The No Fun League Punts

Rush Limbaugh reportedly will drop out of the group bidding for the St. Louis Rams.  Surprised?  Other than when asking for public handouts on yet another stadium the NFL owners refer to remain out of the public eye.  I am taking abut the owners, here -  the player's union and the owners have agreed that essentially anything goes with the players.  C'mon - wife-beaters, ex-cons and animal abusers have rights and are football fans, too!  Whatever - it is a flawed comparison because a prospective player's right to seek employment has stronger legal protections than a prospective owner's right to invest.

As to Rush, love him or hate him he has made fabulous living being controversial and (that awful word) divisive.  That has opened some doors to him and, unsurprisingly, closed others.  Quel surprise.

I'D RATHER TUNE OUT THAN TUNE IN: From danoso in the comments:

It's not because he's controversial or "divisive" - Keith Olbermann is all that, and he has a gig with the NFL. It's because he's conservative.

Good point!  Olbermann does have a long prior incarnation in "sports journalism" and he is appearing in sportcasts, not as an owner, but still - on the rare occasions he pops up on my screen I am on the channel changer like Wild Bill Clinton on a young... well, pretty quickly.

Apparently Olbie is on an NBC NFL pre-game broadcast.  If they want to cross-promote their MSLSD star and risk the ratings hit, I am not sure why the NFL would care.

IF IT ISN'T ONE THING IT'S ANOTHER:  Yes, it is annoying that some of the criticism of Limbaugh was based on manufactured quotes.  But he has cultivated controversy for twenty years, and the NFL does not like controversy.

Or put it this way - after spending twenty years getting rich while promoting the eminently defensible views that Jesse Jackson is a liar and the main stream media are fools, is Rush really surprised when Jackson lies and the media is fooled?

FIGHT THE SMEARS:  If Rush has a valid lawsuit against the media that ran the phony quotes he ought to pursue it.

Comments

[peter]

For me the scoreboard reads as follows:

Old Media still has more power than Talk Radio / Blogosphere. Maybe MSM are like the 1964 Yankees, and about to drop to last place, but for now still swinging big bats.

[danoso]

It's not because he's controversial or "divisive" - Keith Olbermann is all that, and he has a gig with the NFL. It's because he's conservative.

[Janet]

"# Bill Clinton, Bob Johnson, Terry McAuliffe, Sandy Berger and Kendrick Meek schmoozing at Cafe Milano on Tuesday night. The guys showed up at the Georgetown restaurant after a fundraiser for Rep. Meek, who's launching a Senate bid in Florida. They briefly crashed an MSNBC party with Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell in the private dining room, then settled into the main room for dinner. And yes -- Meek Twittered about it."

From the WaPo Reliable Source today.
Perhaps Matthews or Mitchell could have asked Sandy Berger about what was really in those destroyed national security papers...instead of just yucking it up with a bunch of friends.

Berger stealing those papers, and the missing media coverage is one of the most outrageous media moments IMO.

[Janet]

The rotting media is our biggest problem. There will always be opponents, but if the referees are crooked, and rooting for one side, then the chances of winning will be slim.

[Jane]

WEll the lines have pretty well been drawn in this dispute. Let's not even pretend that liberals and conservatives are held to the same standards.

[narciso]

Really, Tom was being judged by statements he never made, and furthermore, never would make, and his accusers are those well known
'community organizers' Sharpton andJackson,
'seekers of truth' OTH, it's best not that he be associated with such a den of 'scum and villainy' like the NFL. Meanwhile, I think he should sue, those that at the least
passed on lies

[Jane]

AS Mark Steyn (I won) points out -

Maybe if he gets Roman Polanski to front the deal...

[narciso]

Sure when he finishes the screenplay for
'the Ghost'. I was flabbergasted when I heard that, I shouldn't have been.

[Jack is Back!]

All this has done is increase Rush's radio audience by another million. His advertisers are ecstatic and I wonder if they were the ones to put him up to the buy?

But yesterday's take down of Sharpton and Jackson were brutal. Why do people want to make an enemy of Rush and get all their dirty laundry hung out once again in front of 20 million?

[narciso]

They don't care, they already have the cities on the hook for the new stadiums, which are a money loser. They let known criminals in their lineups. Well I wasn't
crazy about the Rams before, I'll be even less so.

[hit and run]

Steyn also suggests Limbaugh buys the St. Louis Dispatch.

How about this -- Limbaugh buys the naming rights to the stadium.

[Sue]

I think I made a comment not that long ago that I hated Peyton Manning but not the Colts. I changed my mind.

[Sue]

If I were Rush, I'd put my vast network of researchers to work. These people and their public lives should be aired out for all to see. I'd start with Irsay.

[clarice]

He's going to keep pressing the nets which slandered him to retract and when they refuse, he'll sue. The legal departments of those nets are already screaming, "RedRum! RedRum!"

[megapotamus]

I'm in a tiny minority in that I do not care about sports in any regard but even I know that Rush's daily audience in the 20m range, often higher, is several multiples larger than any but the biggest of Big Games. And that is five times a week. In the middle of the day. In the media world there really is no one bigger than Rush in these terms. CNN's primetime audience is generally less than 5% of Rush's daily crowd. All this while Rush is unburdened with anything approaching the costs of correspondents, real estate, travel, communications and of course those multitudinous layers of fact-checkers, bush-beaters and other geniuses who majored in Communications and aspire to say the news. So it is a quite uneven struggle and yet with the stupid, libelous assertions of Sanchez and armies of others they have entered the fray carelessly with no hint at any defensive preparations. I sincerely hope that Rush has the intent of prosecuting his counter-offense to the mattresses. The consensus seems to be that the slanders are so egregious and blatant that a suit has good chances for success even given the hostile state of the law. So it seems, as usual, Rush holds all the cards. The cable screamers like Matthews with their five-digit ratings are relevant merely to the extent they are covered by Rush. So, as a pretty okay guy once said, "Bring it on!"

[Mike]

32 years as a loyal Redskin fan, Sundays were my day. No longer. Besides the skins stink!. Hello Washington Capitals and the UFL, goodbye NFL!

[clarice]

Instapundit:
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JENNIFER HENDRICKS: Body and Soul: Equality, Pregnancy, and the Unitary Right to Abortion.

Posted at 10:40 am by Glenn Reynolds

ERIC SCHEIE: Certain Opinions Are Worse Than Torturing Dogs To Death.

Posted at 10:33 am by Glenn Reynolds

MICKEY KAUS HELPFULLY OFFERS a new business plan for The Atlantic.

Posted at 10:28 am by Glenn Reynolds

CONSTANT-DOLLAR DOW: Today’s 10,000 is really 7,537. Or, in another metric: “It cost about 30 ounces to buy the 10,000 Dow last time. Now it costs less than 10.”

UPDATE: A reader sends this Bloomberg screen grab showing Dow over CPI. “In
real terms, we’re near the bottom of the dozen year range.”

Posted at 10:09 am by Glenn Reynolds

THE FIVE FACES of Jerry Brown.

Posted at 10:00 am by Glenn Reynolds

LIMBAUGH FANS STARTING A punt the NFL campaign? “I have cancelled my DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket package (including the Supercast). I will not watch ONE MINUTE of NFL games or coverage this season—including the Super Bowl.”

I’ll take that pledge too! [You never watch NFL football anyway. -- ed. Oh, right. Never mind.] I’ll bet there’s a big overlap between Limbaugh fans and NFL fans, though, so it’ll be interesting to see who wins out in a battle for loyalties. . . .

[megapotamus]

Did you ever notice that whenever they depict football in the future it has radically changed, like with mini-tramps and rocket balls? The political shake-up allows these things to happen and the question of speed is soley determined by popularity... by audience size. I mean, someone invented football and baseball and basketball. Hockey is eternal. UFL? Great! Rush could probably bankroll a 10 team league of arena ballers himself, wouldn't that be grand? How many start up leagues have withered and died attempting to compete with the NFL? Four? Not counting soccor. Perhaps NFL football is not as vital to our daily lives as they have always assumed. If so, they will mightily regret their pygmy-swarm on the media giant that is Rush Limbaugh.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

I'm with Clarice, Rush has a legal case against several people for tortious interference, and it's going to be relatively easy to quantify the damages.

[Thomas Collins]

My understanding of this is that El Rushbo was going to be a passive investor, not a manager in whatever type of enterprise was going to acquire the Rams franchise. It would be interesting to find out the types of characters who are passive investors in the various NFL franchises. Many are probably more controversial than El Rushbo.

Want to get the leftosphere in a total tizzy? Let's start a rumor that Sarah Palin is buying a majority interest in the Seattle Seahawks and the franchise's nickname is going to be changed to the Moose Hunters!

[Charlie (Colorado)]

You know, sometimes I can't decide if megapotamus is a lefty loon to be derided, or just a performance artist to be admired.

[bgates]

the NFL owners refer to remain out of the public eye

Here's one such shy, retiring figure discreetly handing a souvenir to a friend.

Oh wait, that's not an NFL owner, that's the Ambassador to Ireland.

[clarice]

Patrick--I think he also has a claim for slander and libel..and can use the loss of this business opportunity as proof of economic damages (a prerequisite for obtaining punitive damages in some if not all jurisdictions).

[Sue]

I'm sorry. I'll give up beer before I give up my Boys. I'll pledge not to watch any NFL game that the Boys aren't playing in. If that isn't good enough, I'll have to hang my head in shame.

[Ranger]

As I recall, Carol Burnett won a huge case against the National Enquirer over a false story that she was drunk in public at a resturant. This seems like a much bigger deal than that was. I seem to recall that the award was specificly designed to be punative, in that it was meant to send a signal to newspapers that they simply could not lie about people with impunity. This would seem to fit under that precident, as the coverage was not just "new" but also specificly designed to derail Rush's participation in a venture. Rush may wind up owning CNN by the time this is done.

[Sue]

Everyone needs to check out http://www.keepamericasafe.com/>Keep America Safe. They (the left) are going after my hunk's baby and I will not stand for it. Go Liz go!

[clarice]

I think that's so and MSNBC as well. Plus Sharpton and Jackson will rue the day whether or not he sues them. Yesterday he reminded his 20 m viewers about their unsavory pasts.

[Ranger]

The point here is also to stay focused on the real enemy. It is the media, not the NFL. The NFL owners may be a bunch of wusses for this, but it is the media that did this, not the NFL.

[Sue]

Debra Burlingame, from the Keep America Safe, is the sister of one of the pilot's that was killed on 9/11. She is also an attorney and the one that schooled Obama at a meeting about discovery laws.

[narciso]

Didn't notice that Charlie, he's a little over the top, I should talk right, but other
than that But this is a symptom of the incipient politicalization of everything, almost entirely to the left. Olbermann is given free rein to spew his garbage over
at NBC, the sportswriters always seem more
focused on their pet political jibe, than the game it seems, Nordlinger and more frequently Taranto is onto to this

[bolitha]

Do any of you really think Rush will sue? I do not.

[Congratulations.]

Big River has Big Thoughts.
================

[Janet]

The WaPo print edition has minimal coverage of this. Wed. sports section D1 - inappropriate, insensitive, we have to watch the words that we use,...
Only one real quote in the article - "the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

then today a D4 article - "...Rams Drops 'Distraction' Limbaugh". Just hinting at "controversial remarks".

So a reader of the WaPo has no idea what evil things Rush has said. They just know some people say that he has said evil things.

A few other celebs in ownership groups are: Fergie, Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams.

[Ranger]

I think he will sue just for the fun of it. I can just imagine him putting Jackson and Sharpton on the stand and forcing them to admit under oath to all of their deceptions, then asking the media outlets that used their statments why they would use sources with such credibility problems.

I think he might settle for an agreement where CNN and MSNBC have to run a statement twice every hour to the effect of:

On x date, we ran a story that used maliciously false statements attributed to Rush Limbaugh as fact. These statements were false, and we should have known they were false, but because we disagree with Rush Limbaugh's political outlook, we failed to verify them and reported them as true. Therefore, everyone watching this network should be aware that we are prone to repeat false and malicious statements about people we politically disagree with and understand that we, as a network, are engaged in political advocacy, not news gathering and distrobution.

[Jane]

I'm with Clarice, Rush has a legal case against several people for tortious interference, and it's going to be relatively easy to quantify the damages.

I wonder if he will be bothered by it. Altho he really could get a wealth of info from discovery.

Yesterday on Howie Carr some caller outlined at least 4 NFL players who have been involved with killing people - ran over them when drunk, dragged them behind the car, etc.

Perhaps we should demand they all be released for bad behavior. You want hamstringing NFL? We are here to help.

[centralcal]

I read somewhere this morning (Macsmind, maybe?) that Rush would use the money set he aside for the NFL investment to pursue legal recourse against those who were slandering him.

Honestly, don't know how valid that info is. Guess EVERYONE will be tuning in today to hear what Rush's next move might be. Talk about a ratings boost. heh.

[Janet]

Rush might love the NFL too much to be too vindictive....we'll find out in about 10 minutes. Let the games begin!

[fdcol63]

"Opposition research". That's it!

We need to start sliming the slimeballs by airing their own dirty laundry.

If they want to use the strategy of character assassination, they should beware the skeletons in their own closets.

[Jane]

I'm tuning in right now!

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Rush is talking about it now. He's free from the confidentiality agreement with Goldman Sachs.

[centralcal]

Soros might have been the 30% equity partner? Rush says Reuters reported that.

[narciso]

So he was invited to join by Checketts, who told them he had done the requisite checks, then Sharpton & Jackson got involved, and he
asked Checketts to 'fire him'

[Jack is Back!]

Rush has already started his counter offensive yesterday. Today he continues with networks and MSM press. I don't know if he will go after the NFL (Goodell and the owners) or the players union but he will got after all the other slanderers. Just like he did with Dingy Harry except more and harder. He now has all this uninvested money he can use.

Invest in Orville Redenbacker!

[SWarren]

Yesterday, Debbie Schlussel brought up the possibity that Soros is the 30% partner. LUN

[Frau Schade]

The sad thing is that Rush really loves football so much. I'm sure the WH is gloating about the outcome, but they are the real losers in the country.

[SWarren]

Oops, Schlussel column LUN.

[Soros, near the end of SWarren's link.]

Oh, good heavens, the way he can so dispassionately consider that it would be possible to be on the other side is pathognomonic for sociopathy. Why in God's name anyone would want anywhere near that monster is a mystery for the ages.

Maybe Rush figured it out and it grateful for the marvelous exit.
==================================

[TWoPolitics]

Never realized that the NFL owners were a pack of liberal panty waists.

Gentlemen, take of the skirts and put on the slacks.

[PD]

I doubt that Rush would want the fans to stage a boycott. He loves the sport too much to want it harmed.

Although perhaps he wouldn't mind a push to have Goodell exposed as a fool, for running with the meme that Rush has made pro-slavery statements, without checking his facts first.

[jimmyk]

C*****s J*****n has really jumped the shark on the Limbaugh issue, flogging the fake quotes and refusing to retract anything ("fake but accurate" anyone?). See Tim Blair's blog for more.

I only continued to occasionally look at LGF for the same reasons, I suppose, that some people like to watch auto racing--just to watch the wrecks. But I'm proud to say I finally got my account closed, not for any contributed comment, but because I down-dinged a couple of CJs comments on Rush in a thread. He must have his software programmed so that if you register disapproval you get bounced. Really kind of pathetic.

[JM Hanes]

bolitha:

"Do any of you really think Rush will sue? I do not."

I'm not a Rush listener, but just imagine how many shows he could wring out of a high-profile suit against the MSM. I don't know whether Sharpton or Jackson repeated the fabricated quotes, but I suspect Rush would shy away (if you can even use that term in the same sentence with him) from actually suing Sharpton or Jackson, and stick to airing their dirty laundry. I doubt he'd ever sue any of the sports related entities, even aside from his own feelings, I'm sure he's got a lot of sports fans in his audience.

In contrast, the MSM is the perrrrfect bad guy in this game, whether or not Rush even wins his suit. Loosing would just be another 6 months' worth of talk radio. I should think it would take a lot more than his weight in gold for Rush to settle. It would be hard to resist the spectacle of a trial -- assuming the defendants were prohibited from waving every piece of ostensibly dirty laundry they could dig up on the complainant.

[JM Hanes]

Is everybody else seeing these crap avatars with every post which eat up an inch of text space?

[PD]

JMH, yes.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

If Rush sues, wouldn't a law suit preclude him from talking about the case on air. Gag orders and all that?

If Rush wants to buy in to sports, then he should fund a NASCAR team. NASCAR has a gigantic fan base, gets larger crowds at most race tracks than any NFL stadium can hold and the fans would love his team, especially if he could snag a popular driver.

[clarice]

No. I can't see how the court could issue a gag order about a civil suit like this.
I think Rush should produce his own online sports page and put the LATimes and Washington Post out of business, Most of the people I know only buy those papers for the sports pages and would happy to do without having their sports news fluffed up with political punditry by nincompoops.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

No. I can't see how the court could issue a gag order about a civil suit like this.

Then I say go for it Rush! Sue the hell out of 'em and eviscerate 'em on air every chance you get. :)

[Miriam]

I was banned from LGF because I linked to the American Thinker libel hunting post and posted the first paragraph.

Was deleted so fast I don't think anyone had a chance to even read it.

Charles has really gone over the edge.