Sun columnist is CLUELESS while Jen Royle bellyaches about Baltimore

[RavenScallywag]

Does Sage Steele also help to shoot down his theory? She was CSN, so maybe not totally Baltimore, but locally, she was well received and she parlayed it into a job for ESPN.

Really, most knowledgeable fans are just upset at ANY media person who just can't get the facts straight and still try to claim to be the expert. The reason I hated Anita Marks was because she ALWAYS said "The Ravens just need to go out and trade WHATEVER it takes to get Dwayne Bowe, Brandon Marshall, TO, etc". Not even just she wished it would happen...she was dumbfounded when Ozzie wouldn't do it, like obviously she knew how to run a football team and by not doing it, Ozzie just did not.

[TL24x7]

Two words...

Sage Steele

[Shas]

But Zurawik? No, not a liberal.

I was going to make this point, too. Zurawik is far-right. At least he takes that point of view in his columns, where he regularly goes after TV figures like Jon Stewart, and can't help himself but wander off course into non-media commentaries.

It's sort of the Mike Preston school of journalism. Pander for readers by stirring up controversy for controversy sake even if you don't really have a story to write about. We get annoyed, and then remember that these are columnist paid to poke us.

In an semi-ironic way, Royale was kind of the same beast. She clearly was not hired because of her ability to report on the teams she was covering. And like Preston and Zurawik, she makes her self the story first-and-foremost, ahead of the teams and players and coaches she ostensibly covering. It's annoying.

With Royale, for the first year or so at least didn't it seem like she just wanted to talk about her relationships in her previous job with the Yankee players...and didn't it seem like she struggled to say anything interesting about her current beat?

I can recall when Anita Marks was chased out, and the station was looking to replace her, that I hoped they had learned their lesson and not hire some out of town sports babe whose heart wasn't really here and whose brain wasn't really capable of interesting insights. And lo and behold, that seems to be exactly what we got with Royale.

Rather than criticize her, I blame the management clowns who hired her and set her up to fail. We were already fed up with a steady diet of Marks, and they gave us Anita Marks Part Two with Jen Royale. She was set up to fail, so in that sense I feel badly for her. Our wrath is somewhat misdirected.

Are we so sexist that we can't accept a female sports talker? Of course not. That lazy, stupid suggestion deserves no more conversation than a column asserting we hate Mike Preston columns because we're racists.

And yet, here I am, talking about this stupid topic. Zurawik wins. He fabricates a controversy where none exists. Why is Royal still a topic? Because Zurwik is trolling for something to stir us up. He's a troll.

[festivus]

Rather than criticize her, I blame the management clowns who hired her and set her up to fail. We were already fed up with a steady diet of Marks, and they gave us Anita Marks Part Two with Jen Royale. She was set up to fail, so in that sense I feel badly for her.

It may interest you to know that that is *precisely* the point Drew was making on the morning he and Glenn made the comments that led to the lawsuit against NST.

I don't have a problem with her being an idiot; people can't help that. But she shouldn't have gone to court to resolve a personal problem and she should *definitely* not have been urinating on the fans the way she did. No sympathy from me.

[AirFlacco]

For what all the guys are saying about Jen and Marks, and they're all true, there are plenty of female Ravens fans that liked them. I learned that the hard way.

Scott Garceau was the guest speaker of our Ravens Club's scholarship banquet where we give thousands to hi school football players in the county.

I walked up to the head table and said congrats on your retirement and new show Scott. He said thanks but you have to get rid of that bitch. Scott just sat there with a horrific look while everyone laughed their asses off including the main speaker Marcus Ogden.

Afterward I asked the Prez if I was getting kicked out of the club and he said you, no way Trap. You just said what we were all thinking. Relax.

Two weeks later I get a nasty letter saying that if I ever did that again I was out of the club. Turns out everyone in the place heard me say that - about 300 people and all the bitches complained. You can be sure they had plenty of female fans as uninformed as they were.

The guys still laugh when they see me and say it was the funniest thing that ever happened in the club. Even the guys who weren't there say how funny it was.

Anyway, I sent an FU back to the club and was out but Marks and Jen do have their fans.

Actually, I liked it better when Scott was correcting Marks all the time instead of his idle talk with Jeremy Conn who's a Dolts fan that really sucks.

Oh yea, I go back to Gayle Gardner days on WJZ who was a pioneer in female sports reporting along with Jayne Kennedy on the national scene who were great and not just because of their great tits

[Corey]

Does Sage Steele also help to shoot down his theory? She was CSN, so maybe not totally Baltimore, but locally, she was well received and she parlayed it into a job for ESPN.

Really, most knowledgeable fans are just upset at ANY media person who just can't get the facts straight and still try to claim to be the expert. The reason I hated Anita Marks was because she ALWAYS said "The Ravens just need to go out and trade WHATEVER it takes to get Dwayne Bowe, Brandon Marshall, TO, etc". Not even just she wished it would happen...she was dumbfounded when Ozzie wouldn't do it, like obviously she knew how to run a football team and by not doing it, Ozzie just did not.

Marks personal relationships with some of the players were also inappropriate for someone who is supposed to remain un-bias. I am fairly certain she and Cmac had a thing going on. I'll never forget that "exclusive" interview she got with him right after he was cut. It was the worst on air interview I've heard in my life. And after that all types of digs at the Ravens and John Harbaugh in particular came out of her.

[Ravens75]

Marks personal relationships with some of the players were also inappropriate for someone who is supposed to remain un-bias. I am fairly certain she and Cmac had a thing going on. I'll never forget that "exclusive" interview she got with him right after he was cut. It was the worst on air interview I've heard in my life. And after that all types of digs at the Ravens and John Harbaugh in particular came out of her.

Rumor has it that Sage had a 'close' relationship with CMac as well.

I was not a fan of Sage because of her Washington football team bias and how she thought her stuff didn't stink but she knew her stuff most of the time and more importantly delivered her message well.

Marks struggled in that regard but was doomed from the start with how she presented herself as the 'ultimate sports chick' who knew what she was talking about because she was a QB for a professional women's team. It also didn't serve her well when she had produced racy photos of herself and then wants to be taken as a serious talks show host. The pro Miami talk also didn't serve her well.

She meant well but unfortunately she had strikes against her.

[The Excellector]

The first person I thought of was Amber Theoharis.

She blows that asinine theory out of the water. She's very good at what she does.

Royle was just plain awful. The fact she's a woman had nothing to do with it.

I also thought of the woman who left for ESPN. She was very good at covering the Ravens as well and did not seem to hold punches when interviewing the players. Was she Sage Steele?

[Kevlar]

I never got the Sage hate. Wasn't her brother working for the Ravens when she was reporting here? She wasn't dumb, and had a lot more inside information than pretty much any reporter could ask for. Yet people still gave her grief because part of her duties were to report on the other local football team for pretty much the southern and western half of the state?

I think there are a lot of local ravens fans and sports fans in general who just don't want to see women reporting on football.

[Cj34]

I never got the Sage hate. Wasn't her brother working for the Ravens when she was reporting here? She wasn't dumb, and had a lot more inside information than pretty much any reporter could ask for. Yet people still gave her grief because part of her duties were to report on the other local football team for pretty much the southern and western half of the state?

I think there are a lot of local ravens fans and sports fans in general who just don't want to see women reporting on football.

Her brother still works for the Ravens. Chad is the media relations director.

I haven't seen too much hate for Sage honestly. When the subject has been brought up I've found most people (at least the people I talk to) think she's pretty good. I think she was very good here and is still good at ESPN.

[moose10101]

Sorry, Festivus, but you should take your blinders off: Dr. Z too frequently wears his bleeding heart on his sleeve.

I'm trying to imagine how far right you have to be to believe that Z is a liberal.

[HoustonRaven]

Lets not turn this into a political rant.

Lets keep the discussion on the merits of the article, not any perceived political slant.

The other moderators and I will flog Mista T as a warning.

[Ravens75]

I never got the Sage hate. Wasn't her brother working for the Ravens when she was reporting here? She wasn't dumb, and had a lot more inside information than pretty much any reporter could ask for. Yet people still gave her grief because part of her duties were to report on the other local football team for pretty much the southern and western half of the state?

I think there are a lot of local ravens fans and sports fans in general who just don't want to see women reporting on football.

Sage was prominent on 980's 'The Sports Reporters' and always gushed about the Slurs and downplayed the Ravens as the areas stepchildren. Her confrontation with Billick after the Ravens beat the Bills in 2004 was borderline unprofessional and the players gave her props only because she was good eye candy(though she was a little too skinny for me....seems like 'the network' has encouraged her to put on a few lbs). Heck even MD's Dre Nicholas flirted with her on camera.

In all though she was good but I wouldn't say better then the slurs beat reporter Keli Johnson or part time CSN host Carol Maloney who bring it regularly with a mix of facts, smarts and wit to go along with a nice look.

[alien bird]

For what all the guys are saying about Jen and Marks, and they're all true, there are plenty of female Ravens fans that liked them. I learned that the hard way.

I walked up to the head table and said congrats on your retirement and new show . . . but you have to get rid of that bitch.

Two weeks later I get a nasty letter saying that if I ever did that again I was out of the club. Turns out everyone in the place heard me say that - about 300 people and all the bitches complained. You can be sure they had plenty of female fans as uninformed as they were.

Oh yea, I go back to Gayle Gardner days on WJZ who was a pioneer in female sports reporting along with Jayne Kennedy on the national scene who were great and not just because of their great tits

Gee, [deleted due to personal insult]