Jon Stewart is not a sexist. He only looks like one on TV when he covers the 2010 World Cup and does not mention this fact: U.S. girls have brought soccer to this country. He and John Oliver are big fans, cool. Both played the game as boys, cool. Oliver, being a Brit, brands the game to his mother country and taunts Stweart about America’s lack of interest in the game beloved by the rest of the world, cool. Stewart teases that soon the U.S. will rank high enough to give the UK a run for, cool.

            Here’s where the ‘looking for sexism’ searchers hit pay dirt.

          Jon, I know you’re a man of a certain age and I know that in the 1980’s & 1990’s you probably slept all day and worked all night in clubs honing your craft. And I wouldn’t expect Oliver to weave this information into your skits but someone on your staff should know that the Women’s National Soccer Team won their first World Cup in 1991. Led by iconic player Michelle Akers, her career spanned almost two decades and in that time, she broke 12 bones, lost several teeth, always dug deep and is revered by any girl athlete serious about playing this game. In 1999, we won the World Cup with this iconic team that also included Mia Hamm & Julie Foudy.

            I can hear John Oliver laughing. We already know how the Brits feel about girls playing soccer; the lack of support offered to their female National Team is old news. But Stewart’s lack of knowledge about a team that brought this game to the US, earning more Cup and Olympic medals than any other US team, is a well known fact that at least one member of his writing team should know.

            I adore Jon Stewart. If he’s a sexist, I can’t believe it comes from his need to see women as inferior. Men of a certain age, by upbringing, tend to be. Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee in a recent NPR interview says her boss is the ideal man to work for. He welcomes her children on set so she and her hubby, also on The Daily Show, don’t have to leave them. That said, Jon might consider expanding his writing team to include youngsters who grew up when Michelle and Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy and their team forced diehard US sports fans to take a look at this game called futbol. 

            Jon, if you want a template for how not to look like a sexist, tune into Tosh.O. Host Daniel Tosh, also a former youth player, loves the game, too. Much like The Daily Show, Tosh.O has been spotlighting the 2010 Cup. In yesterday’s skit, he featured U.S. National Team member Brandy Chastain, also from the iconic team of women who won the 1999 Cup in overtime against China. Jon, do you remember when Chastain kicked in the winning goal and then ripped off her jersey? Brandy in her NIKE sports bra adorned TIME, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated Magazine covers a few days after that historic win where 2 billion from around the globe watched on TV. Remember? Tosh remembers because when she did that in 1999, he was an impressionable boy playing soccer and that’s my point. If you don’t want to be labeled by those ‘looking for sexism’ searchers, hire writers who cross pollinate their life experiences with their comedic sensibilities.

            And Jon, if you need more background, I’ll send you my book, All American Girls: The US Women’s National Soccer Team published by Simon & Schuster right before our team won the 1999 Women’s World Cup. It’s the only authorized biography of this legendary team who kicked down enough doors to get the attention of our university sports programs that now routinely recruit young female athletes just like our boy athletes have always been recruited. My daughters benefitted from their trail blazing. Your daughter might too, that is. if she plays soccer.

            And Oliver, quit laughing.