51黑料

Fortunately, a simple slip of the tongue last weekend by Cardinals television play-by-play broadcaster Chip Caray was handled as such by his bosses 鈥� a mere misspoken word, with the parties moving on.

Caray was calling the Cards鈥� game Saturday against Cincinnati on FanDuel Sports Network when he read a promotional announcement for the team鈥檚 upcoming 鈥淒isability Pride Night鈥� event that included a description of the caps that will be given to those who purchase a special ticket. The hats include the disability pride flag and while discussing that Caray mispronounced 鈥渇lag鈥� 鈥� which came out as a rhyming homophobic slur 鈥� before immediately correcting himself. That was followed by about 30 seconds of silence from the booth before analyst Brad Thompson commented about a pitch.

Was it awkward? Sure. Was it bad? Not great. Was it intentional? Come on now. Was it worthy of a reprimand 鈥� or something stronger? No.

Nonetheless, the gaffe quickly made the rounds on social media 鈥� of course 鈥� and on various blogs and websites. It had became a story that was addressed on the Post-Dispatch鈥檚 website (STLtoday.com), which in my opinion was handled in a straightforward manner with the headline of: 鈥溾�橴nintentional鈥� use of an offensive word leads to lengthy pause on Cardinals broadcast.鈥�

But restraint wasn鈥檛 the case on some other platforms, leading Sports Illustrated sports media critic that he was 鈥渋nfuriated鈥� that the story even drew attention. He was particularly irked about one of the headlines: 鈥�.鈥�

Traina wrote of what he considered to be the thought process in coming up with that one: 鈥淚n other words, 鈥榮omething happened accidentally, and a guy made a truly honest mistake, but if we put 鈥榟omophobic slur鈥� in a headline, people will click the story.鈥� ...

鈥淭rying to use the accidental slip of the tongue regarding a homophobic slur to get (online) engagement is the real problem with this whole saga. Not Caray鈥檚 flub.鈥�

An announcer on a recent NBA Finals radio broadcast referred to a hyperbaric chamber as a 鈥渉ydraulic鈥� one before quickly correcting himself. This of course isn鈥檛 an offensive word, but it vividly illustrates how easy it is to have a mispronunciation when someone is uttering millions of words on the air over the course of a sports season.

The Cardinals鈥� TV announcers are employed by FanDuel Sports Network owner Main Street Sports Group, with significant input from the team. Management on the TV side has declined comment, but a Cardinals spokesperson addressed the issue to the Post-Dispatch鈥檚 Derrick Goold at the time:

鈥淚t was an unintentional misspeak while reading a promo, and he immediately corrected himself. His integrity throughout a long career speaks to his character. While unintentional and no offense was intended, it鈥檚 unfortunate, and we apologize to anyone who was offended.

鈥淜nowing Chip, I am sure he is as upset as anyone.鈥�

Hallelujah!

Sometimes discipline 鈥� as strong as termination 鈥� is deserved for on-air conduct. But this wasn鈥檛 one of those cases, not even in the same stratosphere. Common sense prevailed, which unfortunately isn鈥檛 always the case in these super-sensitive times.

3 games, 3 channels

Are you planning to watch the Cardinals play in Cleveland this weekend? If so, get ready to play the channel-changing game.

Three games. Three different telecasters. Three different starting times.

The series opener will be the club鈥檚 third appearance this season on the Apple TV+ package that exclusively streams games on Friday night, and this one starts at 6:10 p.m. An Apple TV+ subscription costs $9.99 per month, although is offered to new customers. The announcers assigned to the game are Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play), Dontrelle Willis (analysis) and Heidi Watney (reporter).

On Saturday, it鈥檚 over to FanDuel Sports Midwest 鈥� the team鈥檚 primary local TV outlet 鈥� for the 3:10 p.m. start. Caray and Thompson are to be in the booth, with Jim Hayes reporting.

The game the next day switches to Roku, which exclusively streams MLB contests on Sundays, and it鈥檚 an early start: 11:10 a.m. (all 51黑料 times). Roku uses broadcasters from the teams playing in the game, and this time has the Cardinals鈥� Thompson as the analyst working with the Guardians鈥� Tom Hamilton (play-by-play) and Andre Knott (reporter). There is no charge to stream that coverage.

NBA dunks NHL again in STL

In what has become an annual event in 51黑料 barring unusual circumstances, the recent NBA Finals more than doubled the Stanley Cup Final in television viewership. This despite the market not having an NBA team since the 1967-68 season, the same one in which the NHL鈥檚 Blues began play.

Nielsen, which tracks viewership, reports that 3.5% of the market tuned in on average to Oklahoma City鈥檚 victory in seven games over Indiana for the basketball title, whereas the figure was 1.7% for Florida鈥檚 six-game conquest of Edmonton for the hockey crown.

The Cup Final was shown on cable (TNT, TruTV) while the NBA series appeared over the air 鈥� on ABC (KDNL, Channel 30 locally). That gave basketball an advantage because broadcast TV generally outdraws cable. But that setup is a rarity, and the NBA has dominated the NHL in each league鈥檚 championship round for years in terms of 51黑料 TV audience sizes. In records dating to 2010 and excluding the COVID seasons (2020, 2021) when the games were played later in the year, the only time the NHL came out on top in STL was 2019 鈥� the year the Blues won the Cup.