Richard Durrett at ESPN Dallas has some quotes from John Rhadigan, and as you would expect, he is very classy in what he has to say, expresses his disappointment in this not working out, but says he is looking forward to resuming his pre- and post-game host roles.
One of the things that makes situations like this difficult is that we are talking about a respected professional who is, by all accounts, a good person and a quality broadcaster. He was asked to do a job that he wasn't ready to handle. That wasn't his fault. I guess you could say, well, he should have known better than to take the job, but who among us, given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take on a professional challenge that could change your career significantly for the better, would say, "Nope, I'm not good enough, I'm going to pass."
It takes a lot of courage to be in the media, whether you are writing for a living, on the radio, or on camera. Everything you say and do is scrutinized and nit-picked, and if you in an on-camera role, your mannerisms, your physical appearance, everything about yourself is going to be considered fair game for everyone in the world to opine up, snark about, criticize. John Rhadigan has to have thick skin and a strong sense of self to have gotten as far as he has professionally, and I'm hopeful that he'll transition back into his old role smoothly and continue to do the solid work for Fox Sports Southwest that he's historically done.
I was as critical of anyone of the job that he did, but to the extent I was angry about what was going on, it wasn't at Rhadigan. It was at the organization, for putting him in that position, and to a lesser extent, at those at the media who wanted to continue to tell those of us who watch every game that we didn't know what we were talking about when we complained.
But I'm not going to celebrate this move, because I don't think someone losing their job in a situation is something to celebrate.