Comcast Sports Net Chicago Fires Susannah Collins

(Source) Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter Susannah Collins, part of the broadcast team covering the Chicago Blackhawks, is no longer with the network as of Thursday night, after two days of internet attention over a flubbed sentence on live television led to revelations about previous, more controversial sports show appearances.

“Due to circumstances unrelated to her on-air remarks Tuesday night, Susannah Collins and Comcast SportsNet Chicago have parted ways,” Phil Bedella, vice president and general manager of CSN Chicago said in a statement. “We appreciate everything Susannah has contributed to our network over the past year and wish her the best in her future endeavors.”  

On Tuesday, Collins  inadvertently said that the Blackhawks had a “tremendous amount of sex during the regular season.” The mistake went viral, landing everywhere from news web sites to the Tonight Show monologue, where it was highlighted Wednesday as the “Freudian Slip of the Day” by host Jay Leno.

Collins, who meant to say “success,” immediately corrected herself.     

But the mistake put a spotlight on Collins, and that quickly refocused attention on a series of  raunchy YouTube videos uploaded between 2009 and 2010.  As co-host of Sports Nutz, Collins pushed the boundaries of sports journalism — and good taste — with sexually explicit reports and potentially offensive racial stereotypes.

Produced by Middlebrow Media, the 16-video series drifted more toward lowbrow humor, with Collins and her female co-host, Sam Raddock, delivering everything from rowdy man-on-the-street interviews to a dramatic reading of the sexual exploits of former NBA player Darryl Dawkins’ from his autobiography “Chocolate Thunder.”

The video series remains on YouTube, but has not enjoyed the viral success of her Blackhawks blooper, with most episodes averaging several thousand views each.
Collins, however, went on to bigger things, joining CSN Chicago as a full-time reporter in September 2012,  where she handled post-game reporting duties for the network’s coverage of the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs and White Sox home games, among other duties.

So here are the facts as far as I’m concerned

-Tuesday – Susannah Collins has an on air blooper, saying sex instead of success. Hilarious? Yes. Offensive? Absolutely not, not even in the least bit. It was as basic as a mistake as someone could make. We all fumble our words, she happened to do it on air, could not possibly be more harmless

-Wednesday – Video of Susannah’s mistake goes viral.

..
-Thursday – Susannah Collins is fired, at 11 pm, a good 2 hours after a Bulls game, when literally no one is on the internet or watching television. Under the radar, hoping no one will notice

So what changed between Tuesday and Thursday? According to CSN it was the re-emergence of her Sports Nutz videos. Here is one of them…

…
So here is my question. Does CSN actually want us to believe that they hired Susannah Collins without ever checking her background? That they never looked up Sports Nutz? That they never did a simple google search of “Susannah + Collins”? Really? That is what they are telling us? Because here’s what I think happened. Susannah Collins made a mistake on Tuesday and CSN got a few calls from some “concerned” viewers and they folded. Plain and simple. They took one ounce of pressure and they wilted.  They turned on their employee. They proved that they have ZERO backbone and that as soon as things got hot, they would run in the opposite direction. CSN as far as I’m concerned epitomizes what a coward is.

This absolutely infuriates me. I know it shouldn’t but it does, because this is exactly what is wrong with our country. Everyone is so Politically Correct and so scared to make a mistake that when someone has a simple flub on television they are fired almost immediately. Then instead of telling the truth and admitting to their cowardice, they hide behind a bullshit excuse. This is A.J Clemente all over again. Its unbelievable. Comcast Sports Net should be ashamed of themselves for 1) Not being loyal to an employee and 2) Giving the public a bullshit excuse of their actions and expecting us to believe it. This is disgusting. I am disgusted. End of rant.