The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that Tripp Tracy will be taking a leave of absence to focus on his health. He’ll be replaced by Shane Willis.
The statement, from Carolina executive Don Waddell:
“Tripp is going to take some time away from the team and the broadcast to address a personal matter. We are in full support of his efforts to get healthy and ask that everyone please respect his privacy in this matter.”
Shane Willis will step into the analyst role alongside play-by-play announcer Mike Maniscalco for the network’s remaining broadcasts this season.
— x – Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) April 27, 2022
Tracy, the team’s analyst on Bally Sports South, tweeted an apology this morning for tweets he posted and deleted last night ahead of the team’s 4-3 division-clinching win over the Rangers. Tracy wasn’t on that game.
i am disgusted with myself that on the night @canes win the Metro Division that I was an extremely unimpressive distraction. I accept and know the steps I need to take to deal with this problem. Thank you to all Huge Caniacs for being so incredibly supportive.
— TrippTracy (@TrippTracy) April 27, 2022
Those deleted tweets are still available thanks to screenshots, and reading them it’s obvious why many fans were concerned last night, and why the team made the move today.
https://twitter.com/BarstoolNCdavid/status/1519099270959452160
Hopefully Tracy can get the help he needs in a supportive environment, which from the outside looks to be the case based on today’s statements. His replacement, Shane Willis, already works pregame and postgame coverage for Bally Sports South.
About Jay Rigdon
Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.