Broadcaster Suspended

Being a broadcaster for a professional sports team is a tough job, but for those who do it its a very rewarding one.  The job of the broadcaster is to relay information on a game to the fans. The Baltimore Orioles have one of the best young broadcasters in the game in TV announcer Kevin Brown. Brown was recently suspended by the team for making a comment about the team (and it wasn't even a negative one at that).

What happened was the O's we're playing here in Tampa at Tropicana Field against the Rays in late July. Brown said on the TV broadcast that the O's were 0-15-1 in the last 16 series here in Tampa. That's all he said. It was put up on a graphic and everything, which is what you would normally do for something like that in a broadcast. it wasn't anything offensive it was just stating a fact that the O's struggled in Tampa. Well Baltimore ownership wasn't happy with it and have suspended Brown over this.

What?!?!?!?!

How can Baltimore ownership be so thin skinned to suspend a good broadcaster over simply doing his job. I'm sorry but there has to be more to this here that O's owner Peter Angelos isn't telling us.

As somebody who watches sports on a regular basis, as a fan, I want to know stats and stuff like this I find it interesting. I would like to know stuff like that, because its interesting, especially since the Rays and O's are in a battle for the top spot in the AL East. Baltimore hasn't been this good in a long time, and they've struggled playing against the Rays in Tampa. That's the kind of stuff that sports fans want to know about their teams.

As a broadcaster, we have a duty to the fans to tell these facts. I've been in his spot I've called sporting events before I called radio broadcasts for College Hockey and I've produced college football and basketball. I know what goes into broadcasts, as a broadcaster and I know what I'd want to hear as a fan as well. Being able to relay the facts to the fans as to what's going on with the team, both good and bad, is our job. What Brown did on the O's tv broadcast was just doing his job. He didn't say it in a negative way, he was just stating fact. O's ownership got upset over it and suspended him indefinitely.

For a team that's finally on the upswing and is actually playing good ball for the first time in quite some time, its a refreshing sight (but the O's are a thorn in the Rays side right now in the division race). The fact that Baltimore is now doing this over one comment that was just stating fact is so sad. It's a joke to be honest.