Good take drapq. I agree with you point entirely. As we like to say here: "wrong forum!" And great job with your site.
Ratings are not necessarily indicative of success. ESPN is a family channel for the most part, and maybe they don't want to turn Countdown into a political commentary segment. Limbaugh is a ticking time bomb, and maybe next time he'd say something, you'd have the NAACP raising hell. Again, bad for business.
If they wanted ratings via "contentious debates" they'd put Al Franken alongside Limbaugh on Countdown. Rush was a failed experiment, and even some of his most avid supporters were disappointed in his remark. Remember, ESPN Countdown is not the Factor.
and I'm sure you were equally outraged at the national reaction to the Dixie Chicks critizism of the President right? Rush has a right so say what he wants to, but that doesn't mean he is right and in this case Rush was plain wrong, he has ZERO factual basis to his argument...
He can always turn to his painkillers. Just kidding, I hope the investigation into his possible illegal obtaining and abuse of prescription drugs yields no wrongdoing or addiction on his part.
I agree. The NBA 2Nite should immediately hire Al Sharpton and continue the race baiting that's proven so successful to the ratings with Rush. Al could pick and choose certain white NBA players and explain how the media and the white fan base hype them up because they want to see white players succeed in the league. Yeah, that would be fantastic.
I agree. But it's also ESPN's network, and Limbaugh's comments were certainly going to hurt its credibility and viewership. That's *their* call (right or wrong). I hate what Limbaugh said, and I'd protest his racist a$$ everywhere he goes. But I have no problem with him voicing his opinions. Freedom of speech is what made America so great!
I *despise* Limbaugh's backwards politics, disgusting smear tactics and blatant lies, but he's still a person. I wouldn't wish a drug addiction on anyone. Illegally buying drugs is just an indication of a deeper problem, and I hope he gets the help he deserves.
I absolutely agree. I hope my post got that point across. Also, Rush needs to learn what freedom of speech means.
I agree 100%...I didn't see it Sunday, but have last night and tonight, but I see nothing "racist" about it...He caveated it by saying it was his opinion, but with McNabb struggling, he is right to state he is overated...Is he the $100MM man? No. The NFL wants black QB's to succeed and they want more black head coaches...period...
You know, I really don't think Rush resigned because ESPN thought he was being unPC. In fact, if you review their statments, the first thing the network said was that they stood behind him. Sure, eventually he (not espn) was denounced by Howard Dean and Donovan McNabb, but so what? Rush is not exactly trying to be Howard Dean. His resignation though comes simultaneously with the drug story breaking. I think Rush knew it was going to break and thought it was only going to make him worse (in addition, the show's format was not working to help Rush's ego; Rush was regularly losing debates to Michael Irvin), so then he resigned and now he can claim to be a martyr of the PC nazi establishment. That's my theory at least. Too bad he didn't stay, he and Irvin could go to rehab together.
His comments weren't "racist", they were just stupid and uninformed. Not the first time I've seen stupid comments from a sports talking head on TV. BTW, he is conspicuously absent on his radio show today.
"The fact is that Limbaugh used the television medium inappropriately. As a longtime radio host, Limbaugh has been given free will to rant about his right-wing theories to the masses, on a program titled the Rush Limbaugh Show. Seeing as how the radio show's handle includes Limbaugh's name, listeners understand the fact that the broadcast will contain nothing but Limbaugh's opinions. Inherently, this is where the problem over Limbaugh's television statements lies. Limbaugh's radio show and NFL Sunday Countdown are two entirely different broadcasts, each with a distinctly defined mission statement. " Damn, drapg. That is a great take on this story. Good job and your site is great!
Today they are saying that he made the right decision. Sounds like they asked him to resign. Rush talked about taking the path of "least resistance."
2 points 1. I just heard Bill O'Reilly put forth the best possible solution to this problem. He said that they should have just organized a debate between Rush and someone else the next week. Simple yet perfect. It would mean huge ratings for ESPN and it would also allow the flimsiness (is that even a word?) of Rush's point to be aired to everyone right in from Rush's for Rush to respond and defend. Maybe during the course of the debate Rush would have changed his mind or what not and the whole thing would have been resolved. Who knows, but to me that is the single most perfect and simple solution...it's too bad it didn't happen like that. 2. We get FoxSports Radio up here in Austin and for those who have heard FoxSports radio at night then you will know about the insane amount of promo spots they put out instead of commercials. Well one of the promo spots was taken from the Jim Daniels show where he was commenting on the sports writer from Boston who just came out. Jim Daniels went on to talk about why did this guy even go into sports writing if he knew so much bigotry existed in it in the first place. He was nearly implying that it was his fault for putting himself in that situation and that he really should have rethought being a sports writer. When I heard that I was like WTF? because those comments are as stupid and as asinine as Rush's yet they were about a group of people who it is accepted to make fun of and knock around. Imagine if he was saying the same thing about Jackie Robinson or any other black baseball player. Like hey...Robinson really should have reconsidered being a ball player since he knew he was going to suffer racism and he probably didn't make the best decision by playing baseball. How idiotic would that sound to us now? It's stuff like this that makes me feel bad for how the Rush situation played out. Commentators make stupid, idiotic commentary EVERYDAY, but god forbid you make a comment that even has the chance of sounding racist if you are white.
From what I read Limbaugh didn't say anything that was racist. That statement didn't lead me to believe he felt one race of QB's is superior to black QB's. It sounded like he was giving commentary on one player's struggles this season and how he has benefited from a generous NFL/media agenda to see blacks succeed. I'm not saying there is nothing wrong with that either. But my point is there is nothing racist about the commentary. If you were to tell me the NBA wanted Yao Ming to be successful in the league hell I would agree because its the truth and you are not racist for admitting the obvious. The NBA benefits greatly from this and the media has a story. It appears to me Limbaugh admitted the obvious and has that right to express it no matter how popular the opinion is. If we are going to tag somebody a racist everytime they make mention of race despite their intentions I suppose Dusty Baker is racist against whites. Regardless if his assertion that whites do poorly in the heat compared to other races is fact or not I will refrain from automatically branding him a racist. If what he said were true then so be it. As far as his commentary being stupid I disagree. Because its clearly correct. But it was poor judgement on his part to go into the issue on ESPN. Save it for the radio show.
