OFF THE WALL

Announcers get ax for fat shaming

Two radio announcers calling a Maine high school girls basketball game were fired after they mocked players for being overweight, AP reported.

The comments were made by two broadcasters on the Houlton radio station WHOU-FM on Thursday evening during a game between teams from Central Aroostook and Easton, near the Canadian border, the Portland Press Herald reported.

One commenter called two players on the court “extremely overweight,” and that was followed by additional derogatory comments and laughter. The comments were captured in a tweeted video.

Radio station owner Fred Grant told the newspaper he started getting calls about the comments almost immediately. He said he fired announcers Jim Carter and Steve Shaw after the broadcast.

Grant said announcers who call games are told to focus on the game play and not comment negatively about players.

“It’s in writing. It’s verbalized. It’s repeated,” Grant said. “They knew the deal. It’s a colossal failure by them.”

Reached by phone, Carter said he had apologized to the players.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Carter told the Press Herald. “Hopefully everybody can get through this and be OK.”

Shaw could not immediately be reached for comment by the Press Herald.

An apology issued by WHOU said its mission is to highlight the best of its communities, “and most importantly — our students.”

“Two broadcasters made comments that were not only inappropriate, they were also blatantly wrong,” the station said. “Those broadcasters were terminated.”

Trivia question

On this date in 1995, Malcolm Glazer bought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for an estimated $192 million. How much is the team worth today?

They said it

From Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel, on Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork denying reports that A&M boosters contributed $25 million in NIL deals to land this year’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class in football: “I happen to believe Bjork. After all, this is the SEC, which means it was probably more like $50 million.”

From Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times: “Expand the College Football Playoff? We already have a 13-team tournament. It’s called the Southeastern Conference. Sorry, Vandy.”

From comedy writer Torben Rolfsen, via Twitter, with a sure sign too many NHL games have been lost to COVID: “I’ve forgotten the words to ‘O Canada.’ ”

From Jack Finarelli of Sportscurmudgeon.com, on why the Buccaneers-eagles playoff game could be tighter than expected: “The Bucs will be without Chris Godwin (injury) and Antonio Brown (goofball).”

From ESPN’S Bill Walton, saying the college transfer portal should be called the Tinder portal: “The way that works is that they put their name in there and then the coaches start (swiping) left and right.”

From Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, on Klay Thompson’s long-awaited return to the Warriors: “After more than 2½ years, (Steph) Curry was no longer a Splash Orphan.”

Trivia answer The Bucs are valued at $2.28 billion, according to Forbes.