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.
How shocking that a man closer to Musberger's age wouldn't find Musberger's commentary over the top. Throughout the game, the camera went to Webb with commentary about "Miss Alabama" -- it wasn't just the initial comments. I was expecting her to file a restraining order against him by halftime -- that's how excessive and gross it was. It's a shame Katherine Webb isn't your daughter -- you might feel differently.— eatyourspinach- Stop already....she is pretty, no doubt and pointing her out is no big deal...The bigger issue is they fixated on her to the point of boringness....Typical man thing in the tv production truck....Mushburger may be a letch and creepy, who would know but to keep the story alive says more about the newsmedia's grasping for attention than the story itself...— nuggett
- It's was more funny than offensive. Reminded me of something my grandpop would have said. Completely harmless. Get over yourselves ESPN.— DelcoSchmelco
- Wow, Musberger is a hall of fame announcer, who called a woman who competes in beauty pagents, beautiful. She wasn't offended and her boyfriend wasn't offended. Let's fire him and apologize for him. he's terrible. PC is really out of control.— jak55555
- Excellent commentary by John Baer. The NY Times news story referenced in this article is a textbook example of biased, one-sided journalism. I'm glad Baer offered the other side of the story, which the NY Times chose not to represent. The implication of Musburger's critics is that Musburger is too old to be commenting on a 23 year old beauty pageant winner, which is pure ageism. The notion that Musburger should have kept his focus on the game is equally ridiculous, because Musburger was not the one operating the TV cameras. Musburger was told by the network to mention that the Alabama QB was dating Miss Alabama.— Freedom Fries
- "So who is ESPN apologizing to? College football fans who don't want to look at stunning women?"
No, all the fat ugly jealous women who always feign outrage about things like this. You never see a model, cheerleader etc. being offended by someone complementing them on their beauty.— Jangocat - She is very bleepable and Musburger was correct to point it out— Dutch10
- Storm over! Someone spilled the glass of water.— DonQ
- Nothing wrong with what he said. He actually complemented her..Folks need to lighten up & ESPN should get back to their man crush with LeBron..— tuscany590
- Highlight of the game, why do people make a big deal about nothing? Could have said a lot worse and what he said was not bad at all.— cote32
- Well said, sir.— gho_matt
- The only thing offensive about the National Championship game is that N.D. was playing in it.— Big_Ben45
- Age shouldn't even mean anything, if it was a 70 year old lady stating that a 20 year man was handsome, nobody will be talking about it.— LOVEMYCITY
- My objection is slightly to Musberger's gushing (I'm his age and would probably not carry on as he did) but more to language used by Mr Baer. He said, "Give me a freakin'break." It's unfortunate that sanitization of the "f" word allows it to appear so casually.— rtenser
- Comments were fine. No big deal if you ask me.— phillykool
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.
