Punch Thrown: Kendall Gill, Tim Doyle Fight After CSN Taping
(CBS) Comcast Sports Net Bulls analyst Kendall Gill has been suspended after an altercation with the Big Ten Network's Tim Doyle Tuesday evening in the CSN newsroom.
The news comes via Crain's Danny Ecker, who witnessed the incident in person. Ecker and Doyle were a part of Tuesday's "Sports Talk Live" program on CSN and shortly after taping the show, Doyle was confronted by the Bulls studio analyst.
Gill was apparently upset about comments Doyle made about Gill's analysis of the previous night's Bulls game. According to Ecker's account of the incident: "Mr. Gill approached Mr. Doyle and called him out for his comments, which escalated to a shoving match and ultimately Mr. Gill throwing a punch at Mr. Doyle. The two bumped up against a sign on the wall and a small amount of blood was drawn (though it was unclear exactly how) before the two were separated."
CSN Chicago news director Kevin Cross later told Crain's that they were investigating the incident and "until the investigation is complete, Kendall Gill will not be appearing on our air."
The controversial ending of Monday night's Bulls-Nuggets game appears to be at the center of the altercation. After Bulls center Joakim Noah was called for basket interference with 1.7 seconds left in overtime, in-game television analyst Stacey King criticized the referees for making the call. Gill then did the same thing in the post game show, saying it "was a very bad call on the officials' part."
Doyle disagreed with both of them Tuesday on "Sports Talk Live".
"The call on Noah was 100 percent correct," Doyle said on the show. "I do not know what Stacey King was thinking, Kendall Gill after the game, both of you are my friends, but I unfollowed you on Twitter because they were 100 percent wrong. They were wrong, the call was right."
Doyle then added:
"I like both of them, they know basketball inside-and-out. I think Stacey King kind of gets overlooked for how he breaks down X's and O's but I'm sorry, Stacey, you are 100 percent wrong. It wasn't even close. And he was like really adamant about it, 'I was right about this call.' And I was like, 'Dude, I know you're the home court announcer, but let's make the call correct.'
According to Ecker, Doyle and Gill were debating the topic before the taping of Tuesday's show "in what appeared to be friendly banter."
It's unclear if Doyle will face any discipline from the Big Ten Network, where he is a college basketball analyst. Doyle is also a contributor to 670 The Score from time-to-time.
