Oh, the problems of mixing business and pleasure in sports media.
Kirk Minihane of WEEI.com has a piece on Jenny Dell, who covers the Red Sox for NESN. She now happens to be dating Will Middlebrooks.
Minihane writes:
On its own, who cares? Both are young, single, successful, attractive, well-liked by teammates and colleagues. Dell is hugely popular both among fans and people at NESN, and Middlebrooks has done much charity work in his short career with the Red Sox. And this is, last we checked, a free country. So let’s allow the kids some fun, stay out of the way, and see how it ends. Usually, I’m on board with that. As a libertarian that is exactly what I believe — I’m going to stay out of your business and you should stay away from mine.
Except there’s the issue of conflict of interest.
Right. Reporters shouldn’t be dating the people they are reporting on. That goes for men and women. Minihane writes:
Put it another way: There is no way NESN’s coverage of the Red Sox can be taken seriously if Dell is allowed to return to that position. The already blurred lines will permanently be crossed. What’ll be next? Linda Pizzuti filling in for Jerry Remy? Tom Werner giving Tom Caron a night or two off?
Lots of times we don’t know right or wrong, but lots of times we do, and this sure is one. Now, it’s not wrong that Dell and Middlebrooks have feelings for each other. That’s life, the heart wants what it wants, all that. But a reporter cannot be in a romantic relationship with — much less living with — a player he or she is covering on a daily basis. That’s simply not how it works.
Minihane quotes another woman sports reporter in Boston.
Abby Chin is the sideline reporter for the Celtics on Comcast and had some interesting comments on the Dell-Middlebrooks relationship with an ESPN station in New Hampshire this week. “I just know for me and my mind-set, it’s not even an option,” Chin said. “I’ve crossed that pathway off completely. For me, personally, that’s how I deal with it. I’m not going to say that no player has ever hit on me, but it’s just not an option. I would immediately shut down any sort of request. It’s a bridge I’m not willing to cross. … Women in this business don’t get three strikes, they get one.”
Indeed, therein lies the problem for Chin and other woman sports reporters. Unfortunately, people tend to paint with a broad brush. What one woman sports reporter does can be a reflection on all of them.
This is not a good situation for not only Dell, but all women sports reporters.