ESPN is missing something

(Author's note:

ESPN has stated there is no discussion on domestic violence planned for pregame tonight. 'Contrary to published reports in Esquire, there was no panel on domestic violence ever planned for tonight's Monday Night Countdown. We will present our normal Monday Night Football pregame show, with Suzy Kolber hosting and Lisa Salters reporting. ESPN is proud of the work it has done covering the issue of domestic violence, and is committed to continued coverage. Much of that work has been informed by several talented female colleagues from our television and espnW platforms, including Hannah Storm, Jemele Hill, Jane McManus, Kate Fagan, Sarah Spain and more.”)

'People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.”

~Vince Lombardi

Tonight, before kickoff of Monday Night Football

, ESPN will air a panel discussion on domestic violence as part of their pregame show.

Although victims of domestic violence in America are most likely to be women between the ages of 20 and 24, the ESPN panel will have no female participants from that age group. In fact, the panel will not feature women at all.

According to advance press, participants will be Chris Berman, Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Adam Schefter, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Jon Gruden, Mike Tirico, Stuart Scott, Steve Young and Ray Lewis. All men, all between the ages of 40 and 75.

No doubt it will be interesting to see what the men have to say about a professional sports league with a relative arrest rate of 55.4 percent, which is more than four times worse than the league's arrest rate for all offenses. Domestic violence accounts for 48 percent of arrests for violent crimes among National Football League players, compared to 21 percent nationally.

Add in data regarding income levels - that is, how often domestic violence is an issue in more affluent households - and you're left with a domestic violence arrest rate that pollsters say is 'downright extraordinary.”

Also extraordinary, at least in my opinion, is a television network devoted to sports, which has made a very public point of extolling its female hires, not including those same hires on a pregame panel discussion.

It's a bold decision, much in line with statements already made by some of the panelists:

' Mike Ditka: 'Look, the NFL did not create these problems. The people in the NFL created these problems. The players; not the commissioner. It's not the owners. These kids are given the opportunity to make a lot of money and to play football. Now, if they want to jeopardize that with stupid behavior and doing dumb things, then it's their fault. Why should the NFL take a black eye for what individuals do?”

' Cris Carter: 'We're in a climate right now, I don't care what it is. Take them off the dang-gone field. Because you know what? As a man, that's the only thing we really respect. We don't respect no women. We don't respect no kids. The only thing Roger (Goodell) and them can do, take them off the field because they respect that.”

' Ray Lewis: 'There is no comparison between me and Ray Rice. It's night and day.”

There is, however, a comparison to be made between the statements of male sports journalists, some of whom have been engaging in victim blaming, and female sports journalists, some of whom are trying to reconcile their love of the game with tepid response by the league and networks to violent scandals.

'It's time for the conversation to change, or at least for those participating in the conversation. It's time for women to have a seat at the big boy table, and not where their presence is a gimmick or a concept - just a person who happens to have breasts offing her opinion on the sports they love and the topics they know,” said Katie Nolan of Fox Sports.

'Because, the truth is, the NFL will never respect women and their opinions as long as the media it answers to doesn't.”

' Comments: @LyndaIowa, lynda.waddington@thegazette.com or (319) 339-3144.