Rush resigned from ESPN; he technically wasn't fired. Here's the Slimes' editorial on the subject, which Pokey78 posted on October 2:
October 3, 2003
Breaking through the background chatter of television takes some doing. So ESPN apparently thought it might try something a little different. Instead of more sex, violence or even a nude sportscaster like the one who appeared on another sports show, ESPN brought in Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing radio commentator. He was there to give his hot-button views on one thing: football. And if the idea was to raise ratings, it worked. At least, it worked for one month.
As any television pro could have warned ESPN, it turned out that Limbaugh was not ready for the big leagues. He stands more in the class of Jimmy (the Greek) Snyder, who made insensitive remarks about blacks, and Michael Savage, fired from MSNBC for wishing AIDS on a gay caller. On ESPN's "Sunday N.F.L. Countdown" this week, Limbaugh said the kind of thing that wins him legions of tub-thumping fans on radio but that understandably offends most other people.
Talking about Donovan McNabb, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, he said, "What we have here is a little social concern in the N.F.L. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback can do well — black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well." He added, "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."
Limbaugh quickly resigned from his ESPN gig. But he insists there was "no racist intent whatsoever" and will not apologize, despite the outcry from McNabb's supporters, including an army of indignant Eagles' fans. In fact, Limbaugh insists that he "must have been right about something" to kick up so much fuss. He is not right, especially since football now has a number of excellent black quarterbacks, including McNabb. But that fuss brings the issue back to ESPN and raises the question of whether network executives will learn the right lesson. Limbaugh's appearance should make television managers realize that racially loaded remarks only demean debate. That is especially important since some in television may also focus on another piece of news: Limbaugh's last show had the highest rating for the program in seven years.
Except that the caller was not gay, the caller was a vindictive prank caller who was baiting Mr. Savage, Mr. Savage said "drop dead" to the caller 3 ways "Choke on a sausage" (he was cooking sausage on the tv show), get food poisoning from undercooked pork, and get AIDS. All are horrible ways to die. Only one of those deaths is "politically" protected (AIDS). Mr. Savage also thought that the program had cut off as he dealt with the prank caller.