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October 03, 2003

Obligatory Seriousness on Limbaugh

Five things:

1. Rush Limbaugh doesn't know football. Tom Jackson who does, was fit to quit the ESPN program because of Rush's hiring. The idea that his program, of which he was the star, had been hijacked by Rush Limbaugh was unacceptable to him. If it hadn't been the McNabb comment, it would have been something else.
Source: P6

On Wednesday, Jackson told an ESPN executive by phone he was going to attend the "Countdown" production meeting tomorrow, tell Limbaugh what he thought of him, quit the show and fly home.

Jackson's stance was exactly opposite to the one ESPN wanted the "Countdown" cast to take. With outside pressure mounting, management wanted Jackson & Co. to cooperate and help cool things down.

That might explain why Berman went on the record saying he didn't believe Limbaugh's tone or intent was malicious, but "I probably should have looked to soften it."

Spies say Jackson wasn't buying Berman's spin, or the words of ESPN executive VP Mark Shapiro, who rushed to Limbaugh's defense in Wednesday's USA Today.

Even Shapiro had to know there would be major problems if Jackson had quit. If that happened, the rest of the "Countdown" cast members, all close to Jackson, would have been forced to do something.

2. I've seen no evidence of McNabb's special media darling status. Explain exactly what 'overrated' means, as compared to whom? All I know is that McNabb does Campbell's Chunky Soup commercials with his mother. Any NFL QB with a nationwide commercial endorsement might be a target for being overrated. Name 'em, and compare their seasons.

3. Limbaugh is being defended not because he's right, but because Michael Irvin, a black person, agreed with him. Anybody with the most casual familiarity with Michael Irvin's career should know that just about everyone has gotten cushy treatment by the media relatively speaking.

4. Read JP.

5. This is Class Three. Since when did Rush Limbaugh not do that?

Posted by mbowen at October 3, 2003 06:28 PM

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Comments

I agree with you 100%, especially on point #2. He's treated like a sports god, but that's nothing special for an NFL quarterback, white or black. I think Limbaugh was just looking for an excuse to bring up one of his pet talking points. Aside from the to-be-expected lack of class that Limbaugh showed, it's frankly a little tiresome.
Good post!

Posted by: Christopher at October 4, 2003 11:26 AM