Based on The Athletic, NBC Sports activities California has fired longtime Oakland A’s play-by-play announcer Glen Kuiper after saying a racist slur on air earlier than the A’s Could 5 sport in Kansas Metropolis towards the Royals.
“Following an inner evaluate, the choice has been made for NBC Sports activities California to finish its relationship with Glen Kuiper, efficient instantly,” an NBC Sports activities California spokesperson emailed to The Athletic on Monday. “We thank Glen for his dedication to Bay Space baseball over time.”
Previous to the primary pitch, Kuiper had referenced making some stops within the metropolis, together with going to the famed Negro Leagues Baseball Museum with colour commentator and former participant Dallas Braden. In doing so, he mentioned “We had an exceptional day at the moment. (N-word) league museum. And Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque.” Whereas many thought Kuiper had simply mispronounced ‘Negro,’ others thought he deliberately uttered the racist epithet. Within the sixth inning, Kuiper made an on-air apology.
The regional channel pulled him from the sales space, rotating different announcers throughout Kuiper’s suspension as its administration performed an investigation.
Sadly, the dropping of a discriminatory slur throughout a sports activities broadcast shouldn’t be an unusual incidence, although the utterance of 1 continues to be jarring to the viewers. Essentially the most notorious of those moments—former Cincinnati Reds play-by-play man Thom Brennaman’s use of the f-word to disparage town of San Francisco throughout an Aug. 2020 telecast, additionally in Kansas Metropolis—has grow to be an web meme due to Brennaman’s residence run name in the course of his on-air apology.
Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, just lately mentioned that Kuiper had referred to as him on to apologize for the slur. Nevertheless, in some circles, Kendrick acquired backlash for forgiving him and never harboring any sick will.
