Friday, October 17, 2003
And now for something completely different...?
Kyle, will you try to bring a llama into a Lakers game to see if you could curse them. You should stipulate that the curse would remain while Karl Malone is with the team. I wish I would have thought of this sooner. Maybe I could have cursed his damn MVPs if I could have gone to his house with a mule or something. Many thanks.
Friday, October 03, 2003
Limbaugh on the Media
Rush Limbaugh made some very derogatory statements last week on an ESPN football show that got him into some very hot water with certain groups. I wish very much that I had actually seen it, but I have only read about it and seen some commentary on TV. So my view is limited to one seen through the eyes of other writers. However, I think that it is clear that what he said was a criticism of a group of people and of Eagle Quarterback Donovan McNabb. But which group?
Limbaugh's words have become very unpopular with the Eagles' organization, ESPN, and other groups. I don't think that much good comes from the thoughts of Limbaugh, and even less from his mouth, which is why I stopped listening to him on the radio and on TV after his, oh let's say, third, crackpot theory about how Clinton is an alien or the anti-Christ, or how Democrats are going to hell, or whatever it was that day. But I think that Limbaugh has a valid point, and by that I mean an opinion based in some fact. But back to the offended group.
I understand what Limbaugh said to be a comment on the media and on the quality of McNabb as a quarterback, not on whether blacks can/should/will be quarterbacks. I don't see it as a race issue, but as a race-sensibility issue. The comment is about how race is treated, not about actual race itself. His may be a faulty comment, but I have not heard anyone in the media address this issue and attack his opinion. And that fact actually enhances his opinion of an overly race-sensitive media. Limbaugh said that the media overrates McNabb because the media wants black quarterbacks to be successful, not that McNabb is a quarterback because he is black or that he is not a very good quarterback who is not replaced because he is black. It sounded to me that he was pointing out that the media have a stake in how the public perceive McNabb, and that the media can shape that perception, also that the media have made McNabb out to be better than what he is. Limbaugh backed up this point by saying that the Philadelphia defense was the reason for their success, implying that the offense ran by McNabb was faulty.
I read somewhere that the media-unfriendly Brad Johnson, quarterback for Tampa Bay, who beat the Eagles last year in the NFC championship game, has better statistics (save rushing) and a better win/loss record over a longer period of time than McNabb. I think it is fair to say that Brad Johnson is probably seen by fans as a lesser quarterback/athlete/star than McNabb, and some of that may be because the media can manipulate the opinions of fans by what it writes or who it promotes.
In the case of Limbaugh, the media (especially ESPN, who stands to gain a reputation as a racist network) have bashed Limbaugh by saying that it doesn't matter what color a player is, that [I] watch the people who make plays, period. I just don't see that as a rebuttal to the claim against the media. It goes right to the point of media over-sensitivity that anytime someone mentions the word "black" referring to race, that there must be remarks made to justify its presence in a much more sensitive way that if the word "small" were used to refer to how the media wants short quarterback to be successful. The only remark I hear that was relevant to the criticism made by Limbaugh was that we are not living in the 1980s anymore, and that there are many black quarterbacks that are very good. But that comment still falls short of rebuttal. It barley implies that the media are no longer selling the story of black quarterbacks being held back or struggling for equality like Warren Moon, Doug Williams, Randall Cunningham, and Rodney Peete had to do. Cunningham, maybe more than any other, perpetuated the stereotype of a black quarterback (mostly early in his career and maybe not at all by the end of it) who was very athletic, but not smart enough to play that position, not to diminish his incredible talent and accomplishments. That stereotype finally started to be put to bed by the media when Doug Williams not only won a Superbowl, but played flawlessly in it (and won the MVP). That was the story that started to silence the archaic ideas upon which Limbaugh said the media still played to sell print.
So that story is dead. It still relates, though. Just a few months ago the NFL put into place a step in the Head Coach hiring process to include black candidates. NFL Teams now must officially consider a black person when filling their head coaching jobs. This was done solely to combat the same issue of blacks being kept out of positions that have been somewhat recently deemed "white" positions in the way that quarterback was a "white" position in the past. So what if Limbaugh's comments had used Tony Dungy as a head coach instead of McNabb as quarterback? He could have said that Dungy was an interesting story for the media because he was black and that the media overrates him so that his reputation will be one of more success. That would been a little more relevant, at least.
But was he wrong? I think so. I don't really think that McNabb is overrated by the media because he is black. In fact, I don't know why he is overrated by the media. Actually, I guess I don't really think his is overrated, but I do think it's possible. I also don't think that Tony Dungy is overrated, but I do think that if he were, or if someone thinks that he is, that it could easily be because he looks so humble, thoughtful and smart on TV, and that the media plays on that fact. People want him to succeed because of that, and the media reads people's interest in stories for a living. We should all face that fact that some stories were written before the events happened, and that the media will never stop selling the stories that people want to hear.
In this case of backlash to Limbaugh, the story is that of giving blacks their deserved credit, and anything that comes close to that issue will warrant that story to be told again. Only when people are tired of it and stop buying it, will that story go away. Limbaugh may never say he is sorry for calling McNabb overrated, and he or anyone else shouldn't, but if Limbaugh apologizes for what he said, I hope he does it to the right group, the media.
Limbaugh's words have become very unpopular with the Eagles' organization, ESPN, and other groups. I don't think that much good comes from the thoughts of Limbaugh, and even less from his mouth, which is why I stopped listening to him on the radio and on TV after his, oh let's say, third, crackpot theory about how Clinton is an alien or the anti-Christ, or how Democrats are going to hell, or whatever it was that day. But I think that Limbaugh has a valid point, and by that I mean an opinion based in some fact. But back to the offended group.
I understand what Limbaugh said to be a comment on the media and on the quality of McNabb as a quarterback, not on whether blacks can/should/will be quarterbacks. I don't see it as a race issue, but as a race-sensibility issue. The comment is about how race is treated, not about actual race itself. His may be a faulty comment, but I have not heard anyone in the media address this issue and attack his opinion. And that fact actually enhances his opinion of an overly race-sensitive media. Limbaugh said that the media overrates McNabb because the media wants black quarterbacks to be successful, not that McNabb is a quarterback because he is black or that he is not a very good quarterback who is not replaced because he is black. It sounded to me that he was pointing out that the media have a stake in how the public perceive McNabb, and that the media can shape that perception, also that the media have made McNabb out to be better than what he is. Limbaugh backed up this point by saying that the Philadelphia defense was the reason for their success, implying that the offense ran by McNabb was faulty.
I read somewhere that the media-unfriendly Brad Johnson, quarterback for Tampa Bay, who beat the Eagles last year in the NFC championship game, has better statistics (save rushing) and a better win/loss record over a longer period of time than McNabb. I think it is fair to say that Brad Johnson is probably seen by fans as a lesser quarterback/athlete/star than McNabb, and some of that may be because the media can manipulate the opinions of fans by what it writes or who it promotes.
In the case of Limbaugh, the media (especially ESPN, who stands to gain a reputation as a racist network) have bashed Limbaugh by saying that it doesn't matter what color a player is, that [I] watch the people who make plays, period. I just don't see that as a rebuttal to the claim against the media. It goes right to the point of media over-sensitivity that anytime someone mentions the word "black" referring to race, that there must be remarks made to justify its presence in a much more sensitive way that if the word "small" were used to refer to how the media wants short quarterback to be successful. The only remark I hear that was relevant to the criticism made by Limbaugh was that we are not living in the 1980s anymore, and that there are many black quarterbacks that are very good. But that comment still falls short of rebuttal. It barley implies that the media are no longer selling the story of black quarterbacks being held back or struggling for equality like Warren Moon, Doug Williams, Randall Cunningham, and Rodney Peete had to do. Cunningham, maybe more than any other, perpetuated the stereotype of a black quarterback (mostly early in his career and maybe not at all by the end of it) who was very athletic, but not smart enough to play that position, not to diminish his incredible talent and accomplishments. That stereotype finally started to be put to bed by the media when Doug Williams not only won a Superbowl, but played flawlessly in it (and won the MVP). That was the story that started to silence the archaic ideas upon which Limbaugh said the media still played to sell print.
So that story is dead. It still relates, though. Just a few months ago the NFL put into place a step in the Head Coach hiring process to include black candidates. NFL Teams now must officially consider a black person when filling their head coaching jobs. This was done solely to combat the same issue of blacks being kept out of positions that have been somewhat recently deemed "white" positions in the way that quarterback was a "white" position in the past. So what if Limbaugh's comments had used Tony Dungy as a head coach instead of McNabb as quarterback? He could have said that Dungy was an interesting story for the media because he was black and that the media overrates him so that his reputation will be one of more success. That would been a little more relevant, at least.
But was he wrong? I think so. I don't really think that McNabb is overrated by the media because he is black. In fact, I don't know why he is overrated by the media. Actually, I guess I don't really think his is overrated, but I do think it's possible. I also don't think that Tony Dungy is overrated, but I do think that if he were, or if someone thinks that he is, that it could easily be because he looks so humble, thoughtful and smart on TV, and that the media plays on that fact. People want him to succeed because of that, and the media reads people's interest in stories for a living. We should all face that fact that some stories were written before the events happened, and that the media will never stop selling the stories that people want to hear.
In this case of backlash to Limbaugh, the story is that of giving blacks their deserved credit, and anything that comes close to that issue will warrant that story to be told again. Only when people are tired of it and stop buying it, will that story go away. Limbaugh may never say he is sorry for calling McNabb overrated, and he or anyone else shouldn't, but if Limbaugh apologizes for what he said, I hope he does it to the right group, the media.
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