I’m shocked the Sixers banned Howard Eskin

Marcus Hayes of the Inquirer reports that the Sixers are also banning Howard Eskin after he pulled a Joe Namath:

The Inquirer reported Tuesday that Howard Eskin, the undisputed champion of sports talk radio since WIP-FM went all-sports in 1986, has been banned from Citizens Bank Park since May for forcing an Aramark employee to kiss a woman at a Phillies game in one of the stadium’s exclusive seating areas. WIP’s parent company, Audacy, imposed the ban.

At noon Wednesday, after team officials met on the matter, the Sixers also decided to bar the King. A 76ers spokesperson told The Inquirer that the team has no plans to offer Eskin access to its training complex until further notice. The team also asked the Wells Fargo Center, where it is a tenant, not to grant access to its games or team activities for the foreseeable future.

Howard shouldn’t have had a Sixers season ticket because he doesn’t work in media. He shows up, asks a question before the game, then walks around, talks to fans, takes a few selfies, and goes home. He doesn’t have a computer, he doesn’t do WIP clips, and he doesn’t watch the game. So if you’re the Sixers, this is the guy who’s coming to screw you over and now you have an easy way to shut him out.

It’s not like he had a good relationship with the PR staff or management to begin with:

Marcus also mentions this:

“The Eagles have no plans to restrict Eskin unless additional accusers come forward. The Flyers did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.”

That’s a bit of an odd caveat. “Unless more accusers come forward.” How many accusers will it take? 2? 3? 6? I think that’s going to be met with criticism. If I were a betting man, which I am, I’d put the odds on Howard NOT being sidelined this year at -150 to start. There will likely be pressure on the Eagles to act. We’ll see.

As I mentioned Tuesday, these situations are always hard to judge from afar. We weren’t there. None of us can say for sure whether Howard was a creepy pervert or just totally awkward. The language used in the report and subsequent statements was “unwanted advances” and “unwelcome kissing,” which would likely get most of us fired from our jobs in 2024, regardless of intent and level of indecency.