Rush Limbaugh Resigns from ESPN after Racist Remark

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by John D Harris: quote: Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: If McNabb were the ONLY black quarterback being playing in the NFL on a good team, Rush Limbaugh may have a point. But there Dante Culpepper, Michael Vick, and Steve McNair out there also. ALL of these guys have done great things for their teams and recieved the appropriate praise for their efforts. McNabb has also. Now this may really be a day of firsts Cerek I have to disagree with you completely on your logic used in the above quote. Rush was speaking about McNair not delivering for his team so far this season as of sunday morning BEFORE the Eagles won. So to bring up the other Quarterbacks that are doing well and have delivered for their teams so far this season is not an honest assesment of the statement. All three of the quarterbacks you named teams have a winning record so far this year as of sunday morning. Rush DID NOT say a quarterback with a winning record so far this year was overated. He said a Quarterback with a loing record was over rated. That is like saying because the Oklahoma Sooners are doing good this year it's not ok to critcize the Crimson Tide for losing.

And I - in turn - must respectfully disagree with you, Mr. Harris. In just about any other situation, I would be agreeing with everybody else that Limbaugh's statement was not that inflammatory and I DO agree that at least part of the "tempest" caused by his remarks is the result of the Standing Double Standard in our society where it isn't acceptable to say anything remotely critical of any minority group, but you can make the exact same comments about white players and be praised for it.

The reason I take exception to Limbaugh's statement is because it implies that the ONLY reason McNabb is receiving media attention is because of his skin color...and that simply is not true. McNabb has been to the Pro Bowl more than once. He has led the Eagles to the NFC Championship game more than once. He DOES have talent and has exhibited on the field. But since he hasn't won all his games this year, suddenly he is only being hyped because of the media's desire to promote black QB's. BTW, Philadelphia does not have a losing record...they are .500.

As for McNair not delivering for his team, I suppose the fact that he has been injured since the season began has nothing to do with that. Even with his injuries, he still goes out and plays every Sunday.

As for my comparing other black QB's to McNabb, it most certainly IS relevant given the implication by Rush that the media is desparate to hype a black QB. Again, that would be an accurate statement (or implication) if there were no black QB's doing well in the NFL, yet were still being hyped by the media. But that simply isn't the case. I'm pointing out that there are several examples of black QB's that ARE doing well based on their skills and NOT the "hype of the media". Yet Limbaugh's statement indicated that the media had to "produce" a black QB hero because none would exist without their help.

As for Kordell Stewart being worse than Trent Dilfer, you're certainly welcome to that opinion. My point in bringing up Kordell was that he did receive a lot of media attention a few years ago based on his performance at Colorado and his first couple of season with Pittsburgh (during which he WAS an unpredictably explosive component of the offense). However, once Kordell couldn't maintain that explosive offensive capability on a consistent basis, he dropped out of the public eye quicker than if he had joined the witness protection program. According to Rush Limbaugh, if the media is concerned with hyping a black QB as successful, then it makes sense they would still be mentioning Kordell, at least occasionally.

The fact is that the media has a remarkably short attention span. So once an athlete stops producing, he/she will usually be "yesterday's news" as far as the media is concerned.

[Seraph]

The reason I take exception to Limbaugh's statement is because it implies that the ONLY reason McNabb is receiving media attention is because of his skin color...

No one seemed to get upset when Isiah Thomas said that the only reason that Larry Bird "would be just another basketball player if he was black", and I seem to recall that Isiah Thomas wasn't forced out of the NBA after saying that.

[johnny]

Originally posted by Seraph: quote: The reason I take exception to Limbaugh's statement is because it implies that the ONLY reason McNabb is receiving media attention is because of his skin color...

No one seemed to get upset when Isiah Thomas said that the only reason that Larry Bird "would be just another basketball player if he was black", and I seem to recall that Isiah Thomas wasn't forced out of the NBA after saying that. [/QUOTE]Well... Larry was kinda pissed off about it.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by Seraph: quote: The reason I take exception to Limbaugh's statement is because it implies that the ONLY reason McNabb is receiving media attention is because of his skin color...

No one seemed to get upset when Isiah Thomas said that the only reason that Larry Bird "would be just another basketball player if he was black", and I seem to recall that Isiah Thomas wasn't forced out of the NBA after saying that. [/QUOTE]Nope. But, Larry Bird got his revenge recently by forcing Thomas out of Indy. [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

[Sir Taliesin]

I caught a discussion about this topic on Fox Sports last night. I black guy said that it's all right for Whites to talk trash about whites and it's ok for blacks to talk trash about blacks, but it's not ok for whites to talk trash about blacks, while it is perfectly ok for blacks to talk trash about whites. He was saying that's how the system works now-a-days. He went on to say that he thought it wasn't right though. I personally thought he was right on the mark!

[Maelakin]

The reason I take exception to Limbaugh's statement is because it implies that the ONLY reason McNabb is receiving media attention is because of his skin color...and that simply is not true. McNabb has been to the Pro Bowl more than once. He has led the Eagles to the NFC Championship game more than once. He DOES have talent and has exhibited on the field. But since he hasn't won all his games this year, suddenly he is only being hyped because of the media's desire to promote black QB's. BTW, Philadelphia does not have a losing record...they are .500.

No where in his statement did Rush say that the only reason McNabb is receiving attention is because of his skin color. What he did say is that he is an over-hyped player because of his color.

McNabb is a decent player, but he is no where near the caliber of player that most of the media makes him out to be. His teams defense did carry him most of the time; often compensating for mistakes he made during the game. Without the defense the team had, McNabb would not have had any of the current success he did.

So as McNabb is touted as being the entire team, Rush brings it home to point out the fact that this is not true.

Going back to last year for an example you can look through the local Chicago newpapers and see exactly what Rush is speaking off. There were multiple articles on McNabb, McNair, Cullpepper, and Vick. Not one article was printed in the normal sports section saying anything about the quarterbacks that were tearing it up such as Gannon. Gannon set a new all time passing record and he didn't even get mentioned.

So yes, BLACK quartbacks ARE over-hyped. Rush just said what many people don't want to see.

Negative reaction did not come immediately. But on Tuesday, McNabb told the Philadelphia Daily News: "It's sad that you've got to go to skin color. I thought we were through with that whole deal."

So after years of media attention and being refered to as a "Black Quarterback" he all the sudden has a problem. I honestly feel that McNabb decided to play the racism card to take the heat off of the real controversy, his ability not being up to snuff when compared to the hype produced by the media.

[Timber Loftis]

From today's NY Times.
By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Published: October 3, 2003
____________________________________
Keith Appell, a public relations executive who has worked on Republican campaigns, said Limbaugh should not have resigned.

"Can a prominent white person in America criticize a prominent black person in America without being told his speech is impermissible?" he asked. "He's got a right to be wrong, but he shouldn't lose his job because some hypocritical, pinheaded Congressmen and presidential candidates become the speech police."

Appell said Cosell's remark (referring to a black player as a "little monkey")was inarguably worse than what Limbaugh said. But Cosell survived in part because of his civil rights credentials.

Appell asked, "Does that mean if you're a liberal you get a pass on it, and if you're a conservative, you don't?"

[John D Harris]

Melusine, Nice post, My honor demands that I compliment you on your post if I am and have been willing to disagree with your logic on other posts. Your reasoning and logic is sound. [img]smile.gif[/img]
John D.

[John D Harris]

[quote]Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric:

And I - in turn - must respectfully disagree with you, Mr. Harris. In just about any other situation, I would be agreeing with everybody else that Limbaugh's statement was not that inflammatory and I DO agree that at least part of the "tempest" caused by his remarks is the result of the Standing Double Standard in our society where it isn't acceptable to say anything remotely critical of any minority group, but you can make the exact same comments about white players and be praised for it. The reason I take exception to Limbaugh's statement is because it implies that the ONLY reason McNabb is receiving media attention is because of his skin color...and that simply is not true. McNabb has been to the Pro Bowl more than once. He has led the Eagles to the NFC Championship game more than once. He DOES have talent and has exhibited on the field. But since he hasn't won all his games this year, suddenly he is only being hyped because of the media's desire to promote black QB's. BTW, Philadelphia does not have a losing record...they are .500. As for McNair not delivering for his team, I suppose the fact that he has been injured since the season began has nothing to do with that. Even with his injuries, he still goes out and plays every Sunday. As for my comparing other black QB's to McNabb, it most certainly IS relevant given the implication by Rush that the media is desparate to hype a black QB. Again, that would be an accurate statement (or implication) if there were no black QB's doing well in the NFL, yet were still being hyped by the media. But that simply isn't the case. I'm pointing out that there are several examples of black QB's that ARE doing well based on their skills and NOT the "hype of the media". Yet Limbaugh's statement indicated that the media had to "produce" a black QB hero because none would exist without their help. As for Kordell Stewart being worse than Trent Dilfer, you're certainly welcome to that opinion. My point in bringing up Kordell was that he did receive a lot of media attention a few years ago based on his performance at Colorado and his first couple of season with Pittsburgh (during which he WAS an unpredictably explosive component of the offense). However, once Kordell couldn't maintain that explosive offensive capability on a consistent basis, he dropped out of the public eye quicker than if he had joined the witness protection program. According to Rush Limbaugh, if the media is concerned with hyping a black QB as successful, then it makes sense they would still be mentioning Kordell, at least occasionally. The fact is that the media has a remarkably short attention span. So once an athlete stops producing, he/she will usually be "yesterday's news" as far as the media is concerned.

Cerek,
1) Philly has a lossing record 1-2 http://www.nfl.com/standings as of sunday before the game when the comment was made Philly's record was 0-2.
2) See this link check out the Facts/Stats listed in the artical http://slate.msn.com/id/2089193/
3) It does not stand to reason the media would still be hyping Kordell, after all there are other quarterbacks in the NFL NOW that would be classified as having the same skin color or race.
4) I've be watching the NFL since the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in '69, during the late 70's and throughout the 80's I saw numorious stories done on why there should be black quarterbacks, not good quarterbacks but black quarterbacks. Lordy, Lordy, the NFL even has a rule right NOW that demands when ever a team hires a new Coach they must interview a coach of a certain race, not interview a coach because the team GM or owners thinks the coach is good but because of the coach's race and only race.

I didn't feel his remark was overly racist, but can easily be described as such by many. He should not have used the word "black". He should never had said that. But serves ESPN right for hiring him. They did want a controversial commentary and they got it. Boo! on them for making the wrong call. He's no sports analyst (same goes for Dennis Miller [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] ) And boo! on Rush for making that "bonehead" comment.