Lamar Thomas fired over Orange Bowl brawl remarks

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Saturday's mid-game brawl between the University of Miami and Florida International University claimed its first off-the-field victim Monday when Lamar Thomas, a former Miami player who cheered the fight on from a television broadcasting booth and even threatened to join it, was fired from his announcing job.

Comcast Sports Southeast said it fired Thomas from his job doing color commentary on Hurricane games and will edit his fiery remarks during the brawl from a replay of the telecast scheduled to air Wednesday.

"We don't condone Lamar's statements," CSS general manager Mark Fuhrman said. "He unfortunately got caught in the emotion of it. He blurred the line between what takes place as a participant and your role as a broadcaster."

<snip>

"Thomas, in a telephone interview with The Miami Herald about an hour before he was fired, said no one from CSS suggested he tone it down, and that he hadn't heard from the network since. But he seemed to clearly expect some disciplinary action.

"I'm very new to this whole media thing," said Thomas. "I'm an ex-player. I love the school I was doing games for. I'm very passionate about the University of Miami. I love those kids just like my brothers. I played with my emotions on my sleeve, and I broadcast games just like that."

"Unfortunately, this thing blew up into a national event and I was caught with my pants down. If I had to do it all over again, I would be a little more tactful."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15774438.htm

[Awsi Dooger]

1. He should have been fired

I was posting that Saturday night immediately after the game, and I believe I posted it on DU. The color commentary and the Miami players jumping up and down with their helmets up in the air after the brawl were as disgusting as the fight itself, IMO. The Canes had lost their two big games this season and it looked like somehow they were proud of themselves for "winning" the brawl. Asinine.

[PDittie]

2. Miami needs to suspend their football program for a season

Either that, or send all the players over to Iraq and let them learn what a real war is like.

/yeah, I said it.

[rockymountaindem]

3. Why is "deportation" to Iraq the new answer for everyone with an attitude

problem? Alternatively we could send them to do volunteer work in a poor country so they could see how good they have it playing football at an American university. But, ultimately, I think both are overreactions (although the volunteering would be a nice gesture for them anyway). The bottom line is that firstly, sometimes people just get into a fight. Secondly, the fact that they are already engaged in a highly physical competition increases the liklihood that a fight will develop if bad blood emerges. Thirdly, these guys went all at it because they were wearing pads. Ever see a baseball fight? Rarely the all-out war we saw on the football field because they're not wearing a suit of armor for all intents and purposes.

This is like the Zinedane Zidane World Cup headbutt incident on a massive scale. We shouldn't condone it, and the participants should be punished, but moral outrage at your level is, IMHO, misplaced. If anything I think it's a sign that the conferences should take a harder line against unsportsmanlike conduct, such as by ejecting the player to bowed toward the opposing team's fan section instead of just giving him a personal foul.