ESPN Fires Harold Reynolds (and won't say why)

NY Post ^ | 7/25/06 | Andrew Marchand

[The G Man]

July 25, 2006 -- ESPN yesterday fired analyst Harold Reynolds from Baseball Tonight, sources told The Post. The reason was not immediately known.

"We are not going to comment," ESPN VP Josh Krulewitz said.

When asked how they are going to explain that Reynolds will never be on the air again, Krulewitz still declined comment.

[Mr. Mojo]

Accurate take on Reynolds. The guy's a pro, and he'll be missed.

If anyone was to be fired this week I thought it would be golf analyst Peter Alliss (working for ABC), who attributed Tiger Woods' strong mental game at the British Open this last weekend to "his mother's Oriental influence." But surprisingly, no one made a peep.

[michaelt]

I heard that too. I was thinking "say Asian, not Oriental, and you won't get in trouble!" But he's Peter Alliss of the BBC. No one is prejudiced at the BBC. </s>

[MikefromOhio]

yeah I know.

Add that to the fact that he's completely and totally wrong about Woods anyway.

[Mr. Mojo]

It wasn't just Alliss' use of the un-PC word "Oriental," but his suggestion that mental strength can be attributed to race. If Rush Limbaugh made a similar comment it would've been plastered on the front page of every leftist rag in the country within an hour.

[JZelle]

I read this in the Washington Times yesterday:

"Legendary BBC broadcaster Peter Alliss crossed the line twice during yesterday's telecast. When Chris DiMarco left his approach to the 14th short in the heavy rough, Alliss made a clumsy reach at humor with this insensitive remark: "Oooh, mum must have just nipped out for a cup of tea."
Later in the telecast, as Tiger Woods was preparing to clean up the championship on the 18th green, the camera panned to Woods' wife and sister-in-law (twins Elin and Josefin Nordegren), and Alliss remarked with glee: "[Tiger's] in for a bit of a treat tonight."
It's hard to believe the BBC is the same network that apologized to its audience for airing Tiger Woods' comments at the Masters where he claimed he putted like a "spaz."

[Mr. Mojo]

Thanks for the update. Alliss fancies himself a comedian, it appears. Strange the WT missed his "Oriental" comment.

[RayStacy]

So, any word yet on why this guy was fired. I don't want to read all 106 posts to see if the word is out. Thanks.

[N. Theknow]

ESPN Fires Harold Reynolds (and won't say why)

What did he say about Donovan McNabb?

[The G Man]

This is all I could find ... a blog indicating it was "sexual harrassment":

Why This Why Harold Got The Axe?

We can't say for sure why Harold Reynolds was fired from ESPN yesterday, because ESPN hasn't put out a statement or anything (and they don't have to), but we can tell you what the chatter in Bristol is: Everyone is hearing sexual harassment. Every single email we've received from the inside about this today has used those very two words.

Again, nothing concrete on this. But that is definitely what they're whispering in Bristol. Some highlights:

• Thirdhand info, but I'm told it's sexual harassment. There were allegations of inappropriate actions between him and female PAs on a couple different occasions, so I'm not entirely shocked.

• It's apparently sexual harassment, but no one knows who the victim was. It went down over the course of the weekend.

• I have on good authority that HR was fired for all things, hitting on girls. Allegedly, this has been going on for a while. The last straw was when a new PA was having none of what Harold had to offer and turned him in.

• Harold Reynolds was fired more or less for copious amounts of sexual harassment. Apparently, he brazenly hits on female employees constantly, despite the fact that his wife just had a kid six months ago. He was warned by the big-wigs on numerous occasions to cool it with the ladies, but someone finally lodged a complaint, and he was canned immediately.

• It's very difficult to get fired from ESPN. It takes multiple offenses ... they're usually so worried about getting sued for unlawful termination that people are suspended multiple times for the same repeated behavior before it finally comes to getting fired. Within the walls of the campus, there are only a few on-air talent guys that had an honest reputation as being overly friendly with the ladies, and HR was one of them.

So anyway, that's what they're saying on the Bristol campus. But since ESPN doesn't have to say anything -- in-house or otherwise -- and neither does Reynolds, we might never know for sure. (No announcement, we're told, has been made to the staff.) That's what they're saying, though; we didn't receive a single email suggesting anything but that.

But that's not what we're saying, because we don't know. To be clear.

Say Goodnight, Harold [Deadspin]

[Diddle E. Squat]

I guess Dan Patrick is just more subtle?

[big'ol_freeper]

I felt the same way when the Red Sox let Jon Miller go.

[Rummyfan]

Allis said that on the ABC broadcast. It was a little eyebrow-raising. He also said on the BBC broadcast :

- when the cameras showed Mrs Woods, 'Tiger's in for a treat tonight' and

- when DiMarco hit into the rough on a hole 'Mum must have popped out for a cup of tea'.

This on the BBC which gave Tiger hell when he said he putted like a 'spaz' at Augusta earlier this year!

[Rummyfan]

Between Allis and Faldo it's like a night at the Improv - a bad night!

[over3Owithabrain]

Re: Alliss - I could have swore I heard him make some remark about Tiger devouring a putt like it was a piece of chicken. It happened Sunday and went by fast. I thought he would catch hell for it but I haven't heard anything. Anyone else hear that?