A high school basketball announcer was caught making a racist comment before a state tournament game being played in Oklahoma.
Before the start of Thursday night’s high school girls basketball game between Norman and Midwest City, the announcer could be heard on the live stream calling Norman players a racial slatter after seeing that they were kneeling during the national anthem. A popular way to protest racial injustice. . According to reports, the announcer, who was hired by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) and held the competition on the National Federation of High School (NFHS) network streams, was later identified as Scott Sapulpa. The oakleyman And Norman Transcript.
(Warning: offensive language in the video below.)
The announcer said, “They are kneeling; FNN-“, which cannot be seen on camera. “I hope Norman kicked his ass. F-them. I hope they lose. C’mon, Midwest City. They’re gonna kneel like that? Hell no.”
The NFHS network issued a statement saying it was “sickened” by comments made on the broadcast and an “aggressive investigation into the incident”.
We are made aware of the racist and disgusting comments made during the OSSAA quarterfinal broadcast last night. We fully condemn these acts and are investigating this matter and the individuals involved.
See our complete statement. pic.twitter.com/c0r0YVhvIC
– NFHS Network (@NFHSNetwork) March 12, 2021
Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliarino also Issued a statement:
Last night during the Midwest City’s Norman High School Girls basketball game at the Oklahoma 6A State Basketball Tournament, National Stream of High School (NFHS) network announcers broadcast racist and hateful comments targeted at our Norman High School students. The announcers were contracted by the OSSAA for the state tournament.
We condemn and will not tolerate the hateful words and attitudes of these announcers. This type of hate speech has no place in our society and we are angry that it will be directed at any human being and especially our students.
We fully support our students’ right to freedom of expression and our immediate focus is to support these girls and their coaches and families, especially our black students and coaching staff. It is sad that the diligence and skill of this team is being ignored by the vile, rude words of these individuals. We will do everything in our power to support and uplift our team and everyone affected by this event.
Going forward NPS will only depend on our long-lived, community partner SportsTalk Media to remain in the remainder of the tournament, as we are confident in their proven ability to honor our student athletes.
The Norman High School Twitter account tweeted a message of support for the players on Friday, showing a picture of faculty members kneeling on a basketball court.
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