Phone issues during an interview are always unfortunate, but the way that happened to ESPN’s Tim Legler Thursday was particularly funny. Legler called in to The Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio (simulcast on ESPNEWS), and Smith told Legler he couldn’t hear him during Legler’s praise of Khris Middleton. Legler’s voice was still coming through on the air, but not to Smith, and while Legler tried to fix it and was talking to whoever was helping him with the call, he let out a “I’m so fucking sick of this shit” that was broadcast across the country:
“Can you hear me? You got me now? Hello?…I’m so fucking sick of this shit.” “I told you, the phone’s old!” “Why is it always the fucking handset?” “It’s not! It’s an old battery! That phone is like 60 years old!”
No word on if Legler was using an ESPN Phone here. But whatever it was that caused this, it was a hilarious result. Smith, on the other hand, probably wasn’t impressed, given his thoughts on profanity:
Btw….Ass, Damn and hell are allowed on my page. That's mild, generic profanity. Nothing else.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) December 14, 2010
[Deadspin/Joe Lucia on Clippit]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.