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Steve Lyons fired for "insensitive" comments

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tibor75

tibor75

Banned
I don't get it

Fox fires Lyons for racially insensitive commentAssociated Press


DETROIT -- 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.

"Steve Lyons has been relieved of his Fox Sports duties for making comments on air that the company found inappropriate," network spokesman Dan Bell said.

Lyons had been working in the booth for the ALCS alongside Thom Brennaman and Piniella.

A call to Lyons' cell phone was not immediately returned Saturday.

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.

Fox executives told Lyons after the game he had been fired.

Piniella, approached before Saturday's Game 4, declined to comment on the situation except to say: "No, he's not here today."

This was not a first-time offense for Lyons, nicknamed "Psycho" during his nine-year big league career as a utilityman that ended in 1993 with the Boston Red Sox.

Hired when Fox began broadcasting baseball in 1996, Lyons was suspended without pay in late September 2004 after his remarks about Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Green is Jewish and elected not to play one of the two games at San Francisco that took place during the Yom Kippur holiday.

The network apologized for Lyons' remarks at the time.

Lyons, 46, was a career .252 hitter with 19 home runs and 196 RBI for Boston, the Chicago White Sox, Atlanta and Montreal. He was a first-round draft pick by the Red Sox, 19th overall, in 1981.
 
OK, I'll be the first to say I don't get it.

Maybe if Carlos Mencia had said it the comment might have ended up becoming racially charged or funny. I don't think it was either. It was just dumb.

Lou Piniella couldn't have been too mad about it - he didn't pick up a base and throw it at Lyons or try to cover him up with dirt from around home plate.
 
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For those who "don't get it", here's the deal: If you're a white male and say anything remotely in jest about anyone's gender, ethnicity, heritage, or sexual preference, you're hosed. Everyone else gets away with it. James Brown has been calling Terry Bradshaw "The Blond Bomber" for years, despite Bradshaw having almost no hair, and gets away with. If Bradshaw were to call Brown "The Brown Bomber", he'd been publicly chastised and summarily fired.
 
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MililaniBuckeye;634703; said:
For those who "don't get it", here's the deal: If you're a white male and say anything remotely in jest about anyone's gender, ethnicity, heritage, or sexual preference, you're hosed. Everyone else gets away with it. James Brown has been calling Terry Bradshaw "The Blond Bomber" for years, despite Bradshaw having almost no hair, and gets away with. If Bradshaw were to call Brown "The Brown Bomber", he'd been publicly chastised and summarily fired.
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so true, A whiteman can't say shit but, anyone else feel free because, its correct for you too but, not me. Thats bullsh,,,,suppose to be a free country.
Well, I'll use my freedom of speech no matter what if I have to.


​
 
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MililaniBuckeye;634703; said:
For those who "don't get it", here's the deal: If you're a white male and say anything remotely in jest about anyone's gender, ethnicity, heritage, or sexual preference, you're hosed. Everyone else gets away with it. James Brown has been calling Terry Bradshaw "The Blond Bomber" for years, despite Bradshaw having almost no hair, and gets away with. If Bradshaw were to call Brown "The Brown Bomber", he'd been publicly chastised and summarily fired.
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You're comparing apples to oranges here Mili.

Your example has nothing to do with the comments made.
 
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iambrutus;635209; said:
his point was 100% valid though - white people cannot make any comments that talk about race or stereotypes without being on the chopping block.
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Brown calling someone a name based on their hair color is totally different in MY opinion.
 
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Thump;635210; said:
Brown calling someone a name based on their hair color is totally different in MY opinion.
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yes, that example was but the point remains the same.. it's ok for other races to make fun of whites but not ok for whites to make fun of other races.. case and point, mencia and chapelle.. if a white comedian did that he would be considered racist. I personally dont care, i think mencia and chappelle are funny as all hell because they point out everyones stereotypes but if a white man were to do the same, the reception wouldnt be as warm me thinks
 
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