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Andrews mum on whether CWS is her last ESPN gig

by Eric Olson
| June 27, 2010 9:00 PM

OMAHA, Neb. - Erin Andrews will talk about sports, about her experience on "Dancing With the Stars" and about her advocacy for crime victims.

As for her status with ESPN once the College World Series ends?

"I'm in a situation where I'm not talking to people about that," Andrews said Wednesday.

Andrews' contract expires July 1, meaning the CWS could be her last assignment for the cable sports giant.

Her Los Angeles-based agent, Babette Perry, also declined to comment.

Andrews built her celebrity at ESPN and expanded upon it as a finalist on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" this year. She said she hopes to stay involved in sports but also cross over more into other areas.

"I already have," she said. "It used to be the guys just wanted to talk to me about sports. Now women know more about me because of 'Dancing With the Stars' and they want to ask me about 'Max,'" she said, referring to her dance partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Andrews said she also wants to continue speaking out on behalf of women who have been crime victims, particularly victims of stalking, such as herself.

A 48-year-old man in March was sentenced to 27 months in prison for following Andrews to at least three cities and shooting videos of her in the nude through hotel peepholes last year.

"My life has totally changed after everything that happened last summer," Andrews said.

She said she is using her visibility to be a mouthpiece for the strengthening of anti-stalking laws.

"Laws need to be stronger. Right now they're a big joke," she said. "Laws haven't kept up with the times. Stalking has become much more popular."

She said she plans to become active in the U.S. Justice Department's "Join the List" campaign, a celebrity-driven campaign marking the 15 years since President Bill Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Andrews also is working with the National Center for the Victims of Crime.

Since her stalking case made news last year, Andrews has said she's been subjected to taunts from crowds at events.

"You always get idiots who make comments," she said.

At the CWS, camera phones and digital cameras point at Andrews as she crosses from one dugout to the other between innings and while she's giving on-field reports, but she said fans have been nice to her.

"Omaha is very easy," she said. "Omaha people are sweet about everything."