Battle of the Sideline Reporters

Tonight's Red Sox-Yankees simulcast on ESPN and NESN, and the resulting Erin Andrews sighting, has finally given me the opportunity to do a post on Andrews and my own personal favorite eye candy sideline reporter, Tina Cervasio.

To consider comparing these two is an exercise in futility. The general consensus on the Internet is that Andrews is, without question, the hottest reporter on television today (and she has the statistics to prove it). An example of her relevance is best seen in the work of my esteemed colleague Signal to Noise, who wrote an ode to Erin in January, had it linked by Jamie Mottram and is still seeing a ton of traffic from it (at least he was - not sure how StN's recent move affects things).

Andrews' dominance over the field derives, as I see it, from four major things:

1) She has a great front

2) She has a great back

3) Unlike seasonal phenoms such as Stacey Dales, Andrews is on our televisions almost all the time. It's not easy to get away from her (of course, why would you want to?)

4) She's only 29, which is well within the acceptable range for most sports bloggers and fans. Which means we would totally have a chance with her if we would only put on some pants and leave our parents' basements. Lucky girl.


I admit that Andrews is one of the most attractive reporters in sports right now (Melissa Stark might be her only real challenger), but as I mentioned above, she is not my all-time very most favoritest. That distinction belongs to Tina Cervasio, who for the last two season has served as the sideline reporter for Red Sox telecasts on NESN. She assumed that role in 2006, following in the footsteps of the immortal Eric Frede, and was immediately considered a failure by many fans who based their opinions on such silly ideas as "she's a big step down from her predecessors" and "she is rarely insightful or natural in front of the camera." Interesting fact, though: she was literally learning on the job, having started just days before Opening Day.

Fortunately, I am much, much more shallow than that and immediately took to Cervasio's big smile, pretty face, and overall energy (throw in "grittiness" and you'd swear I was talking about David Eckstein). I viewed her as a contrast to Hazel Mae (who I swear did some sideline reporting, but Wikipedia disagrees), previously the channel's token on-air female personality and someone whose work I had never really enjoyed.

Cervasio falls short in direct comparison to Andrews because she is older (32), doesn't quite fit the same definition of "hot" in the modern sense, and is limited to a regional fan base (yes, it's the Red Sox, but still - ESPN puts Andrews and her assets in front of far more people than NESN does Cervasio). In all honesty, she would probably be more favorably compared to someone like Sam Ryan or Rachel Nichols, which is somewhere in between Bonnie Bernstein and Suzy Kolber.

For the record, Christine Nubla is currently off the charts.

One more thing I wanted to mention about Cervasio: her father, Joe Cervasio, is one of us (sort of) - he writes a blog called "Good News on the Doorstep".