Conduct makes a world of difference

Bob Bavasi's JapanBall.com reports through a Japanese newspaper story how an announcer lost his job after too many drinks and the resulting loss in judgment. The story, most of which follows, speaks for itself.

Top baseball commentator latest fired in NTV's string of sex scandals

From the Daily Mainichi:

Just a couple of months after NTV announcer Sosuke Sumitani was fired for using a hidden camera to film up a woman's skirt, a baseball announcer is out.

Masashi Funakoshi covered the Yomiuri Giants for NTV, probably the most appealing job in Japanese sports broadcasting.

His downfall occurred when the Giants played one of their countryside games, with the regional affiliate throwing an after-game party for the NTV crew. At the party, Funakoshi, 44, sat next to a young woman working for the regional station.

"She's cute and looks pretty wholesome. Pretty enough to have been a beauty contest finalist during her college days," says an affiliate insider.

Funakoshi began drinking heavily, boasting about how he was destined to rise up through the network's ranks.

The party continued at a karaoke bar where Funakoshi grabbed the woman, hugged her, and wrapped his arm around her waist while he sang.

When the singing ended, Funakoshi asked the woman to accompany him to his hotel, told her he was friends with NTV executives and promised to find her a job at the network.

"The woman was forced to accompany Funakoshi on a cab ride back to his hotel. Once they were alone, he roughly squeezed...," the affiliate insider says.

She reported the incident to her bosses, who filed a protest with NTV.
Funakoshi initially denied the allegations, saying that he had been too drunk to remember anything. But then more stories of his actions began to surface prompting NTV to act.

"We are not talking about the details of the case," an NTV spokesman says. "However, one of our employees violated the employee code of conduct and has been punished accordingly."

Other professions have strong codes of conduct, too, with firing usually the result when that line is crossed by such a wide margin.