I'll have to agree with Peter King's analysis of the Rush Limbaugh/Donovan McNabb business...to a point. That is, Rush is no racist, he's just wrong.
Rush, who should know a thing or two about being overrated, either a) hasn't seen enough of Donovan McNabb to make an informed observation on his QB play, b) wouldn't know a talented quarterback if one walked up and smacked him (which could still happen) or c) was on deadline to write his controversial commentary du jour and all he could come up with was this lame bullshit.
But Rush wasn't wrong about everything. The NFL does promote young, talented, intelligent, charismatic black QB's, as any business with a marketing department and half a brain would do, and the media cooperates in that effort, and probably makes more of his "blackness" than even he (among others) is comfortable with. But McNabb is both a huge talent and a "star" figure, if still a little erratic or inconsistent as an NFL QB. And yes Rush, the Eagles defense carried them through some times when the offense was struggling. But as to the defense not getting any "credit" for playing well? Well maybe the streets aren't all abuzz with talk of the Eagle "D" in your part of South Florida. But most NFL fans have a clue.
And it would be hard to top the media hero worship and promotion afforded Brett Favre (and a few other white QB's), so it's tough to hang the race card on the phenomenon of the NFL "star" system. Favre has taken his lumps lately and the Packers aren't worried. How fast did the bloom fall off of Kurt Warner's rose? Tom Brady went from hero to bum from 2001 to 2002. Kordell Stewart was an MVP candidate in 2001 and last year he lost his job. It's a tough racket.
Which brings me to another point that Rush seems to miss. It's hard as hell for ANY quarterback to look good, and move an offense, and score, and win, week after week in the NFL these days. Defenses are too good. Pass rushers are too fast, linebackers are too big. Cornerbacks are the best athletes on the team.
Ask any Browns fan if they'd trade Tim Couch, the player drafted just before McNabb, straight up for Donovan. No brainer. In a heartbeat. Where do I sign? In fact, you could probably count the NFL teams who would not trade their starting QB for McNabb on the fingers of one hand. Now I know that being a great athlete and being a great NFL quarterback are two different things, and I would not yet put McNabb in the latter category. So tell Canton not to cast that bust just yet.
But "overrated"? And this overrating is supposedly carried out by liberal sportswriters with the agenda of proving right their long held complaint that there should be more black QB's? C'mon El Rushbo. Are sportswriters clamoring that Spurgeon Wynn was unjustly denied his chance to be a star by a racist NFL power structure? In the era of Cunningham, Vick, Brooks, Leftwich, Culpepper and McNabb, can anyone actually be suggesting that mediocre black quarterbacks are being lionized by a gaggle of PC lefty sportswriters, and a gullible public is being conned? Or is it just McNabb, Rush?
McNabb has won big games. He has won Division titles. He's still young. He's got a big arm and great mobility. He's smart and he's tough. From everything I can gather, he's also a gracious and humble man. McNabb is a star. Rush is entitled to his opinion of any player's ability or potential. And now we've learned that when it comes to evaluating NFL talent, he's got his head up his ass. Keep the day job, buddy.
I know it's all about ratings. Controversy for its own sake. From what I heard he was a success at the ratings game the other day. But Rush should stay away from player personnel commentaries in the future, because his football ignorance is showing. Good ratings or not, if this keeps up, he'll be gone from the network faster than you can say "Dennis Miller". At least we laughed at Dennis Miller for all the right reasons.
UPDATE: I didn't even get this posted, and Limbaugh is gone. Political correctness reigns.
UPDATE 10/3: Allen Barra of Slate is a sportswriter, and he defends Limbaugh, saying he is exactly right, and that he said what other sportswriters should have said long ago. Here are a couple of the money paragraphs:
So far, no black quarterback has been able to dominate a league in which the majority of the players are black. To pretend that many of us didn't want McNabb to be the best quarterback in the NFL because he's black is absurd. To say that we shouldn't root for a quarterback to win because he's black is every bit as nonsensical as to say that we shouldn't have rooted for Jackie Robinson to succeed because he was black. (Please, I don't need to be reminded that McNabb's situation is not so difficult or important as Robinson's—I'm talking about a principle.)Consequently, it is equally absurd to say that the sports media haven't overrated Donovan McNabb because he's black. I'm sorry to have to say it; he is the quarterback for a team I root for. Instead of calling him overrated, I wish I could be admiring his Super Bowl rings. But the truth is that I and a great many other sportswriters have chosen for the past few years to see McNabb as a better player than he has been because we want him to be.
While I still think Rush is wrong in terms of his football talent evaluation, I do not see a single "racist" or "hateful" word or thought in anything he said. Of course, the more noise people can make shouting "racist" and being "shocked" and "outraged", the more they can avoid discussing or debating the issue on its merits. If people can demonize Rush as having said things that are beyond the pale of civilized discourse, then they can preempt conversations that they are uncomfortable having.
Bill Maher makes a similar point, humorously. (via Instapundit)
UPDATE 10/3: As of the moment, I am aware of no outraged calls for the resignation of Allen Barra. We'll stay on top of this one.
Posted by dan at October 1, 2003 11:09 PM