NCAA Announcer Gets into Fight With Referee Live On-Air (Audio)
By Josh Hill
Earlier in the week we had a case of an NBA play-by-play announcer getting into an awkward moment with rapper Wale, but St. Louis play-by-play announcer Bob Ramsey took things to a whole different level on Thursday when he during his live radio broadcast he criticized Atlantic 10 referee Bo Borowski’s foul call on Dwayne Evans. Obviously, this is part of his job but when the referee overheard Ramsey blasting his call, Borowski tried to have at it with Ramsey.
“They’re going to call a cheap foul on Evans and I’ll tell you what,” Ramsey started to say before he was surprisingly interrupted. Before he could go any further, Ramsey was cut off by Borowski who began to jaw at the radio announcer live on air. Borowski isn’t really heard all that clearly, but Ramsey seems both mildly afraid and wholly amazed with what was going on.
“I’m on the air right now, stay away from me,” Ramsey said when Borowski approached him at his announcing desk. Once Borowski seemingly moved on, Ramsey regained his cool and launched into his radio rendition of not in my house. “An official tried to get into our broadcast and we won’t have it. We’re not going to have it. Not gonna have it here, this is 101’s broadcast.”
Was Ramsey disrespectful, not entirely. His tough guy attitude he suddenly adopts can be attributed to him still being in shock that an NCAA official actually approached him while he was live on the air and tried to start a verbal war of words with him.
The real question is why did Borowski snap at Ramsey when all Ramsey had done at that point was call the foul cheap. You have to imagine that referees here things that are ten times worse from head coaches, yet Borowski was tipped over the edge by “cheap foul”? Maybe it was just a case of Borowski wanting to put a radio guy in his place since he already hears enough criticism as it is.
Who knew there were so many egos in the Atlantic 10?