Announcer let go?

[CelticCat]

For F sakes…. Antifa is a terrorist organization that created chaos and crime across the country. Give the guy a reprimand, but termination is sending the wrong message.

I’d imagine that if back in 2002, an opposing announcer referred to wbb players from Fordham U and or Columbia U as Al-Queda, they would likely be fired as well. Not because of politics, but because comparing young female athletes to a terrorist organization, is completely over the line.

Imagine if an opposing announcer referred to your college aged daughter as antifa, Al-queda, Tallinn’s, Nazi, oath keeper, etc….I know I’d be pissed, there’s no place for that in college athletics.

Is that what he did? Was he calling the Portland players Antifa? Can you imagine the outcry if he would have said they were playing like sh1t? That would have been way over the line to call someone a piece of excrement. Definitely a firing offense.

By the way, I highly doubt the Portland players or fans were a outraged by the comment. Can you show me one person from their fan base that was offended?

Seriously, can someone please publish what is acceptable in the political correctness world? If the announcer said that the Portland team was shifty as Trumps policies, do you think he would have been fired? But make a lousy joke about Antifa and he gets fired.

You f@cking liberals want a Dr Seuss book banned, but you want a guy fired for making an off color joke about Antifa. Ridiculous.

I thought we’d be on the same side on this one. Antifa is bad. They are a domestic terrorist group. Don’t compare young athletes to terrorist groups. Especially when the team is from Portland and has nothing to do with basketball.

Is that a liberal idea?


Also, no need for the childish name calling. I think @kmax has given you multiple warnings about that.

You didn’t address one single comment I made. Was he really making a serious comparison of players to Antifa? In your mind, what is the difference if someone is described as playing like sh1t? Did you find lots of Portland fans and players outraged by his comments?

If anybody is defending the firing, who do you think they are? Liberals or conservatives? I can confidently guess that they would be liberals. Do you disagree?

By the way, don’t portray me as saying his comments were okay. I said it was a dumb comment and he should be disciplined, not fired. You disagree?

Your passive aggressive approach is par for you. What name did I call you? A liberal? . Aren’t you a liberal? Is that a bad word now?

I live how you call for Kmax to intervene.. that is a puss move. Can’t make a reasonable argument so you call for the room monitor. Weak…

Maybe it’s just me but when someone says “you f@cking (insert group or people here)” they aren’t usually saying it as a term of endearment.

[wbtfg]

The remark was made at about the 6:15 mark in the 4th quarter. He said Portland is able to get away with anything, just like Antifa after a riot. He didn't denigrate the city of Portland or the players, it was a jab at the officiating.

It's too bad we can't "Discuss the Issues" on this forum or I'd point out that ESPN never lets political remarks be made on it's platform.

Thank for posting the time frame that it happened. As soon as he said it he knew he screwed up. There was a pause and then says, “uh oh, I shouldn’t say stuff like that, I’m sorry”

Time for you to apologize for being wrong about him comparing the players to Antifa. He did no such thing. I shake my head at the realization that you didn't even know when he said what he said before making ****** up.

After a non call foul he literally said “Portland (State…he’s referring to the team, not the city) is like antifa after a riot.

Not sure how anyone can interpret that as not comparing psu to antifa. Once again he literally said “Portland is like antifa…”

[rivercat]

His reference is a real head scratcher. I'm probably pretty closely aligned with his feelings regarding the path Portland has taken. But it wouldn't even dawn on me to throw it in as part of the PxP coverage. Not because of political correctness which I don't give a crap about, but it has no context in the game.

And the game wasn't anywhere near as rough as games against Idaho State usually are so the reference seems disproportionate in that regards also.

[Cataholic]

For F sakes…. Antifa is a terrorist organization that created chaos and crime across the country. Give the guy a reprimand, but termination is sending the wrong message.

I’d imagine that if back in 2002, an opposing announcer referred to wbb players from Fordham U and or Columbia U as Al-Queda, they would likely be fired as well. Not because of politics, but because comparing young female athletes to a terrorist organization, is completely over the line.

Imagine if an opposing announcer referred to your college aged daughter as antifa, Al-queda, Tallinn’s, Nazi, oath keeper, etc….I know I’d be pissed, there’s no place for that in college athletics.

Is that what he did? Was he calling the Portland players Antifa? Can you imagine the outcry if he would have said they were playing like sh1t? That would have been way over the line to call someone a piece of excrement. Definitely a firing offense.

By the way, I highly doubt the Portland players or fans were a outraged by the comment. Can you show me one person from their fan base that was offended?

Seriously, can someone please publish what is acceptable in the political correctness world? If the announcer said that the Portland team was shifty as Trumps policies, do you think he would have been fired? But make a lousy joke about Antifa and he gets fired.

You f@cking liberals want a Dr Seuss book banned, but you want a guy fired for making an off color joke about Antifa. Ridiculous.

I thought we’d be on the same side on this one. Antifa is bad. They are a domestic terrorist group. Don’t compare young athletes to terrorist groups. Especially when the team is from Portland and has nothing to do with basketball.

Is that a liberal idea?


Also, no need for the childish name calling. I think @kmax has given you multiple warnings about that.

You didn’t address one single comment I made. Was he really making a serious comparison of players to Antifa? In your mind, what is the difference if someone is described as playing like sh1t? Did you find lots of Portland fans and players outraged by his comments?

If anybody is defending the firing, who do you think they are? Liberals or conservatives? I can confidently guess that they would be liberals. Do you disagree?

By the way, don’t portray me as saying his comments were okay. I said it was a dumb comment and he should be disciplined, not fired. You disagree?

Your passive aggressive approach is par for you. What name did I call you? A liberal? . Aren’t you a liberal? Is that a bad word now?

I live how you call for Kmax to intervene.. that is a puss move. Can’t make a reasonable argument so you call for the room monitor. Weak…

Maybe it’s just me but when someone says “you f@cking (insert group or people here)” they aren’t usually saying it as a term of endearment.

Who said it was meant as a term of endearment? And he said I was calling him names. When you say f@cking Griz fans, is that acceptable? Are you calling them a name? Do you say that as a term of endearment?? It is strange though how you have never intervened in the past when someone called me a name…. Maybe your comments have more to do with your political leanings than actually trying to make a point.

[CelticCat]

For F sakes…. Antifa is a terrorist organization that created chaos and crime across the country. Give the guy a reprimand, but termination is sending the wrong message.

I’d imagine that if back in 2002, an opposing announcer referred to wbb players from Fordham U and or Columbia U as Al-Queda, they would likely be fired as well. Not because of politics, but because comparing young female athletes to a terrorist organization, is completely over the line.

Imagine if an opposing announcer referred to your college aged daughter as antifa, Al-queda, Tallinn’s, Nazi, oath keeper, etc….I know I’d be pissed, there’s no place for that in college athletics.

Is that what he did? Was he calling the Portland players Antifa? Can you imagine the outcry if he would have said they were playing like sh1t? That would have been way over the line to call someone a piece of excrement. Definitely a firing offense.

By the way, I highly doubt the Portland players or fans were a outraged by the comment. Can you show me one person from their fan base that was offended?

Seriously, can someone please publish what is acceptable in the political correctness world? If the announcer said that the Portland team was shifty as Trumps policies, do you think he would have been fired? But make a lousy joke about Antifa and he gets fired.

You f@cking liberals want a Dr Seuss book banned, but you want a guy fired for making an off color joke about Antifa. Ridiculous.

I thought we’d be on the same side on this one. Antifa is bad. They are a domestic terrorist group. Don’t compare young athletes to terrorist groups. Especially when the team is from Portland and has nothing to do with basketball.

Is that a liberal idea?


Also, no need for the childish name calling. I think @kmax has given you multiple warnings about that.

You didn’t address one single comment I made. Was he really making a serious comparison of players to Antifa? In your mind, what is the difference if someone is described as playing like sh1t? Did you find lots of Portland fans and players outraged by his comments?

If anybody is defending the firing, who do you think they are? Liberals or conservatives? I can confidently guess that they would be liberals. Do you disagree?

By the way, don’t portray me as saying his comments were okay. I said it was a dumb comment and he should be disciplined, not fired. You disagree?

Your passive aggressive approach is par for you. What name did I call you? A liberal? . Aren’t you a liberal? Is that a bad word now?

I live how you call for Kmax to intervene.. that is a puss move. Can’t make a reasonable argument so you call for the room monitor. Weak…

Maybe it’s just me but when someone says “you f@cking (insert group or people here)” they aren’t usually saying it as a term of endearment.

Who said it was meant as a term of endearment? And he said I was calling him names. When you say f@cking Griz fans, is that acceptable? Are you calling them a name? Do you say that as a term of endearment?? It is strange though how you have never intervened in the past when someone called me a name…. Maybe your comments have more to do with your political leanings than actually trying to make a point.

You said you didn’t call him a name. I’m saying you clearly meant it as an insult. Anyways that’s all I’m going to say about this interaction.

Regarding the announcer - dumb thing to say. Not sure it deserves a firing but man what were you thinking.

[rivercat]

The more I think about it, the more I'm fine with his firing. Would he have made the Antifa reference in a game against the gris, NAU, Weber, etc? I'm guessing he wouldn't have because it would just be bizarre to do so. So the only reason for the reference is because the Cats were playing Portland State. So he was making some kind of connection between Antifa and PSU. As someone mentioned, he's paid at least partially by Learfield which serves the Big Sky Conference. They can't have a PxP guy making remarks that are insulting or disparaging to any member of the BSC based on their location. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[coloradocat]

Portland State was mostly peaceful.

[CelticCat]

As there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos.

[Bobcat4Ever]

For F sakes…. Antifa is a terrorist organization that created chaos and crime across the country. Give the guy a reprimand, but termination is sending the wrong message.

I know Mackey is an employee of Learfield, not sure about the WBB announcer. If I’m being honest, I don’t even know who it is or how long he’s been announcing games.

The women's play-by-play announcer who made the comment is Mark Martello, who has been around Bozeman for a long time - I remember him calling Bozeman Ice Dogs games 20 years ago back when the Valley Ice Garden out at Four Corners was still a hockey rink and not a beer distribution facility.

Mark was the MSU Bobcats women’s basketball announcer for maybe 4-5 years, before Jason Alvine (and maybe Riley Corcoran). When they needed someone now they convinced him to come back, and I was happy they did. He seems to have mellowed a bit, but no one was more fun to listen to. Especially when it came to officiating. He had a good eye and has never been afraid to say what he thought — so here we are. I’ve met him at WBB meet-and-greets and told him how much I enjoyed his fan-friendly commentary. He’d always grin ruefully and say that maybe he needed to back off a little, and I’d say no way. He’s a good guy and a strong proponent for the women’s basketball program. The liberal element is in strong evidence in Portland and the PSU campus. Nothing has changed there, but I always used to feel safe in downtown Portland (with big city precautions) and the campus area on my several week-long visits for work. I’m sure Mark was just being Mark — I was watching the game on ESPN+ so I missed it. This is troubling.

[MSU01]

For F sakes…. Antifa is a terrorist organization that created chaos and crime across the country. Give the guy a reprimand, but termination is sending the wrong message.

I know Mackey is an employee of Learfield, not sure about the WBB announcer. If I’m being honest, I don’t even know who it is or how long he’s been announcing games.

The women's play-by-play announcer who made the comment is Mark Martello, who has been around Bozeman for a long time - I remember him calling Bozeman Ice Dogs games 20 years ago back when the Valley Ice Garden out at Four Corners was still a hockey rink and not a beer distribution facility.

Mark was the MSU Bobcats women’s basketball announcer for maybe 4-5 years, before Jason Alvine (and maybe Riley Corcoran). When they needed someone now they convinced him to come back, and I was happy they did. He seems to have mellowed a bit, but no one was more fun to listen to. Especially when it came to officiating. He had a good eye and has never been afraid to say what he thought — so here we are. I’ve met him at WBB meet-and-greets and told him how much I enjoyed his fan-friendly commentary. He’d always grin ruefully and say that maybe he needed to back off a little, and I’d say no way. He’s a good guy and a strong proponent for the women’s basketball program. The liberal element is in strong evidence in Portland and the PSU campus. Nothing has changed there, but I always used to feel safe in downtown Portland (with big city precautions) and the campus area on my several week-long visits for work. I’m sure Mark was just being Mark — I was watching the game on ESPN+ so I missed it. This is troubling.

Yeah, I've enjoyed listening to him the last couple years and he really does do a nice job calling the games. He immediately realized that he screwed up once he said it - too bad he didn't take another second or two to have that thought before words came out.

[aucat]

I heard him make the statement and he immediately said that he should not have said that. Come on, it's a basketball game, you don't need to be needlessly stirring the pot these days. In my opinion, he should apologize for making the comment while broadcasting a basketball game, and let's move on. I certainly don't think he should be fired, especially since he immediately seemed to recognize his mistake. He is a good basketball announcer in my opinion.

[CelticCat]

And he's out. Can we just not have some announcer drama at MSU, please thanks.

[Cataholic]

Seriously. Did MSU get one single complaint about the comment before they took action? They could have disciplined him quietly and it would have been end of story. Instead, they become the PC police and create a controversy that nobody was upset about. Can’t we just use a little common sense?

[MSU01]

Seriously. Did MSU get one single complaint about the comment before they took action? They could have disciplined him quietly and it would have been end of story. Instead, they become the PC police and create a controversy that nobody was upset about. Can’t we just use a little common sense?

The comment was certainly drawing attention on social media (see the initial post on this thread). Also it's a Learfield Sports decision, not a MSU decision. He made a mistake and these are the consequences, I fail to see where the controversy lies unless people insist on keeping this alive and manufacturing one.

[CelticCat]

Learfield made the decision, not MSU. I think firing is a bit harsh but I don't have a problem with it either.

And yes, there were a handful of complaints on Twitter, but it didn't get much traction so not many people saw it - this is a story that could easily blow up if Retweeted by someone with some prominence.

[Cataholic]

Learfield made the decision, not MSU. I think firing is a bit harsh but I don't have a problem with it either.

And yes, there were a handful of complaints on Twitter, but it didn't get much traction so not many people saw it - this is a story that could easily blow up if Retweeted by someone with some prominence.

10 comments on the original. 10 retweets. Only three tweets seemed to have an “issue” with the tweet and two were from the same guy. But go ahead and fire the MSU announcer. The controversy was overwhelming. Ridiculous. Another example of PC to the extreme.

Lastly, one of the comments sarcastically stated ESPN won’t allow political commentary, then to make his point, he posted an ESPN tweet with players kneeling during the national anthem.

[Bobcat4Ever]

And he's out. Can we just not have some announcer drama at MSU, please thanks.

Not a true statement, Victor. He compared their ability to escape penalties (foul calls) for their transgressions (fouling) to antifa’s ability to avoid prosecution in Portland — an issue well-documented in the national news. Your are equating what he did not equate. Ask an English professor for an analysis.

[coloradocat]

Somebody with too much time on their hands needs to go back through everything Joe Terry has ever written and every social media post and let the world know if anything wasn't up to today's standards in any way. Be sure to @ his boss.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Joe Terry, the word is “tack” not “tact.” He took an interesting tack on the call. Ships tack. They don’t tact.

[arvcat2]

And he's out. Can we just not have some announcer drama at MSU, please thanks.

Not a true statement, Victor. He compared their ability to escape penalties (foul calls) for their transgressions (fouling) to antifa’s ability to avoid prosecution in Portland — an issue well-documented in the national news. Your are equating what he did not equate. Ask an English professor for an analysis.

Correct. Victor should be fired for a misleading and way out of context tweet. This decision by Learfield (if true, hard to know these days) was excessive.