ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown thread (Rush update)

10/05/03 | Andy from Beaverton

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

that statement about the little kid now asking if blacks are allowed to play QB

I guarantee you that the little kid formed his impression, not from Rush's comment, but rather from the liberal over-reaction to and misinterpretation of it. Liberals are in the business of keeping racism alive and well, and Tom Jackson has shown himself to be one of their better house slaves.

[beckybea]

Rush is the only gentleman in this entire thing. The only scandal I see is the spineless panel on ESPN. Rush went on and on about how great the cast, crew and management are on ESPN. The gutless wonders on ESPN showed their true colors this morning. No pun intended but I like it.

[mrsmith]

"lost a measure of revenue"

Rush was credited with increasing ratings 15% overall and 35% in the prime advertising group.

That is one heck of a sudden revenue loss for any business.
And I'm sure they've already spent that expected income so it's a double loss.

The sports media will say Rush was wrong, but watch what they do.
Heck the effect might even carry over into the "news" media (ha ha - just kidding, they'll be witch-hunting conservatives until doomsday).

[Azzurri]

Here's the address to the ESPN Viewer Zone, for comments on their programming:

comments@espnviewerzone.com

I, for one, will never watch ESPN NFL Sunday Countdown again.

[clintonh8r]

Bradshaw really is as studpid as his reputation.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

This is an interesting phenomenon. There's no point in bringing the subject up other than to vaccinate yourself from being labeled a racist. Debate certainly isn't the goal. Think about--who would think of even expressing the slightest bit of support of Rush's statement? Anyone who did would be painted as a racist, too.

[unsycophant]

No I don't.

Do you remember this from back in August? On August 25, 2003, African-American writer Roy S. Johnson wrote this about Rush working for ESPN:

Nor is it likely he represents fans who are relatives and friends of NFL players, roughly two-thirds of whom are African-American.

Indeed, Limbaugh doesn't seem to represent any NFL fan who believes in the value of varied cultures.       SI.com

You'd think that some people were just waiting for Rush to say something that would give them ammunition to complain, wouldn't you?

[Humbug]

Hell, with friends like that I'd need painkillers, too.

lol

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Sorry, it was FOX. NOW they're piling on Rush on CBS.

All these people are distancing themselves from Rush. They were all probably subtly told to, via peer pressure (groupthink) or their producers. Free speech is dying a little more every day. I'm not being melodramatic. We may be in 'power', but we're losing in the most important ways. Nothing's more important than the First Amendment. It trumps even the Constitution itself, in my mind.

[Tribune7]

If Rush turns out to be addicted to drugs, then dammit, he will be MY drug addict, and I will stand behind him no matter what.

Mega Dittos, P D.

[cubreporter]

Never feel sorry for Rush. He doesn't need that. Rush is a man of character, integrity and truth. He spoke what he knew to be the truth. The truth shall set you free. Rush will survive this.

I am curious. What did Steve Young have to say about all of this? Anything?

]

[willieroe]

I think all of this was planned and calculated.

Rush is a marketing genius.

Good post. In the back of my mind, I wonder if Rush wasn't as happy with his gig as he thought he was going to be, especially with the preparation time needed in relation to the actual time on camera - and so, he decided to go ahead and push the envelope...

[Bubbette]

Done. I also commented on the fact that Rush was hired to represent the "fan" and how did they know that the fans were not thinking and feeling exactly what Rush expressed about the MEDIA. Told them that his former buddies also piled on and that it looked petty and small. Mentioned how even though Rush was hired to express OPINIONS, it seemed that only T.J. could express his opinion without impunity. Told them no more ESPN for this family, on to FOX Sports!

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

They didn't say anything because they didn't have to guts to engage him face to face.

They didn't say anything about Rush's comment during rehearsal because none of them thought there was anything wrong about it.

In a very short period of time these four pussies have validated Rush. I predict that Rush will, tomorrow, address today's sorry-ass performance of his former colleagues with class and blame not them, but the liberal PC pressures that were applied on them over the week.

[Tribune7]

Will he hire his ex maid to clean house?

No, but Michael Irvin will.

[KC_Conspirator]

Terry Bradshaw is a liberal and has always hated Rush.

[Finalapproach29er]

I like and agree with your responses today. Dead on the money.

[Tribune7]

Sorry guys, Rush blew it.

It's a pretty sorry state when you're marked for life by two sentences.

[mhking]

Again, Rush is a marketing and PR genius. The outcry is good, the pain is good, Rush is good.

So Rush did this on purpose? Please. He enjoys football. He enjoyed participating in Countdown. He wasn't about to piss it away to satisfy some larger Machiavellian agenda.

He simply forgot that he was not in the insular world of his talk show where he could say whatever the hell he wanted without the liberals going up in smoke.

Just the fact that it took two days before the media started to pounce on this was signal enough as to who was pulling the strings - and it certainly wasn't the sports folk.

Rush stumbled into a fire-ant mound and got burned.

[unsycophant]

<< If they gave him the choice, he should have let them fire him. It would have forced ESPN to go on record. It would have made them look bad. >>

You make a fair point about this, and about leaving the door open for attacks on all conservatives.

Since the brouhahah, it's 24/7. I was very surprised by the unprofessionalism we saw on ESPN though. You'd think they'd try to set a higher standard. Then again, they probably think their core audience are redneck beer-drinking idiots, so they're playing to the LCD.