The nice version of this post was Girl At The Game‘s inaugural piece: “What It’s Like Being A Female Fan.”
It’s no cakewalk doing what I love to do, let me tell you. Being constantly questioned, underestimated, and forced to prove myself simply because of the anatomy of my body and the way I look is ludicrous. Quite frankly, I am over it. I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself. And maybe David Ortiz.
But I digress, because this isn’t about me. This is about “Sunday Night Baseball” announcer Matt Vasgersian and men like him in sports.
In case you missed it, last night, during the Cardinals-Cubs game at Wrigley Field, Vasgersian mocked a bachelorette party, live on air, saying he hates seeing them at MLB ballparks:
“Is there anything more obnoxious than the bachelorette party at the ballpark?”
Yes, Matt, there is.
You.
For starters, it’s 2018. Women are sick of your bullshit. Your cohost, Jessica Mendoza, definitely wasn’t having it. I’m not having it. The women of Twitter (and a lot of men) aren’t having it.
What do you have against women celebrating anything at a ballpark if it doesn’t directly affect you? Women choosing to come to the ballpark and spend money on overpriced stuff and fill the seats is a good thing for everyone. Considering MLB is desperately trying to make baseball more popular, they’re probably inclined to agree with me.
Of course – and unfortunately – Matt Vasgersian isn’t the only announcer to insult female attendees. In 2015, MLB announcers mocked a sorority who attended a Diamondbacks game. But this isn’t the first time Vasgersian has experienced backlash for comments about women. Back in 2001, Vince McMahon personally demoted him after his first game, when he said a shot of the XFL cheerleaders made him “feel uncomfortable.”
Ironically, Vasgersian was recently on The Darren Smith show on San Diego’s Mighty 1090 talking about how to make baseball more compelling. A good start would be to not alienate and insult the gender that makes up more than 35% of MLB’s fan base, Matt. An even better idea: clean house of guys like Matt Vasgersian and hire women like me who are passionate, intelligent, and not needlessly rude.
There are plenty of great male sports fans out there, so don’t mistake this for me attacking male sports fans as a whole. There are millions of men who love their teams and just want to enjoy games. As it should be. But we’re just past the point where it’s okay for on-air presences to make rude comments about anyone besides the players in the game they’re covering.
Photo: YouTube