Rush Limbaugh wants to be a "Color" Analyst

First of all, you need to go back and re-read my post. Secondly, when you say, "because of the color of his skin" you are suggesting the same thing that Rush was pushing. That's what ***Rush*** was saying.

Not I. Ok?

Show me where I said the same thing?

Again! Didn't you read my post? Two issues. One, McNabb is good. Real good. He's a new star. Two, he's black and very few black QBs have lead their team to a title.

Are you saying that there's no *human interest* story in that? To suggest otherwise, would be silly. That's my point...So, mostly is about pure talent. The other issue is a "human interest" story.

On the extreme side of things...
Rush's point was that "race" was the ONLY reason, fueled by jealousy, and a right-wing view point. And to make matters worse, he's suggesting that black fans that may root for black QBs, should some how be ashamed of having black pride.

Do you see the difference here?

Rush calls it "over-hype" of the media. He really means, "racial-hype" of the media.

I call it pure talent, plus *human interest* And there's no reason to be ashamed of that. Yao enjoys the same type of attention from Chinese fans. Be happy for them. It's new to China/Chinese Americans to have a Chinese representative in the NBA that is actually GOOD! Now, if Yao was not a good NBA player, then it wouldn't matter if he was Chinese or not.

My point to you is, do NOT pretend that race doesn't have *some* effect on media attention.

Rush's point is that race is the ***ONLY*** reason for the media attention (he's anti-Affirmative Action, remember?).

In 100 years, most of this stuff wont matter. Black president, Chinese President, Mexican president...you never know. And a black QB leading his team to the Super Bowl title will not be a human interest story anymore. It will be old news. By then, it would've probably happened numerous times already.

Do you follow me?

 

Nope. He started 5 games that season.

Of course, Steve McNair could do that, too, but the media doesn't love him for some reason.

Certainly his being only the 2nd black QB to start a Super Bowl wasn't much of a human interest story. Was it because he missed five games during that Super Bowl season? Or just because his team didn't win?

That's the problem I have with this idea that McNabb is propped up because of his race because Steve McNair has arguably been underhyped, and yet he's managed success few other black QBs have. He's certainly better in the stats department than McNabb, he did start a Super Bowl, and his team was there in the Championship Game this past season, as well.

But, for whatever reason, McNabb was picked to be the Great Black Hype by the media.

Plus, there even is a difference between reporting a human interest story once something happens (i.e. reporting how McNabb is the first black QB to start the season and lead his team to a Super Bowl victory) and overhyping a QB beyond his abilities (as Rush said) so the general public believes the player is better than he is.

If McNabb doesn't have the goods, as Rush said, he'll never get to the Super Bowl, and they'll never be able to write that human interest story.

Plus, I tend to doubt that sportswriters sit around their desks going, "Man, I cannot wait to write that Black QB takes his team to the Super Bowl story. Com'on Eagles!" None of the sportswriters I know personally are like that.

 

Still? Even with ten black QBs so far starting at least one game this season? The media still pumps McNabb up beyond his abilities, as Rush claims?

Rush didn't say there was undue media attention. Rush said McNabb isn't as good as the media has made him out to be, that he is not the reason for his team's success. The defense is and that McNabb is not that good.

I haven't seen a single story about how McNabb led his team to the Super Bowl. I mean, if Rush is seeing those stories, then he's right. The media is overhyping the guy because he hasn't managed to do that yet (and may never).

It's not a human interest story now because it's not happening. I can't write the McNabb leads his team to the Super Bowl until he leads his team to the Super Bowl.

And no matter what someone writes or says on TV about McNabb, that won't get his team to the Super Bowl. They have to play their way there.

So when the media talks about McNabb, it's all because they're waiting on pins and needles to write that "Black QB takes his team to the Super Bowl" story?

Then what were they doing pumping up Jake Plummer all those years he couldn't play? Were they just thinking of the great human interest story that seeing the Cards win the Super Bowl would be?

Gosh, maybe the media just looks for stars and pumps them up, sometimes in excess of their abilities and success.

 

So when they hype McNabb, it's at least partially because of his race?

And when they overhype Jake Plummer, it's because of what? Or Jim Harbaugh? Or Brian Greise? and so on...

Does race only play a role when the QB is black? I mean, there are plenty of white QBs who gets lots and lots of media attention, some far in excess of what their abilities and success warrant.

Or does race play a role there, too? Are those QBs propped up, at least partially, because they are white?

 

From an editorial writer from the NY Post, as posted on Salon.com:

Why black America distrusts conservatives

Rush Limbaugh proved what many African-Americans fear: Even if right-wingers aren't racist, they'll kick blacks to score political points.

Oct. 2, 2003 | Rush Limbaugh's resignation from ESPN's "NFL Countdown" should bring the immediate controversy over his comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to a mercifully quick end. However, his remarks have damaged his reputation and once again delivered another body blow to the conservative movement in the area in which it can least afford it: race.

And this time it's not a creation of the liberal media; this was a self-inflicted wound.

If conservatives seriously wonder why it is so difficult for either the movement or its political manifestation -- the Republican Party -- to attract African-Americans, this incident should be Exhibit No. 1.

Sure, there are specific political issues on which many African-Americans disagree with the GOP. But the most important step in building political coalitions is convincing your target group that you are trustworthy when it comes to their central issues -- that they'll have a basic comfort zone in the coalition.

And the crude lesson many African-Americans will likely take from Limbaugh's comments is that even if a conservative isn't personally a racist, he may not be above turning a black person into a political football for ideological or entertainment value.

On Sunday, Donovan McNabb became Limbaugh's football:

"I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL," Limbaugh opined. "I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there's a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

Now, on the face of it, this could be seen as a harmless if politically incorrect statement for which Limbaugh should have been given a pass. (Although it's worth noting that Limbaugh wanted to crucify Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker, who is black, for his seat-of-the-pants theorizing that blacks and Latinos suffer heat better than whites.) But Limbaugh's statement wasn't just provocative -- it was just plain ignorant on the recent history of the NFL. He was acting as if McNabb was one of two or three black quarterbacks in the game.

Three years ago today, I wrote about the progress of black quarterbacks in the National Review, noting that "In addition to [Tennessee Titan Steve] McNair, the league today features starters Daunte Culpepper (Minnesota), Tony Banks (Baltimore), Akili Smith (Cincinnati), Jeff Blake (New Orleans), Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia), Charlie Batch (Detroit) and Shaun King (Tampa Bay) plus back-ups/part-time starters [Randall] Cunningham (Dallas), [Warren] Moon (Kansas City Chiefs), Kordell Stewart -- and Tee Martin! (Pittsburgh), Ray Lucas (New York Jets). That comes to eleven NFL teams either starting a black quarterback or who have one in a featured role -- a full third of the league."

What was refreshing, I observed, was that the media hadn't erupted in orgiastic frenzy at this development, as opposed to a decade before when sports analysts seemed obsessed by the fact there were only two starting black quarterbacks in the entire league (Cunningham -- then with the Eagles -- and one-time Houston Oiler Warren Moon).

And since that piece was written, the above mentioned have all been treated much the same as other players, regardless of race -- until Limbaugh's unfortunate comments Sunday. McNair, Culpepper and McNabb are still with the same teams (a combined 8-3 record). Some others now start for new teams (Blake, Stewart), others are backups with different clubs. Moon and Cunningham have retired. Quincy Carter leads "America's Team," the Dallas Cowboys. Byron Leftwich is a rookie starting for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Perhaps the most exciting player in the league is the now-injured Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons.

The point is that black quarterbacks aren't novel enough for the media to engage in some sort of social cheering to single one out. Thus, Limbaugh's basic argument was ludicrously antiquated.

Besides, hardly anything annoys conservatives more than when liberals introduce race into an issue when it has no place. And that's exactly what Limbaugh did.

Is McNabb "overrated"? Different people can come to different conclusions. But the same thing can be said about Denver Broncos signal-caller Jake Plummer. Initially hyped by San Francisco's Hall of Fame coach-turned-exec Bill Walsh as the second coming of Joe Montana, Plummer showed flashes of brilliance with the Arizona Cardinals. Six years later, his flashes of brilliance were overshadowed by a hail of interceptions and sacks. Yet, as his contract ended with Arizona last year, he signed a fat new one with Denver. The Broncos are 4-0 this year, with Plummer playing atrociously in the first two games and very well in the second two.

Given his statistics over the last several seasons, one could charge that he was "overrated." Similarly, one could argue either way that McNabb is "overrated." But with Plummer, the debate just centers on statistics -- as most good sports arguments should. Yet Rush did what he hates in liberals. Instead of the typical liberal argument -- "The man would get his real due if he were white" -- we got Rush's view, "He's barely criticized because he's black."

And so, Limbaugh's analysis failed factually and ideologically. Unfortunately, in the one area where it succeeded -- injecting controversy on ESPN's pre-game set -- it introduced a particularly corrosive line of thought.

It articulated the double standard that blacks fear underlies much of American society: The successes and failures of white individuals belong to the individual ("Plummer's a bum!" "Plummer's great!"), whereas the success and failure of a black person belongs to the race. One week ago, after a poor start to the season, McNabb was being analyzed on his football skills. Today, he is analyzed on his race.

So Limbaugh managed to do in one moment what the media has actually refrained from doing in recent years. Removing their individuality, he has effectively "adjectivized" McNabb, McNair, et al. After succeeding on their own merits, they are once again black quarterbacks for however long the media chooses to continue with this story.

Rush didn't help by initially dismissing the criticism as more p.c. blather: "All this has become the tempest that it is because I must have been right about something," he said. "If I wasn't right there wouldn't be this cacophony of outrage that has sprung up in the sportswriter community."

Such a self-serving statement suggests that Rush has never heard the adage that a stopped clock is right at least once a day.

Yet, ironically, Rush's fall may provide another lesson. It actually underscores the similarities in the way that blacks and conservatives have, as subcultures, often been misrepresented in the dominant culture: Blacks are stereotypically portrayed as less intelligent, buffoonish and often criminal. Conservatives are stereotypically portrayed as selfish, mean and venal.

The black person and the conservative person feel like outsiders, both distrusting and envying the mainstream.

Each group needs to see its reality reflected in the dominant culture.

Each group creates its own media and ancillary organizations to support and amplify its unique experience and point of view.

Each group cheers when one of its own appears to become accepted by the mainstream and excels. It's never enough to be successful just within the context of one's own community.

Then, as the individual representative appears to fail in the mainstream culture, a sense of shame and disgrace envelops the entire group.

Rush Limbaugh, meet Jayson Blair

 

Dude! I said in a 100 years!!!! Regarding the "black Super Bowl QB leader" story not being a human interest story.Not today.

Don't you even read the context of my post?

 

No. Because it's common for a white QB to lead his team to a title.

What don't you understand about the phrase, "rare occurrence?"

 

Plummer-- because he takes over the QB duties for one of the elite NFL franchises (and he succeeds B. Griese)
Harbaugh-- what hype? Never more than a transitional solution.
Griese-- he is the son of a Hall of Fame QB

 

Did you know that he now plays for the Broncos? Probably not.

 

Nice attempt at trying to save face, but it didn't work. Again, you completely miss the point.

 

Wrong again. He was hyped because he led a pathetic team to the playoffs. Keep reaching, grasping, trying with all your might, and one day you may compose a valid point.

 

It's not a human interest story today. It hasn't happened, so it can't be a story.

And I seriously doubt the media is even thinking about that story, and certainly not making plans to do that story by pumping up McNabb now before he has done what this human interest story would require he do (take his team to the Super Bowl and win).

And considering the dearth of such human interest stories a couple of years ago when Steve McNair took his team to the Super Bowl, it makes me believe that perhaps "the media" isn't all that interested in the human interest story of a black QB succeeding.

 

Jake Plummer was hugely hyped. He was talked about as the second coming of Joe Montana before he played a down in the NFL, and despite piss poor stats, he was hyped well in excess of his abilities.

But regardless, you found a reason you think he was hyped (taking the Cards to the playoffs, even though he was overhyped before he did that, but whatever). So how do we know the reason McNabb is overhyped is because of his race. Why can't it be his taking a team with a dearth of stars to the NFC Championship Game back-to-back and turned around a team that was coming off a 3-13 season when he was drafted.

But with McNabb, it's because he's black.

With Plummer, it was what he did on the field (even though he was hyped beyond what he accomplished). With Griese, it was his pedigree (what his father did on the field). With McNabb, it's just the color of his skin?

 

What don't you understand about "Why does the media overhype people who aren't of color if a major reason they overhype black QBs - and not "black QBs, actually, just McNabb - is because of their color?"

The fact is, it isn't a rare occurence for a team to have a black QB any more. It's silly to think that the media hypes McNabb because they think they might get to write that "Black QB wins a Super Bowl" story at some point in the future. That would be a rare occurence, and I wouldn't be surprised to see those stories ONCE THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. Until then, it isn't a rare occurence for a black QB to play in the league and have some level of success. McNabb isn't even the most successful black QB currently in the League.

You keep talking about this rare occurence of a black QB in the Super Bowl, but not a single story about McNabb has talked about a black QB winning the Super Bowl. They simply talk about the success that he has had and the skills he does possess (or is perceived to possess).

Why pump him up now over a story that they may never get to write about McNabb?

 

By the way, here's a Jake Plummer story from 1997, when the Cards went 4-12 and before Jake led them to the playoffs, and a year when his stats were mediocre, at best:

By Steve Schoenfeld
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 23, 1997

His teammates stood on the sideline in awe.

The same guy they'd tricked into carrying a live skunk into his dormitory room at training camp was marching the Cardinals 80 yards in the final two minutes with no timeouts.

There was no disbelief in the magic of rookie quarterback Jake Plummer after he threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to fullback Larry Centers with five seconds left at Sun Devil Stadium on Sunday. Then, Plummer dived into the end zone for a two-point conversion, giving the Cardinals a 29-26 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the season finale.

"That was awesome," defensive end Simeon Rice said. "I look at that as the beginning of the future. It was a monumental moment. I could see the genesis."

Plummer's 15 touchdown passes, in only nine starts, are the second-most by an NFL rookie quarterback since Dan Marino threw 20 in 1983. Jeff George had 16 for Indianapolis in 1990.

Plummer's emergence was one of the few bright spots in a 4-12 season that included nine of 16 games being decided in the last minute or overtime. The Cardinals won only three of those nine.

"I'm very, very disappointed in our won-loss record," said Cardinals Coach Vince Tobin, who addressed the team Monday morning at a season-ending meeting. "I'm not disappointed in how they competed, the way they hung in there with so much adversity. There is something special on this football team. The nucleus, we can build on."

The Cardinals expect to use Plummer, one of the Valley's most popular athletes, to build around. He will help them, if asked, recruit free agents. The team's marketing strategy in the off-season undoubtedly will include Plummer.

"I told Jake we won (Sunday) because he had the ball in his hands at the end," All-Pro cornerback Aeneas Williams said. "Early in the season, we lost games like this. We didn't have the Snake in there at the end."

Williams thinks Plummer could help attract free agents from other teams.

"When I went to Jacksonville (on a free-agent recruiting trip) two years ago, they said, 'We have a quarterback, Mark Brunell. We can build around him,' " Williams said.

"We can do that here, too. The past three or four years, we've had a quarterback controversy. Now, we just need to make some key additions and build around him (Plummer)."

Middle linebacker Eric Hill, one of 23 unrestricted free agents, thinks Plummer's development could convince some of those players to stay.

"I'm watching him take us down the field Sunday. . . we haven't had a guy who could do that since I've been here," said Hill, a 10-year veteran. "I told some of the young guys that, too."

Plummer, a second-round draft pick from Arizona State, will spend the next few days getting over the aches and pains of the longest season of his career.

When the free-agency period begins on Feb. 13, Plummer knows he could be used to help recruit.

"If they want to use me in that way, that's good," Plummer said. "At ASU, I felt I was one of the better recruiters we had, just taking the kids out, having a good time with them, letting them know how it is there and how the coaches treat you, just being honest with them.

"A lot of times, coaches want a guy so bad, they might fib and not tell exactly what goes on. But a player tells them the complete truth, and they can see when you're genuine and they like that."

Tobin thinks Plummer's accomplishments this season will make his sales pitch easier.

"I think people who come in, who are free agents, realize what Jake has done, and the direction this football team is going would be enticing to them," Tobin said.

Plummer already has memorized his recruiting speech.

"I think anyone would be pretty senseless not to see where this team is headed," Plummer said. "The record really doesn't reflect the talent we have, and with a few breaks here and there during the season, we would have at least reached .500. But that is not our goal next year. Our goal is to be in the playoffs."

Of course, even though he did lead the team to the playoffs (and a playoff victory over the Cowboys) the next year, he still has gotten hype well in excess of his success (2 playoff games - one win, one loss

 

The NFL is a fan-based form of entertainment. Over-hyping is and always will be rampant... <b>for one reason or another or many reasons at once</b>.

Plummer is hyped because he is supposedly a nifty quarterback in the mold of Joe Montana-- smallish size, relatively weak arm, gets by on wits, guile, and competitiveness. Everybody admires that. On top of that he goes from one of the NFL's worst franchises to one of it's best where he is supposed to be the savior at QB. There are many hype factors involving Plummer.

McNabb is hyped as a mold-breaking running quarterback. Steve McNair has many times pointed out that he was <b>criticized</b> for being a running quarterback while now McNabb is a media darling because of it. McNabb is also hyped because he is black. Is there really any doubt about that? There are multiple hype factors about McNabb. Isn't he usually identified as a black quarterback by the media? Is Jake identified as a white quarterback?