Sports Article With a Different Spin on the McNabb-Rush Controversy

[Abe Sargent]

Interesting article. Seems like everybody has been jumping on Rush if they are in the sports media. Here's one sportswriter with a decent pedigree who agrees with Rush:

Rush Was Right


-Anxiety

[Aesyrqwe]

I never disagreed with his statement..
Sorry to go to the overused statement but here goes:

Opinions are like assholes, everyone has got one.

If you didn't like what he said, don't worry about it, its just his opinion. The liberal media was what made this into a major discussion. It should never have been like this. Rush is controversial, if you dont like what he says, then stop listening to him..

These stupid american controversies have been pissing me off lately. Cant we stop complaining about eachother for 10 minutes?

-Aes-

[kcchief19]

Well, Barra also thinks Babe Ruth was overrated, so there goes that.

I will say this -- while I disagree that Donovan McNabb is overrated, I will agree that someone can make a case that he is overrated. But to say he is overrated because he is black makes it a racial issue. It's like the old saying that when you say it isn't about the money, it's about the money. When you say it isn't about racism, it's about racism.

Rush also gets into trouble with me because what he said is factually wrong and makes no sense. There is no conspiracy in the media to make McNabb into something he is not. If Rush had said, "McNabb is a very athletic quarterback who can make outstanding plays, but his overall numbers are not as good as other QBs in the league," there would be no controversey.

By saying that the media wants a black QB to succeed, Rush is implying that a black QB has never succeeded. For that, I would like to see Doug Williams, Steve McNair and Randall Cunningham each get a chance at sticking their boots up his ass. Hell, let's even give Quincy Carter a shot at that.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally posted by kcchief19
By saying that the media wants a black QB to succeed, Rush is implying that a black QB has never succeeded. For that, I would like to see Doug Williams, Steve McNair and Randall Cunningham each get a chance at sticking their boots up his ass. Hell, let's even give Quincy Carter a shot at that.

I personally disagree with Rush's comments because I think McNabb is a hell of a quarterback. However, let's not mischaracterize what he said.

It is NOT an implication that black quarterbacks have never suceeded. It most likely does implay there is not a true franchise black QB at the top of the heap right now. Prior to the last few weeks, Quincy Carter was a joke, Kordell Stewart has been anemic at best, Aaron Brooks, who was once the next coming of Randall Cunnighmam to hear people talk, has hit a wall, Daunte Culpepper has done nothing since his Pro Bowl year, barring the occasional super game from Moss of course, Jeff Blake is a Plummer Patch and that's it. Vick is still learning, although he shows tremendous promise. Heck, the only black quarterback who you can honestly talk about in the same sentence with McNabb is McNair, and as to which of those is better? That's an interesting debate for another day.

So, he probably is implying that the media is overhyping the best current black QB because they want to see him do well, and that is perceived to be McNabb.

Heck, Byron Leftwich is already in commercials. "Next superstar" and all that (and he's about as mobile in the pocket as a phone booth, so they can't even label him athletic)

But that's the only implication, not that black QBs have never done well. Let's not build up a straw man here....

(Again, I would take McNabb as my primary QB if I were an owner, had the first pick in a hypothetical fantasy draft. McNabb is my man)


-Anxiety

[Samdari]

You are kidding right. Rush's statement certainly implied that the media was looking for a black QB to prop up. Unsaid here but implied is the idea that a black QB is not capable of achieving success on his own, and needs his esploits exaggerated by the media.

If Rush had simply said that he thought McNabb was overrated all along, that the defense carried the team, and McNabb got far too much credit, there would not have been this firestorm. That is a football analysis (belies his little knowledge of the game, but would not get him fired) but he chose to make that comment about every black QB, and he did deserve to get fired for it.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by Samdari
You are kidding right. Rush's statement certainly implied that the media was looking for a black QB to prop up. Unsaid here but implied is the idea that a black QB is not capable of achieving success on his own, and needs his esploits exaggerated by the media.

I think that's the key to the issue. Most people would probably agree that what Rush said wasn't overtly racist. The question is whether you think there was an implied racist overtone to it. That's a tough question to get into*.

I'm not sure there was, and I believe that you should be able to talk about race without being considered a racist for it. Sure, it's fun to pretend that race never comes into play in terms of how people are perceived by others, but that's just foolish. The question of whether minority atheletes are treated differently by the media, positively or negatively, is a legitimate one. Is an NFL countdown show the right place to have that discussion? Probably not, but that makes Rush guilty of bad judgement, not racist intent.

Some of the reaction has been so over-the-top as to defy credibility. (Tom Jackson's story of a child asking if it was still OK for blacks to play QB.... I mean, come on.) That said, I also have to recognize that as a white, middle class kid I don't exactly get the final say on whether someone should be offended by this.

*"You didn't say it, but I could tell you were thinking it and now I'm mad..." -- my wife, every freaking day.

[VPI97]

Originally posted by Samdari
Unsaid here but implied is the idea that a black QB is not capable of achieving success on his own, and needs his esploits exaggerated by the media.

What a joke.

[Samdari]

Originally posted by VPI97
What a joke.

Learn to read between the lines.

[condors]

its a freaking joke

i live in philly and i can tell you the local print media do not build him up i have read tons of articles about how his accuracy isn't good enough, he has too long a delivery, he isn't making his decsions fast enough, is unable to throw touch passes.

The radio guys will take shots at him left and right as well

Now if your going to tell me that paul T sat down with the national media a few years ago and said build up donnie mac so the world is a better place? i don't buy it not for a second

IF he wanted to say he is overated thats fine but to say the Media (ummm he is part of that said media) built up a guy because he black is a farce, besides i thought tommy maddox was the league favorite qb last year. Want to call the media on falling in love with a good storyline you may have a case with maddox, but isn't that their job?

[VPI97]

Originally posted by Samdari
Learn to read between the lines.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by condors
Want to call the media on falling in love with a good storyline you may have a case with maddox, but isn't that their job?

See, I think that's the point. The media always falls in love with a few guys, and often ends up overhyping them in the process.

There are several cookie-cutter stories the media loves to pile on. I can think of several examples:

- The Great Story - the guy who comes from nowhere to become a star. Recent example: Kurt Warner

- The Comeback - the guy who was washed up and forgotten and makes it back. Recent example: Tommy Maddox

- The New School - the guy who redefines how his position is played. Current example: Mike Vick

- The Character - the guy who may or may not be as good as he says, but is always entertaining. Current example: Warren Sapp

- The Warrior - the guy who always plays hurt. Current example: Steve McNair (getting there, at least)

And, I think you could add to that:

- The Barrier Breaker - the guy who succeeds, and in the process breaks through stereotypes about what "his kind" are supposed to be able to do. Example: McNabb, Tiger Woods, Anson Carter, whoever the first gay big leaguer turns out to be, etc.

(Of course, you can argue that McNabb wasn't breaking any barriers at all, that that barrier had been broken long before by guys like Williams and Cunningham. But I think the media still loves these stories, even if they're somewhat outdated.)

Now imagine Rush had said "I think there's some social concern here with Tommy Maddox, the media have been very desirous to see a washed up bum come back to glory, he was never that good". Does he get fired? No, of course not, even though you could argue that he'd be wrong about Maddox.

What if he said "I think there's some social concern here with Warren Sapp, the media have been very desirous to have a superstar who's great on camera and puts on a good show, he was never that good"?

So it comes back to: whether he's right or wrong about McNabb, does a commentator have the right to mention race as a possible factor in how someone is viewed? Or is race still one of those topics that you can just never mention without risking your job? Do you have to just pretend it doesn't exist?

(One last point: a lot of this is a theoretical discussion. I think you could make a strong case that it all goes out the window when you're dealing with Rush Limbaugh, because he's made enough statements in the past that he doesn't and shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt.)

[ISiddiqui]

Unsaid here but implied is the idea that a black QB is not capable of achieving success on his own, and needs his esploits exaggerated by the media.

Which is why Rush says McNair is one of the best QBs in the NFL?

See, I think that's the point. The media always falls in love with a few guys, and often ends up overhyping them in the process.

Yeah, later in the show, Limbaugh also said the media likes to hype up the Great Story and was talking about how Warner was overhyped.

[Glengoyne]

Originally posted by Samdari
Learn to read between the lines.

When being critical of what someone has said, it is much better to read the actual lines.

[kurtism]

Interesting rebuttal to Barra's argument here.

[Samdari]

Originally posted by Glengoyne
When being critical of what someone has said, it is much better to read the actual lines.

We obviously disagree on this point. However, in this case, it is moot, as I found his actual lines offensive enough.

[John Galt]

I was on vacation when the whole Rush thing went down, but all I have to say is, why is anyone surprised? Rush has a long history of saying racially insensitive things (from FAIR - edited as per Maple Leafs suggestion ):

As a young broadcaster in the 1970s, Limbaugh once told a black caller: "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back." A decade ago, after becoming nationally syndicated, he mused on the air: "Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"

In 1992, on his now-defunct TV show, Limbaugh expressed his ire when Spike Lee urged that black schoolchildren get off from school to see his film Malcolm X: "Spike, if you're going to do that, let's complete the education experience. You should tell them that they should loot the theater, and then blow it up on their way out."

In a similar vein, here is Limbaugh's mocking take on the NAACP, a group with a ninety-year commitment to nonviolence: "The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."

When Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) was in the U.S. Senate, the first black woman ever elected to that body, Limbaugh would play the "Movin' On Up" theme song from TV's "Jeffersons" when he mentioned her. Limbaugh sometimes still uses mock dialect -- substituting "ax" for "ask"-- when discussing black leaders.

Such quotes and antics -- many compiled by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) for our 1995 book -- offer a whiff of Limbaugh's racial sensibility. So does his claim that racism in America "is fueled primarily by the rantings and ravings" of people like Jesse Jackson. Or his ugly reference two years ago to the father of Madonna's first child, a Latino, as "a gang-member type guy" -- an individual with no gang background.

In 1994, Limbaugh mocked St. Louis for building a rail line to East St. Louis "where nobody goes." East St. Louis is home to roughly 40,000 residents -- 98 percent of whom are African-Americans. One of its 40,000 "nobodies" is star NFL linebacker Bryan Cox.

Once, in response to a caller arguing that black people need to be heard, Limbaugh responded: "They are 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?"

[Maple Leafs]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I think the fact that Rush has a history of saying this sort of thing goes a long way towards removing his right to the "benefit of the doubt" defense.

(P.S. John, you may want to edit your post to make it clear you're quoting fair.org. Wouldn't want anyone to think you were plagarizing...)

[Glengoyne]

The counter point from the football prospectus guy is proof that you can illustrate anything you want with statistics. The one thing he proved to me is that if you can keep McNabb from playing for 6 games you can manipulate stats so that he projects as the best QB bar none.

All in all I am left absolutely more confident that McNabb is nowhere near the best QB in the league, which is how he has often been portrayed by many a TV commentator. McNabb is above average, I can give him no more. He is one of a number of 'second tier' quarterback around the league. He can run the ball, and that does elevate him over a lot of others, but He is no Peyton Manning.

[Samdari]

Glen,

I don't see where there is a ton of manipulation here. McNabb's stats for 10 games in 2002 project to be quite similar to his actual totals from 2001 or 2000, except his rushing was down in 2001. His per game averages for 2002 are eerily similar to what he did over 16 games in 2000. Projecting those 10 games out to a full season would not make McNabb out to be the best QB ever, just what he had already achieved in previous full seasons.

But anyway, arguing the football merits of McNabb relative to the rest of NFL QBs misses the point on the Limbaugh episode. Rush did not got fired for making the football arguments about McNabb being overrated. If he had done that without making the additional comments about his race, he would have sparked an interesting, possibly national debate on a football topic. That would have actually been him having a positive impact on the show.

I also find it ironic that you now hold up Manning as the standard of QB play in the NFL. People were starting to make similar rumblings about Manning last year - overrated, not progressing, etc.