So here's the deal. YOu feel strongly about some issue? you have a stance on something? Save it for after the whistle blows.
In the 2003 NFL season, right wing agitator Rush Limbaugh was a commentator for ESPN's sunday night football broadcast. The subject on the table was Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb. Here's what Rush had to say
Completely lame and uncalled for. Nothing can convince me that this wasn't a calculated attempt to create controversy; another form of racial arson, which I've talked about before. Rush has zealots to feed meat to and he decided gameday was suppertime. I can just imagine him in the moments before the "on air" light came on: "Wait'll they get a load of what I say NOW. My Dittoheads are gonna love this one. Ramifications for my fellow broadcasters? Who Cares? Fallout for the Network that hired me to talk about football, not to advance my political opinion? To hell with them! All that matters is the further advancement of my own cult of personality."
To the credit of the Disney Company(ESPN's parent company), Limbaugh was dismissed soon thereafter. They let him save face by giving him an opportunity to resign as opposed to being fired, but everybody knew what was up. Later that season, Donovan McNabb took the Eagles to the Superbowl.
This past November, comedian/political commentator Bill Maher, In the New Rules segment of his show "Real Time", decided Quarterback Tim Tebow who had recently been named the team's starter, would make a great metaphor for the the Republican Presidential field. Here's how it went down.
Bill Maher has made no bones about his disdain for organized religion. Furthermore, this wasn't the first time he's found unkind things to say about Tebow. With that said, As of this writing, Since replacing Kyle Orton as Denver's Starting QB, Denver's record stands at 5-1. I guess it'd be a bridge too far for Maher to maybe look at that and think twice about his anti-religious predilections, but I wonder if he would at least be man enough to consider that he may have let his opinion taint his perception of reality. The truth is in this case, Bill Maher did the same thing he calls out the evangelicals for. He let his religious beliefs(or lack thereof) color his opinion in defiance of all of the stats, facts, and evidence. I'm no Tebow expert, but one look at his history as a player suggests that "in over his head" and "throws like a girl" seem at best ridiculously innaccurate and at worst like the words of someone more interested in their agenda than in an actual dialogue about sports.
Generally speaking, I dig Bill Maher. Rush Limbaugh not so much, but in this case they're both guilty of the same sin.
You know what the cool thing about sports is? Agendas and plans and opinions don't mean a thing. Sports is (with some exceptions)about whether or not you can get it done. that being the case, your feelings on Affirmative Action or Religion mean NOTHING. You embarrass yourself an annoy all of us by introducing those things into this conversation. I suppose neither of these situations should be a suprise to anyone; both of these fellas have a habit of making their hubris more important that what they're talking about.
So I guess the lesson to take from this is that not everything is Peanut Butter Cups. Before you get ready to introduce your personal hangups into our sports converstation, Think twice. As a matter of fact, no don't think about it even once. Just shut up, have some nachos and watch the game.
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