For nearly an entire minute Thursday morning, WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti were speechless, with only the faint sound of laughter bleeding through the airwaves.
The cause? A malapropism from update anchor Jerry Recco, who had an unfortunate word mashup while attempting to say, “Connecticut Sun.” Luckily, Recco stopped one letter short of accidentally saying a vulgar slang word over 50,000 watts. But the blunder was blatant enough to warrant board operator Eddie Scozzare to dump the mishap from the radio.
As Recco informed WFAN’s morning show that the Las Vegas Aces had a nice turnout as they celebrated winning this year’s WNBA championship, the veteran radio personality attempted to add that they beat the Connecticut Sun. Only that’s not what came out.
30 seconds of laughter ensued, as Recco buried his head in his hands and Giannotti immediately stood up and stepped away from the mic.
“Alright, deep breaths,” Scozzare said. “I took care of it.” He took care of it with the dump button on the radio side, but the close call still made it on national television via CBS Sports Network.
“I didn’t say what you think I said!” Recco noted after he apologized for mixing the two words. “I agree it was too close.”
Certain phrases have repeatedly caused broadcasters to slip up over the years, such as “bulging disc.” I don’t believe there’s much precedent for ‘Connecticut Sun’ causing an issue, but after Recco’s near blunder, broadcasters beware.
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