Every so often, profanity will accidentally slide into a live sports broadcast. We know foul language is used on the field and court, but it’s usually drowned out by crowd noise.
The return of sports during a pandemic brought countless concerns and questions, one of them being what will we hear without fans in the stands? It took just three games for a pro team to have a serious outbreak of COVID-19 and it was in game five of the Major League Baseball season where viewers heard their first F-bomb.
Courtesy of Houston manager Dusty Baker, the expletive came after Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly attempted to get revenge on the Astros for cheating in 2017 by firing a fastball near the head of Alex Bregman. Following the walk of Bregman, Kelly got Houston’s Michael Brantley to ground into a fielder’s choice, when the 71-year old Baker yelled at Kelly to hurry up.
What’s worse, hearing someone yell motherf***er or watching a 95mph fastball purposely thrown at someone’s head? Expletives will likely frequent live sports broadcasts more often than we’re used to without real crowd noise to cover it up. With cameras on the court, a smaller playing surface and no equipment for players to wear, the NBA will have to work even harder than the other sports to limit the inevitable uptick of profanity.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
