A Jew? Who knew?

On August 24, the San Diego Chargers played a preseason game in San Francisco, and Chargers radio announcers Hank Bauer and Josh Lewin were there to cover the event for KIOZ. Toward the end of the game, Lewin noted that many San Francisco fans had left early, despite the cost of a seat. "I'd sit in [my seat] for a long time," said Lewin, to which Bauer replied, "No question. But then again, you know how copper wire was invented? Somebody dropped a penny between Josh and his family member." (The joke is generally regarded to be anti-Semitic, since the standard punchline has the penny dropped between two Jews.)

"Okay," answered Lewin. "All right."

Today, Bauer released a clarifying statement: "No one was more surprised than me to find out that Josh was Jewish. I thought for sure he was Scottish, like [longtime People's Court announcer] Doug Llewelyn. Lewin, Llewelyn — practically the same, right? [Llewelyn is in fact a Welsh surname.] And you know how tight Scots are with their money. And they're not all touchy about it, either. Unlike some people. But now that you mention it, I guess that schnoz should have given it away. Anyway, at least he's not black. I could have gotten in some real trouble. Go Bolts!"

Bauer was presumably referring to the case of Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, who was fired by CBS in 1988 after opining that blacks were better athletes because their enslaved ancestors had been bred for physical excellence.