The strangest–and perhaps even most unfortunate–reaction we saw?  Well, one can sum it up as “poor Erin, this must mean PRO SPORTS ARE EVIL!!!“  We know we’re late to the party: Deadspin among other notable blogs have covered this article at length, but we’d like to weigh in with a women’s perspective.

Bonnie Erbe, author of the article, recieved her undergraduate degree from Barnard before going on to Georgetown Law, and has been covering politics on a national scale since 1975.  She’s a widely-syndicated columnist who hosts a long-running show on PBS.  And she’s not usually seen burning her bra–or insert other outdated feminist metaphor of your choice.

First of all, Erbe isn’t making sense.  She says she agrees with another columnist who says that whoever perpetrated the video is sick and childish…and then somehow infers that to fix this, the correct action would be to get rid of pro sports, because it’s the pro sports culture that’s led us to this unfortunate incident. Now Erbe’s correct that this is horrid for Andrews and for women, but her logic isn’t just suspect: it’s really non-existant.

But actually, we have an even more important point to make to Ms. Erbe, if we could: pro sports do a lot for a lot of women.

Leave aside athletes, for the sake of argument.  Think instead of fans like us who get so much enjoyment from the game, and who feel camraderie, not sexism or harrasment, when spending time with male sports fans of their acquantance.  Think of all the women who get the same joy screaming at the TV as their boyfriends, or the girls who go to ballgames with Dad–or Mom–every summer.

Pro sports is a huge part not just of American culture, but of women’s culture.  Whether or not women’s sports in general are mainstream as yet isn’t the issue here.  The issue is that today’s woman doesn’t need to make some pat speech about blaming a male-dominated cultural institution.  We can blame stupid, horrid, sexist and mean behavior on those–men or women, and in this case, Erbe’s a bit guilty herself–who perpetrated it.

And then we can cheer for our team.

At this point, she’s so freaked out, she’s calling 911 on the paps that congregate outside her hotels. What gets lost in all of this is that Erin Andrews has chops.

There, we said it.

Yes, she’s gorgeous.  Gorgeous enough to pose in GQ (though the photos, set to run next month, may get pulled in light of recent events).  And Oprah, Barbara Walters, et al are dying to interview her about her ordeal.  And, OK, we don’t really think she make Tebow blush with an insightful question about his playcalling.

(You have no idea how hard we had to try to make that sentence not sound dirty.  We tried “probing question.” We tried “O-line.”  We tried “behavior in the huddle.”  NOTHING WORKED.)

Ultimately, though Erin Andrews is perhaps the most visible female face in mainstream male sports.  When it’s freezing on the sidelines, she’s out there.  When the wind is messing up her fabulous blond locks, she’s out there.  (Although she wasn’t always a blond.) When UPH’s five year old niece wonders if there are any girls except us who like sports, we can point to the screen. People see her, and people pay attention.

Someday, there’ll be just as many female color commentators and halftime show denizens and broadcast booth voices as there are hot female sideline reporters.  We’re not deluded enough to think that Erin Andrews’ existence means mainstream male sports are accessible to women.  But we’re proud to call her a UPH Squadder, because when she’s out there, no matter how much testosterone is in the air, there’s a female perspective too.

Oh, and she got the last laugh: if you try to download the nudie vid, it’s probably a virus.