ESPN has fired long time announcer Ron Franklin after he made crude comments to female colleague Jeanine Edwards during a production meeting last week.
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ESPN Fires Announcer Who Called Female Colleague “Sweet Baby”
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Tag Archives: Fires
UA Fires Staffer Behind Iron Bowl Song Choices
Let it never be said that the University of Alabama has a sense of humor. Remember that guy who played “Take the Money and Run” and “Son of a Preacher Man” before the Iron Bowl? Yeah, he got canned today:
The University of Alabama terminated an employee Monday who played unauthorized music over the Bryant-Denny Stadium public address system prior to Friday’s Iron Bowl.
“Our processes require that all music and videos played in the stadium prior to and during every game be carefully scripted and approved by a senior administrator in the Athletics Department,” Lane wrote in an e-mail. “The former staff member deviated from the script that had been approved for the game with Auburn, and the University took steps to immediately terminate his contract.”
I consider this outrageous. If this guy made any mistake in my eyes, it was by not finding something more offensive. Personally, I would have put prison bars in the Fail Room along with a nice photoshopped image plastered on the wall, maybe with the Eric Ramsey 60 Minutes interview airing on the jumbotron, and then top it all off with some PSA’s during the game on the jumbotron with criminal defense attorneys discussing the relevant portions of federal statutes regarding bribery, racketeering, and money laundering. Some funny church signs would have also been a nice touch, or maybe that picture of Cam Newton ringing a cow bell. We could have asked Bill Bell to play his infamous tapes over the PA during TV timeouts. I would have also given a few of the media guys jackets with “FBI” on the back of them and had them run around trying to ask questions, but that’s just me.
Either way, it seems pretty pointless to me. It happened, it’s over with, and had we really tried to do something offensive then surely we could have done much worse. This guy was apparently a part-time employee, and I’m willing to bet he probably wasn’t getting paid big bucks for this gig, so I doubt it’s even a big deal on his end.
Bama Fires Stadium DJ For Tunes Taunting Cam
Chase Goodbread of the TUSCALOOSA NEWS reports Monday that the University of Alabama recently announced it has fired a university employee “who played unauthorized music over the Bryant-Denny Stadium public address system prior to Friday’s Iron Bowl.”
(Amateur video below)
The part-time staffer, who was not named in the termination announcement, played “Take the Money and Run,” by The Steve Miller Band, and “Son of a Preacher Man”, recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1968.
The taunting tunes were obviously directed at Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. Newton’s father, who is often identified as a bishop, has been accused of soliciting money during his son’s recruitment.
Alabama claimed in its announcement today that the ousted employee deviated from a previously prepared selection of songs designated to be played over the stadium P.A. while both teams were on the field prior to the game. (more…)
Football. N.C. A&T Fires Coach Alonzo Lee After 1-10 Season
-North Carolina A&T has fired Alonzo Lee as its football coach after his team finished the season with a 1-10 record. Lee was hired as coach in January 2009 and his first team went 4-6. A statement issued Monday by the school said assistant coach George Ragsdale will serve as interim coach until a permanent replacement is named. Ragsdale has been on the A&T staff for 12 seasons. He also has been an assistant at Morris Brown and Norfolk State.
Football. N.C. A&T Fires Coach Alonzo Lee After 1-10 Season
-North Carolina A&T has fired Alonzo Lee as its football coach after his team finished the season with a 1-10 record. Lee was hired as coach in January 2009 and his first team went 4-6. A statement issued Monday by the school said assistant coach George Ragsdale will serve as interim coach until a permanent replacement is named. Ragsdale has been on the A&T staff for 12 seasons. He also has been an assistant at Morris Brown and Norfolk State.
Miami Fires Randy Shannon After Four Years
Randy Shannon, that “M” in Miami apparently does not stand for mediocrity. After losing in overtime today to South Florida in front of an empty home stadium, Miami has fired Randy Shannon. Courtesy of the New York Times:
Miami fired coach Randy Shannon on Saturday night, hours after the Hurricanes finished a 7-5 regular season that began with championship expectations.
Athletic director Kirby Hocutt made the call.
“We have made a decision to seek new leadership for our football program,” Hocutt said in a release. “Our expectations are to compete for championships and return to the top of the college football world.”
Those damn Miami fans and their unrealistic expectations, right? I mean this guy has an above .500 record over his first four years and he just won nine regular season games last year and got a big contract extension, right? Yeah, bet you won’t hear that one in the coming days like you did with ‘Bama and Mike Shula in December of 2006.
Seriously, though, as for Shannon, add him to that already-massive file labeled, “Proof That Contract Extensions Are Meaningless.” I don’t think anyone has thought this one would end well for a long time now, and in hindsight his hire never made any real sense. You fire the head coach who was responsible for your program transforming from a powerhouse to a loser, and you… hire said fired coach’s top assistant?
In any event, while Shannon clearly deserved the axe, it’ll be interesting to see where Miami goes next, and that job remains one of the most intriguing in the nation with a hotbed of talent, lots of championship rings, the requisite NFL pipeline, but a small budget, little fan support, a fading brand, and located in a heavily competitive state. It has potential and the program has had a lot of success in fairly recent history, but whoever takes over that program has a much harder job than many expect, especially with the rising threat posed by South Florida.
Who will Miami go after now? I’d imagine some young, up-and-coming coordinators would be at the top of the list. Will Muschamp may be there, and we might see Kirby Smart mentioned. You could probably throw out the token Gus Malzahn reference too, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they made some overtures towards Dan Mullen and Kevin Sumlin. Maybe Greg Schiano would listen now after his efforts at Rutgers have apparently stalled. Either way, Miami doesn’t have the budget to finance a big-name hire, so don’t expect that to happen. Instead, look for them to go after a rising coordinator or a young coach who has had some success at a smaller school and who has not yet cashed in on a major paycheck.
Gerard Butler Fires Up Michigan State Spartans Crowd By Quoting 300 (Videos)
Actor Gerard Butler launched himself to stardom with his starring role in 2006’s Spartan war epic 300, and judging by his recent appearances at a Michigan State football game and basketball preseason kickoff event (you know, because MSU are the Spartans), he’s still enjoying the boost that movie provided his career.
At both events, Butler asked the crowd one question:
Both crowds answered back with gusto, and Butler seemed to eat it up. (MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo certainly did.) And besides just being pretty awesome, it’s nice to see Butler show some appreciation for his breakout role, rather than shun all references to it in an attempt to prove he’s more than that. From the looks of it, he’s just having fun.
Butler at the football game:
And at the basketball event:
H/T Reddit