Instead of focusing on the bad decision of a man to place his family in harm’s way through an affair or a young girl left broken enough after a relationship ends to stalk her lover’s family, the press wants to know how ESPN commentator Steve Phillips could have hooked up with such an unattractive woman? Is this fair?
Story:
Married ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips yesterday began “an extended leave of absence,” after admitting he had sex with a 22-year-old production assistant who allegedly stalked his family in “Fatal Attraction”-fashion when he dumped her.
“I am deeply sorry that I have put my family and colleagues through this,” said the ex-Mets GM, 46, confessing to a tawdry three-day stand in July with Brooke Hundley.
“It is a personal matter that I will not comment on further. I have, however, asked for a leave of absence to address this with my family and to avoid any unnecessary distractions through the balance of the baseball playoffs,” said the father of four, a former Mets general manager.
Last night, an ESPN source told The Post that the network does not expect this to end the matter — because Phillips is suspected of sleeping with several ESPN employees.
Phillips last appeared on air Tuesday night, hours before his dalliance with Hundley was revealed in yesterday’s Post.
ESPN yesterday said, “We were aware of this [the latest affair] and took appropriate disciplinary action . . . We have granted Steve’s request for an extended leave of absence to allow him to address it.”
The sports network refused to detail the discipline.
Meanwhile, Hundley is still employed but is no longer being assigned baseball broadcasts.
Police suspect she used computers at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters to stalk Phillips’ 16-year-old son online by posing as his high-school classmates.
The scandalous and scary series of events began in mid-July, when the handsome Phillips had sex with the shlubby Hundley after meeting her for the first time on assignment in St. Louis.
Phillips told cops in Wilton that Hundley became “obsessive and delusional” after he ended their affair.
“I have extreme concerns about the health and safety of my kids and myself,” he said.
Police records show Phillips’ wife in early August received phone calls from a woman she believed was Hundley.
Then, on Aug. 19, Hundley drove to the Phillips’ home, where she dropped off the frightening letter before speeding off when she Marni arrived, hitting a stone post on the way out.
“I have a crazy woman who is involved with my husband and she’s come to my house to harm me and my children!” a rattled Marni told a 911 operator.
Hundley’s letter ramblingly detailed the affair, talked about the couple’s kids and suggested that she was the better woman.
Source: NY POST
