Hugh Hewitt writes:
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked Tuesday about the possibility of Rush Limbaugh acquiring a piece of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, and responded:
“I’ve said many times before we’re all held to a high standard here, and I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about. I would not want to see those comments coming from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL, absolutely not.”
AdvertisementGoodell has not yet held up his hand and proclaimed that he is holding within it a list of conservative pundits who cannot be allowed to continue to attend NFL games, but check in next week. It is classic McCarthyism to use unspecified charges of political wrongdoing to blacklist an individual, and that’s what Goodell did yesterday.
It was also a very divisive statement, so by his own standard, I guess Goodell will be turning in his resignation.
Read the whole thing. The Radio Equalizer notes the double-standard at play:
After nearly two weeks of fabricated anti-Rush Limbaugh smears from the news media, what kind of scrutiny can be expected now that trashy pop tramp Fergie has also indicated an interest in bidding for a NFL team?
No, we’re not making this up.
At least from the league, we already have an answer: while Limbaugh is judged and potentially blocked based on fabricated, phantom “quotes” from his program, the outspoken left-wing Black Eyed Peas performer instantly passed with flying colors.
According to the AP late Tuesday evening, Fergie (real name: Stacy Ann Ferguson) has been pre-approved at a meeting of team owners before even placing a bid:
MIAMI — Fergie may soon be on the Miami Dolphins [team stats]’ bandwagon as a limited partner.
NFL owners meeting in Boston this week approved the Black Eyed Peas singer as a part owner, but the team has yet to complete an agreement with her, Dolphins chief executive officer Mike Dee said in an e-mail Tuesday.
Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas already have a marketing partnership with the Dolphins. She wears a pink Dolphins jersey in a campaign this month for breast cancer awareness.
[...]
Fergie, whose real name is Stacy Ann Ferguson, is a Grammy-winning singer and also an actress. Ross has said his celebrity partnerships stir excitement and reflect the vibrancy of South Florida, and he envisions the Dolphins as a glamour team.
Hey, why shouldn’t Fergie pass the NFL’s political litmus test? As an outspoken Obama supporter who appeared at his nomination acceptance speech in Denver last year, she’s got the credentials they’re looking for (even if parents are horrified). She also visited with the man whose oratory skills she finds “amazing” at the White House earlier this year.
Never mind the fact that she sings about “her humps” or chats about wild sex and drug sprees in her past, it’s about the integrity of the game, right? Of course, it’s Fergalicious!
So what happens when a figure associated with maximum controversy joins the NFL? Pretty much nothing, once the initial storm blows over, admits liberal sports writer Michael Silver: “Fuss over Vick much ado about nothing”:
It has been exactly two months since Michael Vick signed with the Eagles, creating a stir that shook the boredom out of the preseason. Breathlessly, we all pondered what would happen next.
Would Vick, in a Wildcat-type role, emerge as a potent weapon in an already prolific offense? Would he push Donovan McNabb(notes) and, if the veteran were to struggle, supplant him as the Eagles’ franchise quarterback? Would animal-rights activists turn Sundays at Lincoln Financial Field into a made-for-CNN circus?
We now know the answer to all of these questions was a resounding, “No,” and I’m wondering how this notorious and polarizing player turned out to be such an afterthought.
Something to keep in mind regarding how much “controversy” Rush would bring to the NFL.
The NFL obviously isn’t concerned with the economic side of the equation. Rush’s fans are loyal to a degree that The One can only dream of. I can see twenty-two million Rams jerseys emblazoned with the name RUSH on the back being sold in a week. I just wish I had the direct line to a bootleg factory in China so I could get ahead of the curve.
“Divisive?” Oh yeah, kinda like shooting yourself in the leg with an illegal handgun in a nightclub? Or running a dog-fighting operation? Or beating your girlfriend…or your wife…or some poor schmuck who looks at you the wrong way? Or kinda like hit-and-running guys when you’re drunk?
Kinda like that, huh? They don’t call it the “National Felons League” for nothing.
By modern standards Fergie isn’t that trashy.
She sexed herself up a couple times for some performances, but in general she is just a performer.
If the owners were honest, they would say something like “The NFL is about Football, and not a talk radio entertainer. Rush Might be a fine owner, but might also detract attention from the sport we love.” Or something like that.
Mark J. Don’t forget having your pregnant girlfriend murdered.
Look, Roger, the comparison of Rush and Fergie is simply not apt. The owners haven’t black-balled Big Pharma because of his well-publicized drug addiction, nor even his less-publicized sexual tourism in the Dominican Republic (pitchers and catchers, anyone?). No, the moneyed elite are giving Rush the back of the hand because he’s a low-rent, loud-mouthed douchebag, without an ounce of restraint, honor or class.
The NFL had already given him one chance, on its premier property, MNF, and the lout couldn’t go a month without shooting off his mouth about race and media bias, in sports for cryin’ out loud. What a pathetic idiot. Of course, in wingnutland, that’s makes him king.
All of which doesn’t make his river of tears over the past few days any less wonderful to behold. And let’s be frank, the big baby’s a stone racist.
Dolf,
But Keith Olbermann is fine as a commentator on Sunday Night Football?
“Look, Roger, the comparison of Rush and Fergie is simply not apt.”
Who’s Roger?
Ed
Sorry for mixing up your name, Ed. As for your new attempt at equivalence, between Olbermann v. Big Baby Limbaugh on MNF, I challenge you to provide one example where Olbermann has foisted his political views on the football audience. He’s a professional and understands that his job on Monday Night is to showcase the game. Rush got canned because nobody wanted to hear his lame political schtick injected into their football, and it was clear that the big dummy just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
“Barack the Magic Negro”–ever heard that song parody on his show? He played it almost daily, up to and through the election. Let’s be frank, Ed, the big galoot is a flat-out racist, and no one with any dignity or a proud brand to protect wants anything to do with him. He’s a notorious loner; there’s a reason for it.
Obama as “Magic Negro” was a parody of the liberal L.A. Times journalist David Ehrenstein, who coined the phrase in his column there.
Comments on this post are closed, after trolls using far worse language than “Dolf” started showing up, and have since been deleted.