Good Reporters Always Seek the Naked Truth

A reporter, of course, is supposed to uncover things, which explains why Lisa Guerrero apparently undid all the buttons on her blouse before posing for the picture that is posted on Foxsports.com--keyword “Lisa G.�

From my vantage point, I think I can say no one has to worry about a hidden microphone on this journalist.

I looked closer, of course, and noticed Guerrero had included an interview with Tom Lasorda along with her provocative picture, and so I called the dirty old man.

Instead I got Jo, his wife, and immediately tattled on him. “Is that the way she was dressed when she interviewed Tommy?� she said.

I honestly didn’t know, but I told her, “Yes,� only sorry I couldn’t listen later when Lasorda called his wife from Vero Beach to find out if everything was OK.

I’M NOT happy when my two daughters want to wear two-piece bathing suits, and I’m constantly telling my wife to put her clothes back on. But they aren’t journalists trying to get the attention of coaches and athletes, and I’ll bet you Mike Garrett and Kevin Brown talk to Guerrero whenever she wants.

I understand Sports Illustrated has its swimsuit issue, and NBC went with Playmates at halftime of the Super Bowl. But I don’t recall any Web site, magazine or legitimate media outlet giving us a cheesecake gander at one of their very own journalists like this. “Look,� said Ross Levinsohn, general manager of Foxsports.com, and I told him I had been looking, for the last three hours.

“There are far worse pictures on the Web of people involved in sports and entertainment,� Levinsohn said. I asked for a detailed list.

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I CALLED two female reporters at Fox, and the one who obviously doesn’t wear a brassiere called back. I’ll let you guess who the other one was.

“The picture is definitely provocative,� Guerrero said. “I picked the picture because I think it shows a strong, sexy, confident woman, and I’m comfortable with myself. I don’t try to be a soccer mom. I embrace my femininity and I think that sets me apart from the masses in the locker room.�

I’ll have to be honest, I’ve been in a lot of locker rooms, and she’s right--I have yet to see anyone else embrace their femininity.

“I don’t think Lisa is putting herself out there like she’s Madeline Albright or Janet Reno,� said Levinsohn, and this guy sure knows how to kill the mood. “She has creative control of the Web site, and feels like the Web is a good place to express herself, and we’re here to support her.�

It didn’t appear to me she needed any support. “I’m not doing this for my fellow journalists--my dad is extremely proud of me and that’s all that matters,� she said. “He told me, ‘Don’t catch a chest cold,’ so he has a sense of humor about it.�

I know I was feeling warm, so I told her there was no reason to cover up. I think it’s the responsibility of all journalists to help each other like that.

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GUERRERO IS the main news anchor for “The Best Damn Sports Show Period� on Fox Sports Net, so you know how talented she is.

“I’m hoping the lasting image goes beyond the cleavage,� she said, “and people look at me like I’m actually a sportscaster.� Just like Tom Arnold.

“I think Lisa is having fun with this,� Levinsohn said. “Frankly she brings a more interesting perspective than most people who work at Fox, because she’s a female, and an attractive female in sports.�

I’m not sure if Levinsohn was telling me all the men who work at Fox are dull, and she’s more interesting than the unattractive women there, but I’m sure that will make for interesting talk around the Fox water cooler this morning.

There’s no question for some time Guerrero has caught the attention of Larry Stewart, our sports TV critic, who wrote long before she unbuttoned her blouse for Foxsports.com: “Lisa Guerrero is more than just a pretty face.� Somehow he knew.

Guerrero told me she’s on the air more than most anybody in the country what with all the national updates she does for Fox Sports Net, and I think I can say I’ve seen more of her than any other female journalist I know.

In addition to Guerrero, Fox’s journalistic-minded site is now flashing a series of come-hither looks from Anna Kournikova with this invite: “Win a trip to see Anna K pose in paradise.� This might explain why “The SIMERS Show� is about to go off the air, because contestants are not eligible to spend time with Anna in paradise if they are presently employed by Fox.

ESPN.com and CBS.sportsline.com might give you facts and scores, but Foxsports.com offers something called “Lisa’s Links,� with a picture of hard-hitting reporter Lisa Dergan wearing a very nice white sweater that apparently shrank the last time she washed it. I would think she’d have trouble breathing.... I know I did.

You can click on Dergan’s photo gallery, which I’m told includes the only seven pictures of her on the Internet wearing clothes. Apparently Playboy’s Miss July 1998 appears everywhere else on the Internet without tape recorder, notebook or anything else.

When I asked Levinsohn if we would be seeing more of journalist Dergan on Foxsports.com, he told me her appearance on the site was no different than the space dedicated to John Madden.

I asked Levinsohn if Madden had a photo gallery, and whether it included Albright and Reno, because you just don’t know with Fox these days.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in an e-mail from David Pragasam:

“How dare someone be so dismissive of players with so much talent. Have you ever hit a golf ball, Mr. Simers?�

I played with a pro the other day, and let me tell you, I hit the ball more often than he did.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at [email protected].