When it comes to high school announcers — or any announcers for that matter — you should always be under the assumption that the mic is hot. It would perhaps lead to a lot less Awful Announcing content, but it would also save some people their livelihoods.
Earlier this year, an Oklahoma high school announcer was caught on a hot mic making unprofessional comments toward players and parents. And while an incident over the weekend didn’t quite reach that magnitude, there were a few remarks the announcer might want to have back had he known he could be heard on the livestream.
A California high school football public address announcer was caught on a livestream this past week making critical remarks about a defensive player during a game. The incident occurred during the second quarter of the Mater Dei vs. Corona Centennial game at the Santa Ana Bowl on Thursday, August 22.
According to Sports Illustrated’s high school sports medium, the Mater Dei High School public address announcer yelled “turnaround…” in the press box before announcing the play over the stadium microphone.
After the play, the announcer was heard making critical comments about the Mater Dei defensive back, who was called for pass interference. While the comments were not broadcast over the stadium speakers, they were clearly audible on the live stream, which had nearly 1,000 viewers at the time.
The mater dei football commentator on the YouTube stream just called a 16 year old DB a dumbass on stream and then said he’s more of an asshat 😭😭😭😭☠️☠️☠️
— Nick Jones (B1G) (@Nick_Jones_98) August 23, 2024
The PA announcer at the Mater Dei game doesn’t know his voice is on the livestream, in between stadium calls he just called a Mater Dei player a dumbass 😭
— The Trojan Blade (@TheTrojanBlade) August 23, 2024
“Turn around, you dumba**. Read his eyes,” he said.
There’s nearly about 20 seconds of dead air before you can hear the announcer come on again, wondering aloud on this live stream — still unaware that his audio is being picked up — why he’s calling a 16-year-old a dumba**.
“I don’t know why I’m calling a 16-year-old a dumba**,” he said. “Redundant. … more a**hat.”
Those 1,000-something viewers were probably wondering the same thing.
Not to be outdone by the comments on the broadcast, Mater Dei walked away with a 42-25 victory.
In this case, you should assume that someone’s always listening, especially when broadcasting a high school football game from a school with notable alumni such as Matt Leinart and Bryce Young.
The lesson learned here is that the mic is always hot.
There’s also another lesson learned here, apparently; the school was reportedly fined $600 for violating CIF’s media policy by providing an alternate stream of the game.
Mater Dei high school football PA announcer cusses during live stream (video)
Also, the school will be fined $600 for providing an alternate stream to Thursday night’s game against Corona Centennial, violating CIF’s media policy/rights to NFHS Network.https://t.co/PG570dINgP
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) August 26, 2024
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.