Photo Credit: Taylor Glascock / Blue Sky
The women of ESPN are some of the best and most interesting females working in the sports world. Some of the women have now become part of their sister company, espnW. One of the best female sports journalists who works for both, Sarah Spain, is this week’s spotlight.
Spain grew up in Illinois where she played many sports during her high school years. She played basketball, track and field, and hockey which earned her accolades including All-State, All-Conference and All-Area. She attended college at Cornell University where she received her degree in English. In college, she continued playing hockey and become a heptathlete in track and field.
After college, Spain moved to Chicago where she got a job at Intersport Television briefly. Spain then moved to LA where she lived for six years, freelancing as a writer, actress and host. She would eventually return to Chicago where she was employed by a start-up company, working as a writer, producer and reporter. She then began working for Chicago Now as a writer and radio host. She also worked as a sideline reporter and helped launch ‘Chicago’s Best’ that focused on the best of Chicago.
In 2010, Spain got the call from ESPN that she could not say no to. She started off working for ESPN radio station, ‘ESPN 1000’ before branching out into espnW. Since then, she has been featured on ESPNChicago, national ESPN radio, SportsCenter, Around the Horn and His & Hers to name a few. In addition to having her podcast with Katie Fagan and Jane McManus, Spain also has her own podcast entitled “That’s What She Said.”
Spain has been in the news recently after attending Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski’s “Gronk’s Party Cruise.” Many were quick to call out Spain for not being a “good” feminist and for justifying his behavior. Spain’s article on Gronk’s cruise quickly debunked all of the stereotypes and showed the critics what they hadn’t been expecting. Spain is no stranger to talking about controversial subjects either after she covered Damon Bruce who ranted about “women ruining sports”, but her best writing came via her own website/blog.
She posted on her blog which can be seen here about the double standard in sports. While the post itself is longer than an article, she hits back at all the men who believe women are ruining sports and the idea that women in sports media should be judged solely on their appearance. Spain is certainly very rare because she isn’t afraid of the consequences of her actions and that’s something that more females in sports media need to have.
