ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Longtime radio voice of the Saint Louis University Billikens, Bob Ramsey has never been afraid to be critical of the officials during his broadcasts. His Billiken fandom when calling games has earned the man affectionately known as 'the Rammer' a place in SLU fans hearts for years.
On Tuesday night while calling the Billikens game against VCU on 101.1 WXOS in St. Louis, Ramsey found out that not every one likes his play calling.
When SLU's Dwayne Evans was called for a foul on VCU's Troy Daniels with 1:53 left in the game, Ramsey criticized the call as a "cheap foul." No big deal, right?
One of the game's officials who was within earshot of Ramsey definitely thought it was, enough so that he approached the broadcaster while still on the air. Watch and listen below.
Ramsey handled the situation with a great deal of professionalism and calm. The same could not be said for an official who would even bother to bicker with a radio announcer.
The line of the night however has to go to Ramsey's longtime broadcast partner Earl Austin Jr. who simply stated. "Do your own job. You’re not doing it very well, but do it anyway."
Ramsey however has since downplayed the whole incident and even showed some remorse for taking away from what the Billikens accomplished that night, defeating No. 24 VCU, 76-62.
"Nothing like that has ever happened to me before and I was shocked." Ramsey told FOXSportsMidwest.com, "I was shocked when he just turned around. He kind of snuck up on me. And I didn’t know if he was aware or not, so I simply said 'Hey we are on the air right now.' It was really that simple.
"The main thing for me is, that I would never want to do anything that takes away from the players, the coaches, or the program. And if you even accidentally interject yourself into a story, it kind of puts a bad taint on the whole thing. The reporters don't ever need to get in on the action. So in that regard, I was a little embarrassed even though it was not my doing."
Hat tip to JoeSportsFan for audio.
