Column on dress spurs firestorm

It all started with a patterned dress with a low neckline and a high hemline, and the conduct of one of the University of Florida's best-known graduates while wearing it.

Earlier this week, Peoria Journal Star columnist Mike Nadel wrote that ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews dressed and acted like a "sexpot" in the Chicago Cubs clubhouse, and the world — sports fans, journalists, the blogosphere and beyond — has responded in force.

The ensuing firestorm has spurred columns calling Nadel "reckless, in search of cheap fame, a caveman, resentful of women, crusty and out of touch."

It has also elicited columns backing Nadel, like one from Chicago Tribune sports columnist Teddy Greenstein that quotes FSN Wisconsin's Trenni Kusnierek as saying Andrews' dress and conduct damaged "an entire gender."

Andrews, who graduated from the University of Florida in 2000 with a degree in telecommunications, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. She told The Palm Beach Post earlier this week that the column first led her to question her actions, then to staunchly defend them.

"I went back and examined the whole day in my head," Andrews told The Post. "I thought, ‘No, I didn't do anything wrong.' "

In the much-discussed column, Nadel wrote that Andrews "sauntered" into the clubhouse in all her "bare-legged, high-heeled, low-necklined glory." He wrote that she "flitted" from player to player, and that she touched Alfonso Soriano's bicep "suggestively."

He also reported that when Cubs manager Lou Piniella saw Andrews, he yelled: "Hey, hey, hey! Look at this! Are you doing a baseball game today or a modeling assignment?"

Andrews told The Palm Beach Post she was examining Soriano's injury scar, not feeling his bicep. She also told The Post she took Piniella's comment as a harmless joke.

ESPN executives have backed her, calling her a knowledgeable, hardworking reporter in public statements.

Andrews has retained close ties to her alma mater since graduation.

The former UF Dazzlers dance team member hyped up Gator fans at a rally before the NCAA basketball championship game in 2007, and spoke to a reporting class in UF's Weimer Hall in March.

During the talk in March, she told students she prepares for each of her interviews with "days" of studying, and spoke about trends in media convergence.

She also told students how she copes with rumors that she's dating star quarterbacks, or with videos posted on YouTube glorifying her looks.

"If you want to be in sports, you can't have thin skin as a woman," Andrews told the class. "I'm walking into a guy's world — I know that."