Blunders in the Booth

SI Staff | Oct 18, 2006

Blunders in the Booth /

Blunders in the Booth

'Not in Our House'

Former Hurricanes player turned broadcaster Lamar Thomas apparently was in favor of the ugly brawl between Miami and FIU at the Orange Bowl on Saturday night. Said Thomas during the brawl: "Now that's what I'm talking about. You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don't come into the OB playing that stuff. You're across the ocean over there. You're across the city. You can't come over to our place talking noise like that. You'll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing. I say, why don't they just meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more? You don't come into the OB, baby. We've had a down couple years, but you don't come in here talking smack. Not in our house." Thomas was fired for his comments.

Outta Here!

After years of trying, Steve (Psycho) Lyons finally got fired for his wacky remarks. During Game 3 of the 2006 ALCS between the A's and the Tigers, the Fox analyst replied to fellow analyst Lou Piniella's comments in Spanish by saying, "Lou's habla-ing some español there, and I'm still looking for my wallet. I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit close to him now."

The Cameo

ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe had been partying with buddy Bill Murray when he stopped by the TV booth during a May Brewers-Padres game this season. Sutcliffe then went on a rambling, booze-slurred rant before the plug was finally pulled on his microphone. At one point Sutcliffe asked Padres announcer Matt Vasgersian, ''Matty, what are you still doing here in San Diego?" Vasgersian tried to change the subject, but Sutcliffe persisted. "No, no, no, Matty, everybody on Earth has been trying to steal you -- the Dodgers, the Cubs, ESPN. What are you still doing here?" ESPN suspended him for one game.

Yes, We're Live

Twins color analyst Bert Blyleven didn't know he was live on the air when he cursed during the lead-in to a Yankees-Twins game this season. "We're going to do this [expletive] thing over again because I just [expletive] it up," Blyleven grumbled. The former All-Star pitcher was suspended by the network.

Who's That Girl?

Former Mets first baseman and current SNY analyst Keith Hernandez was shocked to see a woman in the San Diego dugout during a Padres-Mets game at Petco Park this season. "Who is the girl in the dugout, with the long hair? What's going on here?" Hernandez said. "You have got to be kidding me. Only player personnel in the dugout.... I won't say that women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout." The woman in question is a Padres staff member, massage therapist Kelly Calabrese (left).

'The Terrorist'

Former Australian cricket player Dean Jones lost his lucrative announcing job on South Africa's SuperSport network when he stated, "The terrorist has got another wicket" during what he thought to be an advertisement break earlier this year. Hashim Amla, a South African batsman and a devout Muslim, had just caught Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara during the second test in Colombo.

Ice Capades

Bryant Gumbel, host of HBO's "Real Sports," isn't a big fan of the Winter Olympics. Of the 2006 Games, he stated, "So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that make the Winter Games look like a GOP convention."

Yes, Your Mic Is On

D'backs broadcaster Mark Grace thought his mic was off when he made the following statement about D'backs hitter Chris Snyder during an August 2005 broadcast: "Every f---ing swing that guy takes is an underwater swing."

'Cream of Wheat'

Larry Krueger, host of a San Francisco Giants radio show on KNBR, referred to the Giants' ''brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly" in August 2005. Krueger later said of manager Felipe Alou (pictured), ''You have a manager in Felipe whose mind has turned to Cream of Wheat.'' The station suspended Krueger for a week before deciding to fire him.

The Don of Hockey

The CBC finally cracked down on controversial "Hockey Night in Canada" commentator Don Cherry in January 2004 after he went on a tirade about how players who wear helmet visors were weak and cowardly. "Most of the guys that wear them are Europeans or French guys," Cherry said. Harold Redekopp, the executive vice president of CBC Television, said Cherry would be censored by a seven-second delay of broadcast after his "inappropriate and reprehensible personal" comments.

They Asked for it

ESPN was looking for controversy and ratings when it hired Rush Limbaugh for its "NFL Countdown" show in 2003. It got both. Limbaugh's stint as a member of "NFL Countdown" ended shortly after he made this comment about Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb: "Sorry to say this, I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."

'Tough Monkey'

Longtime CBS analyst Billy Packer referred to Georgetown's Allen Iverson as a "tough monkey" during a game in 1996. Packer later apologized on and off the air.

Breaking with Tradition

At the 1995 Masters, CBS analyst Gary McCord said the 17th green was so fast it seemed to be "bikini-waxed." Augusta National Golf Club did not take kindly to the description and used its influence to have him removed from the Masters broadcast team.

Wright Went Wrong

During the 1995 LPGA Championship, CBS analyst Ben Wright was quoted in a newspaper saying "lesbians in the sport hurt women's golf," and that women golfers "are handicapped by having boobs." The controversy raged on for months before Wright was dismissed in January 1996.

Mad Max

During a Packers-Vikings game in 1990, former Super Bowl MVP Max McGee said Minnesota running back Herschel Walker ran "like he's just stole a watermelon headin' south." McGee later apologized, saying he grew up in the South, where he was always told to "carry the ball like a watermelon."

Bye, Bye, Jimmy

Former "The NFL Today" analyist Jimmy the Greek, controversial for his unabashed love of gambling, lost his job in January 1988 when he made the following statement during an interview: "During the slave period, the slave owner would breed his big black with his big woman so that he would have a big black kid -- that's where it all started."

Cosell's Folly

"... That little monkey gets loose, doesn't he?" That was ABC's Howard Cosell referring to Redskins wide receiver Alvin Garrett in a game with the Dallas Cowboys in September 1983. Cosell left ABC's "Monday Night Football" before the start of the 1984 season.

Published Oct 18, 2006

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