Mae rejects idea of image problem
Over the past 30 years, women in the local sports media struggled first to gain acceptance, then credibility, and ultimately respect, admiration, and high-profile positions.
Their goal was to be prepared and professional and to avoid, at all costs, what could be any hint of The Bimbo Factor and give old-line coaches -- not to mention bosses, viewers, and readers -- no reasons to confirm suspicions that the women suddenly appearing in male locker rooms were there for any reason besides newsgathering.
Times change, however, and now the question is whether those guidelines still hold in all cases, especially as the lines between sports and entertainment continue to blur.
It was against that background that Hazel Mae, anchor of NESN's ''Sports Desk," created a stir in local sports media circles last week because of an interview with columnist John Molori that appeared in several area publications and on websites.
Among her comments:
''NESN has never put rules down to me about dating players, colleagues or anyone else. If they did, I wouldn't work there."
''I knew what they wanted to hear and I gave it to them . . . I knew that what I said would get people to watch NESN," she said of a morning appearance on WEEI radio over the summer in which she traded double entendres with Mike Adams and told the audience, ''I'm wearing my WEEI thong."
''I don't have to compromise my femininity to do this job. I like wearing my tight blazers and shirts. This bothers some women, but they need to chill out."
The story caused enough concern at NESN that Mae's bosses convened a meeting last Friday.
Afterward, Mae stood by all her comments -- save for the one about dating -- and NESN president Sean McGrail stood by her.
''We talked it through and Hazel has my support and the organization's," he said. ''I'm comfortable that [the interview] doesn't reflect her core beliefs and values."
Mae, who was working in Toronto for Rogers Sportsnet when she was hired by NESN last September, is competent at delivering the news and shooting feature segments, though not as strong when it comes to ad-libbing and interviewing.
The consensus around town was that Mae got a mulligan -- one a male or female at the news outlets in this market wouldn't have received -- when she engaged in the suggestive repartee with Adams, a master of the double entendre, on WEEI. She provided the station's producers with a career's worth of sound bites, all of which will live forever in WEEI's digital playback machine.
Mae presented an image that other women in Boston's sports media (and their bosses) have done everything in their power to avoid.
Not Mae.
''I was ready to talk their language and stir the pot," she said Friday. ''The alternative was to be dull and traditional. Sports talk is entertainment. I had a great time, and a lot of people told me afterwards they'd like to hear me on the show regularly. Sure, I embellished things a bit, but I got a lot of exposure from that interview."
Mae's comments on dating raised eyebrows all over the city, especially after a sports media scandal last year that involved two high-profile people with Boston ties: Carolyn Hughes of Fox Sports Net (once of Channel 7) and Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe. Their widely publicized affair was something you'd think would cause every member of the media, male and female, to pause for a minute of self-reflection to run down one's personal checklist of what ''being professional" means.
Of her dating comments, Mae said, ''They [NESN] don't need to say it. It's an unwritten rule. To me, having dealt with two major league teams [Blue Jays, Red Sox], it goes without saying and it's understood that reporters don't date players.
''I'm comfortable with my conduct. I sleep soundly at night. That's absolutely, with a capital A."
Still, it's hard to imagine any other female member of the city's sports media getting involved in a similar radio segment or on-the-record interview.
''Women in the sports media are still a minority," said Joanne Gerstner, president of the Association for Women in the Sports Media. ''It's not fair, but we're still held to higher standards. You don't want to do anything to give credence to suspicions you don't belong in the industry."
Gerstner, who covers the Pistons for the Detroit News, added, ''I flat-out wouldn't date a player or executive from either the team -- or even league -- I cover."
Frank Shorr, director of the Sports Institute at Boston University and a former sports producer at Channel 7, teaches barely three blocks away from the NESN studio where Mae works. He knows times have changed. He said he sees it every day in his students.
''This isn't the sports journalism of 1985," he said. ''Everyone's [boundary] line is different. I think the question in all this is what her employer is asking Hazel to do. Is the employer putting the employee in this situation, saying, 'This is how we want you to appear'?"
Since NESN embraces Mae's style, the answer would seem to be yes. (For the record, The
''Part of the package when a station hires a woman to be on air is the unstated understanding that she'll use her charm, looks, and beauty to her advantage and to advance the station's philosophy," said Shorr.
NESN's McGrail said, ''As we hire more people, there are different personalities on the air. It's something that's taking us all some getting used to."
Gerstner said, ''There's a time and a place to be intelligent. There's a time and a place to be professional. There's a time and a place to be cute and/or sexy. You've got to know when."
Gerstner has a word of caution for female broadcasters in general: ''If you base your career on looks, you know there's always the newer, younger model coming along. Look no farther than NBC, with Jane Pauley being replaced by Deborah Norville, who in turn was replaced by Katie Couric."
But self-promotion seems to be a different issue.
''People were stopping me in street after the WEEI interview and telling me I should be a regular guest," she said. ''NESN is behind me, likes my look, and applauds my work. I don't want to put myself in a spot to jeopardize my position. To me, it's a nonissue."
McGrail said, ''She's done great. She's only gotten better, and the [ratings] numbers for the show have gone through the roof."
That appears to be the bottom line.
Football lineup
With the Patriots on a bye week, CBS's lead NFL broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will be covering Broncos-Giants Sunday (Channel 4, 4:15 p.m.) as the afternoon's national telecast. Boston will get Chargers-Eagles as the early game. Fox is sending in Cowboys-Seahawks at 4 . . . Tonight's Bruins-Montreal game is exclusive to OLN and the only Bruins game that won't be available in high definition until at least Thanksgiving . . . Tonight at 6, NESN debuts ''Breakaway," a Bruins week-in-review program hosted by Rob Simpson, who gathered material during the team's lengthy road trip, including interviews with Phil Esposito and Penguins rookie phenom Sidney Crosby . . . Tomorrow's ''Sports Plus" takes a ride around the Boston sports scene with the Globe's Mike Reiss (Patriots), Kevin Paul Dupont (Bruins), and Shira Springer (Celtics) joining host Bob Neumeier (NESN, 6 and 10:30 p.m.). Bill Griffith's e-mail address is griffith@globe.com. 