Jeff Pearlman said he realized over the weekend that he went too far in a post in which he called Erin Andrews “The Kardashian of sports TV” in the aftermath of her interview with Richard Sherman.

Pearlman writes that he fell into the trap of doing a blog: The dreaded quick post without completely thinking through the post. As a result, Pearlman became a target himself, and what he was trying to say got lost with the Kardashian comparison.

Pearlman writes:

In a word: Awful.

Writers are responsible for their words. They’re supposed to measure what they write, then measure it again and again and again. Sometimes, unfortunately, I fail to measure. An impulse shoots through my brain, and I fire away, press SAVE, then press PUBLISH. I have an idea of what I want to convey, but I don’t bother to make sure it’s conveyed properly.

Guilty, times 1,000.

Later, Pearlman writes:

Furthermore, when it comes to women reporters, networks (in my opinion) place too great an emphasis on looks. I know … I know—it’s a visual medium, and attractiveness draws viewers. Still, it strikes me as an awful double standard. Nobody’s demanding beauty and sexiness from, say, Chris Berman or Joe Buck or Stuart Scott. Yet it seems that—bottom line—women with sex appeal have an inside track over women with fantastic knowledge and poise but, say, a belly. Or a mole. I get it. Really, I do. It just infuriates me, because I’ve known very talented women who have felt they don’t really have a shot.

So … that’s what I meant to convey. And, interestingly, I received several e-mails from women in sports media, thanking me for making the point. But, ultimately, I failed miserably. I blasted Erin Andrews and killed the entire intent. The post wound up being juvenile and stupid. Some accused me of being sexist—which fucking tore at my insides, in that the whole goal was to speak on behalf of women. Boy, that went over well.

I don’t know Erin Andrews. I’ve heard she’s a nice person who works hard.

She certainly didn’t deserve this nonsense.

Pearlman’s last thought is correct. Say what you will about her, from what I’ve heard, she is a hard worker and is completely dedicated to doing a good job. Unfortunately, she can’t seem to avoid being in the line of fire.