Rod Allen Denies Choking Mario Impemba: 'It Was Not Violent'
It was no secret that former Detroit Tigers broadcasters Rod Allen and Mario Impemba were not close friends.
Tensions eventually boiled over, and the broadcast duo had a heated altercation in September of 2018.
The blow-up occurred following a game against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. As a result, both lost their gigs with the Tigers.
“It was no secret that Mario and I weren’t best friends," Allen said via the Detroit Free Press. "We seldom got together outside of the booth. But we were very professional -- he was good at his job, I was good at mine, and we had great ratings. Like every relationship, sometimes you just have a bad day. Looking back, l could have just walked away from the situation that night. I’m not a confrontational person. We both got caught up and a lot of foul words were exchanged."
Allen would like to clear up the misconception that the altercation was violent or that he choked Impemba on that fall evening.
"There’s one part of the story that everybody has heard that is just false," he said. "It was written that I had allegedly chased him down and then choked him, and that is just not true. The incident was not at all that serious. It was not violent."
Looking back, Allen has oftentimes stated that both could have handled their differences better, and has owned up to his role in being let go by the team.
"Whoever put that out there did so because they wanted to assassinate my character and make me out to be the bad guy. Ultimately, it cost both of us our jobs. We both could have done things differently. I’m not proud of the way it ended. It was one bad night out of more than 16 years. ... I look forward to another opportunity to work again in an industry that l have devoted my life to," Allen added.
On Friday, it was reported that Allen could be in the running to host or contribute to the Woodward Sports Network, one of Detroit's newest digital sports networks.
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