My Favorite Female Journalists

NEW HAVEN, Ct. (BP) -- For most of last month, the sports world celebrated the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the amendment that all but put an end to sexual discrimination in regards high school -- and most importantly -- collegiate sports.

While that form of sexual bias has made the sporting field a bit more equal, the battle within the press box and locker rooms of sports tells another story.

Unlike that old cigarette Virginia Slims commercial, they've not "come a long way" since the days of Phyllis George and others because of the old boy network that still exists.

Today, I'll give you a brief list of some of my favorite female sports journalists.

1. Doris Burke -- The BEST current basketball analyst in any network. She can do the NBA, NCAA, or WNBA. No pretentious bullshit from Ms. Burke. I'll take her over ANY (and I do mean ANY) hoop talking head. Her talents were wasted by ABC/The Mouse when she was regulated to the sidelines during the NBA Finals.

2. Robin Roberts -- Again another tremendously versatile performer. The only person that I know of that has hosted both "Good Morning America" and "Wide World of Sports" as well as the NCAA Women's Tournament. She could kick Trey Wingo's worthless ass in her sleep. Here's hoping that she can win her latest battle with myelodysplastic syndrome. We'll be praying for her

3. Kimberly Jones -- Yeah, she a "pretty girl". But I've always liked her work on YES Network (football, baseball) and her reporting on WFAN during the Sandusky sex scandal was outstanding. She called on her excellent reporting skills during this period and was a helluva lot more informative than mainstream media was at the time. Unfortunately, she hasn't been seen lately. How dare she be so damn good some idiot probably said.

4. Pam Ward -- I'll admit my bias here because I was lucky enough to work with this talented lady during my tenure at the Mouse. Another versatile performer who can do play-by-play (football, hoops, etc.) and or studio work. I truly believe a lot of the criticism she receives are from folks who still thinks women shouldn't be in the booth and just be barefoot and pregnant. Sadly, he was dropped from her gig as a college football announcer. It's the network's loss.

5. Pam Oliver -- Probably the only real credible "sideline reporter" in the business. She goes beyond the "so and so got hurt on the last play and that shit hurts, Joe". FOX has given her the opportunity to do more weekly interviews to offset the train wreck that is FOX NFL Sunday. Oh, yeah -- she's nice on the eyes too.