Radio station staging its own protest by refusing to carry ECU game

In the latest twist to the controversy sparked by the East Carolina band at last Saturday’s home football game, a Fayetteville radio station had decided not to broadcast this week’s game when the Pirates play at South Florida. Jeff Andrulonis, CEO of the company that owns WFPX FM, said that his station would not carry the game as a way of “protesting the protest” that saw more than a dozen band members kneel down during the playing of the national anthem. The gesture, popularized by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, was a response to recent incidents of violence against minorities by police around the country. The band was booed by its own fans because of its members’ actions. Although ECU’s band Dr. William Staub has since issued a statement saying that he regrets the incident and promising that future protests would not be tolerated, Andrulonis told a Raleigh sports talk show that he felt the need to “send a message” to those he felt disrespected the national anthem. “I’m proud of our country and I’m proud of our soldiers, especially our soldiers from Fort Bragg,” Andrulonis said in a statement. WFPX is an ESPN Radio affiliate and a member of the ECU football network. Andrulonis said that his station will broadcast the rest of the Pirates’ schedule this season, starting with their game against Navy on Thursday, Oct. 13. “The band members could have quietly protested in the early morning hours before the game. But that would have required them to wake up early. So instead they chose to make a spectacle of themselves in front of the big crowd at Dowdy-Ficklen,” Andrulonis said. “They’re college students and it’s about time they get an education on the concept that their actions have consequences. And the consequence in this case is that the ECU Pirates will not be heard on ESPN Fayetteville this weekend.”