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NBCUniversal Sacrifices Veteran Baseball Announcer Glen Kuiper to the Woke Gods, Fires Him After Slip of the Tongue

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I reported earlier this month about the plight of Oakland A’s broadcaster Glen Kuiper, who was suspended from NBC Sports California after he inadvertently uttered a racial slur during the broadcast of an A’s-Royals game. The story really ticked me off because it seemed so obvious that his misstep was entirely unintentional. As defined by the urban dictionary, Glen clearly made the oral equivalent of a typo—a speako.

But now it gets worse. He was fired Monday for the “offense” after an internal review.

Here’s what I wrote about the terrible crime on May 7 along with the accompanying video:

The slip-up happened during pre-game coverage as the 20-year veteran was describing what he and his broadcasting partner Dallas Braden were up to before the game. “We had a phenomenal day today,” he said. “N-word League Museum, and Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque.”

To any thinking person, it’s obvious that he tripped over the word Negro and had no intention of slurring anyone or denigrating anyone.

Watch:

Yes, he said the “N” word, and it’s jarring. It’s also abundantly clear that he did not mean to.

But to the left, speech is violence—even if accidental—and punishment must be meted out. Do not poke the woke gods or they shall respond with thunder.

Sports site Deadspin took a ludicrous and retributive angle, arguing that his life should be ruined because the mistake clearly shows the bigotry in his heart: “That hateful six-letter word doesn’t just slip out of your mouth unless you’ve used it dozens of times before and it’s part of your vernacular,” they wrote. Or maybe you’ve just listened to popular music where the term is blared out daily by musical artists. (Only click that link if you’re prepared to be assaulted by truly offensive lyrics.)

“We thank Glen for his dedication to Bay Area baseball over the years,” said a soulless NBC spokesperson. You work for a company for 20 years, you’re a beloved announcer with a strong track record who gets canned for one slip of the tongue, and this lily-livered statement is the best they can come up with? Do you even get a gold watch?

It’s as if Kuiper is a sacrifice to the gods—an innocent one, it would seem—but who cares, we must have his head to prove our devotion to the cause.

NBC Sports California, which is part of NBCUniversal, said that the termination came after an “internal review.” Now if that review found that Kuiper was found to have repeatedly used epithets and shown racial bias, then I will change my tune. But they have not indicated that. If they’re basing his firing on this one incident, however, then they should be deeply ashamed of themselves because it shows they’re willing to ruin someone’s life just for a few virtue points.

Disgusting.

The biggest previous controversy I can find about Kuiper is that he ranked an NFL prospect lower than some people would have liked. Off with his head!

Kuiper for his part has been gracious about the error, apologizing during the broadcast and later issuing heartfelt mea culpas and declaring “Racism is in no way a part of me.” After his firing, he was at a loss to understand just what has happened to fairness in this country:

“I wish the Oakland A’s and NBC Sports would have taken into consideration my 20-year career, my solid reputation, integrity and character, but in this current environment traits like integrity and character are no longer considered.”

“I will always have a hard time understanding how one mistake in a 20-year broadcasting career is cause for termination, but I know something better is in my future,” he added. “I love the game of baseball and I love being a broadcaster, and I love the Bay Area community. I hope I will be remembered for that.”

Sports has become an ugly battleground for the new cult of wokeism—ESPN and its radio stations are almost as much MSNBC-style political shows as they are shows about athletics—and many former fans swore off the NBA after the league’s divisive actions during the nationwide George Floyd riots.

(See: Legendary Coach Phil Jackson Blasts the Woke NBA, Says He Doesn’t Watch Games Anymore)

Now, the LA Dodgers have invited, uninvited, and now RE-invited the offensive anti-Catholic trans group “The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” to receive an award at their Pride Night in June.

(See: Dear LA Dodgers Ownership: You Have Disrespected Generations of Fans, and Now You’re Going to Lose Them)

As I said, if it turns out there’s more to this story than has been reported, and Kuiper has been secretly living his life as a white supremacist, then I’ll withdraw my criticism. But even if that happens, NBCUniversal has shown that they are willing to sacrifice anyone and anything simply to virtue signal to the world that they are down for the progressive cause—even when punishing Kuiper for a mistake has nothing to do with real justice.

I sincerely hope that they experience the growing aphorism, “get woke go broke.”

At RedState, we stand against the Cult of Woke, and are tired of seeing people getting canceled for ridiculous reasons. Kuiper is guilty of nothing more than a simple mistake, nothing more, nothing less. We will continue to fight against such unfairness.

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Oakland A’s New Stadium Agreement in Las Vegas Besieged by Curveballs

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With two weeks until the end of Nevada’s legislative session, a bill has not been introduced regarding the Oakland A’s baseball team’s relocation to Las Vegas. A “binding” agreement was reached with Bally’s last week to build a $1.5 billion 30,000-seat stadium with a partially retractable roof at the location of the Tropicana Casino Resort.

Originally, the A’s set their sights on a 49-acre parcel situated at the intersection of Tropicana Blvd. and Dean Martin Drive as their new stadium location. Red Rock Resorts Inc. had agreed to sell the property to the A’s and the team stipulated that Clark County needed to approve $500 million in tax credits to support the development. Due to opposition to public funding, the A’s forged a partnership with Bally’s to demolish the Tropicana Resort on the Southern Las Vegas Strip, thus reducing their request for public funding to $395 million.

The powerful Culinary Union is reported to have played a role in killing the prior agreement with Red Rock Resorts because some of their properties are not unionized. More accurately, the union and Red Rock have been locked in legal battles and are being forced to negotiate a contract… that the bargaining unit didn’t actually vote for. 

Monday, reports broke that Nevada lawmakers would not go higher than $175 million in financing, leaving a gap of $220 million expected to come from Clark County bonds. This number is $20 million below what the state was reported to be willing to offer before the weekend, $195 million in transferable tax credits.

Clark County has been hesitant toward bonding the sum, which is expected to be generated through tax revenues by the ballpark. The county is concerned about depleting the reserve funds in the event the tax revenues fall short of covering the bond repayments. This scenario was realized during the pandemic shutdowns; a tax imposed on hotel rooms to fund the Raider’s Allegiant Stadium did not cover the payments and had to come from the county reserve fund. 

Keeping in line with his campaign trail promises to never raise taxes, Governor Joe Lombardo has signaled his support is contingent on a plan that doesn’t result in new or higher taxation. 

While the A’s journey to Vegas may be besieged by curveballs, they are also on track to have one of the worst seasons in MLB history, attendance has been as low as 2,064 fans or 4 percent of the Coliseum’s seating capacity, and loyalists lament owner John Fisher on social media. 

But, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao sees the opportunity to keep the A’s in The Town, saying on Thursday that they are very close to a deal:

Howard Terminal, it’s already entitled. And so I want the A’s to stay here If the owners called us back and say, ‘Let’s get back to the table,’ we are very close to a deal.

While stadium negotiations are time-sensitive as the Nevada legislative session nears its end, it is still possible for the issue to be raised in a speculated special session to be called by the governor if the state budget is not satisfactory and is vetoed.