Amy K. Nelson, writing at The Hairpin, wrote about the real issue for women in sports media: A lack of power. The column is in the aftermath of Damon Bruce’s ridiculous statements about women in sports.

Nelson writes:

A lot of people were angry, and a lot of people wrote about how (Rob) Neyer had tripped up in a “fallacy,” which is a point well-taken—but I’d argue it missed on addressing the much larger issue here: very few women hold positions of true power in the sports journalism industry. When it comes to finding women employed at the top of major media and news-gathering organizations (let alone the smaller shops), the pickings are slim. And I don’t think it’s due to a lack of desire.

The piece includes some interesting quotes via email from Michelle Beadle, who has been mostly silent about her show being canceled by NBC Sports Network.

“Perhaps I’m most amused by the audacity to cower when confronted with the very ‘right to free speech’ they defend,” NBC Sports on-air host Michelle Beadle told me in an email. “At the end of all of this, there are many [people] who think this way. I don’t always take the misogynist tirades personally as I think sometimes they’re aimed at a few ‘bad apples’ or [are] just desperate attempts at relevance. Then again, my current situation leaves me with a really bad taste in my mouth and an even greater desire to stick it to ‘the man.’”

But if more women were in those corner offices, would that mean more women fulfilling those dreams—and yes, contrary to what Neyer wrote, there are plenty of us who dream this—of working in the sports industry?

“It would be nice to see more women in [executive] roles,” Beadle told me, “but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee more options.”