HOULTON, Maine (AP) 鈥� Two radio announcers calling a Maine high school girl's basketball game were fired after they mocked players for being overweight.
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
One commenter called two players on the court 鈥渆xtremely overweight,鈥� 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 basketball games are told to focus on the game play and not comment negatively about players.
鈥淚t鈥檚 in writing. It鈥檚 verbalized. It鈥檚 repeated,鈥� Grant said. 鈥淭hey knew the deal. It鈥檚 a colossal failure by them.鈥�
Reached by phone, Carter said he had apologized to the players.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know what to say,鈥� Carter told the Press Herald. 鈥淗opefully everybody can get through this and be OK.鈥�
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, 鈥渁nd most importantly 鈥� our students.鈥�
鈥淭wo broadcasters made comments that were not only inappropriate, they were also blatantly wrong,鈥� the station said. "Those broadcasters were terminated.鈥�
The Associated Press
