Doris Burke Wants More Women in Sports Media

I have noticed one particular thing about a Doris Burke interview. She doesn't get blown off or get cupcake answers or "cutie" cliches when she speaks to coaches and players. They all accord her respect, they acknowledge her acumen like no other woman sports announcer I have witnessed. Truth be known, I am a bigger Doris Burke fan than pro basketball fan.

Doris Burke brings personality, knowledge, and dignity to a difficult job. She knows the backstories of players and coaches, and she is able to weave them into the broadcast without disrupting the flow of the game. Additionally, she knows how spot the important stop or surge in a game as it happens without bogging one down with too many analytics. Furthermore, she knows how to interview both losers and the winners of a game with questions that search for answers or clues to their performances without any sense of prejudice or condemnation. Also, she helps the players/ coaches celebrate their moments in victory, or take away a sense of resolve and an understanding of their positive contributions even in defeat. (Though she admitted once that Coach Popovich was a hard sell.) Most importantly, she is a role model for women in ways that extend way beyond her job as sports analyst; and yet a voice in sports that is highly respected by players, coaches, and fans; and in the final analysis someone who knows firsthand that the challenges of an industry dominated by men are not just momentary hurdles to overcome, but lessons to remember as she furthers her craft along with the next generation of woman sports analysts.

How could ANYBODY ever take LeBron for granted??? I'm astounded . . .

Dick Vitale was right. May he rest in peace. I have listened to Doris Burke call games. Listening to her has made those games more understandable and enjoyable. Hopefully ESPN will have her call games in many venues in the future.

".. the viewer is not tuning in to hear how smart you are — the viewer is tuning in because he or she wants to enjoy the game." That is precisely why I can't watch a game when Bill Walton does the color commentary; he spends most of his time babbling about people and events that are not taking place on the floor. He might have been a great basketball player but he is a terrible announcer, even to the point of fighting on-air with his broadcast partner over semantics. Doris Burke contributes to the viewing experience with her knowledge of the game and its players and her low-key style. It is easy to ignore the novelty of a professional female announcer in a man's sport; it is far more difficult to tolerate an egotistical Hall-of Famer who doesn't know when to shut up.

Please, Ms. Burke, as a college grad and on-air voice, don't use "that" for "who" as in "young Celtics players THAT....." Thanks!

Doris Burke has an annoying lisp. This has nothing to do with male or female, broadcasters shouldn't have lisps. It's okay for an actor if they're portraying a character with a lisp. PC has gone insane. There are sports shows on ESPN where sometimes 3 of the 4 panelists are female. No, none of them know more about the 4 major sports than your typical sports crazy male. Ditto for the female sideline reporters who mostly ask inane questions of the players and coaches. Let us know when women's basketball or softball or hockey get anywhere the number of viewers as the men's games. Soccer only because the women's team fares far better than the men's team, but not in other countries. Even sports like tennis and golf don't get the same ratings. But keep telling us about the equal employment opportunities.

Ms. Burke is very knowledgeable, more than some of the males who seem to have never played, like Dave O'Brian. She does talk too much, a negative shared by nearly all announcers. Pick your spots, Be concise. Give the viewer a bit of respect for their own understanding of what is happening. Recently ESPN had on the internet a Gonzaga game with no announcer and only two remote control camera mounted above the shot clocks and baskets. That was interesting. It would have been helpful to hear the PA better. Are you there ESPN?

I think Ms. Burke does terrific work. Kudos!

" Dick Vitale was adamant that the viewer is not tuning in to hear how smart you are — the viewer is tuning in because he or she wants to enjoy the game." Are you kidding me. Vitale never shuts up. I used to watch the games he announced with the sound turned off.