On Tuesday night, Comcast SportsNet sideline reporter Susannah Collins was likely willing to laugh at her slip of the tongue statement in which she said on air that the Chicago Blackhawks had enjoyed a tremendous amount of sex. Just 48 hours later, any such laughing would come to an end.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Comcast SportsNet and Collins parted ways last night, due to increased attention focused on videos of when she co-hosted the more raunchier sports show “Sports Nutz.” According to the Tribune piece, the decision was made out of concern of journalism integrity. As Scott King at ChicagoNow wrote, her performance on “Sports Nutz” is what likely lead to her breaking out in the first place. King has further harsh criticism for the CSN Chicago decision, as does Dead Spin which rightfully notes that the gig didn’t prevent the network from hiring her last summer.
670 The Score/WSCR-AM midday host Dan McNeil made mention on his show yesterday that Collins was scheduled to come on, but that the appearance was cancelled. It was speculated that CSN Chicago did not want continued focus on her Tuesday night gaffe.
So did CSN Chicago not thoroughly research their employee before hiring her? And how does that gig compromise the network’s journalism integrity? She was a beautiful sideline reporter, hired because of her sex appeal! I don’t see how her performance on “Sports Nutz” would compromise her ability to maintain integrity as a sideline reporter or as a fill-in anchor.