Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
Jan 5, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Veteran ESPN broadcaster Ron Franklin has been fired by the channel because of the ’sexist’ comments he made on one of his female colleagues. The 68 year old ESPN football announcer has been working with the channel for the last 24 years, as a play-by-play announcer of basket ball or college football games. His terms with the channel came to a bitter conclusion, when he made a profane comment towards sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards, a day before the Fiesta Bowl. As a result, he was not only dismissed from announcing the Fiesta Bowl, but also from ESPN.

Ron Franklin was having a conversation with two of his male colleagues before going on air on Friday. He offended Jeannine Edward, when he addressed her by calling her “Sweet Baby”. When she firmly protested that she was not going the approve to get addressed in that way, reportedly did something more vulgar and demeaning. This not only made the lady annoyed but also offended the entire channel for his lack of pedigree and conduct. A spokesman for ESPN, Josh Krulewitz said that on the basis of what happened the last Friday, the channel would like to end their terms with Ron Franklin. Mo Davenport, the senior coordinating producer of the channel, said that there is no reason for an announcer to say something so “mean spirited” like that. However, it seems that the player has realized his mistake as he said that he deserves to be dismissed as a radio broadcaster.

This is not the first time, that Ron Franklin was accused of using ’sexist’ languages. Even before, he addressed Holly Rowe by calling her “Sweetheart”, while announcing for the Notre Dame-Purdue game a few years back. George Solomon, a representative of ESPN, called his tone “demeaning” and disrespectful for not only the colleague but also the audiences.