Norma Wick had worked as a broadcaster for 16 years, most of it in sports, when she sent her résumé and tapes to a sports network in Toronto.
She was 40 years old and had been employed by Global Television in Vancouver as well as Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment covering the Vancouver Grizzlies.
But when turned down for a job at the sports network, she was told she lacked experience.
"I said, 'It's interesting that experience is high on your list, because you're hiring people who have none,' " Wick recalled. "And I was told, 'That's because they have magic and you don't.' "
Women have made huge advances in TV sports broadcasting over the past 10 years. There are more working in the business. They hold jobs as reporters, anchors and, in the United States, even play-by-play announcers.
But as the numbers have grown, the importance of their physical appearance has increased. More than ever, networks place an emphasis on youth and beauty, and, by no surprise, Playboy is now publishing an annual list of the sexiest sportscasters. Within that environment, women continue to struggle for credibility as sports journalists.
Linda Cohn, an ESPN anchor and play-by-play voice, says the good news is that women are getting more opportunities to prove themselves.
"That's the positive," she said. "The negative, and it's out there, is a current trend, which is to go for looks first and then knowledge. And that's disconcerting."
The "magic" cited in Wick's job interview is code for women in their 20s or early 30s. They're attractive. The guys call them sports babes. On the Internet, they are referred to as sideline hotties.
This week, The Score sports network has blatantly advertised on its website for a "hottie" to be the host of a forthcoming TV show. Seductive pictures of the finalists are posted. David Errington, The Score's senior vice-president and general manager, described the ad as a promotion in partnership with a magazine.
For their part, women are hardly oblivious to the attention paid to their appearance.
Jody Vance said a few years ago that her desk at Rogers Sportsnet had a glass top to show off her legs.
Vance, former Sportsnet colleague Hazel Mae and Kathryn Humphreys of CITY-TV in Toronto once posed for a magazine photo spread in which Humphreys wore leather, appearing as a sort of dominatrix; Mae showed some of her underwear; and Vance was portrayed reclining, glasses off and holding her hair.
Last summer, Erin Andrews, ESPN's "it girl," was reported to have been flaunting her sexuality in the Chicago Cubs' locker room.
Her low-cut top, according to Mike Nadel of GateHouse News Service, incited lewd comments and giggles from the players.
Andrews said she didn't feel that she had dressed provocatively.
"I don't look at myself as a sex object," she told a Minneapolis sports columnist. "I've never carried myself in that way. I'm a girl that loves sports. ... I think my overall reaction is that it's really sad that in 2008 I have people watching every single move I make."
But why wouldn't men watch her? She has movie-star good looks. For the male audience that makes up about 70 per cent of ESPN's viewership, the fact she was voted "America's sexiest sportscaster" by a Playboy magazine poll was probably more relevant than her interviewing skills.
"Television is a visual medium," said Scott Moore, who hired Vance and also Mae when he worked as the vice-president of production for Sportsnet. He's now the head of CBC Sports. "You could make the same point about men. There aren't many ugly men on television. It's just a part of the basic requirement."
Still, Moore agrees that things are different now compared with a decade ago.
"Social mores have changed a lot," he said. "Both women and men aren't afraid to use their looks."
Wick, who teaches broadcast journalism in Toronto, says a woman's attractiveness often takes precedence over an ability to do the job.
"I think it would be to a woman's advantage if she were qualified," Wick said. "But given the climate we're in now, I don't think it's necessary.
"Some people are always going to view you as a skirt. Now, it's almost a prerequisite."
After being rejected by the sports network, Wick found work with Raptors NBA TV, where she thrived, according to her boss, John Shannon.
"She was nominated for a Gemini," said Shannon, now the senior vice-president of broadcasting for the NHL. "She had credibility as a basketball reporter. And she was an excellent storyteller."
A change maker for women in sports broadcasting has been the growth of the Internet, where websites are dedicated to celebrating the hottest sports babes.
The digital age has played a big role in raising the profile of female broadcasters, but it also has gone a long way toward diminishing their image. A poll on one website last year asked: Who is Canada's hottest female sportscaster? It received more than 2,000 votes (Sportsnet's Martine Gaillard ranked first).
Online discussion ranges from debate whether women broadcasters are worth "doing" to cackles about their choice of clothing. On an outfit worn by ESPN morning show host Hannah Storm, a deadspin.com poster wrote, "I can't decide whether [Storm]is going for the Pretty Woman Julia Roberts here or more for the Erin Brockovich."
Also on deadspin, this was the lead to a note about Hazel Mae moving to MLB TV, alongside a picture of her in a tight low-cut dress perched on a television studio desk: "The sultry NESN lead anchor temptress will have to find a new sports desk to prop her stair-mastered caboose on top of next year."
And complementing a picture of Erin Andrews on hogwild: "For the most part, these women are articulate and knowledgeable about sports. But for the most part, us men don't care. Boobies!"
It was suggested on a blog that a reporter should be taken "into the woods" and assaulted.
"Frightening," is the way NBC's Andrea Kremer describes some of the commentary posted on websites.
"The vitriol that is spewed out is unbelievable," she said.
Wick said the violent, misogynistic tone of the online commentary shocked her.
"It's really disturbing stuff," she said. "I found that the more analytical I was as a reporter, the more vicious the commentary.
"The feeling was, if some woman wants to tell me about cooking, fine. But I don't need her telling me about sports."
Will Leitch, the founder of deadspin.com, a popular U.S. sports website that carries this sort of commentary, declined a request to be interviewed.
Internet commentary is an extreme example of the objectifying of women sports broadcasters, but prejudices still exist.
One is the perception that women get into the business to meet athletes. Incidents, such as the one involving Andrews, reinforce an image of women as flirts.
Another reporter, Carolyn Hughes of Fox Sports Net in Los Angeles and a former Miss Texas, was pulled off the baseball beat in 2005 when it was revealed she was having an affair with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe.
Mae, who joined the New England Sports Network after leaving Sportsnet, reportedly dated Ricky Davis, formerly of the Boston Celtics and now with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Hughes story didn't change Mae's attitude toward athletes.
Mae told the Boston media that she would not work for a sports network that prohibited employees from having relationships with athletes.
But most female broadcasters say they make a point of not becoming involved with people they're covering.
"It's never been brought up by my bosses," TSN's Sara Orlesky said. "But, in my mind, it's a very clear-cut no-go idea. For me, it's never been something I would look at."
Gaillard, who has worked in sports television for 10 years, describes the objectifying of women as a reality of the business.
"Our demographics are obviously male driven, 18-to-35," she said. "So, I guess it's human nature for males to be attracted. But I'm sure there's a hottie website for news anchors, too. It's television. I can only speak for myself, but I work very hard to be recognized for my work."
Orlesky, 28, is among the top young female sports broadcasters in Canada. After earning a degree at Simon Fraser University, she worked for The Score in Vancouver before joining TSN. She says she was a sports fan growing up and participated as a volleyball player and coach.
She says she doesn't want her sex to be factor in any aspect of her job.
"I want to be thought of as one of the guys," she said. "There's no doubt you're in an industry that's testosterone-filled. So, you try to present yourself in a way that will minimize incidents, comments and that sort of thing."
The Score's Nikki Reyes, 28, took a different route to sports television. After high school, she moved to the Philippines to work as an actress before returning to Toronto and completing a radio and television course at Centennial College. After working a year at The Score, Reyes, 28, is the co-host of its morning show.
Like Orlesky, Reyes says she is a long-time sports fan, but had no experience in sports journalism.
She described her physical appeal as a "fact of television."
"Obviously, people like eye candy," she said. "But I think that only goes so far. What you have to say matters the most."
On her posted biography, she lists her career highlight as "being the only reporter who spoke to Michael Jordan at his red carpet birthday party in Houston for all-star weekend 2006. ... Yeah sure I only said eight words to him, and he responded with 'I don't know' ... but WOW. That moment was paramount for me."
Certainly, the job is less intimidating now than it was 20 years ago when women were barred from dressing rooms and also harassed.
Orlesky says she has experienced no incidents.
"When I walk into a football locker room, I'll hear somebody say 'towel up' or 'lady in the house,' that sort of thing," she said. "You're not faced with what they were faced with before."
But the question that lingers concerns the future. What happens when a woman reaches a certain age? What happens when the magic disappears?
At 49, Kremer is at the top of her game. She works as a sideline reporter on Sunday Night Football and had arguably the most important reporting job for NBC at the Beijing Olympics, at the pool covering U.S. star Michael Phelps.
But she's aware that few women past the age of 50 continue to work in her business.
"I'm realistic," she said. "You can't compete with people who are 20 years younger. What you do hope is that the value of your experience does resonate with a potential employer and the audience."
Wick says women face plenty of challenges, age being one of them.
"It's an arbitrary business and fairness doesn't enter into it," she said. "But I have a motto. You don't join the circus and then complain about the clowns."
*****
THOSE WHO KNOW: AND THOSE WHO DON'T
NBC reporter Andrea Kremer slots female sports broadcasters into two groups.
"There are women who grew up loving sports, and, by the way, they do television, or they write about it or talk about it on radio," said Kremer, who started in print journalism in 1982.
"And then there are women who think they want to be on TV, and sports is a cool thing. And I do think the audience knows the difference between the two. So I just hope people are getting into it for the right reason."
Lack of sports knowledge is often revealed when reporters ask weak and superficial questions, such as "How do you feel?" or "How important was that interception?" or "Talk about that goal."
Linda Cohn, an ESPN anchor and play-by-play announcer, says a female reporter without adequate knowledge will sometimes be instructed by a producer or director through the audio device in her ear.
"When people who just have looks going for them are told what to say, that sets women in the industry back decades," she said.
Women or, for that matter, men without a strong grasp of the subject may feel safer in a studio environment reading the sports news. But CBC Sports president Scott Moore says the nature of the assignment doesn't matter. If you don't know your stuff, you're vulnerable.
"It gets magnified whether you're in the studio or on the sidelines," he said. "When you're in the studio doing a live show with highlights and you're ad libbing, you'd better know sports."
Everyone makes mistakes, but a glaring gaffe may demonstrate a lack of requisite sports knowledge. For instance, in a live interview this season, Fox Sports sideline reporter Danyelle Sargent told San Francisco 49ers football coach Mike Singletary, "I heard that your mentor, Bill Walsh, was one of the first phone calls that you made when you found out that you had the job." Walsh died in July of 2007.
Because women are perceived to be less qualified than men, they feel they are held to a higher standard. Kremer says that if ESPN anchor Chris Berman makes a mistake, it's just a slip. If SportsCenter anchor Cohn gets something wrong, she doesn't know what she's talking about.
NHL senior vice-president of broadcasting John Shannon says women broadcasters need to be "20-per-cent better" than their male counterparts to be accepted as credible journalists by a largely male audience.
"If they make one mistake, they're going to get hammered [by sports fans and the media]" Shannon said.
Cohn cites an example of how men and women are judged differently.
"Let's just say I'm hosting SportsCenter on ESPN and a baseball score comes in and it's 14-7," she said. "And I'm kidding around and I say the Red Sox beat the Yankees by a touchdown, just for a joke, which is done all the time. You can bet there would be phone calls and e-mail. 'Doesn't she know sports? What is she talking about?' I've been at ESPN for 16 years and been in the business for over 20. But even at this stage in my career, I can't say that."
In her biography, released in September, Cohn, 49, recounts the story of being screamed at by an NFL player who accused her of being in the locker room to hang out with the men.
"That shocked me," Cohn said. "He never would have yelled at a guy. The only thing I was guilty of was being a woman."
William Houston