Fox fires Lyons

[Arles]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2006/news/story?id=2625500
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.
I didn't get to see much of the game 3 coverage, so I don't know the live context. The story's also a little confusing as I don't see a whole lot here. Was he fired because he didn't speak proper spanish and told Piniella he didn't understand him? Was it the wallet line (which appears to be playing off Piniella's early comment)? Maybe someone who saw it live can shed more light on this.

Lyons should have probably known better than to say anything that could be deemed as insensitive, but I really don't see much here - especially when you look at the action taken (firing him).

[DaddyTorgo]

i don't get it

[LionsFan10]

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.

That says it all right there, openly mocking Piniella for speaking Spanish by saying he was "hablaing Espanol" while doing all that he can to screw up the enunciation is rude and ignorant.

And saying "I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now" should also be pretty obvious. Because he's Spanish, you don't want to sit next to him? Good job, Lyons. Whatta fool.

[pennywisesb]

I remember Lyons making the comments, and I didn't think it was offensive at all.

[TLK]

Lyons was horrible as it was.... no real loss.

[Arles]

I agree that the loss of Lyons is no biggie from a viewer standpoint, it just seems a little "PC overboard" to can him on the comments alone. Now, if they had said his comments combined with the fact he hasn't made any sense in over a month, I'd be all for it.

[Fouts]

I heard it during the game and it sounded like he was joking that his wallet missing because Pinella was speaking spanish. It made me wonder what Lyons was getting at, but I find it hard to understand him anyway.

I think its a bit overboard to fire the guy, unless he does it more than once.

[st.cronin]

I thought maybe he took off his pants on the air.

[Rizon]

This is a great day for baseball and baseball fans. I really don't care what Lyons said ... I don't even know what he said and probably wasn't listening to him because I always hit MUTE when he talks.

Lyons has always been an idiot, a horrible broadcaster, and an annoying twit. Now if we can get rid of Asscaptain Morgan, McCrapper and Joe Butt the world will be a better place.

[Crapshoot]

This is a great day for baseball and baseball fans. I really don't care what Lyons said ... I don't even know what he said and probably wasn't listening to him because I always hit MUTE when he talks.

Lyons has always been an idiot, a horrible broadcaster, and an annoying twit. Now if we can get rid of Asscaptain Morgan, McCrapper and Joe Butt the world will be a better place.


Seriously. Can someone get McCarver drunk and talking about Deion Sanders ?

[sterlingice]

I agree that the loss of Lyons is no biggie from a viewer standpoint, it just seems a little "PC overboard" to can him on the comments alone. Now, if they had said his comments combined with the fact he hasn't made any sense in over a month, I'd be all for it.

Agreed- a bit crazy but in the end, it's for the greater good. Maybe there's just someone on the Fox censorship board who has listened to him try to announce a game.

SI

[Mike Lowe]

I wish Joe Buck had said it.

[General Mike]

Good riddance.

[Router Help]

The comment about the wallet was about a joke that Piniella had made a few moments before. I don't remember exactly what the joke was, but Lyons comments weren't racist at all. Stupid.

[Noble_Platypus]

That says it all right there, openly mocking Piniella for speaking Spanish by saying he was "hablaing Espanol" while doing all that he can to screw up the enunciation is rude and ignorant.

And saying "I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now" should also be pretty obvious. Because he's Spanish, you don't want to sit next to him? Good job, Lyons. Whatta fool.

Give me a fucking break. Thats what was said that got him fired?? Half of the people who are braodcasters cant speak english correctly and we dont see them getting fired.If you are offended by this then you need to get a box of tampons, because your pussy is bleeding. What the fuck is the country coming to.

[rowech]

It really is unbelievable that he got fired because of this. What I found more awkward was when Pinella was talking about how pitchers use pine tar in their gloves.

[SunDevil]

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/steve-lyons/he-definitely-wont-have-to-sit-next-to-lou-piniella-anymore-207664.php

[cuervo72]

ping: Harold Reynolds' agent

[bosshogg23]

ping: Harold Reynolds' agent

No way, put Harold Reynolds on a mixed sports broadcast with Mike Tirico and Joe Namath, it can be the sexual harassment club.

[Philliesfan980]

A side note here, but why all are GM's drooling over Pinella. That guy sounds senile as hell. Outside of his Cincinatti days (I think I could have won with Myers, Dibble, and Charlton in the bullpen), he's a pretty average MGR.

[vtbub]

Not his first offense. A lifetime acheivement firing.

[Philliesfan980]

Yep Lou, keep talking.. if I were his agent I would get him out of that booth ASAP. His dollars out the window per minute rate is rising at an alarming rate.

[DanGarion]

Wow talk about reading WAY too much into a comment. What a stupid overreaction.

[LionsFan10]

Give me a fucking break. Thats what was said that got him fired?? Half of the people who are braodcasters cant speak english correctly and we dont see them getting fired.If you are offended by this then you need to get a box of tampons, because your pussy is bleeding. What the fuck is the country coming to.

Okay, I'll do that. Thanks for the tip ... :confused:

[JimboJ]

So near as I can tell, Lyons was saying this:

That people Spanish speaking people should put -ing at the end of their words like English?

That you shouldn't sit next to a hispanic person, because they might steal your wallet?

Or is the real reason he got fired because Fox is afraid hispanics would be too stupid to realize the guy was just trying to be funny and not trying to insult anyone?

[Pumpy Tudors]

That you shouldn't sit next to a hispanic person, because they might steal your wallet?
I only read the article that is at the top of the thread, but it looks like this is how Lyons' comment could be interpreted. Whether he meant it or not -- and I hope he's not stupid enough to mean that -- you can't project that type of image on a national broadcast and expect to get away with it. Broadcasters know better, and if they haven't learned to think about their audience before they speak, they're putting themselves in jeopardy.

Regardless of whether a vocal portion of the public wants to cry "PC", it's just not a good idea for a commentator to go making fun of people who are speaking a foreign language. This isn't the first time someone's been fired for stuff like this, and it won't be the last time. If someone wants to risk their job to make a joke about someone speaking Spanish or any other language, I don't have any sympathy for them.

[LionsFan10]

I only read the article that is at the top of the thread, but it looks like this is how Lyons' comment could be interpreted. Whether he meant it or not -- and I hope he's not stupid enough to mean that -- you can't project that type of image on a national broadcast and expect to get away with it. Broadcasters know better, and if they haven't learned to think about their audience before they speak, they're putting themselves in jeopardy.

Regardless of whether a vocal portion of the public wants to cry "PC", it's just not a good idea for a commentator to go making fun of people who are speaking a foreign language. This isn't the first time someone's been fired for stuff like this, and it won't be the last time. If someone wants to risk their job to make a joke about someone speaking Spanish or any other language, I don't have any sympathy for them.

That's the point I was trying to make, but apparently it came out much, much worse than your point did, although I admit my response was not as well thought out as yours was. I need a tampon ...

[Pumpy Tudors]

That's the point I was trying to make, but apparently it came out much, much worse than your point did, although I admit my response was not as well thought out as yours was. I need a tampon ...
Your point came out pretty clearly to me, and if somebody with the apparent debate skill of Andrew Dice Clay wants to offer you a tampon, so be it.

[Arles]

There's a great quote with context in the deadspin link:

Piniella said that expecting similar production (from A's shortstop Marco Scutaro, who hit well in the divisional series against Minnesosta) would be "like finding a wallet on a Friday night and looking for one on Sunday and Monday, too."

Four minutes later, they had moved to different subjects and Piniella said something in Spanish. "The bilingual Lou Piniella," Brennaman said.

Lyons said: "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 three laughed and continued calling the game.
It seems obvious that Lyons was stating he didn't understand him because of the spanish comment and the wallet joke (ie, what the heck was Lou talking about with finding your wallet). I *think* he was trying to self depricate his confusion by playing off Lou's wallet comment.

Any way you slice it, this is really silly when you read the full conversation in context. For all future broadcasters, it's a good move to steer clear of any conversation involving race, religion or politics - even if that means some dead air.

[Pumpy Tudors]

For all future broadcasters, it's a good move to steer clear of any conversation involving race, religion or politics - even if that means some dead air.
This is exactly my point, and if someone who's been in the business as long as Steve Lyons has still hasn't figured this out, that's his fault.

[st.cronin]

This is exactly my point, and if someone who's been in the business as long as Steve Lyons has still hasn't figured this out, that's his fault.

No, no, no. It is NOT Steve Lyons' fault that he's stupid.

[JS19]

Didn't read all the posts, and didn't hear what Lyons said during game 3, but my initial reaction is that people are way too sensitive.

[watravaler]

Somebody at FOX doesn't like Lyons and wanted to "shame" him, plain and simple...

[Swaggs]

In an earlier game, I noticed Lyons kind of slammed the Devil Rays' front office about their efforts of putting a good team on the field when Lou was their manager and made Piniella very uncomfortable. It was an awkward television moment.

[jbmagic]

How come Piniella doesn't say anything and stick up for Lyons?

Piniella must of not like him for not saying nothing.

[Dutch]

Hmmm, if that's the standard, I'm soooo gonna get fired on Monday. :)

[Ksyrup]

I assume someone at Fox or in the Hispanic community mistook the wallet comment for the implication that because Pinella is Hispanic, Lyons was afraid he would steal his wallet. That's about all I can come up with.

As far as the "hablaing Espanol" comment, I don't find that offensive in any sense. That's basically what many people say as a joke when trying to speak a foreign language they clearly can't speak. How many times have I heard someone say they are trying to "parlay French"? Quite a few. I can only assume that, in conjunction with the other statement, someone took that as ridiculing Hispanics? I don't get it.

[clintl]

I assume someone at Fox or in the Hispanic community mistook the wallet comment for the implication that because Pinella is Hispanic, Lyons was afraid he would steal his wallet. That's about all I can come up with.



I think that's it. I didn't see it, but when I read the article, that's how I interpreted it, and I think that's probably enough. Plus, he's a bad commentator and his contract is expiring - why not dump him a few days early?

[jbmagic]

Finally Piniella comments.


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Fired Fox announcer Steve Lyons got backing on two fronts Tuesday: He can keep his part-time broadcasting job with the Los Angeles Dodgers if he completes diversity training, and Lou Piniella came to his defense.

Lyons was fired over the weekend for making a racially insensitive comment while on the air with Piniella during the AL championship series.

"There isn't a racist bone in his body. Not one," Piniella said after being introduced as manager of the Chicago Cubs. "I've known the guy personally. He was kidding with me, nothing more and nothing less."

Piniella called Lyons' firing "an unfortunate thing."

Lyons was dismissed after Friday's Game 3 of the ALCS between Oakland and Detroit.

The Dodgers said Lyons would remain on the job for FSN Prime Ticket "upon the completion of diversity training and under probationary guidelines." Lyons works with Charley Steiner on the 40-plus road games that Vin Scully doesn't do.

Piniella made an analogy during Friday's broadcast involving the luck of finding a wallet, then briefly used a couple of Spanish phrases.

Lyons said that Piniella was "hablaing" in "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 said.

Lyons claimed he was kidding, and Piniella accepted that explanation.

"If I offended anybody, I'm truly sorry," Lyons said. "But my comment about Lou taking my wallet was a joke and in no way racially motivated."

The 46-year-old Lyons was a career .252 hitter with 19 home runs and 196 RBIs for Boston, the Chicago White Sox, Atlanta and Montreal.

[jbmagic]

Steve Lyons tells Mike & Mike why he was fired by Fox and says the now-infamous wallet joke had nothing to do with Lou Piniella speaking Spanish.

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/espnradio/podcast/player?id=2629287