Hell has frozen over.
That was my first thought when I saw the SportsCenter on-set rundown for a portion of this weekend's NBA All-Star Game.
Saturday morning: NBA Countdown anchor Sage Steele. Senior writer Ramona Shelburne.
Sunday morning: Sage, Ramona and me.
All set up by coordinating producer Hilary Guy, who is in charge of all things All-Star this weekend and the entire NBA the rest of the season.
Notice a pattern? All women scheduled for parts of the weekend morning shows, two of the most highly rated shows at ESPN, at arguably the most testosterone-laden event in sports.
When the most visible women in the past have been the fans, it got me thinking: What other women would be joining our ESPN crew throughout the three-day event? In alphabetical order:
Malinda Adams, bureau producer
Jasmine Alexander, coordinating producer of The Six
Josina Anderson, bureau reporter this weekend in charge of social
Deirdre Cienki, manager, digital & event programming, ESPN Radio
Jemele Hill, co-anchor of The Six (and coach of the celebrity game)
Amina Hussein, coordinating producer of NBA Countdown
Lauren Jones, associate producer
Rachel Nichols, host of The Jump
Becca Preston, our production manager
That makes at least 12 (probably more because I'm sure I forgot many), still an unbelievably strong female lineup. My, how times have changed since I started covering this event in 1991.
Back then, I was a writer-reporter for Sports Illustrated, and the only other women at the entire event were Ailene Voisin from the Sacramento Bee and Jackie MacMullan from The Boston Globe. That made three out of a couple hundred. Now we have at least 12 from one single entity.
The NBA has changed a lot since then. Jeanie Buss is part owner and now president of the Lakers. Becky Hammon is a Spurs assistant coach, Natalie Nakase is an assistant video coordinator with the Clippers. There are so many more female journalists who have made the NBA their niche, and they have grown in role and in reputation.
Back in the dark ages, Jackie Mac, who played hoops at the University of New Hampshire, earned her stripes one day at the Boston Garden when the Pistons were in town.
"We were waiting for the Pistons to come in for a practice," she said. "And we were goofing around shooting the ball. I took a turnaround jump shot in my street clothes and all of a sudden I heard Isiah Thomas say, 'Do that again.' I said, 'How much will you give me?' He said, '10 bucks,' so I drilled another."
Credibility established.
"After that," she said, "I could go to the Pistons locker room for almost anything."
There are many women on our All-Star Weekend staff who played a little driveway basketball. Amina played in high school and college, but nobody else had the chops to shoot a turnaround jumper in front of a future Hall of Famer.
"Absolutely it gave me life lessons, teamwork, communication, leadership and the ability to overcome adversity," Amina said.
But did it help with her credibility with NBA players?
"No, lol," she wrote in an email.
We've all, including Jackie and Ailene, had to establish credibility as journalists, then work our behinds off to prove we know the game. (Jackie Mac just had a jumper that gave her an edge!)
In the late '80s, Utah coach Jerry Sloan and Warriors coach George Karl started to routinely include me in a group of writers they took out after a game to have a beer. It seemed normal, like I was just one of the guys. Jackie said the same thing -- how she started to fit in when it wasn't a big deal that she was around.
Jackie Mac is skiing with her husband this weekend, but there are few women more respected than her and Ailene, who covered the NBA way back then and still cover it now.
Truly, today, I don't think anyone (other than the makeup artist) notices whether a man or woman is presenting the information, so long as it's fair, accurate and professional, which we all strive very hard to be every single day. That should go for every journalist, but I think because we are women in a male-dominated field, we take it a little more personally because we know if we make a mistake, we are held more accountable. (Sadly, double standards do still exist.)
But this weekend, we are an all-female set for SportsCenter.
"I personally didn't notice it at first," Hilary said. "What is most important to me and the show producers I work with is what makes a strong segment. More often than not, a strong segment involves women. It was a collaborative decision between myself and the Saturday morning SportsCenter coordinating producers. When I did step back and look at the voices we chose, however, it made me feel proud to see such talented, smart and strong women representing our All-Star coverage."
With women calling the shots.
Thursday and Friday, Hilary nabbed all the interviews for SportsCenter, while Amina corralled them for NBA Countdown.
I sat with my ESPN Radio crew -- I'll work the sidelines along with Marc Stein -- and shot the bull with athletes and coaches who came into our studio. It's one of my favorite things to do -- like telling the Warriors I've seen them more this year than any of my family members. We all joke around with one another. It tells me we have mutual respect. That's so important and something I take great pride in.
I didn't take a formal poll, but I think it's safe to say that none of us have felt like outsiders because we are women. And this weekend, we have a full roster.
Pretty cool in my book.