We can call a whore a whore but we should not project lust and evil on someone who is innocent. Beautiful women are one of the great gifts God has given the world, and in the South, and at football schools, you can see lots of beauty on display. It is fine to respect and admire that without being trashy or dirty. Whether it is signature pictures of models put up by old men who are lonely, or comments about how someone has a busted nose by guys who are fat and have enough back hair to knit a sweater, our sports boards do not need it. "Hottest vol basketball player" can quickly devolve in a horrible direction and for the many of us with wives and daughters we should be saying no. I appreciate that the problem I described above while a huge problem on many Vol sport sites paid and free, does not seem to plague Vol nation. The comment however will apply in that most people on this site are on the others as well from time to time and know just what I am talking about.
I love TN football, I love TN basketball, I love the SEC and I plan on taking my family, wife and daughter to games. I have already experienced enough leering at my wife (who was dressed modestly) to bring the redneck out in me, but I avoided fighting and headed to the seats. The culture has gotten worse and more blatant in its lust and its lechery and I hope TN athletic events will be places where I can take my family without worrying about it.
If those of us who profess to care about the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" can live it out in a meaningful way, I think the wholesome fun of being at a game and cheering for your team or having a nice tailgate will be a delight I look forward to, instead of an opportunity to feel sick at the hoots and whistles directed towards women who are not strippers or prostitutes but students and daughters and fellow fans.
