Within the past three days, three individuals whose amplified voices have served as an unmistakable part of the atmosphere in three professional sports venues made headlines - and none of the news was good.
The worst involved the fatal car crash Wednesday of Fenway Park PA announcer Carl Beane, and the Boston Red Sox promptly staged a ceremony in Beane's honor before their game Thursday against the Cleveland Indians.
Also Thursday, the Miami Heat issued an apology for a statement made by American Airlines Arena PA announcer Mike Baiamonte, who said during Wednesday's Game 5 of the Heat's NBA Playoff series against New York that the Knicks' Amare Stoudemire had been "extinguished" from the game after committing his sixth personal foul. After the Knicks' Game 2 loss at AA Arena, Stoudemire took out his frustrations on a glass fire extinguisher case, which kept him sidelined for Game 3. Stoudemire laughed off the PA treatment, saying after the game that he wasn't bothered by the Baiamonte's word choice, but a Heat statement the next day read: "Last night at our game, our PA Announcer had a momentary lapse of judgment and used a poor choice of words in describing Amare Stoudemire's fouling out of the game. This is not who we are as an organization or who he is as an announcer. Both the Miami Heat and Michael Baiamonte apologize to Amare and the New York Knicks for the inappropriate choice of words."
While Beane's death is nothing short of tragic, and the Baiamonte situation is almost comical by comparison, the most troubling of the three stories is still unfolding. This morning, Jim Miller, who for the past four years served as PA announcer for the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arnea, was released from jail after posting a $30,000 bond following his arrest last night on three felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under 16. According to court documents, three children accuse Miller, a high school teacher and tennis coach, of forcing them to watch him masturbate as he viewed pornography on his computer. Two of the alleged victims also claim sexual abuse.
Oklahoma City has advanced to Round 2 of the playoffs, but Miller's season - and likely his announcing career (at least) - are over. A statement from Thunder vice president Dan Mahoney read: "Due to the allegations and criminal case against him... Mr. Miller has been removed from his duties as Thunder PA announcer."
