Visser voted top female sportscaster — is she the right choice?


Lesley Visser has been voted the top female sportscaster by the American Sportscasters Association.

I’ve always thought of Visser as a journalist first (she cut her teeth at the Boston Globe) who was a pioneer among women in television, but is she the best? Here’s the top 15, in order, chosen among 36 finalists:

  1. Lesley Visser (CBS)
  2. Andrea Kremer (NBC)
  3. Robin Roberts (ABC/ESPN)
  4. Michele Tafoya (ESPN)
  5. Hannah Storm (ESPN)
  6. Mary Carillo (HBO)
  7. Linda Cohn (ESPN)
  8. Andrea Joyce (ABC/ESPN)
  9. Suzy Kolber (ABC/ESPN)
10. Phyllis George (CBS)
11. Bonnie Bernstein (ESPN)
12. Pam Oliver (Fox)
13. Donna de Varona (ABC)
14. Judy Rankin (ABC/ESPN)
15. Ann Meyers-Drysdale (NBC)

My two cents: I’d probably have taken Kremer, Carillo and Visser, in that order. I believe Bernstein, Oliver and Rankin are rated too low, and Tafoya, Cohn and Joyce ranked too high.

Categories: TV
Pete Dougherty

6 Responses

  1. cr3861 says:

    Funny, I was watching a NBC Sports update during Wimbledon, and you know who delivered that update? Andrea Joyce(wrong network ID). I agree with you with Bernstein ranked low, but Visser just as big a icon on-air as well as print, and much highly admired in both, you clearly blew the call there.

  2. Pete Dougherty, Staff writer says:

    The network affiliations were provided by the ASA.

  3. Sharon says:

    I’d move Mary Carillo up.

  4. ithrowlikeagirl says:

    I like the top 3 but would have switched Suzy Kolber with Michelle Tafoya. No questioning Kolber’s knowledge and the way she handled a drunken Joe Namath was priceless.

  5. Bill says:

    She’s married to Bill Stockton. Hence they have tons of friends in the sports media. It’s fixed.

  6. Pete Dougherty, Staff writer says:

    Actually, it’s Dick Stockton, but I understand your point.

    I don’t know who voted on this.