LLWS: Harold Reynolds fired
Lowland
thought I would post this while I can, just in case you were wondering
where he was...
http://www.nypost.com/sports/accused_of_sexual_harassment_sports_andrew_m
archand.htm
ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
By ANDREW MARCHAND
July 26, 2006 -- After being accused of sexual harassment and fired by
ESPN, former "Baseball Tonight" analyst Harold Reynolds said yesterday he
doesn't think he did anything wrong and is still hoping to regain his
job.
"This was a total misunderstanding," Reynolds told The Post. "My goal is
to sit down and get back. To be honest with you, I gave a woman a hug and
I felt like it was misinterpreted."
Reynolds declined to give any more details. The woman who accused
Reynolds of the sexual harassment is an ESPN co-worker, according to
sources.
Yesterday, ESPN confirmed The Post's report that Reynolds had been fired,
but they would not comment any further.
"He no longer works here," ESPN VP Josh Krulewitz said.
Still, Reynolds is hopeful ESPN executives will change their minds.
Besides being with the network for 11 years, Reynolds had just signed a
new six-year contract to remain in Bristol and he recently got married.
Reynolds limited his comments, because he didn't want to go into too many
details for fear of saying something that could hurt his chances of
reversing ESPN's decision.
Reynolds, 45, started with ESPN after a 12-year major league career.
ESPN has been vigilant about sexual harassment because it reportedly has
been a problem in Bristol for years. In 2000, the book "ESPN: The
Uncensored History" reported rampant cases of harassment of women. Most
prominently mentioned was Mike Tirico, who was even suspended at one
point.
Tirico, though, never was fired and now is one of the main faces of the
network. This fall, he will be ESPN's new voice for "Monday Night
Football." Since the book's release, ESPN has denied its validity.
ESPN is known for giving its top on-air employees warnings. There are
many cases where ESPN executives have chosen to provide on-air personnel
with second chances.
Last NFL season, Michael Irvin was charged with a misdemeanor possession
of drug paraphernalia. Despite Irvin's past problems, he was only
suspended for a weekend and that was mostly because he did not
immediately report the incident to ESPN executives.
Earlier this baseball season, Rick Sutcliffe conducted a rambling on-air
interview while intoxicated. Sutcliffe was only suspended for one game.
Without Reynolds, "Baseball Tonight" will continue to have an unfamiliar
look. The show was already dealing with the loss of its other fixture,
Peter Gammons, who suffered a brain aneurysm last month. Gammons is
recovering nicely, but is not scheduled to return soon.
Karl Ravech is still the show's main host. He will be joined by the other
mainstay, John Kruk, on most nights. Ex-Mets GM Steve Phillips, who
already was seeing more time in place of Gammons, figures to become an
even more integral part of the program.
ESPN also can call on Orel Hershiser, Jeff Brantley, Tino Martinez,
Orestes Destrades, Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney as replacements for
Reynolds.
"We'll get contributions from everybody from our deep commentator pool,"
Krulewitz said.
Mediajock
news:12efaqb...@corp.supernews.com...
> This story is a few weeks old, but since nobody's mentioned it yet, I
> thought I would post this while I can, just in case you were wondering
> where he was...
I know Harold had his admirers but I don't think I can be counted amongtst
them. It was excruciating to always hear him trying to muddle through
mumbling players' names or other information.
Give me all-bran Gary Thorne any day.
--
:)
Mediajock (FAQ Keeper)
AFTI HQ - FAQ, YAVG, news, links, past poll results, etc.:
http://webpages.charter.net/mediajock/aftihq.htm
Jeremy Sneed
This is total CRAP!! Just by going by what I've heard, how in the
world can he get fired for hugging a co-worker compared to what Michael
Irvin has done and even Mike Tirico according to that article. And
Sutcliffe was drunk while doing a game but all he got was a little slap
on the wrist!! Harold Reynolds is a stand up guy and you know, I don't
know all the facts, but if this was just a misunderstanding, he needs
to get his job back.
Mediajock may not like him much, but I think Harold did a GREAT job
every year with the Little League World Series. He was like a big kid
himself and it came across that way in his commentating. The Series
just isn't the same without him although I do think Coles is doing a
pretty good job.
BRING BACK HAROLD!!!
sneed