Friday, September 17, 2010

What if sports "journalist" Ines Sainz had been a blogger?

There's been a whole to-do this week in the media over whether the New York Jets treated TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz appropriately -- and whether she acted appropriately in the locker room. I wrote on it the other day, saying that her outfits were more appropriate for a nightclub than the sidelines.

Since then, Sainz has been on pretty much every TV show this week except for "Hoarders" and "Meet the Browns," wearing more -- or is that less? -- of her form-fitting outfits and stating her case. (But Sainz did take down the bikini shot of herself on her Twitter page!)

While some writers have criticized her, a lot of reporters -- both male and female -- have defended Sainz as just another sports journalist doing her job. And the Association of Women in Sports Media complained to the Jets and the NFL on behalf of Sainz.

But I have to wonder how these defenders would have treated Sainz is she had been a sports blogger, especially since most journalists aren't exactly leading the way in demanding that bloggers get media credentials from professional teams. Let's review some of Sainz's career "highlights" covering the NFL:

* She held a biceps measuring contest (see image above) during last year's Super Bowl Week to determine which player had the strongest arm. Hard-hitting journalism at its finest!

* She allowed two Indianapolis Colts to carry her around like Cleopatra or something during this year's Super Bowl Week. Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Ashley Fox witnessed the incident. She wrote about it this week:

"Google 'Ines Sainz' and you'll also find a photograph of her sitting on the shoulders of two Indianapolis Colts players during Super Bowl media day. I remember seeing her there. There was a swarm of people around her, and they were all laughing and joking about this woman who was causing such a stir. For a real sports reporter, that's unconscionable. Word travels fast."

If Sainz were an NFL blogger, and not a TV reporter, it's not very likely she would have gotten media credentials in the first place. But even if she had, Sainz would have undoubtedly had her press pass revoked the moment she first acted up and made a spectacle of herself. In fact, we'd probably be treated to lectures from some of the very sportswriters defending Sainz, saying about how sports bloggers need to learn something about professionalism and decorum. Just saying.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

1 comment:

Uncle Mike said...

I think if she'd been a blogger, most of us wouldn't have seen what she looked like, or how she dressed, and while the media might not have come to her defense, she also would not have come under criticism for dressing like a Snooki. (I was going to use another word beginning with S, but I think this one will work better.)

On my blog, in commemoration of Yom Kippur, I posted the Top 10 Sports Atonements. Three Yankee figures are on it: Alex Rodriguez, George Steinbrenner and Ralph Terry (goat '60, hero '62). One other New York baseball figure is on it, and in fact is Number 1, but it's not Darryl Strawberry or Dwight Gooden. I can say this with complete confidence: Ines Sainz will never be on that list!

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