An ESPN Radio host covering Syracuse sports has been dismissed over his "overly dark" analysis of the men's basketball team.
Longtime Syracuse sports journalist Brent Axe has been let go by ESPN Radio Syracuse for what a station executive described as "negative" coverage.
Axe, a part-time employee of station operator Galaxy Media, was the host of "On the Block with Brent Axe." The show was cancelled in tandem with Axe's firing.
Galaxy CEO Ed Levine told Syracuse.com that he had "a problem" with the show's content.
“I had a problem with the content of the show,” Levine said. “I’m an SU fan. I’m sorry, but I bleed Orange. I’m not going to apologize for that, and I think a fair reading of the Orange is appropriate. ...
"We’ve called it pretty fair, and I would argue we’ve been tough on SU when the on-field or off-field events warrant it. I just think over the past six months it took a different tone and became overly dark and negative. I don’t think that’s what Syracuse fans want to hear.”
Levine also acknowledged that Galaxy has a "business relationship" with Syracuse, while former Orange men's basketball head coach Jim Boeheim, who relinquished his role last week, is a personal friend and an investor in Galaxy.
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The media company has had a deal with the university to broadcast football, men's and women's basketball and lacrosse since 2019, Syracuse.com reported.
Axe said he was trying to give his honest opinions and was never intended to be malicious.
“I had a responsibility to give an honest, fair and thorough opinion to my audience,” Axe said. “I certainly wasn’t perfect, but I don’t regret anything about the approach of the show. We put listeners on the air, and we gave them the opportunity to say what they needed to say. I don’t have any regrets.”
Axe is also a full-time employee with Syracuse.com. Levine said the outlet has an "agenda" against Syracuse which carried over into Axe's radio coverage.
“Brent is a full-time employee of Syracuse.com,” Levine said. “I believe Syracuse.com has an agenda in regards to Syracuse University. I don’t know what that agenda is, but that agenda was manifesting itself on our airwaves. We have no agenda. We’re in business with Syracuse University, but we call it straight down the line. What I said to Brent was I wish he covered Syracuse University with the same affection that he covered the Buffalo Bills.”
Meanwhile, the day before Axe's dismissal, Levine announced that Boeheim would be a regular guest on the station's programming in the coming months.
Axe said the timing of the announcement and his subsequent firing was "interesting" considering that Boeheim had seemed to complain him and sports talk radio callers during the season.
Axe's dismissal was largely met with contempt on social media. Among the many critics of the move was former ESPN and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann, who slammed Boeheim as a "little man" who had gotten "a scalp on his way out."
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