Local commentators under fire for remarks made during Sandpoint football broadcast

SANDPOINT — During Friday night’s Bulldog football broadcast, a pair of local commentators were heard making questionable remarks about a Bengal player’s appearance. 

A Lewiston football player’s family member who made the trek north heard the comments after tuning into ROCK 103, which broadcasts the Bulldog football games. The comments, which took place shortly before the start of the third quarter, were both upsetting and disappointing to the many fans who heard them.

In order to protect the identity of the player, the Daily Bee is not naming the Lewiston player nor his family. 

Lewiston and Sandpoint fans alike said it is deeply troubling that the pair felt it was necessary to publicly embarrass this player, citing that such comments could be considered bullying and could have a significant impact on someone’s life.  

Dylan Benefield, general manager of Blue Sky Broadcasting, which owns ROCK 103, said apologies were being issued. 

“There is no place for those type of comments from local high school sports broadcasters toward student-athletes,” Benefield said in an email to the Daily Bee. “Our goal is to have quality local radio and promote all student-athletes without exception. This is unacceptable for high school sports broadcasting and is not condoned by Blue Sky Broadcasting.”  

In the roughly 90-second audio recording obtained by the Daily Bee, remarks regarding the player ranged from questioning his lack of athletic ability to guessing how much the player weighs. 

“We have a [name] sighting here; he’s got the Meat Loaf haircut (referring to Marvin Lee Aday), and he looks like he put down about four meatloaves at halftime back in the locker room,” commentator Alvin Bone said during the broadcast. “That kid is pushing 345 … easily 350.” 

Bone continued with similar comments, saying the player had to “go straight to the bench” and was not out on the field stretching, then adding he was afraid to see him stretch. 

“He’s getting some little stretches in there, something you might see maybe a grandma do,” commentator Tag Benefield added.  

Bone then said the player may have possibly rolled an ankle, and in doing so, “checked for cupcakes.” 

Later in the conversation, the two once again talked about the player’s weight, saying it might be tough to run or have him on the field due to his size, or find a jersey that fit the athlete. 

Like Blue Sky Broadcasting, Lake Pend Oreille School District officials were also disappointed by the comments, noting Sandpoint High School has no affiliation with the radio station or its broadcasters. 

“We do not condone public shaming of any athlete, and we are saddened by what took place Friday night,” Sandpoint High Athletic Director TJ Clary said. “As one of our league schools, Lewiston High School is a well-coached program, and their athletes deserve the utmost respect ... our full support goes out to the student-athlete.” 

Clary said the school administration has no doubt that Blue Sky Broadcasting will take full accountability for their actions and make every attempt to right this wrong.