Man blames racist comments on his diabetes 14 Mar, 2021 12:11 AM 3 minutes to read The announcer made the racist comments while the girls kneeled during the anthem. Photo / Twitter NZ Herald A sports announcer in Oklahoma, US, who was caught on video using the n-word to refer to a team of high school bastketball players, has blamed the incident on his type 1 diabetes. Matt Rowan, the sports announcer and former youth pastor, responded to the controversy after footage emerged showing him spewing the racist slur during a high school basketball game. In a lengthy statement, Rowan said he thought his microphone was off when he referred to the girls in the Norman High School basketball team by the n-word.