Jackson Free Press

While you were sleeping Wednesday night, conservative talk show howt Rush Limbaugh "resigned" from ESPN's NFL Sunday pregame show. In reality, ESPN fired Limbaugh for doing what it hired him to do: make provocative comments. ESPN didn't hire Limbaugh because he was a football expert (if that was the case, Chris Berman wouldn't be on the show, either); he was hired to increase ratings for ratings-challenged NFL preview show. Mission accomplished there: ratings were up 10 percent this year.

Here's what Limbaugh said: "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

Translation: McNabb is overrated, but the media is afraid to criticize him because he's black.

The statement that McNabb is overrated is open to debate: He went to three straight Pro Bowls and led his team to back-to-back NFC Championship Game losses. But McNabb certainly hasn't played well this season. Limbaugh's comment on the media was ridiculous and incorrect, but not racist. Dr. S thinks the media is ready and willing to rip any NFL quarterback or coach, regardless of race. (McNabb whined that nobody on the show stood up for him. Guess he didn't see the show. Tom Jackson and Steve Young strongly disagreed with Limbaugh.)

Why did Limbaugh inject race into his comment? Dunno, maybe he was trying to be provocative, like ESPN hired him to be. (Or maybe he took too much medicine.) But Limbaugh's addled comment wasn't racist. Dr. S thought Jason Sehorn was overrated and a media darling because he was the NFL's only white starting cornerback. Was that racist? Obviously if Limbaugh had stuck to saying crap like "He could go all the way," "Boo-yah" etc., he would still have his job at ESPN.

It's a lousy day to be Rush Limbaugh. Stay tuned ...

Previous Comments

ID

118048

Comment

How about "S" stands for "Stupid idea"? First of all, I clearly haven't seen a photo of Rush in a while -- are we sure he isn't actually Charles Grodin? And the only thing he needs to complete his Richie Rich ensemble is gold cufflinks in the shape of "$" symbols. Second, and seriously, you could *maybe* make the argument that his comment is only veiled racism, not overt racism, but clearly it's inappropriate both for the venue and given the resume of this particular messenger. He's got a career based on this sort of innuendo and I think it was a huge error in judgement for ESPN to hire him. Third, the comment doesn't even make sense. Is it the NFL or the Media that's got a "social concern?" Or are they...(insert dramatic music here)...One and the Same. (Rush shuffles paper..."The problem, people, is that Liberal NFL!") The guy's an idiot. You could fire him for that. Maybe Gumbel's show on HBO would be the right place to discuss something like whether or not there are any race politics in the sports media, but, if that was the topic, would anyone seriously ask Rush for his opinion? Bottom line: Rush is a bad comedian who people take too seriously. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be out on his ass. Substitute "Dennis Miller" for "Rush Limbaugh" and the result would have been the same. Rush is just another Branson-caliber "entertainer" whose experiment on sports TV was a failure.

Author

todd

Date

2003-10-02T12:51:35-06:00

ID

118049

Comment

King Kaufman writes in Salon today that ESPN sold out its sports fans when it hired Rush in the first place: "It was exactly what any thinking person knew it would be: nasty, brutish and short. It goosed ratings for 'Sunday NFL Countdown' by 10 percent while offending legions of viewers, not just with Limbaugh's right-wing politics but with his ignorance about the game and its players." http://www.salon.com/news/sports/col/kaufman/2003/10/02/thursday2/index.html

Author

ladd

Date

2003-10-03T13:44:28-06:00

ID

118050

Comment

Gee... hire him for fireworks, and then fire him when you get them. The "ES" must stand for Extremely Stupid. And I haven't seen a thing to suggest that he was "Fired", even in the quotation mark-ed up sense. He seems to have quit when the Disney Sports Network turned spineless and didn't back the guy they hired for fireworks. And McNabb stinks as a QB anyway! :)

Author

Gibbs

Date

2003-10-03T23:45:25-06:00