Fox fires Lyons for racially insensitive comment

ESPN ^

[frankiep]

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.

-snip-

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.

[frankiep]

I guess we better be careful now. Looks like you not only don't have to know English to find work, but now you can be fired for NOT knowing Spanish. Political correctness strikes yet again.

[discostu]

I don't think the problem was his not knowing Spanish, I think the problem was saying he didn't want to sit near Lou and implying Lou (being apparently of untrustworthy heritage) stole his wallet. Stuff like that should get a person fired, it's rude, bigoted and stupid, and doing it all on national television is just beyond the pale.

[Jalapeno]

Yeah, the Hispanic angle is just a ruse, trying to cover unprofessional behavior.

[P-Marlowe]

Since when is speaking spanish racial?

[1rudeboy]

It's not even clear if Lyons was fired for being racially-insensitive, or just for being a simple moron.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

But it's perfectly acceptable for network television to portray 95% of all perpetrators of crimes in the law-and-order and criminal-investigative TV shows as white men?

[cripplecreek]

I'm guessing you wouldn't be real happy listening to banter between myself and my friend "Browbelly".

[frankiep]

This was mentioned earlier in the story.

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.

The wallet remark was in reference to what Pinella had said earlier.

[okie01]

...it's rude, bigoted and stupid, and doing it all on national television is just beyond the pale.

And, let me assure you, Lyons meant every word of it.

"Rude, bigoted and stupid" describes him nicely.

[Axhandle]

Aye carumba!

[kenth]

It doesn't sound like he got fired for not knowing Spanish, he got fired for being a jerk, and depending on how one took it, a bigoted one at that.

[1rudeboy]

I don't know. Do those characters go around saying "hang on to your wallet when Ghost of Philip Marlowe of Pennsylvania is around?"

[Mr. Mojo]

Lyons make a comment during a telecast a few weeks ago that I thought might land him in a bit of trouble with his PC bosses at ESPN, but it didn't happen. When a player on the Angels made a hard tag on Sal Fasano (of Italian heritage) of the Yankees Lyons remarked "he better watch out -- Fasano looks like a guy who knows somebody who knows somebody, if you know what I mean."

[raybbr]

I don't think the problem was his not knowing Spanish, I think the problem was saying he didn't want to sit near Lou and implying Lou (being apparently of untrustworthy heritage) stole his wallet. Stuff like that should get a person fired, it's rude, bigoted and stupid, and doing it all on national television is just beyond the pale.

That's right. Muslims can't take a joke either. They behead people that offend them.

By the way, Piniella didn't say he was offended.

[frankiep]

If anyone bothered to read the entire article you would see that the wallet remark he made was in reference to something Pinella had said earlier.

[BallyBill]

He could always go into rehab and beg forgiveness.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Darn insensitive Europeans.

(noting for readers, Spain ... is in Europe)

[WashingtonSource]

I lived in the New York City area for years and the common view among the populace was that 'Hispanics; usually equals 'Puerto Ricans' usually equals 'thieves.' And, indeed, over time I came to hear and know about of a lot of Puerto Rican thievery during that time. In some neighborhoods, it was rampant and pervasive. Muggings, holdups, heists, burglaries, car theft and break-ins, you name it. They did it, morning, noon and night.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Pretty close to it.

According to those shows, 9 out of 10 white males is a child-molesting, embezzling, racist, sexist, homophobe with a Napoleonic complex.

[frankiep]

either that or completely incompetent idiots who only get in the way.