More on Rush

[Guest MikeSC]

Hmm, while checking on the stats for my fantasy team (great to see Boldin do SQUAT when I needed him to), I noticed Jason Whitlock had a piece on this. I assumed where he'd go with it --- I was correct --- but I was curious as to what he said.

 

So, let's go:

 

"For more than a decade, Rush Limbaugh has been earning millions of dollars talking racial smack. Oh, he's good at it. Better than Chris Rock. As good as Jesse Jackson. Rush's tongue runs circles around Al Sharpton.

 

Rush Limbaugh is arguably one of the greatest radio broadcasters in American history, largely because of his ability to play the dozens along racial lines. He's heard across the globe. He's tight with some of the most powerful white-wing politicians in the world."

 

Okay, he uses the phrase "white-wing" REPEATEDLY in this piece, so it's not a typo. Let's get THAT out of the way --- and I'll avoid discussing the obvious racial implications of THAT --- though I doubt the author would do the same in a similar situation.

 

And where is all of this "racism" Rush allegedly spouts? I HONESTLY don't know of any. Is criticizing Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or the Simpson defense racist --- or simply recognizing that all three are utterly deplorable? I have heard people calling him a racist for YEARS now --- but I've heard precious few EXAMPLES of it.

 

"No freedoms have been trampled here. Rush, annoyed with being in Bill O'Reilly's shadow, used ESPN and Donovan McNabb to negotiate his next radio contract, hype his next book. That's it. Free speech and healthy, sports-related racial discussions have not been impeded. Qualified debaters are welcome.

 

That's the lesson here. Qualified."

 

What the heck makes Chris Berman QUALIFIED to discuss football and Rush not to? I didn't hear a SINGLE word during his brief stint that Rush was unqualified or that the opinions he offered were pointless. He was no different than, say, James Brown or Chris Berman.

 

And "healthy, sports-related racial discussions have not been impeded"? Well, that depends.

 

If you're going to refer to the "unfair" lack of black coaches or GM's, yup, all is good. If you're going to discuss the idiocy of the minority hiring procedures of the NFL, then you're SOL, apparently.

 

"The people talking football on TV have spent years studying the game, building sources and relationships with coaches, players, executives and other media. It saddens me that a seasoned broadcaster, out of fear of embarrassing himself, wouldn't go on air and comment about the Rams-Vikings playoff game without having done hours of research, but some people think it's okay for Limbaugh to fire off a racial missive without having done any homework.

 

Years of watching football doesn't qualify you to sit at the table and pontificate with real experts. Years of yukking it up with your white-wing or black-wing political friends doesn't qualify you to pontificate on racial matters with legit experts."

 

What I find MOST comical is that the author seems to be eminently UNQUALIFIED to discuss much of anything. Never heard the term "White-" or "black-wing" before in my life and it sounds just f'n asinine.

 

And I was QUITE unaware that Berman, Irvin, Young, or Jackson qualified as "legit experts" on race, but hey, I could've missed that update. Then again, making bad, factually inaccurate home movies apparently qualifies one as a real documentarian, so God knows who hands out the qualifications for anything nowadays?

 

How many friggin' hours of research can it POSSIBLY take to state that a team probably should run Marshall Faulk more often than they do?

 

This is why sports writers are SO P.C. They KNOW that 99% of them can be easily replaced by any jerk at the local sports bar.

 

So, no, I will not watch ESPN further.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Heck look at Joe Theisman. It only takes about 15 minutes on a Sunday Night game to figure out that the guy doesn't know his head from his ass when it comes to football.

 

And Rush was knowledgable about football no matter what anyone says. The 10% increase in ratings should prove that.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

And Rush was knowledgable about football no matter what anyone says. The 10% increase in ratings should prove that.

 

Rush may or may not have known about football, but WTF are you talking about? How does that prove anything?

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

It proved that people were tuning in for him since there were relatively few changes to the show. I doubt people are going to tune into a football show for anything other than football. The only time I ever watched Sunday Countdown was the few weeks he was on.

 

I'm sure after the first show people were fairly certain that Michael Irvin wasn't going to shoot up on the air.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

It proved that people were tuning in for him since there were relatively few changes to the show. I doubt people are going to tune into a football show for anything other than football. The only time I ever watched Sunday Countdown was the few weeks he was on.

 

The additional people tuned in basically to see what Rush was gonna say. No one denies that. No one besides you, however, asserts that they were seeking football advice from Rush. Let's be realistic here: do you think Parcells is a better source of football knowledge than Rush?

 

Of course, you'd be an idiot if you assumed otherwise.

 

So how do you maintain that they're watching for his added knowledge about football? The only reason they hired him -- and the only reason why ratings went up -- is because the moron was bound to say something fucking stupid. And he did. And he's gone.

 

Who cares?

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

It's a toss up really.

 

I've learned to never expect anyone involved in football to actually be knowledgable about.

 

I think a lot of people tuned in to see what he'd say but I don't know how long the curiousity would last though. I mean he really only added a more deabte kind of atmosphere to the show and until Jackson and Sharpton made a stink about his comments over 2 days after he made them, did he really become a "controversy". Even if Michael Irvin agreed with him on the original broadcast.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

And honestly I wouldn't care about the whol situation if it had been handled in a reasonable fashion.

 

But with editing the footage to make Rush look worse, the fact that it took 2 days for anything to be said about it and Tom Jackson's kid asking "is it ok for black people to play QB?" It just makes ESPN look like idiots.

[Guest MikeSC]

So how do you maintain that they're watching for his added knowledge about football? The only reason they hired him -- and the only reason why ratings went up -- is because the moron was bound to say something fucking stupid. And he did. And he's gone.

 

Who cares?

What did he say that was so stupid? That the press was trying to make a mediocre black QB into an all-time great and ignored his rampant flaws?

 

The view that the guy was overrated wasn't exactly a rare belief.

 

And does ANYBODY else find the term "white-wing" and "black-wing" racist and offensive?

-=Mike

...Who might send ESPN an e-mail --- but it wouldn't do any good anyway

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I'm not going to address the "white-wing" thing as it just proves the guy who wrote this is a moron.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

That the press was trying to make a mediocre black QB into an all-time great and ignored his rampant flaws?

 

Oh please.

 

I'm sure you and Rush Limbaugh are better critics than McNabb's peers, who apparently think he's fucking difficult to defend against. Even though he has utter scrubs as WR, and no running game. We'll ignore that for the sake of argument, I suppose.

[Guest MikeSC]

I'm not going to address the "white-wing" thing as it just proves the guy who wrote this is a moron.

But the guy who wrote it is a regular on "The Sports Reporters" and I seriously doubt that he'll be punished, whatsoever, about this. I doubt we'll see any of the ESPN personalities fight back tears discussing how hurtful his comment was.

 

ESPN sucks. Hard.

-=Mike

[Guest MikeSC]

That the press was trying to make a mediocre black QB into an all-time great and ignored his rampant flaws?

 

Oh please.

 

I'm sure you and Rush Limbaugh are better critics than McNabb's peers, who apparently think he's fucking difficult to defend against. Even though he has utter scrubs as WR, and no running game. We'll ignore that for the sake of argument, I suppose.

Going by his numbers, not what other men who take shots to the head on a regular basis and who weren't terribly bright to begin with say, he isn't THAT hard to defend against.

 

Rush stated an opinion. An opinion held by more than a few people. And he was lambasted for it.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I'm sure ESPN lost a lot of viewers after they're gutless display on Sunday.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Going by his numbers, not what other men who take shots to the head on a regular basis and who weren't terribly bright to begin with say, he isn't THAT hard to defend against.

 

Because we all know that fantasy stats determine how good a player is.

[Guest MikeSC]

Going by his numbers, not what other men who take shots to the head on a regular basis and who weren't terribly bright to begin with say, he isn't THAT hard to defend against.

 

Because we all know that fantasy stats determine how good a player is.

QB rating, passing yardage, TD/INT ratio...

 

Yup, don't mean a thing.

-=Mike

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Not really.

 

Based on fantasy stats, Aikman was one of the worst QBs in the league.

 

Based on fantasy stats, Jason fucking Gildon is one of the best linebackers of our generation.

[Guest MikeSC]

Not really.

 

Based on fantasy stats, Aikman was one of the worst QBs in the league.

 

Based on fantasy stats, Jason fucking Gildon is one of the best linebackers of our generation.

I'm trying to avoid making this a sports discussion---

 

but just in terms of black QB's, he's below McNair and Culpepper.

-=Mike

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

No fucking CHANCE he's worse than Culpepper. McNair, perhaps, but I hold McNair very highly.

[Guest JMA]

Probably the funniest thing I've heard is that ESPN has become "too liberal." If they had become too liberal they wouldn't have hired Rush in the first place. The real reason they hired Rush is for ratings, obviously. They wanted "controlled" controversy. That very rarely works. As it is, ESPN was screwed either way. If they let Rush stay, they risk losing viewers who were offended by his remarks. If they fire him, they risk having people call them "too PC." I would say they did the right thing for THEMSELVES. Sure, Rush's fans may boycott the show, but I doubt that will hurt them much.

 

In conclusion, I despise Rush and I'm glad he's gone. I could care less about the "why" and "how." That being said, if he is addicted to drugs (which we don't know as of yet) I hope he gets some professional help.

[BX 0]

And where is all of this "racism" Rush allegedly spouts? I HONESTLY don't know of any. Is criticizing Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or the Simpson defense racist --- or simply recognizing that all three are utterly deplorable? I have heard people calling him a racist for YEARS now --- but I've heard precious few EXAMPLES of it.

As a young broadcaster in the 1970s, Limbaugh once told a black caller: "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back." A decade ago, after becoming nationally syndicated, he mused on the air: "Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"

 

In 1992, on his now-defunct TV show, Limbaugh expressed his ire when Spike Lee urged that black schoolchildren get off from school to see his film Malcolm X: "Spike, if you're going to do that, let's complete the education experience. You should tell them that they should loot the theater, and then blow it up on their way out."

 

In a similar vein, here is Limbaugh's mocking take on the NAACP, a group with a ninety-year commitment to nonviolence: "The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."

 

When Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) was in the U.S. Senate, the first black woman ever elected to that body, Limbaugh would play the "Movin' On Up" theme song from TV's "Jeffersons" when he mentioned her. Limbaugh sometimes still uses mock dialect -- substituting "ax" for "ask"-- when discussing black leaders.

 

What the heck makes Chris Berman QUALIFIED to discuss football and Rush not to? I didn't hear a SINGLE word during his brief stint that Rush was unqualified or that the opinions he offered were pointless. He was no different than, say, James Brown or Chris Berman.

 

Umm, perhaps the fact that Chris Berman has been calling sports games since Oct. of 1979? Maybe the fact that Berman has been selected SIX TIMES National Sportscaster of the Year (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 2001) by the members of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association? Maybe the fact that Berman was named the 2001 winner of the prestigious Reds Bagnell Award from the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia for "contributions to the game of football." ?

 

This is why sports writers are SO P.C. They KNOW that 99% of them can be easily replaced by any jerk at the local sports bar.

 

I'm sure you know this already, but Michael Irvin, Steve Young and Tom Jackson are Hall of Fame football athletes. It's that experiance which got them hired onto ESPN. Your fatass friends at the bar don't have that, do they?

 

So, no, I will not watch ESPN further.

                -=Mike

 

Don't hold your breath for a CBN sports show.

[ISportsFan 0]

This is why sports writers are SO P.C. They KNOW that 99% of them can be easily replaced by any jerk at the local sports bar.

 

I'm sure you know this already, but Michael Irvin, Steve Young and Tom Jackson are Hall of Fame football athletes. It's that experiance which got them hired onto ESPN. Your fatass friends at the bar don't have that, do they?

This quote was in reference to the writer of the original article, not the experts on ESPN NFL Countdown.

 

My take on the issue is this. Rush Limbaugh got screwed. Simple as that. Is it a valid argument that the media tries to make black QBs better than they actually are? Arguable, but that's why it's an argument. I believe McNabb is overrated, especially since his broken foot. Who played for him when he was out? Koy Detmer and A.J. Feeley. Did they continue to win? Yes.

 

Was Rush wrong? It's debatable. But he shouldn't have to resign because of that comment - it could be valid, and he gave a decent argument.

 

Jason

[NoCalMike 0]

I know this is sort of off the main topic, but I am one of the few Chris Berman haters out there. His schtick is old and tied. He offers nothing as far as insight or analysis. He is more suited for reporting, like on Sportscenter or ESPN news because those guys are just reporting on the game and the highlights.

[NoCalMike 0]

Lots of athletes are overrated across the board. White/Black/Asian(Dat Ngyuen on the Cowboys) etc......If Rush was going to come out and claim McNabb was overrated because he was black, he should have clarified that being black was one of many reasons, but Rush offered nothing but the fact that he was black. And it was an ignorant statement, IMO.

[Vern Gagne 0]

I'd say the question is does anyone like Chris Berman? Him and the rest of football people on ESPN, are nothing but shills for the NFL.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Am I the only one that watches ESPN for the sports, and just sports?

 

I like Berman.

[CanadianChris 0]

I know this is sort of off the main topic, but I am one of the few Chris Berman haters out there. His schtick is old and tied. He offers nothing as far as insight or analysis. He is more suited for reporting, like on Sportscenter or ESPN news because those guys are just reporting on the game and the highlights.

He's not there to offer anything in the way of insight or analysis; that's what Jackson, Young and Irvin are there for. He's the host of the show. His job is to introduce segments, set up his colleagues so they can provide insight and analysis, and basically moderate, and he does a pretty fair job of that.

[CanadianChris 0]

"The people talking football on TV have spent years studying the game, building sources and relationships with coaches, players, executives and other media. It saddens me that a seasoned broadcaster, out of fear of embarrassing himself, wouldn't go on air and comment about the Rams-Vikings playoff game without having done hours of research, but some people think it's okay for Limbaugh to fire off a racial missive without having done any homework.

 

Years of watching football doesn't qualify you to sit at the table and pontificate with real experts. Years of yukking it up with your white-wing or black-wing political friends doesn't qualify you to pontificate on racial matters with legit experts."

 

...

 

And I was QUITE unaware that Berman, Irvin, Young, or Jackson qualified as "legit experts" on race, but hey, I could've missed that update. Then again, making bad, factually inaccurate home movies apparently qualifies one as a real documentarian, so God knows who hands out the qualifications for anything nowadays?

 

How many friggin' hours of research can it POSSIBLY take to state that a team probably should run Marshall Faulk more often than they do?

To the first point, I didn't find anything in the article that said that the Countdown crew were "legit experts" on race. Whitlock was making a comparison, not an inference.

 

And to the second point, how much research does it take to argue anything, let alone argue it on a nationally televised program? Quite a bit. You do no research, you get ripped to shreds, because your opponents will be much better-prepared to argue the opposing view. I would think you would know that pretty well.

[Guest MikeSC]

"The people talking football on TV have spent years studying the game, building sources and relationships with coaches, players, executives and other media. It saddens me that a seasoned broadcaster, out of fear of embarrassing himself, wouldn't go on air and comment about the Rams-Vikings playoff game without having done hours of research, but some people think it's okay for Limbaugh to fire off a racial missive without having done any homework.

 

Years of watching football doesn't qualify you to sit at the table and pontificate with real experts. Years of yukking it up with your white-wing or black-wing political friends doesn't qualify you to pontificate on racial matters with legit experts."

 

...

 

And I was QUITE unaware that Berman, Irvin, Young, or Jackson qualified as "legit experts" on race, but hey, I could've missed that update. Then again, making bad, factually inaccurate home movies apparently qualifies one as a real documentarian, so God knows who hands out the qualifications for anything nowadays?

 

How many friggin' hours of research can it POSSIBLY take to state that a team probably should run Marshall Faulk more often than they do?

To the first point, I didn't find anything in the article that said that the Countdown crew were "legit experts" on race. Whitlock was making a comparison, not an inference.

 

And to the second point, how much research does it take to argue anything, let alone argue it on a nationally televised program? Quite a bit. You do no research, you get ripped to shreds, because your opponents will be much better-prepared to argue the opposing view. I would think you would know that pretty well.

It's SPORTS.

 

It hardly takes doctoral thesis-level research --- and God KNOWS that nobody on that show really produces some in-depth analysis.

 

And you assume he did no research, simply because he offered an opinion that the author (and I suppose you) do not agree with.

 

And, as Hannity pointed out, if they had ANY guts whatsoever, they would have ripped him to shreds on the show, not takepotshots at him after he is not there to respond to them.

 

Of course, the all-pro WR thought Rush was right, but that's irrelevant.

-=Mike

[Guest MikeSC]

Lots of athletes are overrated across the board. White/Black/Asian(Dat Ngyuen on the Cowboys) etc......If Rush was going to come out and claim McNabb was overrated because he was black, he should have clarified that being black was one of many reasons, but Rush offered nothing but the fact that he was black. And it was an ignorant statement, IMO.

But since the topic WAS Donovan, wouldn't it be REALLY pointless to mention how overrated athletes of all races are in the NFL? Wouldn't that have been HIGHLY racial at that point?

 

He never said McNabb was overrated because he was black. He said the press gave him a free ride because he was black.

-=Mike

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

And Rush was knowledgable about football no matter what anyone says. The 10% increase in ratings should prove that.

Don't know about that line because that 10 percent might just be from a viewer curiousity factor (I don't think so myself, but who knows -- perhaps Rush's gimmick would have been tired out later in the season). And having listened to Rush's show over the years, I can say that he does know his football.

 

White-Wing -- that's good...