I thought that Rush’s interest in being part of football was done with his stint on ESPN. I guess we were all in for a rude awakening sometime. The long time radio talk show host now wants to own an NFL franchise. Honestly, that makes me sick. I know, I know, everyone has a right to pursue their own business, and to make money. But let’s be honest, this guy is an attention whore who says anything that comes to his mind in order to stay relevant (or try to). This is the man who said Donovan McNabb was overrated only because the media wants to see a black QB succeed. This same media is the one I’ve observed rip McNabb apart from the time he was drafted till the day I’m writing this piece.
I guess he feels left out since Gloria Estefan, Mark Anthony, the Williams sisters, and Jimmy Buffet are in on the NFL ownership action. Maybe he wants to ball like Jay Z (part owner of the NJ Nets). Whatever his reasons are, he’s not talking right now due to the fact that Georgia Frontiere’s (the late former owner of the Rams) assets are under review by Goldman Sachs. It’s also not clear what percentage of ownership he and his partner Dave Checketts (owner of the St. Louis Blues) are pursuing.
Let me dig for something positive out of this. Well, I almost reached China digging but this is what I can find. It certainly would bring a lot of publicity to the team that currently holds the longest losing streak in the NFL, and has become a punchline/ punching bag in the NFL. But do they really need the indignity of Rush Limbaugh being their owner? The man is so pompous that he’s going to challenge Jerry Jones for the NFL’s biggest ego (and win). He’ll make Al Davis look sane by comparison. Every human being has a little hypocrisy in them, but this man once said all drug addicts should be separated from regular society. He conveniently meant all drug addicts not named Rush Limbaugh. This man challenged President Obama to come and debate him on his radio show as if he was running against him for office. That takes a special level of pomposity and disrespect to do something like that. Plain and simple, he’s a radio entertainer who found a following and plays to his crowd. It’s the classic recipe for long term success. Congratulations to him for finding it. Frankly, I think Carrot Top and Gallagher would make better NFL owners.
Do you detect a bias against Limbaugh? You should. I can admit I don’t like the man. Not even a little bit. I won’t call him too many names though because I don’t know him. I just know the persona he projects, and that persona is simply moronic. He’s Howard Stern without the naked women on the show (also a better prospective owner). But since this is supposed to be an objective article, I will note that the Rams could use any kind of help they can get as far as publicity and perhaps scrutiny. They need new ideas and fresh thinking to get them back to their glory days. I just can’t help but think this is merely another way for him to get more attention to himself. If you’ve ever listened to more than 2 sentences from his mouth, you know he’s all about himself. That in and of itself is fine, but the superiority complex that accompanies his attitude just makes me want to tune him out.
Can you really imagine the kind of show he’ll try to put on in the NFL? He’d be like Mark Cuban, only stupider and a lot fatter. Let me clarify that, he wouldn’t be able to control his mouth much like Mark Cuban, or Ozzie Guillen, or Jerry Jones, or Al Davis. But somehow, because he’s Rush Limbaugh, he’ll manage to offend and alienate a lot of NFL fans. How many of you think that he’ll be able to resist pushing his political views/ agenda on the NFL or use NFL resources to somehow express his non-sports views? He’s done it before, he’ll do it again. One of his first actions may be to move the Rams back to Los Angeles. That would be a smart move business wise, but it won’t do much to endear him to the hearts of the fans he’ll inherit if he was to succeed in his bid to become an owner. Can St. Louis lose another NFL franchise (think Cardinals)? Only time will tell.
To conclude, I have no problem with people trying to make money and do business. But if the saying that the leopard can’t change his spots is true, then Rush Limbaugh owning an NFL franchise will be 10x worse than Rush Limbaugh being an NFL commentator on an ESPN pregame show. Sports isn’t a place to push your political agenda, and I for one don’t think Rush will be able to help himself. He’s an entertainer first and foremost, and even though I don’t find him particularly entertaining, he knows his audience and he knows how to push buttons. He lives to create controversy, and the NFL has enough controversy without Rush Limbaugh pulling any kind of strings in it.
Source: foxsports.com