Women Have Opinions About Sports. Deal With It

Here are two simple facts about me:

1. I am a woman.
2. I enjoy watching and discussing sports.

Based on these points, I should be able to express myself freely in my writing, right? According to today's society, women are STILL not allowed to talk about the "hallowed ground" which we call sports. One of the (stupid) reasons is because I "don't know really know what I'm talking about."

O RLY?

Apparently, some people, mostly dudes, think that us women are incapable of learning the intricacies of American football, baseball, hockey, and so on. In this day and age, this is disgusting.

*Thankfully, this article doesn't really concern the TNIAAM community specifically, but more that of the entire sports world. For those of you that it does refer to, please continue reading for further enlightenment.

I'll admit that I haven't learned every single detail about all of the major sports, but I sure as heck can hold an intelligent conversation with anyone. Honestly, does every Tom, Rich, or Harry that you know know everything there is to know about sports?

The reason I decided to bring about this touchy topic is because I'm sick and tired of people bashing women in the field that I wish to pursue. Sure, there are plenty of those in the industry that get a bad rap, unjustly, but there are also many who are brilliant at what they do but don't get the respect they deserve. I just wish more light were shed on them so that maybe we can shift the conversation. Before we move on, sideline reporting can be dull, and many of these women haven't had the chance to show what they are truly capable of because sideline reporting is the jumping-off point.

For example, I recently came across Katie Nolan's weekly FS1 show "Garbage Time", and was instantly hooked. She's snarky, but the good kind of snarky, and her show is just a lot of fun. Katie is proof-positive that it is indeed possible to be female AND have an educated opinion about sports.

I'll just leave this bit about Greg Hardy's return to the NFL from a few weeks ago here:

*Feel free to check out her podcast, because it's also pretty great.

Michelle Beadle (affectionately known as Beads) is another personality who shouldn't go unnoticed (and probably won't). I remember seeing her on SportsNation for the first time several years ago before she left ESPN and then came back recently, and I really liked her commentary, especially as she co-hosted with Colin Cowherd. She is both quick-witted and funny.

Speaking of Michelle, let's talk about the elephant in the room, shall we?

Circa 2012-13, Beads and Erin Andrews had a bit of a falling out after Beads basically said that the reason she was as popular was because Andrews bought Twitter followers and is very pretty. It got blown way out of proportion, but ended up boiling down to "here are two women being catty." Here's an article by Chris Chase that has some of the transcript from a radio interview Beads did with Dan Patrick back in 2013.

Absurdness aside, stuff like this shouldn't sway viewers and listeners to see Michelle as less of a person, and therefore less of a sports aficionado. And, yet, it does.

These are only two of the many women that I admire in the industry. More light should be shed on these individuals because they exemplify exactly what sports should be about and compliment their male counterparts very well.

My hope is that someday, gender will not take precedent over the body of work of a person.

I believe that I will live to see that day.