Late last week, 97.3 The Fan midday host John Kentera revealed he had been fired from the San Diego sports station. Scott Kaplan believes he knows what was behind the move.
During his Kaplan and Crew YouTube show Friday, Kaplan claimed Kentera was let go due to some criticism he levied against the San Diego Padres. 97.3 The Fan is the radio flagship of the MLB franchise.
“I have no insight of any kind. I don’t know anybody who works at that radio station, but here’s my thought,” Scott Kaplan began. “I’ll bet you that Coach Kentera was so tied in with (former Padres manager) Bob Melvin…And I’ll bet you that coach was so blunt with his criticism of the Padres — and I saw people accusing him of being a racist on Twitter, because he’s not into the Caribbean style of play and bat flipping and whatever. He’s an old white guy. What do you expect them to do? Love that? He’s an old-school kind of coach.
“My guess is there is no program director at this radio station that makes that decision. Too big of a decision. And I would bet you that the corporate company in New York is like ‘We don’t care. We don’t care about this guy. He barely makes any money. We don’t care.’ I would bet you the Padres were like, ‘Hey, he was tied in with Melvin. He was very, very critical of our organization. And guess what we want? We need people who are cheerleaders. We need people to support our product.'”
Kaplan revealed Kentera had told him he was working without a contract on the Audacy-owned station. The ESPN LA 710 host also alleged he was shocked at how little the San Diego radio stalwart was being paid by the station.
“I understand it, and it sucks, and to do it a couple of days before Christmas, and to not have taken care of this guy while he was employed there — to not have given him a contract, to not have had ratings bonuses to not have made a penny not $1 from the success that his show enjoyed and the station enjoyed — it’s just sad. It’s just too bad.”
Scott Kaplan also alleged that the reaction to Kentera’s firing from Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton, a former San Diego sports radio host, both publicly and privately to station management was the reason a planned farewell show for the midday host was scrapped.
I too was stunned and sorry to hear about the coaches firing. I even turned in on Friday hoping to get some words but found someone else I didn’t know or care to hear it in the future. Even today on Wednesday I just change the channel and reset my auto dial. I enjoyed the coaches presentation style and welcomed his not go along with everybody else’s attitude as well. Good luck in all your endeavors coach.