Raucous fans contributed to some chaos near the Tampa Bay Lightning penalty box Thursday night in Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
As Lightning forward Tanner Jeannot made his way to the box after a fight with Luke Schenn, two Leafs fans were there to greet him by chirping and banging on the glass. Security eventually intervened, pulling the man in a yellow sweatshirt away from the glass, while the second fan who was wearing a Leafs jersey appeared able to continue her antics. Hockey Hall of Famer and longtime Lightning radio analyst Phil Esposito was less than pleased.
“YOU’VE GOT A FAT WOMAN WHO’S YAPPIN’ LIKE CRAZY” – Espo with the line of the night pic.twitter.com/FctZEvnyHA
— Bucs Rays Bolts (@BucsRaysBoltsYT) April 21, 2023
“You’ve got a fat woman who’s yapping like crazy here, or is that a guy with long hair?” Esposito ranted on the broadcast. “I can’t tell.”
Whoa. A broadcaster calling out a person in the stands for being unreasonably raucous or mistreating the players is one thing, but fat-shaming them and questioning their gender seems like a more excessive reaction than banging on the penalty box glass.
It’s the second body-shaming incident during a broadcast involving the Lightning this season. Earlier in the season, Boston Bruins broadcaster Jack Edwards directed bizarre comments at Lightning forward Pat Maroon, mocking his weight and claiming he eats too much pizza. Maroon responded by making a donation in the broadcaster’s name to Tampa Bay Thrives, a non-profit organization assisting those with mental health and substance abuse issues. Edwards later apologized.
ESPN broadcasters John Buccigross, Kevin Weekes and Ryan Callahan also noticed the boisterous Leafs fans near the penalty box Thursday night, but were a little less offensive than Esposito in their response. “You’re not in the lineup, you’re not playing for the squad, settle down,” Weekes said before encouraging the woman not to indulge with a 10th White Claw.
[Tampa Bay Lightning Radio, via @BucsRaysBoltsYT on Twitter]
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com