Courtesy USA Today

(January 7, 2011) NBC sideline reporter Andrea Kremer doesn't know what did or didn't happen between ESPN sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards and announcer Ron Franklin last week. But she's dismayed by some of the "mean-spirited" comments about Franklin's firing for allegedly demeaning Edwards by calling her "sweet baby" and "a—hole."

Many of these boil down, she says, to the same canards that for years have plagued female sideline reporters like herself, Pam Oliver of Fox and Suzy Kolber of ESPN: Why are they there? What do they add? Do women belong in sports at all?

"The vitriol that is spewed forth about women, women in sports TV, female sideline reporters is just so out of control," says Kremer, who will work Saturday night's Indianapolis Colts-New York Jets playoff game with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth.

Meanwhile, Kremer wants to know why the media only pay attention to women in sports TV when there's a negative story, such as Franklin insulting Edwards, Brett Favre "sexting" Jenn Sterger or Joe Namath trying to kiss Kolber.

"It always boils down to: Why are there women sideline reporters? What do they really do? Inane questions that are so antiquated, so passé. It's not what it's about. The focus should be on the performance of a Jeannine Edwards. The focus should be on: What did Pam Oliver contribute to the telecast? It should be about the analysis a Suzy Kolber brings, not whether Joe Namath's trying to kiss her one day. The focus always gets off the performance and contributions that we bring. I don't understand that. People are assailing Jeannine Edwards. Why?"

As to the question of why women are on the NFL sidelines, she has an answer. "We love sports, probably just like those commenters. We're reporters who are knowledgeable about our craft and our sport. We've worked really hard to get where we are. We've paid our dues."

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