A Boston sports talk radio host hung up on a Carolina Hurricanes beat writer during an interview Wednesday because he said he "can't listen to a guy with a southern accent talk about hockey."

WBZ-FM in Boston asked Chip Alexander, who covers the Hurricanes for The Raleigh News & Observer, to appear on its morning show on Wednesday ahead of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Hurricanes and the Boston Bruins. But Fred Toettcher, co-host of "Toucher & Rich," grew irritated less than five minutes into the interview and abruptly ended it.

"He had a southern accent. I can't take it. Hockey and southern accents," Toettcher said on the air, to laughter from his co-hosts.

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Alexander apparently tried to call back into the show, thinking the call had mistakenly been dropped. The hosts instead took calls and dovetailed into a discussion about why Alexander's accent frustrated Toettcher.

"I don't know. If I don't like something, I don't like something," he said later.

"I didn't think he was saying anything particularly interesting, and it was getting on my nerves."

Toettcher later added that he didn't like that Alexander was supportive of way the Hurricanes have embraced the "bunch of jerks" label after NHL commentator Don Cherry used that phrase to describe the team earlier in the season — even though Alexander did not actually express an opinion about the subject while on air.

(Interview starts below at 16:19)

Alexander later tweeted that he appreciated Twitter followers coming to his support over "this radio rudeness."

"I've always enjoyed being in Boston," he tweeted. "Still do. On to the hockey."

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.