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.
Comments (51)
Where is the outrage about the QB's mother who elbowed this young lady out of the way to get to where the pictures were being taken?— junethe4th- Did he also point out what a dope she is?— Bartleby
- Brent is getting old, give him a break. Most older guys say things that they should not. But she is pretty hot. He actually made a horrible game entertaining.— zippy1346
- Incidentally, Ms Webb was interviewed on national tv today. She thought the comments were flattery and specifically mentioned that none of Musberger's comments were out of line.— Getinline
- Nothing wrong with the comments or attention given to Ms Webb. The problem comes from the complainers who think they can tell everyone else what to say, who to look at and who deserves attention. The game was a lop-sided destruction of the over-hyped ND football team. The young woman has a connection to the quarterback on Alabama, so what is the problem?— Getinline
- get over it, he's ok, she's ok— gmr18901
- Comments were fine. No big deal if you ask me.— phillykool
- 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
- 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
- The only thing offensive about the National Championship game is that N.D. was playing in it.— Big_Ben45
- Well said, sir.— gho_matt
- 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
- 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
- Storm over! Someone spilled the glass of water.— DonQ
- She is very bleepable and Musburger was correct to point it out— Dutch10
- "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 - 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
- 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
- It's was more funny than offensive. Reminded me of something my grandpop would have said. Completely harmless. Get over yourselves ESPN.— DelcoSchmelco
- 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
- 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
- We cater to the crying few always— Nezhy
- 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
- He probably fired off a quick one during commercial breaks.— mportik
- "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
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- On the other hand, how about the "testosterone booster" babe or other "lookers" that philly.com plasters all over their website.— phillycaster
- greenblood - spot on! agree 100%. Some people have limited thinking around here.— hvitoloco
- 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
- fake boobies! what's new?— sgamble077
- I agree with this article...— ricciaje
- 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
- 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 is just OK, not stunning. If she is in a pageant, she craves the attention. Nothing to see here...move along.— kelprod2-freemarket
- I heard about the apology but who is/was complaing about his comments?— agreed
- 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
- Dead on, John!— blipster
- Musberger is horrible at his job. Other than he's a dirty old man, there is no issue here. let's move on.— Tyrone Biggums
- Meh, She's no Lydia Callis !!— fat tony
- Yeah, he didn't go into admiring body parts. He admired the beauty of a young woman. He should not have been penalty flagged/flogged. He's over 70, but he's not dead!— nsidious48
- Any slight bit of fame he woman has is because she enterd beauty contests. He commented on her beauty. It's not like she was a Nobel prize winning physicist. Who complained and wonder what they look like.— dontavoidtheobvious
- The game was out of hand and terrible by that point. I would have started talking about how my food looked coming out last night at that point.— suporma
- I thought Mushberger's commments were acuarate,entertaining,and neither offensive nor creepy. What's wrong with a sports commentator stating the obvious, beuaty queens are often beuatiful, and often date athletes?— diverjm
- The game was so boring, there was not much else to talk about.— phillyguy36
- I bet the real reason the NY Times and other have an issue with this is the fact that she an "oh wow" looker. It is the old sterio type of the jock getting the girl. Yet the NY media goes nuts all the time about their athletes and who they date. Nobody really cares. I just am glad to get the chance to see people like her in real life instead of the trussed up botox queens on TV.— Dutch-wayne
- i too was amazed at the ridiculously tame comments made given all the "fuss" made over his comments. once i heard the actual lines, i had no idea what peoples' problem is— raynesrock
- Hmmmmm, I wonder who's going to win the Miss America pageant??????— Cuddles
- I thought Joe Biden was doing commentary at that point.— LouDiamondPhillipsheadScrewdriver
- It seems to me Musberger was just stating the obvious. He didn't pull a Hefner and marry her.— Bruce in NM
- Yeah, Musberger gushed a little too much. But it was humorous, not offensive.— everydayguy
- at the very worst, it was a tad creepy being as mussy in his 70's and she is only 23. however, the comments were in no way derogatory, lewd, or sexist. this is just another classic example of why i hate ESPN. they apologized for him as a means of generating a story about themselves in which they and others could cover! they are a joke of a sports station and i hope that another sports station can overtake them! — theeducator
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About this blog
John Baer has been covering politics and government for the Daily News since 1987. The National Journal in 2002 called Baer one of the country's top 10 political journalists outside Washington, saying Baer has, "the ability to take the skin off a politician without making it hurt too much." E-mail John at baerj@phillynews.com.
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.
John Baer
Daily News Political Columnist
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.
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