A Portland Timbers radio announcer was caught on a hot mic criticizing the Major League Soccer team’s head coach during Wednesday night’s match.
The hot mic incident could be heard on Apple TV, where fans have the option of pairing the home radio feed with the video broadcast. As the Timbers entered halftime trailing the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0, the announcer threw the radio broadcast to a commercial, but was seemingly unaware that his mic was still hot on Apple TV. And that’s when the announcer, believing he was off-air, could be heard asking his producer if he was interested in replacing Phil Neville as head coach of the Timbers.
Hot mic for the Portland Timbers radio feed tonight (accessible via the Apple TV+ broadcast).
“You want to come coach this team? You want to come coach this team? Can’t be any worse.” ⚽️📻🎙️pic.twitter.com/prg39BbWJh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 16, 2024
“Steven, you want to come coach this team?” the radio announcer asked with the Timbers trailing 2-0. “You want to come coach this team? Can’t be any worse.”
After the match, radio announcer Adam Susman took responsibility for the hot mic incident with a lengthy apology on Twitter, apologizing specifically to the Timbers actual head coach Phil Neville.
There was a hot-mic moment before the halftime show of Portland vs San Jose tonight. I want to hop in front of it and let everyone know it was me. I’m extremely sorry and embarrassed it happened.
I try to be objective but ultimately, I prefer when the Timbers win. Based on the…
— Adam Susman (@Adam_Susman) May 16, 2024
As far as hot mic blunders go, this comment was a rather harmless joke. Local announcers have called for coaches’ jobs before while on-air, and Susman wasn’t even doing that. He made an off-air joke to his producer during a time where the Timbers were floundering in the standings, and on the field for a half. That shouldn’t discount his ability to be an objective broadcaster.
The ironic part about this incident is the fact that as it turns out, Steven probably could have done worse. Behind Neville, the Timbers overcame the deficit by scoring four goals in the second half, winning the match 4-2. Unfortunately for the Timbers and Neville, the win did little to change the fact that they’re still sitting 11th in the conference. But it shouldn’t damage their relationship with Susman either.
[Apple TV]
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