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As the weather lashes Sydney, meaning only one wicket fell on Day 2 of the New Year’s Test (for the record, it was Carlos Braithwaite, bowled James Pattinson), a bigger storm – the social-media type – descended upon Hobart.
During a relatively placid affair between the Hobart Hurricanes and the Melbourne Renegades it wasn’t Chris Gayle’s batting that sent people cringing all the way to the ‘any channel but this’ button on their remotes.
Nope, it was the Renegades’ gun opening-bat propositioning Network Ten’s BBL host Mel McLaughlin that sent the wrath-filled clouds of Twitter and Facebook into a frenzy.
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“Hopefully we can win this game and we can have a drink after,” Gayle said.
Mel turned her head away, with no discernable change in her facial expression. The hundreds of thousands watching at home cringed, yes cringed, but it was nothing compared to what was next.
“Don’t blush, baby”, Gayle said, with a grin peeking through the corners of his mouth.
McLaughlin replied: “I’m not blushing.”
She really wasn’t, baby.
The ABC’s Auskar Surbakti asked on Twitter whether it was sexism or just sleazy, or both? It was probably both, but I have a different ‘s’ word for it – stupid.
Or an even better word – dumb. Really dumb.
Gayle has attracted a following on social media for his exposition of a lifestyle that attracts a certain type of person – both male and female. Much of it is dumb, but harmless enough not to spark outrage – he’s on Chris time when he’s tweeting photos of him in the nightclub.
It’s when the same behaviour reaches the public sphere that it is a problem.
Gayle just wanted “to see your [Mel’s] eyes for the first time”. Imagine how many times that line’s been dropped in clubs over the years? Time and place.
Do you think McLaughlin would have preferred to be complimented about her eyes, or to hear about how Gayle felt about his aggressive performance (for the stats book, 41 off 15, one ball too many for a beautiful, palindromic score), or as her next question went on to ask, what injuries were bothering him?
At this point I will step away from the hubbub and furore, and turn to idiotic adolescence for answers.
As a young man growing up, watching McLaughlin’s career develop on Fox Sports, I can attest that she was plenty of young men’s favourite sports presenter. But, like every good relationship, there was more than just the physical attraction.
Eyes aside, professionalism, a knack for getting to the heart of the story, a terrific broadcast voice, and an enviable ability to ad lib and banter on camera were the reasons young men liked McLaughlin. These are the qualities that define a TV journalist – the very same that determine impressionable viewers’ opinions of Andrew Voss, Les Murray or Simon Hill.
This was further confirmed to me when I got to work with McLaughlin, briefly, in my time at Fox Sports News. She was a reporter and presenter you could build a show around. It wasn’t her looks, but sharp wit, reporting skill, and passion for football that made her beloved of A-League fans from the first time she fronted up to host the matchday coverage.
Wind the clock forward to 2016, and Mel has moved to Network Ten, and is being called “baby” on live television. It’s incongruous with the legwork she put in to cement a reputation, work up to the level of presenter, remain professional in the face of being asked to commentate darts live on air, and wade past the thousands who think that it’s not her place.
She has never propositioned a sportsman on camera, and in all likelihood expects the same treatment. Sleaziness might be endemic in bars and clubs, but is generally reserved for time off-camera for those working in and with the media.
The problem with last night isn’t that it exposes how Gayle likes to hit on women often and shamelessly – we knew that already. It’s more revealing of an attitude that it’s okay to do it, disregarding all evidence pointing to the opposite, under the guise of entertainment. Sex sells.
What’s worrying is Gayle clearly thought that’s what was required of him. Some call the Big Bash League ‘hit and giggle’, so let’s take the giggle a little further.
The awkwardness was palpable for all who watched. Mark Howard and his fellow commentators were placed in an extremely awkward position. I have no doubt their stomachs sank as they heard the words, and their initial reaction, as hosts, was to laugh it off as banter, stoically attempting to revive a piece of awful television by pretending hard enough that it became funny.
It didn’t. Scripted like a b-grade porno, last night’s coverage descended into ‘hit-on with no giggle’.
The Big Bash League has a mandate for entertainment, but alienating reporters in a sexist fashion while they are attempting to do their job is not where the line is. That’s just dumb.
Let’s leave terrible, terrible pick-up lines off camera, because it was as dumb and offensive as the Twitter storm made it out to be.
Journalists report. Players bat, bowl and field. Drinks and dumb compliments are for after the game.
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