Matt Walsh, a conservative media provocateur, isn’t thrilled with what he feels has become a feminization of pro football. The Daily Wire host weighed in on Lindsey Gough, the Savannah reporter that posted a video of fans harassing her and touching her and her equipment during Georgia’s win over Clemson on Saturday.
According to Walsh, the problem in the video wasn’t people putting their hands on the reporter and her work equipment. It is that women can’t just be cool about the situation!
“I must say, this situation only demonstrates why I, personally, prefer for sports broadcasts, especially football broadcasts, to be handled mostly by men. Lindsey, though worse than the average — even as far as female sports reporters go — is definitely not the only female to enter into this mostly male space and seek to feminize it. She wants the football stadium to be quiet and gentle, considerate, respectful of personal space. She wants it to be a more feminine environment. She’s not trying to assimilate herself into the culture of football fans, she is rather hoping that they assimilate themselves to her.”
Political commentators weighing in on sports issues is nothing new. But suggesting that pro football has lost some of its edge due to women reporters trying to insert their influence over it is a hill that not many media members have been willing to die on.
“This phenomenon is so far-reaching in football especially that they’re even changing the rules now to make the game itself more gentle and feminine,” Walsh continued. “Football, you know, is still violent, but it’s less violent than it used to be. This year they’re even focusing on penalizing players who say mean or rude things to each other on the football field. They’ve been doing this during the pre-season in the NFL.
“All of this, along with the token female sideline reporters and the female analysts at half-time – it’s an effort to make the game less appealing to the people the game was invented for to begin with.”
It should be noted that “penalizing players who say mean or rude things to each other” is nothing new. That’s called “unsportsmanlike conduct” and it always comes with a 15-yard penalty.
For the record, Walsh had nothing to say about Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit, two of ESPN’s top college football voices. The duo discussed how poodles should have their hair cut once things got out of hand between Ole Miss and Louisville.
