Courtesy Des Moines Register

(March 26, 2009) Des Moines sports radio personality Marty Tirrell lost two jobs Wednesday — his afternoon radio show and his weekly television commentary — and still might lose a third as a result of a profane, on-air argument with fellow broadcaster Larry Cotlar.

Clear Channel officials announced that Tirrell, who co-hosted the “Marty & Miller” program on KXNO radio, had been fired, along with Cotlar, the host of “Cotlar & Company,” and Geoff Conn, an assistant program manager for the station.

An audio tape of the argument, broadcast Friday morning, was obtained by WHO-TV and discloses that Tirrell used the “F-word” at least a dozen times, a violation of Federal Communication Commission regulations.

The FCC forbids use of profane language on broadcasts from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. In addition, fines for violations can range from a minimum of $7,000 per violation to $32,500 per violation.

Joel McCrea, vice president of Clear Channel, could not be reached for comment.
KCCI ends segment hosted by Tirrell.

Meanwhile, Dave Busiek, news director for KCCI-TV, said Wednesday that Tirrell’s weekly sports commentary “Mouth of the Midwest” had been cancelled. He declined further comment.

The confrontation involved press credentials used during the Iowa boys’ basketball state tournament. Tirrell brought up credentials during the tirade, while also mentioning Bud Legg, who handles tournament access for the Iowa High School Athletic Association.

Tirrell declined comment when contacted by The Des Moines Register, but apologized in a statement.

“While I am disappointed by the decision I know Clear Channel did what they thought they needed to do,” Tirrell said in the statement. “I have remained quiet for the past few days so Clear Channel could make their decision. That said, I have been eager to publicly apologize.

“Specifically, I would like to apologize to Larry Cotlar for the way I treated him. He deserved better, I would also like to apologize to anyone who heard the comments on the radio, to Bud Legg and the IHSAA and to Clear Channel for the embarrassment I have caused them.

“Finally, I want to apologize to Joel McCrea at Clear Channel who has been a terrific boss and mentor. I do not know what my future holds but I do know I love Iowa and I love sports and I hope I can find a way to stay involved in both.”

Cotlar also apologized to listeners, but indicated some frustration with the decision in a statement he released Wednesday afternoon.

In the statement, Cotlar said he was “saddened and deeply disappointed with Clear Channel’s decision to terminate my employment after all my years of service over an unfortunate incident which I did not initiate nor had any knowledge was being broadcast over the airwaves.”

Jerry Crawford, a co-owner of the Iowa Energy, said team owners are reviewing the status of Tirrell, who handles play-by-play coverage of the NBA Development League team.

“We are following these developments. The Iowa Energy is a family-friendly activity and we do not condone what happened,” Crawford said. “That said, we also understand that Marty and Larry believed they were having a private conversation. We believe both of them (and Geoff Conn) should be judged on all their work and not just 75 seconds.”

A decision on Tirrell’s status will be made Thursday, he said.

Cotlar’s status as play-by-play announcer for Drake University men’s basketball games may remain undecided for some time, Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb said.

Hatfield Clubb said she had just learned of Cotlar’s dismissal and was reluctant to say whether the development would have an impact on her decision-making.

“We are long way away from the start of basketball season and Larry has a temporary annual appointment that we evaluate on an annual basis,” she said. “At the appropriate time, we will evaluate it. We are not hustling to make a decision on that right now.”

Conn’s standing as a public address announcer for Iowa Chops hockey games will remain unchanged, according to Steve Nitzel, Chops general manager. He said Conn serves as a back-up announcer and is not scheduled to work for the club any time soon.

“But from what I can see, I don’t see anything that would prevent us from having Geoff work for us,” Nitzel said. “He does a good job for us.”

Sam Bernabe, Iowa Cubs general manager, said there has been no decision about public address announcers. Conn was one of the announcers last season.
“I really don’t know enough about the circumstances to make any kind of

determination right now,” Bernabe said. “Our staff is now looking at those decisions. The timing probably isn’t good from Geoff’s perspective, but I don’t know that we wouldn’t hire him because of it.”

Cotlar, who estimated he’s been in radio 35 years — including 20 years in the current market — wondered what might have been.

As Cotlar returned from a trip with Drake in Idaho, he considered taking the day off because he arrived in Des Moines so late.

“I got in at 4 in the morning. I told them, I said, 'Man, if I had just taken that morning off, everything would have been fine,’” Cotlar said. “Because we flew into Chicago and we took a sleeper bus from Chicago to Des Moines, so we got in, and I’m tired too … I took two days off for Drake and I didn’t want to take three days in a row off.

“I kinda wish I’d taken that day off now.”