In another one of those media-fuelled 'rows' that break out when a prank goes wrong or someone says something out of turn, the now ex-Sky Sports duo of Richard Keys and Andy Gray have been judged to be rotten sexists for questioning the ability of a female to officiate a football match.
The duo were caught on one of the Skycams (being Sky, the cameras are bound to have some name) committing the crime of gross male chauvinism. Since then, a sanctimonious section of the public, have tried them, found them guilty of social incompetence, and like an army of woodpeckers have snapped away at the broadcaster until neither Keys nor Gray were gainfully employed anymore.
In fairness, it was not pleasant. Their off-air behaviour was far from impressive and portrayed neither in a flattering light. They both appeared to forget that when they are no longer on live TV that the rules of the workplace still apply.
The initiator of the media circus that pushed the north African revolutions off the front page was the rather innocuous decision to appoint a female - Sian Massey - to run the line in a football match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Strangely apart from mild surprise watching Match of the Day, I was not particularly shocked. In fact, my gut feeling was that if she has been elevated to this level then she must know what she is doing. The thought that she must be more competent than 'ghost goal' referee Stuart Attwell also crossed my mind.
While I felt it was nothing too irregular, the choice of Massey had clearly rattled the cages of Keys and Gray. Both discussed, without a hint of humour, that she would 'drop a big one', whatever that means (it does not sound promising). Gray went on to bark 'Kenny will go potty'.
For those who do not follow football that closely, 'Kenny' refers to Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish. It represents an overlooked controversy of the whole saga - the elitism of the whole discussion from every angle.
Why would it be just 'Kenny' who would be furious? Why is it assumed that any so-called shocking decision she may have given would go against Liverpool? There were two teams in that fixture. That statement, aside from its rampant sexism, was also disrespectful to Wolves. Ask any casual football supporter and they will tell you that any major refereeing slip-ups usually favour the bigger club.
It was, however, the unpleasant sexism in their conversation which suddenly led to the pitchfork brigade demanding action. Further videos surfaced, with toe-curling images of Gray making lewd remarks to a female broadcaster better known for removing a layer or two of clothing for magazine shoots. Meanwhile Keys was captured engaging in 'lad's banter' with three highly reluctant participants. One of those was Jamie Redknapp, who Keys described as having 'smashed it' with a former female partner. This was despite his first comment about the 'smashing it' being met with little reaction from the lads he uncomfortably tried to impress.
This further evidence prompted Sky, part-owned by News Corporation, to dismiss Gray from his £1.7 million job. When no dismissal for Keys was immediately forthcoming, he resigned the following day, providing ammunition for Gray if he chooses the unfair dismissal route.
If he was to take that up, it would not be the only legal dispute he is involved in. He is also taking legal action against the News of the World, owned by News Corporation over their recent phone-hacking scandal, a news event which is too boring to go into any detail here unless it causes further discomfort to the Murdoch Empire. Have a think about that.
My position is clear. We are discussing a couple of Alan Partridges who are not my idea of drinking buddies. They demonstrated ill-judged behaviour which has caught the attention of their bosses. In the real world, outside the media bubble, they would have both been given a final warning and one last chance to reform their behaviour, with the closest monitoring over a probationary period.
Instead, certain newspapers branded them 'perverts' and would not let the matter drop until the duo were no longer employed. The pervert headline appeared on the front page of The Sun, best known for its semi-naked 'Page 3 Girls' and is also owned by News Corporation. Has it sunk in yet?
Twenty years of continuous service by two professionals is now finished because of sporadic moments of idiocy. They failed to realise that their '70's man' view of the world is outmoded. Britain has moved on.
But it is also claimed that Britain has lost its sense of humour. That is a good point, but one which was made particularly badly in a risible Question Time performance by Katie Hopkins on the BBC last Thursday, where she allowed herself to be defeated in debate by people with highly questionable morals.
As it happens, Britain has not totally lost its sense of humour. It is just not a particularly nice sense of humour at times. How many Brits like to joke at the expense of others, but cannot take it when the heat is on them? Exactly. Britain frequently loses its sense of humour sporadically when it takes offence to a joke, as Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross found out to their cost two years ago in an incident uncannily similar to the Gray and Keys performance. The difference then is that Ross and Brand were at least trying (and failing) to be funny.
Some drama queens (apologies in advance if that is sexist) in the media have likened the actions of Keys and Gray to those of Ron Atkinson, the man who wrecked his own career with a racist off-air rant. The argument is that in the same way we now look at Atkinson and think 'it's old Racist Ron', we would never again be able to look at Keys and Gray without thinking about what filthy little sexists they are. I will use the words that Keys himself used to describe Karren Brady - give me a break.
For all their faults, they are decent broadcasters who have a decent chance of working again. If Ross and Brand recovered, why not Keys and Gray?
In any case, sexism is difficult to directly compare with racism, despite the attempts of the hysterical. Racism is exclusionary, with origins in deep-seated hatred between a distant 'other'. Sexism is closer to home. Men and women engage with each other and have relationships with each other. Boys and girls are brothers and sisters. Mothers and fathers have sons and daughters. Lives are lived under the same roof. The lives of men and women intertwine. This can be awful in a domestic violence setting, but (hopefully) the vast majority of relationships are built on love.
Aggressive and vile forms of sexism do exist though and cannot be ignored. Particularly uncomfortable are issues of harassment, sexual exploitation and those occasional stories of female mutilation that surface. These are the sort of issues people would rather look away from. It is much easier to do celebrity chasing with pitchforks, armed with those copies of The Sun and the Daily Star and forget just for one day that they are normally the ones complaining about 'political correctness gone mad'.
Richard Keys and Andy Gray... some people never change - watch them finally lose control towards the end of the video!
