An already forgettable game became all the more troublesome for the Clippers with word today that comments made by their announcing team led to suspensions.
The Clippers were losing handily to the Memphis Grizzlies when Hamed Haddadi was inserted into the game. It's not unusual for teams to empty their bench near the end of a blow-out victory nor is it odd for announcers to point that fact out.
The Clippers' Ralph Lawler and Mike Smith got into trouble not for disparaging remarks about Haddadi or his native country of Iran. No, Lawler and Smith were suspended for tonight's game against the Denver Nuggets for failure to pronounce Iran correctly.
Smith pronounced Iranian as "eye-ranian" instead of the correct pronunciation of "e-ranian". Lawler quickly followed using the same mispronunciation. A viewer called to complain and suspensions followed.
Fox Sports Prime Ticket, who issued the suspensions, shot an airball on this one.
Much in the same way that a football referee could call holding on every play, or a basketball official could call travelling each time down the court, anyone who speaks for a living is lik ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Jose Salviati
Mispronunciation Leads to Clipper Suspensions
November 21st, 2009 by Jose Salviati Leave a reply »
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