Bet they wish they hadn't said that. For this list, we’ll be looking at incidents in which sports announcers, commentators and analysts chose the wrong words and lost their jobs as a result.
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00:00 I am very, very sorry, and I beg for your forgiveness.
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 times sports
00:09 announcers bombed so hard they ruined their careers.
00:12 You know, I created my own, you know, my own ending.
00:16 For this list, we'll be looking at incidents in which sports announcers, commentators,
00:20 and analysts chose the wrong words and lost their jobs as a result.
00:23 What do you make of their words?
00:24 Should they have been fired?
00:25 Let us know in the comments below.
00:28 10. Steve Lyons makes racial remarks
00:30 Steve Lyons played baseball throughout the '80s and early '90s, primarily with the Boston
00:34 Red Sox.
00:35 Following his retirement from the sport, Lyons became a professional broadcaster for Fox
00:39 Sports.
00:40 However, his association with the business came to an end in 2006, when he made some
00:44 racially insensitive comments during Game 3 of the ALCS.
00:46 It's funny, they're loose, oblong, some espanol there, and I'm still looking for my wallet.
00:53 I don't understand them, and I don't want to sit close to them now.
00:59 The remarks were aimed toward his Spanish broadcasting partner, Lou Piniella.
01:03 Piniella came to Lyons' defense and claimed that he was just joking around, but that didn't
01:06 matter, as Fox took umbrage with the incident and fired Lyons.
01:09 9. Jim Carter and Steve Shaw laugh at overweight players
01:13 Jim Carter and Steve Shaw were local radio broadcasters who called Maine High School
01:17 basketball for "W-H-O-U-F-M."
01:19 But their careers came to an end thanks to a hot mic.
01:22 Not realizing that they could be heard, Carter and Shaw called two of the players extremely
01:25 overweight and said that it was awful.
01:30 They could also be heard laughing at the players' ill-fitting uniforms.
01:32 The backlash started immediately, with the owner of the station receiving phone calls
01:36 from offended listeners.
01:37 I think anger is probably the reaction that everybody had when they saw and heard what
01:43 had happened.
01:44 The two broadcasters were promptly fired, and Shaw was removed from the Maine Basketball
01:47 Hall of Fame.
01:48 8.
01:49 Mark Martello compares the team to Antifa
01:51 Mark Martello was doing the play-by-play for a college basketball game between Montana
01:55 and Portland State.
01:56 As indicated by his commentary, he clearly didn't have respect for Portland, whether
02:00 that be the team or the city.
02:01 "Portland's not much different, I don't think, these days, but all the way out to
02:02 Portland, a long way to go."
02:06 First he compared the city to Southside Chicago, which has a negative reputation for its crime.
02:11 He then claims that
02:12 "Portland's like Antifa after a riot."
02:14 because they got away with illegal infractions.
02:16 Antifa is an American left-wing political movement that has been known to use violent
02:20 tactics.
02:21 And to no one's surprise, Martello was fired for his remarks.
02:24 7.
02:25 Michael Goldberg's infamous NFL debut
02:27 Many know this play-by-play commentator for his work with the UFC.
02:30 In 2014, he made his NFL broadcasting debut with Fox, and to say it did not go well is
02:35 an understatement.
02:36 "The intended receiver was Gordon Tate, but good coverage on the play."
02:40 From start to finish, Goldberg was botching calls left and right.
02:42 "Welcome back to Minneapolis, third and 17, fourth and five, pardon me, with 157 on the
02:50 clock."
02:51 The press took notice and voiced their opinions on social media, which Goldberg did not take
02:54 too kindly to and responded, let's just say, "not in kind."
02:58 This and his performance at calling the game resulted in him getting the boot.
03:01 It was Goldberg's first and last broadcasting assignment with the NFL.
03:04 "Do I wish I could have that back?
03:06 Absolutely."
03:07 6.
03:08 Jimmy the Greek shares his racist beliefs
03:09 Jimmy the Greek was the popular stage name of Jimmy Schneider, who helped promote illegal
03:13 gambling in the sport of football.
03:15 Schneider was a Las Vegas bookmaker who would often appear on CBS's The NFL Today to predict
03:20 the scores of upcoming games.
03:21 Other bookmakers would then use his predictions to help calculate the odds of the games.
03:25 On January 15, 1988, Schneider was interviewed by WRC-TV and shared a number of racist opinions.
03:31 The comments drew great criticism.
03:33 "Now I'm not being derogatory about it, but that's all that's left for 'em."
03:37 Schneider expressed remorse for what he did, but the damage was already done, and the popular
03:41 bookie was fired from the NFL Today, after over a decade on the show.
03:44 "It goes without saying that his comments do not reflect in any way the thinking or
03:49 attitude of the rest of us here at CBS Sports.
03:52 While we deplore the incident this weekend, we are saddened that our 12-year association
03:57 with Jimmy had to end this way."
03:59 5.
04:00 Tom Brenneman is replaced mid-game
04:02 Another day, another victim of a hot mic.
04:04 Shortly before the inning began of an MLB game, Cincinnati Reds baseball commentator
04:08 Tom Brenneman could be heard making an extremely homophobic remark about an unidentified city
04:13 and using an offensive slur.
04:14 "I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed
04:22 of.
04:23 If I have hurt anyone out there, I can't tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart,
04:29 I'm so very, very sorry."
04:31 He proceeded to apologize on air, but his apology was interrupted by a home run.
04:35 In a fantastic bit of cosmic justice, the ball landed right next to a sign that read
04:39 "Judgment Free Zone."
04:40 Brenneman was pulled from the broadcast mid-game and suspended.
04:43 The Reds later told Brenneman that he would not be returning, prompted his resignation.
04:47 "I embarrass myself and I hurt a lot of people."
04:51 4.
04:52 Mark Lye doesn't like female sports
04:54 Once a professional golfer, Mark Lye was hired by Sirius XM in 2015 to host a pregame show
04:59 called The Scorecard.
05:00 He stayed with the popular radio broadcaster until 2022, when he made some inflammatory
05:04 remarks about female sports.
05:06 First he went after the Ladies Professional Golf Association, stating that "you couldn't
05:10 pay me to watch it."
05:12 He then targeted women's basketball and made an even worse comment about what he would
05:15 rather do than watch it.
05:16 Lye was immediately fired by Sirius after the comments were made, but he continued to
05:20 defend his beliefs on Twitter.
05:22 3.
05:23 Howard Cosell goes too far
05:24 Howard Cosell was a very popular but divisive broadcaster known for his antagonistic and
05:28 obnoxious personality.
05:30 In 1970, Cosell was hired by ABC to call games for Monday Night Football.
05:34 But on September 5, 1983, Cosell tipped over the line from enjoyably haughty to outright
05:38 cruel.
05:39 During a game between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, Cosell insulted African-American
05:44 player Alvin Garrett.
05:45 "I swear to God, when he said that, I almost died.
05:48 Because the vultures who really did not like Howard Cosell, they were there, and they were
05:54 out of their trees in an instant."
05:56 "Now he's being labeled a racist for using a remark that he often used with his own grandkids."
06:02 Cosell asserted that the comment was referencing Garrett's height, not his race.
06:06 Regardless, the comment was considered offensive, and Cosell left Monday Night Football following
06:09 the controversy.
06:10 2.
06:11 Glenn Kuiper supposedly misspeaks
06:13 Glenn Kuiper started working as the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics in 2006,
06:17 and he remained with the team until May 5, 2023.
06:20 On that day, Kuiper was in Kansas City and had visited their Negro League's baseball
06:24 museum earlier in the day.
06:25 He was discussing his visit on air when he dropped the n-word.
06:28 Kuiper claims that he didn't, and that his pronunciation of "Negro" was simply misheard.
06:32 "I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said.
06:39 I just wanted to apologize for that."
06:43 Others say there's no way that this was the case, and that Kuiper clearly and intentionally
06:46 uttered the racist slur.
06:48 Whatever the case, the incident cost Kuiper his job, as he was fired from the organization
06:51 following an investigation.
06:53 "It's a painful lesson for all of us.
06:56 It also lets us know, again, in this crazy world, particularly this crazy world of social
07:02 media that we live in now, a simple mistake can be compounded in such a way."
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07:23 1.
07:24 Rush Limbaugh's comments on Donovan McNabb
07:27 Prominent political commentator Rush Limbaugh was known for his nationally syndicated and
07:31 incredibly popular radio show.
07:32 But did you know that he once worked as a sports commentator for ESPN?
07:36 Limbaugh covered the NFL, but his stint didn't last long.
07:39 He came under fire for criticizing star Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, insinuating that
07:43 he was overrated by the media because of his race.
07:45 "I think there was a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for
07:50 the performance of this team that he really didn't deserve."
07:52 Limbaugh let the controversy stew for three days before stepping down from ESPN, citing
07:57 his concern for the network and its advertisers.
07:59 His career in sports broadcasting lasted only a few weeks.
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08:10 [Music]
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