Play-by-play announcer Doug McLeod apologized Friday after referring to "lynching ropes" while calling a quarterfinal game in the state boys' hockey tournament on Thursday afternoon.
McLeod issued a statement to the Star Tribune, saying he was "mortified."
"As I have occasionally done, I went for a movie reference but, out of context, it sounded totally inappropriate," he wrote, without clarifying which movie he was referring to. "I said it. I own it. I was wrong."
"If you know me and my work, you know that I may be capable of bad humor but never bad intent."
McLeod, the University of Minnesota play-by-play announcer at Fox Sports North, had been invited back to the 75th annual high school hockey championships at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center with a group of fellow broadcasting veterans.
During the second period of the Class 2A quarterfinals game between White Bear Lake and Blaine, McLeod made an off-handed comment shortly after a Blaine goal: "All the White Bear fans get out the lynching ropes."
The statement appeared to go unnoticed by his broadcasting partner, Lou Nanne, according to a 6-second video clip posted on Twitter. But some hockey fans expressed outrage on social media about his choice of words.
McLeod was ultimately pulled off the air.
