AP: Fox Fires Baseball Broadcaster Steve Lyons for Insensitive Comment

[DeepModem Mom]

Fox Fires Lyons for Insensitive Comment
Oct 14
By JANIE McCAULEY

DETROIT (AP) - Fox baseball broadcaster Steve Lyons has been fired for making a racially insensitive comment directed at colleague Lou Piniella's Hispanic heritage on the air during Game 3 of the American League championship series.

The network confirmed Saturday that Lyons was dismissed after Friday's comments. He has been replaced for the remainder of the series by Los Angeles Angels announcer Jose Mota....

***

Lyons had been working in the booth for the ALCS alongside Thom Brennaman and Piniella, the No. 2 broadcast team for Fox this postseason....

***

In the second inning of Friday's game between Detroit and Oakland, Piniella talked about the success light-hitting A's infielder Marco Scutaro had in the first round of the playoffs. Piniella said that slugger Frank Thomas and Eric Chavez needed to contribute, comparing Scutaro's production to finding a "wallet on Friday" and hoping it happened again the next week.

Later, Piniella said the A's needed Thomas to get "en fuego" - hot in Spanish - because he was currently "frio" - or cold. After Brennaman praised Piniella for being bilingual, Lyons spoke up.

Lyons said that Piniella was "hablaing Espanol" - butchering the conjugation for the word "to speak" - and added, "I still can't find my wallet."

"I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now," Lyons continued....

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061014/D8KOL5H00.html

[Rex]

1. Lou is a freakin legend! Who the fuck is this Lyons guy?

Man, Fox assholes really know how to be douchbags! :eyes: I wonder if they get kickbacks like Halliburton?

[tk2kewl]

2. A reassignment to the news bureau is not the same as a firing

}(

[Auggie]

3. This was the most annoying trio I can ever remember for a national

broadcast. Hard to believe Fox couldn't find better.

[Placebo]

4. Call me insensitive...

but I think this is an extreme overreaction to his comments.

[Mojambo]

6. Yeah, I kinda agree. n/t

[WindRavenX]

7. you think his comments were racist?

"I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now,"

WTF!

[Mend]

9. it is additive...read the whole article. He made fun of a blind man

and had things to say about Shawn Green being Jewish.

[aggiesal]

10. I didn't hear the broadcast so I can't make any judgement, ...

but being hispanic, I did not find what was in the article offensive.
If on the broadcast he eloborated more on Shawn Green or other hispanic
players and/or Pinella, it should have been highlighted more in the article.

[Placebo]

13. Me either.

And I'm half Mexican. :shrug:

[w4rma]

17. He said he didnt want to be near the guy because he was talking in Spanish

He said that speaking Spanish is somehow bad, so he wasn't sure if he should sit close to him.

[moondust]

18. Managing perceptions.

I'd say Faux is going overboard trying to get the message out that they are not the closet racists that everybody knows they are, generally speaking.

[WindRavenX]

5. Fuck you Lyons, you racist POS

Goddamn, how fucking stupid.

[Mynameissalvatore]

8. His nickname is psycho n/t

[Old and In the Way]

11. Moon Man!

This guy once dropped his pants during a game to dust himself off....Steve has always been a tad different.

[aggiesal]

15. Also had a huge announcer part in the Kevin Costner baseball movie ...

"For Love Of The Game".

A bit of a chick-flick, but a one of the famed Costner baseball movies.
The other 2: "Bull Durham" and "Field Of Dreams".

[truebrit71]

12. I always disliked that smarmy bastard....

...always seemed like a fucking asshole to me....

[Scairp]

14. Lyons is an idiot

And I thought that all along. Good riddance.

[robcon]

16. Seems like innocuous teasing, IMO.

A little too PC for my tastes.

[Brian Stevens]

19. I don't get it as well

I agree.

[Ian David]

20. He wasn't fired. He was promoted. He's working for the "news" now. n/t

[brentspeak]

21. I didn't even know Lou Piniella was Hispanic

[The Brethren]

22. I'm surprised that Fox

even cared about whether their announcers were being insensitive about something or not.

[NashVegas]

23. Not Necessarily Racist, But Immature

One of the personality traits of a successful broadcaster is being able to speak without thinking.

Sometimes, you think you're saying something funny, and you're not.

I'm not surprised; sports pros who turn to broadcasting don't have the benefit of 'coming up from the ranks.'

With all the consolidation now, few broadcasters can come up from the ranks. Either you're an instant success or you're a board op for life.