EPSNU "Gay" Announcer Not Happy

Honestly, we were planning on laying off all the gay content for a bit (we can tell how riled up it gets you), but this just came in over the wire:

An announcer for ESPNU has been taken off the air due to a comment he made during Saturday's telecast of the Iowa-Northern Illinois football game.

Brian Kinchen, a color commentator, will not work a game this weekend, according to Josh Krulewitz, ESPN's vice-president of public relations.

Krulewitz told The Des Moines Register Monday night that the network made its decision after an internal review.

On Saturday, Kinchen was explaining to a television audience that receivers need to make catches with their hands because they are "tender" and can "caress" the ball. He then paused and said, "that's kind of gay, but hey..."

You have, of course, seen the video. If not, watch it again: the silence at the end is eerily transfixing. Two questions: Is this worse than what Steve Lyons said about Jews and Mexicans? And is not having to broadcast a game on ESPNU really some kind of punishment?

ESPNU announcer sidelined for comments in Iowa game [Des Moines Register, via]

Earlier: Perhaps The Receiver Just Didn't Want To Be Gay