A Miss on Miss Alabama
Political correctness went too far when ESPN apologized for its broadcasters' appreciation of Miss Alabama's beauty.
A Miss on Miss Alabama
John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist
One (of many) of the bad parts of politics is the out-of-control enforcement of political correctness.
And there is no better current example than the ruckus over broadcasters' comments on the beauty of a beauty queen during Monday night's national collegiate football championship game.
A news story in Wednesday's New York Times is one of dozens carrying headlines such as "Musburger Under Fire for Remarks During Game."
If you missed it -- and don't see how you could have -- ESPN issued an apology for veteran Brent Musburger's remarks regarding the girlfriend of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron. She was sitting in the stands with her boyfriend's parents. She happens to be the current Miss Alabama.
As the camera focused on 23-year old Katherine Webb, Musburger and broadcast partner Kirk Herbstreit traded comments regarding the plainly obvious fact that she is gorgeous.
"What a beautiful woman," said Brent.
"Wow!" said Kirk.
"You quarterbacks get all the good-looking women," said Brent, a reference to the fact Kirk was an Ohio State QB who married an Ohio State cheerleader.
"AJ's doing some things right down in Tuscaloosa," said Kirk.
Now maybe it's me but I think that a beautiful woman who enters beauty pageants probably is used to and doesn't much mind the attention of those who appreciate beauty.
In fact, even though some labeled Musburger as "gushing" and "creepy," the lovely Miss Alabama later told the Associated Press, "I didn't look at it as creepy at all...it was kind of nice."
So who is ESPN apologizing to? College football fans who don't want to look at stunning women?
Or was it just that Musburger's in his 70's and Webb is in her 20's? And, if so, shouldn't there be some group complaining about charges of ageism?
Give me a freakin' break. There are enough real problems in this country to worry about. And sports broadcasters (or anybody) who harmlessly express appreciation of natural, God-given gifts, are not among them.
Good!!! Brent as well as the camera man should be in trouble for focusing on that woman entirely too much during the game no less. I mean one glance at the mother and girlfriend would’ve been ok but they acted as if she was the only person in the stadium, creepy!!!!— Chemist1524- I heard about the apology but who is/was complaing about his comments?— agreed
- She is just OK, not stunning. If she is in a pageant, she craves the attention. Nothing to see here...move along.— kelprod2-freemarket
- Extreme lefties like Baer and the Inquirer help to create and perpetuate the PC atmosphere, then they pick and choose which incidents they'll lambaste or defend. What phonies!— Barbouze
- She's flat out gorgeous and the announcers were just pointing that out. Absolutely nothing creepy about their observations and just because a man is of a certain age over 60 does not make him dirty minded anymore than a young man admiring a beautiful woman...people need to get a life.— greenbloodVAEagle
- I agree with this article...— ricciaje
- fake boobies! what's new?— sgamble077
- kelprod - yea, and I am sure you are going just a highly sought after 'picture of health' based on your statement. How would you know she is craving attention. It seems as if the media is the one GIVING her the attention. What an a-hole you are.— hvitoloco
- greenblood - spot on! agree 100%. Some people have limited thinking around here.— hvitoloco
- On the other hand, how about the "testosterone booster" babe or other "lookers" that philly.com plasters all over their website.— phillycaster
As an old fat guy, I want to thank Katherine Webb for being the adult in this whole silly drama. We are all living in PC Hell...— The Monk- "God given gifts?" Please, stop deluding young women. Yes, this young woman is attractive in the scary beauty pageant way - face a shell of make-up, eyebrows drawn on, fake tan etc. If you have daughter, understand that this is the type of hype that will drive her to start wearing fake eyelashes and starve herself by the age of 12.— lulu
- He probably fired off a quick one during commercial breaks.— mportik
- She's really not THAT hot, I mean, she's an 8.5 - 9, tops, which is good, but I've seen more beautiful. And I don't see anything wrong with Musberger pointing her out, especially since the game was pretty much over at that point.— 1972bline
- We cater to the crying few always— Nezhy
John is the author of the book "On The Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics: Twenty-Five Years of Keystone Reporting" (The History Press, 2012). Reach John at baerj@phillynews.com.
