NFLPA to Rush: get lost Update: Rev Al joins the chorus
Rush Limbaugh’s bid to buy the St Louis Rams has drawn fire from the NFL Players Association and actually I am not sure why. NFL Players executive director DeMaurice Smith (from ESPN):
In an e-mail to the union’s executive committee on Saturday specifically addressing Limbaugh’s bid, Smith said, “I’ve spoken to the Commissioner [Roger Goodell] and I understand that this ownership consideration is in the early stages. But sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends. Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred.”
Discrimination and hatred? Such as … oops, no specifics mentioned. Is it that a political commentator wants Obama’s policies to fail? I do. Is it the way Limbaugh exposes the vile hate (Nancy “swastika” Pelosi, or Democrat “Tea Party Mob” Party) from the left. Perhaps it’s the way Limbaugh exposes the political nature of the race card played as a weapon to silence opposition instead of to use it to exclusively expose true racial inequality.
But no, what we find from ESPN is that the NFLPA objects to this:
Limbaugh has expressed a number of controversial racial ideas in the past. For example, he suggested that Gen. Colin Powell supported Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy simply because he was black, and he also stated that the media wants black quarterbacks to do well and that Donovan McNabb doesn’t deserve much of the credit he has received for the Eagles’ success.
Set aside the fact that Rush is not a racist, that his producer is an African American, has never said anything that is racist, spends his time pointing out hypocrisy and double standards on the left, and promoting a market system that serves as the real solution to inner city poverty … we have come to this. Unless an individual tows the politically correct line, speaks only when spoken to and then only in support of the young President, you are no longer qualified to partiipate in the free market.
Oh … this was my favorite line in the ESPN story. Just in case you didn’t know NFL;
Among the half-dozen interested buyers of the Rams, there are strong African-American ownership groups interested in buying the Rams, including businessmen Donald Watkins and Dave Steward.
I think its great that there are qualified bidders who are African American. It’s a sign of economic success that transcends race. But it is not and should not be a qualifier above anything else nor should it be a reason to exclude Limbaugh. The only thing that should matter to these players is success. Financial success.
There was a time when sports were a way to escape from day to day politics. That is more important now than ever. But first NBC decided to include Bob “Bush is a failed President” Costas and then Keith”Bath Tub Boy” Olberman in it’s Sunday telecast. Now this.
I love the Giants and the Pats. I watch regularly and attend one very expensive game each year. Money that helps pay the freight of these NFL players, many of whom are coddled, spoiled and narcissistic, as well as overpaid and under-performing (where’s the NFL pay czar when we need him). But should the NFL disqualify this bid based on Limbaugh’s political views I will no longer watch (as I have with baseball, apparently with a lot of other people). I have better things to do with my time.
UPDATE: yes predictable … the Rev Al has joined the chorus. No Rush.