You Made the Call

Though Steve Harvey’s commentary was limited to the sports anchors on the Los Angeles news programs, one sportscaster who doesn’t fit into that category wanted to speak her mind:

Being the only woman sportscaster in Los Angeles, I was eager to see your sportscaster rankings in the “Good Sports, Bad Gimmicks” story.

Was it a gimmick when Steve Harvey omitted Prime Ticket’s “Press Box” and concluded his piece by asking why L.A. stations refuse to give a woman an on-camera job? Or maybe Harvey is in the minority of Angelenos who don’t have cable.

What does Harvey think we do each night?

“Press Box” has turned me into one of the most-hated reporters in town. Who hates me? Try the beat reporters for the Lakers who missed the boat when we first reported on “Press Box” that Coach Mike Dunleavy was leaving for Milwaukee. How about the Clippers reporters after we aired a controversial interview with center Olden Polynice that resulted in his trade two days later?

My colleagues Alan Massengale, Glen Walker, Larry Burnett and Bill Macdonald and myself aren’t in the business for ego gratification. Those of us on “Press Box” are a relatively small but close-knit group who have banded together to deliver what we feel is a genuine service to sports fans--a comprehensive look at the region’s sports news in a way that can never be matched in a 2 1/2-minute snippet on any of the other commercial broadcast stations’ newscasts.

Instead of a scorecard, here’s to Harvey getting a cable box and getting into the game. You can bet that Prime Ticket’s “Press Box” has in a big way.

Randi Hall, Prime Ticket sportscaster