August 10, 2005
SHOULD FIRE THE STATION MANAGEMENT TOO (via Matt Murphy):
Radio Host, Two Station Officials Fired After Giants Brouhaha (GREG BEACHAM, 8/10/05, AP)
The San Francisco Giants' flagship radio station fired controversial talk-show host Larry Krueger and two station officials Tuesday night, six days after Krueger made racially tinged criticisms of the club and manager Felipe Alou. [...]Last week, Krueger ranted about the Giants' struggles during his postgame radio show. San Francisco has too many "brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly," according to Krueger, and Alou's "mind has turned to Cream of Wheat."
Krueger apologized and was suspended for a week without pay, but Salvadore maintained the host wouldn't be fired.
They managed to delay the inevitable just long enough to do maximum damage to their reputation and relationship with players and the community. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 10, 2005 6:06 AM
Kudos for posting, OJ.
Brojudd readers, please note that two other guys were fired along with him, the station used weasel words like "inappropriate comedy sound bytes" to typify the comments that quite rightly got the radio host in trouble, the station's official statement reads like a parody of p.c. speak, and after the incident Felipe Alou warned his players to beware the racist atmosphere of San Francisco.
If it weren't real, I'd swear it was a reality show.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at August 10, 2005 10:44 AMI fail to see what's objectionable about those remarks, unless one believes that professional athletes and coaches are somehow above criticism.
Posted by: carter at August 10, 2005 1:47 PMcarter:
They are, by definition, racist, besides being wrong.
Posted by: oj at August 10, 2005 1:59 PMCarribean isn't a race. Do the Giants Carribean hitters not have enough patience at the plate? I don't know, but if the statement is factually wrong the response should be to present the statistics showing it's wrong, instead of making phony accusations of 'racism'. And whether Alou is a moron or not (I don't know if he is, or care) seems to me well within the bounds of sports talk, unless it is only OK to call white managers idiots.
Posted by: carter at August 10, 2005 2:26 PMAny time you assume you know a man simply by knowing his enthnicity it's racist.
In point of fact, the Giants latino players have at least league average on-base %'s for their positions and moises Alou has among the highest in the majors. In fact, if you look at walks and on-base % leaders in the majors Latino players are pretty well represented.
Here a lot of broadcasters calling out whites, do you?
Posted by: oj at August 10, 2005 2:31 PMLeague wide Latin players have lower OBP than non-Latins. Like I said, if the annoucer was incorrect about the Giants players correct the facts.
White coaches and players get called stupid all the time by the sports media. But no one cares, because they're white.
Posted by: carter at August 10, 2005 3:10 PMcarter:
For instance?
Who did you hear say that white managers are stupid?
(The majors are about 30% Lartino and 4 of the top 10 players in walks are Latino)
Posted by: oj at August 10, 2005 3:13 PMYou're saying no radio talkshow host in New York ever questioned Bobby Valentine's intelligence?
Posted by: carter at August 10, 2005 3:41 PMYes, I'm saying no one ever said his problem was being white.
Posted by: oj at August 10, 2005 4:54 PMBob Agnew was undoubtedly the most powerful man in Bay Area sports programming. His firing is huge.
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at August 10, 2005 8:42 PM