Larry Krueger
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Larry Krueger is a sports radio talk show host. He currently hosts Sports Overnight America on the Sports_Byline_USA with Chris Townsend.
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[edit] Controversy
On August 3, 2005, after the struggling San Francisco Giants lost twice in a row to the lowly Colorado Rockies, Krueger engaged in a personal rant against the team on his live-broadcast show Sportsphone 680. During his rant, he criticized the Giants for "brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly" and likened manager Felipe Alou's mind to Cream of Wheat. [1]
Krueger was suspended one week without pay as a result. Kruger claims that his freedom of speech rights were violated.
It has been said that Krueger used this unfortunate phraseology after remembering mid-stream that he was asked not to name individual players and that his comment was specifically targeting Dominican Pedro Feliz. Krueger has neither confirmed nor denied this explanation.
Giants manager Felipe Alou took extreme offense at the comment even going so far as to call Krueger "Satan", cancelling his daily pre-game interview segment with the radio station, and telephoning Dominican president Leonel Fernández. Venezuelan shortstop Omar Vizquel compared Krueger to John Rocker.
On August 10, 2005, the day after the KNBR morning show mocked Alou's response with references from the cartoon South Park, KNBR announced that it had ceased professional relations with Krueger. Morning show producer Tony Rhein and KNBR program director Bob Agnew were also fired in the aftermath.
On October 21, 2005, Larry Krueger filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court accusing KNBR of breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and defamation. A trial date was expected to be set for March 2006.
On March 28, 2006, Larry Krueger settled his suit with KNBR. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, although Krueger said, "I'm more than pleased with the way it was settled."
[edit] Post-KNBR career
Krueger was soon hired by KGO in San Francisco to do sports updates, but the station chose not to renew his two year option in December 2006.
Krueger also co-hosts a sports talk show in Sacramento with another former KNBR employee Chris Townsend. The show airs Saturdays from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. on Sacramento sports station KHTK.
