Calling on Winky or Broadcast Vets

jimbutorac · Oct 3, 2003

I have a buddy in broadcast journalism and his belief is that Young, Jackson, Berman and Irvin were blindsided by Rush's comments about McNabb otherwise they might have protested more.

On the other hand, I guess that most of that is scripted and that they knew the topic was coming up. He thinks that though general topic might have been scripted, Rush went off the cuff on the "media desirous to see black QB do well" quote. Your take? And thanks in advance.

winkyduck · Oct 4, 2003

i can't say for sure but here is my take (i don't watch much of that show much for i have better things to do with my life than watch 2 hours of a pre-game show and i HATE that blowhard rush limbaugh).

to a certain extent the show is scripted. in the pre-prod(uction) meetings during the week, the rundown of the show and the entire show is discussed. when they go over each game they will hit certain items on each game - and then allow the talent time to "freelance" and discuss what they want.

i do tend to agree with your friend here (sorry). i think that for everyone BUT rush the rest of the cast pretty much knows what each other will say because they have discussed this ahead of time in meetings and what-not.

in rush's case - i sense that anytime rush wants to "butt his head in" on a topic - he does - and says what he wants. the crew has no idea when he will chime in or what he will say.

i do think the others had NO CLUE what rush was going to say or else they might have talked to him ahead of time and told him that saying what he eventually said would be stupid.

i do think they were blindsided by what rush said because they never dreamed he would say something like that.

now - i understand all of the uproar - but think about this: what rush said and did - was it out of character for him? NO! rush weas brought on to the show to do and say EXACTLY what he said. espn KNEW what they were getting into when they brought him on - and to claim otherwise is asinine! that show's ratings were up about 10% with rush on it - so mission accomplished there. i think it is a shame espn fired him (i know he "quit" but knowing espn like i do - rush was "pushed" and don't think otherwise for one second - if espn really wanted rush he would still be on the show). espn (as usual) showed what kind of an organization they truly are with this whole thing.

jimbutorac · Oct 4, 2003

Thanks WD,

I was just curious of an insider's opinion.

As an aside, I totally believe that ESPN was going after ratings, damned be the consequences. What Rush had to offer was controversy, but nothing of real substance. His quote that the Rams under Mike Martz had never gone to the Super Bowl was a classic. His picks that I happened to watch such as Houston to upset KC were good for a fade.

With no background in football, he was incompetent at best. With this comment on the supposed liberal sports media bias that influences public perception on desiring black QBs to do well, he was so far off the mark as to be pathectic. What media bias? If he had named names or offered sources I could possibly agree, but obviously he can't or he would have by now.

Add to this his narccotics problem and how f'..d up he is, you almost have to feel sorry for him.

ChuckSims · Oct 4, 2003

Rush was forced to resign. ESPN wanted him to stay on but Berman and Jackson made it known that they did not want him on the show any longer so he resigned.

winkyduck · Oct 4, 2003

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chuck Sims:
Rush was forced to resign. ESPN wanted him to stay on but Berman and Jackson made it known that they did not want him on the show any longer so he resigned.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

i agree and that is exactly what i said in my post (not trying to bag on ya here). it was basically put to rush like this:

ESPN: "Rush - you're ass is OUT of here. you can either quit and make it seem as if this was YOUR decision - or not quit - and have us fire you. your call. whatcha gonna do?"

Rush: Good point - I'll quit this way it looks best for all of us.

ESPN: 100% agree. Thanks.

HumbertoColon · Oct 4, 2003

Do it again and say good bye sir. No racial crap here.

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[This message was edited by Patrick McIrish on October 04, 2003 at 05:34 AM.]

vinividivinci · Oct 4, 2003

Rush addressed this issue on his radio show on Friday, at some length. The condensed version is that Tom Jackson and Michael Irvin were getting pressure from their "people" about letting Rush "get away" with his comments.

Rush says the ESPN people asked him what he wanted to do about it. He said his reply was that he wanted to go into the Saturday a.m. production meeting and plan a segment for Sunday's show so TJ and Michael could respond to Rush's comments and have an open discussion as to their merits.

TJ and Michael declined so Rush resigned, not wanting to make his teammates uncomfortable. Rush said he was brought on board to stir things up and that was his intent. Said he fully expected a rousing debate regarding his remarks and was shocked when nobody responded.

VVV

p.s. Political correctness will be the downfall of our Constitution.

vinividivinci · Oct 4, 2003

BTW, regardless of how ill-advised Rush's remarks about the media may have been, he was right on the money about Donovan McNabb. The defense has carried the Eagles for several years. McNabb looks average at best without the great defense to keep him off the field.

VVV

ChuckSims · Oct 4, 2003

VVV, I agree that political correctness is preventing people from speaking their minds. When everyone thinks alike, nobody thinks.

HumbertoColon · Oct 4, 2003

Patrick McIrish ?? You're the boss so ok but my post wasnt racist.

jimbutorac · Oct 4, 2003

Chuck,

When Michael Moore used the Academy Awards as a forum for his political beliefs/social commentary, he was out of line. No different than Rush.