TV Analyst Gets Overexcited During Brawl, Fired After it

Athletes on the field of play and zealous fans rooting desperately for the home team have oftentimes lost their grasp on common decency and sense during a heated sports contest. The more intense the rivalry, the greater the odds are that discretion will be tossed to the wind. It makes sense that those on the field of battle sometimes lose hold of their emotions. After diligently training for victory and then struggling mightily to secure it, one can understand that under the stress of the situation, cool heads frequently fail to prevail. As for those watching in attendance, unlike the players who do not typically consume alcohol during a game, many of those in the stands take multiple trips to the nearest beer merchant to add to the booze consumed before tip off. The occasional altercation between drunks is therefore to be expected. Sometimes a fight even breaks out between a player and a fan. While this is especially knuckleheaded behavior, one can still rationalize how and why push leads to shove in these instances. In those sports where fans get pretty close to the action, when certain members of the audience are being rather vocal in expressing their disdain for a particular participant, players have foolishly concluded that enough is indeed enough, blurring the line between on and off the field play.

In the midst of so much conflict and macho posturing there are supposed to be calm, cool, collected voices of reason commentating on the affair. These individuals are being paid to speak of the actions taking place on the field or court, if not in an entirely impartial or dispassionate manner, than at the very least, in a professional and adult way. They are the voices of the games we love to watch, and we want them to express their opinions, but expect them not to be carried away by them. Yet every so often someone in the announcer's booth gets caught up in the hysteria created by sports. In these instances a commentator will speak prior to thinking, rather than the much smarter direction of the other way around. This can seriously backfire when broadcasting live. Regrettable things are easy to say when excitement eclipses reason, and though it's just as easy to apologize at a later time, the matter is sometimes beyond damage control. Depending on what has been said and how passionately it was delivered, it can be irrelevant when apologies are later expressed in a contrite and well spoken fashion, indicating that much thought went into the expressions of regret. Once someone in the public eye and ear has impetuously spoken what they truly feel in their heart, their rehearsed attempts to smooth things over may be futile.

During the third quarter of a college football game between Miami and Florida International, dozens of players stormed the Orange Bowl field and commenced brawling to such epic proportions that it led to the suspension of at least 31 players and forced officials from both schools to publicly grovel for forgiveness. As kicks and punches were being thrown and helmets were employed as weapons, words of sheer stupidity sprung forth from the lips of the somewhat less than unbiased announcer and former Miami player, Lamar Thomas. "Now, that's what I'm talking about," he said as the battle raged. "You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don't come into the OB playing that stuff. You're across the ocean over there. You're across the city. You can't come over to our place talking noise like that. You'll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing." Application to rocket science academy denied.

The intensity of the fisticuffs eventually began to lessen, but not that of Lamar Thomas' fighting spirit. As if trying to guarantee that he would never be paid to speak into a microphone about anything ever again, or even allowed to do so free of charge, the following pearls of wisdom were spewed by him. "I say, why don't they just meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more? You don't come into the OB, baby. We've had a down couple years but you don't come in here talking smack. Not in our house."

Atrocious grammar aside, doing your best to fuel a riot is probably not the best way to maintain employment. So it came as no surprise when the former third-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1993 who spent six seasons in the NFL, three with the Bucs and three with the Miami Dolphins, was relieved of his duties as TV analyst by Comcast Sports SouthEast. The regional cable network has no problem with airing violence, so they will be replaying the game (which, by the way, was won by Miami 35 - 0) twice. They also have no problem with censorship, so the replays will have Thomas' controversial comments edited out. Those who wish to listen to Lamar in all his glory will have to head to the internet for their amusement. If the video clip proves to be popular enough, perhaps demand for his services will increase. Come to think of it, I can easily envision him doing commentary for so called professional wrestling.

On my own personal scale of sports broadcasting goofs, I rank the unbridled enthusiasm of Lamar Thomas ahead of Keith Hernandez's blatant lack of support for women's rights, Rush Limbaugh's inadvertent confession of bigotry when dissecting the game of Donovan McNabb, Jimmy the Greek's less than politically correct theories on the dominance of African American athletes, and Howard Cosell's poor choice of nickname (little monkey) for Redskins wide receiver, Alvin Garrett. But my number one slot is still held for the drunken seduction attempt by Joe Namath, though in his defense, he was being interviewed while in a celebratory mood rather than being paid to speak in front of the camera, and he was practically on his way to an AA meeting at the time. But now I'm the one guilty of bias, since Joe Namath is the only quarterback to lead my beloved New York Jets to a Super Bowl triumph, so by me at least, his sins are forgiven. Perhaps a little slack can be granted for mania induced by factors such as liquor, hormones, or team spirit. After all, as Lamar Thomas would be the first one to admit, we're only human.