Media Monster

Hockey Announcer Loses Control Of Emotions, Suspends Himself

It’s expected for a local announcer’s voice to get a little more excitable when when the home team scores—a reasonable amount of homerism is always acceptable. But the way junior hockey announcer Mike Hickey griped during a Springfield Junior Blues game Saturday crossed the line. And Hickey knew it, which is why he suspended himself for an indefinite period of time.

Hickey’s heckling of the visiting Topeka RoadRunners began when the announcer yelled, presumably at Roadrunners coach and general manager Scott Langer:

“In the middle! With the long hair! Jerk! Greasy little punk!”

Shortly after, he began to outright cheer for Springfield over the microphone, and listeners—many of whom were Topeka fans—heard every word:

“Oh, c’mon, you can’t hold! [Silence] Oh, boy. That’s one way to get around him: Hold your opponent until your teammate can get by. This game is deteriorating into a love-fest. Typical Topeka game. Let’s go Blues.”

Hickey continued to carry on throughout the end of the period:

“They’re disgusting. You heard it here first. They’re disgusting. But the Junior Blues will take care of business, I gar-run-tee.“

Hickey, for his part, would later apologize during an emotional Ustream segment (click the smaller play button, and fast forward to 58 seconds in).

Among other things, Hickey said,

“I’ve reflected, and I’m very remorseful, not only on what I said during the broadcast but also the lack of professionalism on my part. In a moment of stupidity, I said some very nasty things about Coach Langer and the Topeka RoadRunners…

I’ve always held myself to a high standard. This time I didn’t reach it. I’m ashamed of my idiotic and crass behavior, and I extend an apology to coach Langer and all concerned.”

Chris Kolb, the Blues’ business manager, said the apology came of the announcer’s own accord.

Hickey went on to say he would “step outside of the broadcast booth” to reflect on the incident for an undetermined period of time.

To a degree, it’s understandable how a man so involved with the organization lost control of his emotions—when you house six players on the team, you might tend to take the game a little too personally—but that doesn’t make Hickey’s any less obvious. Even during a junior hockey internet broadcast, such rampant homerism takes away from the viewing experience. Kudos to Hickey, though, for apologizing.

[Yahoo Sports!]