Update: As reported by the Associated Press (via the Washington Post), broadcaster Glen Kuiper has been suspended in the wake of uttering a racial slur during a pre-game broadcast. In a statement released the day after Kuiper made his comments, NBC Sports California stated that a review of the incident was underway and that Kuiper would remain off the air for the duration of that review.
On Friday May 5th, the Oakland Athletics played the Kansas City Royals in a game that led to a dominating win for Oakland. Unfortunately, the 12-8 A’s win wasn’t what most people were talking about once things were over. Instead, the most hotly-debated subject was a racial slur uttered by one of the A’s broadcast team over the air before the first pitch had been thrown.
Prior to the game, A’s broadcaster Glen Kuiper uttered a racial slur over the air. A report at ESPN has more details; evidently Kuiper was discussing a recent visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum when he mispronounced one of the words in question. By the sixth inning, someone had evidently notified Kuiper of his utterance.
“[A] little earlier in the show, I said something, didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to. And I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said,” Kuiper said. “And like I said, I just wanted to apologize for that.”
The team communicated its official response via social media, with an unambiguously-worded comment. “The language used by Glen Kuiper during today’s pregame broadcast is unacceptable,” the team stated. “The Oakland Athletics do not condone such language. We are working to address the situation.”
Boston’s Pro Sports Teams Band Together to Fight Racism at Games
The Red Sox will be the first team to start with the ‘Take the Lead’ initiative.As of this writing, there’s no indication of what steps the organization has planned to respond to Kuiper’s comments — or whether Kuiper himself will comment further on the situation.
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