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Rod Allen with Carol Cain on "Michigan Matters"
Tigers announcer Rod Allen, who was fired along with broadcaster Mario Impembo after the two got into a scuffle last Sept. 4 in Chicago, is still trying to clarify what happened, saying the incident was blown out of proportion in the media.
In an interview aired Sunday on "Michigan Matters" with host Carol Cain, Allen said:
"You know, it’s funny that you say that because I’ve thought that over and over and over and I really can’t come up with anything differently that I would have done. We had a bad day, there’s no doubt about that. I didn’t have a good day, he did not have a good day as well, and because of that, it was an argument. There was no choking, there was no fighting, there was no chasing down the hallway. . . .
“Have you ever seen a baseball brawl where they open up the fences and both teams come running out and then they all merge in the infield? And there’s just a lot of talking and pushing and shoving? That’s basically what happened to us on Sept. 4.
"There was some not much pushing but more verbal and somehow, some way it turned into me chasing him down a hallway and choking him from behind and that’s what the media got a hold of and that’s what went national and I think that’s why both of us got fired.”
The fight was supposedly over a chair. It was no secret that the two had no love for one another over the many years together.
Lynn Henning of The Detroit News reports:
The spat was, however, witnessed by three freelance TV staffers who had worked the Tigers broadcast, according to the source. And it was sufficiently physical to have persuaded FSD [Fox Sports Detroit] to first suspend, and later fire, both broadcasters.
Allen says he hasn't spoken to Impembo, but would be cordial if they meet. He says he'd also like to continue in broadcasting.
Below is a preview of the interview.
