‘The Female Persuasion’

Devilish breakthrough for Sherry Ross

Certainly no stranger in the world of broadcasting, New Jersey Devils’ analyst Sherry Ross graduated to perform play-by-play duties on the 25 November 2009 contest between her home-side Devils and the Ottawa Senators.

In relief of her usual running-mate, Matt Loughlin, Ross became the first woman broadcaster to provide play-by-play for a full 60-minute National Hockey League game, in English.  Loughlin had the misfortune of dealing with the death of his father-in-law and was unable to compose the accustomed shift-by-shift detail. 

Highlighted in an interview on the official NHL and New Jersey Devils’ website, Ross elaborated, "If it doesn't exist for anybody as an opportunity, than nobody thinks to do it, so if you think nobody could ever do this, then nobody will ever try."  Now, maybe some girls will think, 'It's been done once so maybe if I go to school and pay my dues and get better, I could do it too.'”

Ross has a Bachelor of Arts in English to her credit, earned at Rutgers University-Newark in 1977, has two full seasons working by Loughlin’s side doing colour commentary, and is currently comprising her third campaign.  Former Devil player Rob Skrlac, supporting Ross by providing colour.  Skrlac was quoted before the match as saying, "She's a seasoned professional -- how can she fail?"

Ross broke ground once before.  She was the first woman to broadcast a major professional championship, providing color commentary for NHL Radio during the 1994 Stanley Cup Final, with Kenny Albert.  Previous, she imparted play-by-play for an entire period of a regular-season game in the 1993-94 season in Washington, subbing for Gary Thorne, whose flight had been delayed. 

Emerging in 1978 with Morristown, New Jersey’s Daily Record publication, Ross’ body of work in hockey circles and horse racing is impressive.  She was prolific in the New York Daily News, The National, Newsday, and The Record of Bergen County.  As an author, Ross received acclaim for her work writing the work Hockey Scouting Report from 1990-91 until 2003-04. 

In management, she has been a member of the board of directors for the National Turf Writers' Association and is currently an active member.  Ross has also served as secretary-treasurer for the Professional Hockey Writers' Association for over 15 years.

Absolute news, Ross is hardly the only woman making legitimate and considerable ground in the field of broadcasting.  The first NHL game broadcast by an entirely female broadcast team was on 8 March 2008, as an all-female broadcast team called a Tampa Bay-New Jersey game for French-language network RDS.  Claudine Douville and Daniele Sauvageau called the game, while Hélène Pelletier and France St-Louis handled the intermission coverage.

Serving as inspiration stands alone.   Bringing information and a solid understanding is what makes these women stand out as viable choices in the broadcast world.  Invariably a comparison to Sherry Ross, Cassie Campbell brings her acumen and understanding of today’s game to the Hockey Night In Canada show weekly, usually at ice-level. 

Robin Keith Thompson

26 November 2009

Sources:

20 September 2007 USA Today article on Ross’ hiring: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/2007-09-20-954961631_x.htm

25 November 2009 NHL.com article on game day event:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=507494

National Turf Writers Association Roster and Board info:

http://www.turfwriters.org/about/member_roster.cfm