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VCU Apologizes to Rhode Island Broadcaster For Improper Access to Radio Booth

“To ask you to climb a ladder and hop a fence… it’s just not something I would do, wasn’t willing to even try. It would have been a disaster for me.”

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WJAR

The VCU athletic department to the University of Rhode Island and broadcaster Shane Donaldson for not providing proper access to the broadcast area during Wednesday’s basketball game.

The radio desk for the URI road broadcast was placed behind a rail that required using a stepladder to climb over. For Donaldson, who has cerebral palsy, navigating the stepladder and climbing over the rail presented an impossible situation.

Donaldson posted a picture on Twitter of the setup for the road radio desk at VCU’s Siegel Center.

“I knew right away looking at it, it’s not something I would have been able to do,” Donaldson told Providence’s CBS 6. “To ask you to climb a ladder and hop a fence… it’s just not something I would do, wasn’t willing to even try. It would have been a disaster for me.”

VCU athletic director Ed McLaughlin told CBS 6’s Lane Casadonte in a statement that he apologized to Donaldson and URI athletic director Thorr Bjorn.

“In both open and honest conversations, I apologized on behalf of VCU Athletics for causing undue emotional harm,” said McLaughlin. “I have a great deal of respect for the entire Rhode Island Department of Athletics and for the work that Shane does.”

McLaughlin went on to say the athletic department and facility staff would work with the university’s ADA (American with Disabilities Act) office to properly address the situation and continue to “foster an environment of inclusion and belonging.”

In his statement, McLaughlin also said that facility staff offered alternate accommodations immediately upon being told of the broadcast setup but the URI radio team “chose not to accept.” Donaldson explained that was because attempts to fix the situation were on the fly and there wasn’t an apparent set plan and called the lack of thought applied to the issue “appalling.”

“It was kind of like they were looking over the arena,” said Donaldson. “And saying, we’ll try to figure out somewhere else to put you.”

Donaldson explained to Providence’s WJAR that it was too close to game time to work out a viable solution, but he still wanted to make sure this issue wasn’t ignored.

“This is not the kind of attention that I would want to be a part of,” Donaldson told NBC 10’s Christina Vitale, “but it doesn’t make anything better for anybody else if you don’t shine a light on this kind of thing and say here we are in 2022, how is this acceptable?”

According to CBS 6, VCU moved the radio broadcast tables to their current location prior to this season to accommodate more floor seating for fans. The Atlantic 10 Conference only requires that radio broadcast stations are provided, with no mandate as to where they’re located.

Sports Radio News

Charles Barkley: ‘I Want to Be on TV Less’

“His contract with Warner Bros. Discovery runs through 2024-25.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Charles Barkley

It’s possible you could see Charles Barkley appearing occasionally on CNN.

Reports from The Wall Street Journal and Variety this week indicate the cable news network is close to finishing a deal that would have Gayle King on the network. Rumors have said that the network would like to have Barkley join her, but Barkley says nothing is decided on his end.

In an appearance on Bickley & Marotta on Arizona Sports on Tuesday, the Suns legend and NBA on TNT analyst said he and King are friends so this wouldn’t be a situation where the duo would be coming in green.

“I’ve gotten to know her well through the years through my relationship with Oprah (Winfrey) and she’s just cool,” Barkley said. “I said, ‘I would consider doing a show with Gayle, one day a week starting in the fall.'”

But Barkley, 60, reiterated what he’s made known for a while now: he doesn’t plan on sticking around in the TV business for too much longer. His contract with Warner Bros. Discovery runs through 2024-25. So this CNN opportunity could be pretty limited in scope, which is what Charles desired.

“It’ll only be one day a week if I decide to do it,” Barkley said. “I said, ‘No, I don’t want to be on TV more. I want to be on TV less.'”

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John Kincade: Thursday Night Football Flex Vote About ‘Licking Jeff Bezos’s Boots’

“For these billionaires to be licking his boots? Embarrassing. They can’t do this. It’s obnoxious.”

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John Kincade

A report claims that at the NFL owners meetings, a proposal to give the league the ability to implement flex scheduling for Thursday Night Football was proposed. 97.5 The Fanatic’s John Kincade was flabbergasted at the idea.

The proposal would allow the NFL to move scheduled games in the final weeks of the season from Sunday to Thursday. The league would also have to change the rule that teams could only play one Thursday Night Football game per season to accommodate the change.

During The John Kincade Show Tuesday, the host claimed that even considering the idea was simply a matter of the owners kowtowing to Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, whose company — Prime Video — broadcasts the package.

“They’re licking Jeff Bezos’s boots,” Kincade said. “I can only imagine buddies running trips and fans go ‘Ok, I’m going to the Eagles game on Sunday. I’m flying in Friday, spend two nights in a hotel, and fly out Monday’. Oh no you’re not, the game’s been moved to Thursday night. This is freaking ridiculous, and shining Bezos’s shoes is freaking embarrassing. For these billionaires to be licking his boots? Embarrassing. They can’t do this. It’s obnoxious.”

Kincade continued by marvelling at the idea even being floated to the public.

“To me, it’s just such a dumb idea. But sometimes those things happen in sports.”

The 97.5 The Fanatic host is not the only sports media member who has shared their displeasure with the proposal this week. Monday Morning Quarterback’s Peter King aired similar sentiments, saying “We can all agree this seems insane.”

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Sports Radio News

Mike Francesa: BetRivers Podcast Is Enough For Me Right Now

“I’ve had a couple offers in the last couple of months. I’ve turned them all down. Anybody that’s asked me for steady work or to do something Monday through Friday I’ve said no.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Mike Francesa

If you were hoping to catch Mike Francesa hosting a daily TV or radio show in the future, that ship has likely sailed.

Asked by a listener on his Mike Francesa Podcast if he would go back to doing a show on television similar to his Mike’d Up program on NBC New York, Francesa said it’s not in his future.

“I would doubt it,” he said on his Monday episode. “At this point, I’m not as visible. So it wouldn’t make as much sense as having me now as it would then. And frankly, I’m doing what I do now, and I love doing it.”

Francesa reunited with his former WFAN co-host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on ESPN’s First Take back in January, but Mike said the podcast he’s doing for the BetRivers Network checks all the boxes of what he’s looking for work-wise at the moment.

“It’s actually enough,” he said. “I’ve had a couple offers in the last couple of months. I’ve turned them all down. Anybody that’s asked me for steady work or to do something Monday through Friday I’ve said no.”

“It would have to be something very unusual for me to do on a regular basis,” he added.

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