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A former golf pro who has denied being sexist or “trashing anybody” is out of job as a talk show host after joking that he’d rather commit suicide with a firearm than watch a women’s basketball game.
SiriusXM golf analyst and former Golf Channel commentator Mark Lye, 69, made the comments on Saturday that led to his cancellation while he was in the process of praising what he considers the much-improved quality of the LPGA tour.
“You know, the LPGA Tour to me is a completely different tour than it was 10 years ago…You couldn’t pay me to watch,” Lye said on the satellite radio show called The Scorecard. “You really couldn’t.
“Because I just, I couldn’t relate at all. It’s kind of like, you know, if you’re a basketball player — and I’m not trashing anybody. Please, don’t take it the wrong way — but I saw some highlights of ladies’ basketball. Man, is there a gun in the house? I’ll shoot myself than watch that….”
Listen to the clip embedded below and draw your own conclusions:
@NoLayingUp Mark Lye on pga tour radio just now. Whole station needs to be burned to the ground. pic.twitter.com/YFeTkrNG39
— Jill Lawson (@Jalawsons) February 5, 2022
Lye confirmed to Golf.com that he was fired the following day. “I was terminated about comments made about the WNBA, which I apologized for starting the next segment,” he said. SiriusXM confirmed to the website that Lye “will no longer be hosting.”
On Twitter, Lye attempted to explain where he was coming from.
“The fact that I can’t relate to WNBA does not make me sexist in any way. All you haters should listen to the whole segment, where I completely glorified women’s golf, which I love to cover. Thanks for listening.”
The fact that I can’t relate to WNBA does not make me sexist in any way. All you haters should listen to the whole segment, where I completely glorified womens golf, which I love to cover. Thanks for listening.
— mark lye (@letitflye) February 6, 2022
Lye also responded to the user who posted the audio that led to his undoing:
I’m sorry Mark. I couldn’t relate to anything more than 59 seconds of you speaking.
— Jill Lawson (@Jalawsons) February 6, 2022
Wow, sounds reasonable, get a life rather than taking shots
— mark lye (@letitflye) February 6, 2022
When another Twitter user and self-described avid golf fan noted that he never heard of Mark Lye, the man himself agreed.
“That’s because I’m a nobody…can’t figure out why everybody’s on my case…it was just a joke. Check out Happy Gilmore…I was the one in the gold jacket. Get a sense of humor.”
That’s because I’m a nobody….can’t figure out why everybody’s on my case…it was just a joke. Check out Happy Gilmore…I was the one in the gold jacket. Get a sense of humor
— mark lye (@letitflye) February 7, 2022
Lye also insisted that his remarks didn’t constitute a fireable offense and that a double-standard might be in play.
Thanks Len, Whoopi gets 2 weeks off, I get fired….hmmm.
— mark lye (@letitflye) February 7, 2022
In an October 2018 interview, National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver admitted that the WNBA loses about $10 million every year. The women’s league reportedly requires an NBA subsidy to stay in business.
“The WNBA has struggled to increase franchise values, attendance is lagging and media rights fees have not increased exponentially like in other leagues,” ESPN reported in October 2021, but the article also explained that the league’s commissioner Cathy Engelbert wants to change all that with a five-year plan “to persuade corporate America that the WNBA is more than the NBA’s ‘little sister.'”
Lye played on the PGA Tour for about 18 years and has two tournament wins.
For what it’s worth, Lye’s Twitter timeline, which is not particularly active until now anyway, appears to indicate that he leans conservative.
This just in, Nancy Pelosi just bought a 25 mil $ place in Jupiter, FL. Hmmm, guessing that taxes are too high in Calif? Ron, is there any way to keep her out?
— mark lye (@letitflye) November 25, 2021
Amidst the feedback from what he described as “haters,” which he claims included some death threats, the latter which he said is “how cancel culture works,” Lye is also receiving some support on social media:
Mark went a bit too far, but in general, he’s not wrong. Almost no one wants to watch the WNBA. It only exists because the NBA pays for it to exist. And also, women’s golf wasnt that exciting a decade ago, but now I watch almost every event. Let’s lay off with the faux outrage.
— William Williams (@888thAirborne) February 6, 2022
Does everyone have to like women’s basketball? What if you like men’s boxing better or women’s gymnastics better? It’s an opinion. Are you saying people can no longer have opinions and must all like the same thing? I don’t understand the criticism.
— Dr. Rollo Brenner, Esq.↗️ (@DoctorRollo) February 7, 2022
Why? Because he doesn’t like something. That makes him sexist or a bad person? I don’t care for woman’s sports. Just doesn’t do it for me. If u don’t like mens sports, that’s your choice, wouldn’t make u a bad person. We all like/dislike different things.
— greg dickerson (@gregdickerson13) February 6, 2022
@letitflye is a great guy, funny, smart, & insightful. He’s paid to provide color and to be edgy. While complimenting how much fun the LPGA is he criticized a sport nobody watches. The WNBA is painful to watch. I’d rather put Tabasco in my eyes
— Del Mar Cowboy (@par3eagl) February 7, 2022
You shared your personal view, which is your job, and got cancelled. Unfortunately, that’s the current world we live in. And by the way, the billions of fans not watching the WNBA agree with you!
— Chuck hoffman (@Chuckhoffman14) February 7, 2022
Complete joke! WNBA would be out of business if it was not subsidized by NBA. Product not good enough to stand on its on. Crazy world we live in!!
— MCWilliams2003 (@MWilliams2003) February 7, 2022
I’m a woman who loves all kinds of sports. Not a fan of women’s basketball, softball, or soccer. Not a fan of golf at all (sorry, Mav). Love women’s tennis, gymnastics, skating, volleyball, swimming, diving and more. It’s ok to not like things.
— Nancy Drew (@chim0m) February 7, 2022
Agreed, but not a fireable offense
— mark lye (@letitflye) February 7, 2022
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Robert Jonathan is a staff writer for BizPac Review. He is a longtime writer/editor for news aggregation websites and has also developed content in the legal and financial publishing sectors as well as for online education. He earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law, “a law school the basketball teams can be proud of.”
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