In the NFL, Rush Limbaugh is out and Sanity is in

I was going to write something snarky about the NFL missing out on the hate-train called Rush Limbaugh. I loved the storm and stress generated by wrasslin’s villains when I occasionally watched the WWF in my youth and I figured that antipathy for lightning-rod Limbaugh would bring together fans of the Steelers and the Cowboys, the Patriots and the Jets, the Vikings and the Packers, because you can never underestimate the value of a truly detestable personality. Oh, I thought, it would be fun.

But then I read Rush’s comments after his partners decided he was more trouble than he was worth and I was reminded of the difference between a character like the Iron Sheikh and a real life bullyboy like Rush. After being dropped from the group bidding for ownership of the St. Louis Rams, the self-anointed intimidator in chief said this according to ESPN:

“This is not about the NFL, it’s not about the St. Louis Rams, it’s not about me.This is about the ongoing effort by the left in this country, wherever you find them, in the media, the Democrat Party, or wherever, to destroy conservatism, to prevent the mainstreaming of anyone who is prominent as a conservative.

“Therefore, this is about the future of the United States of America and what kind of country we’re going to have.”

If I may speak bluntly, horseshit. The National Football league is hardly run by a cabal of liberals with some insane politically correct agenda. The league isn’t liberal. Nor, actually is it conservative. This is a business endeavor which seeks to drive straight down the middle of the highway that divides the nation. To paraphrase Michael Jordan, everybody wears officially licensed NFL gear.

The NFL is positively obsessed with presenting the perfect image, hyper-protective of it’s brand. To the National Football League, everybody is a potential fan, a potential purchaser of the NFL and each of those fans represents more leverage with networks for better deals, bigger hammers to bring down on cities to build fancy new stadiums and facilities. This league is so protective of the NFL brand that I could merely list all of it’s machinations and byzantine rules here and easily go over 5,000 words. It fined Chad Ochocinco (or was it Chad Johnson at the time) for wearing non-regulation shoes and required Mike Nolan (then head coach of the San Francisco 49ers) to petition league offices just to wear a suit and tie on the sidelines, rather than the officially sanctioned NFL gear, so how did Limbaugh think the league would respond to his spiteful divisiveness?

The league doesn’t care about red state this and blue state that. It doesn’t give one pigskin’s ass if you’re a yellow journalist or a blue dog democrat, so long as you buy a ticket (and, even better, a personal seat license). Heck, it doesn’t even care about some lard-assed, red-faced ruffian hurling invective over the airwaves.

The only color the NFL cares about is green.

And I think that Limbaugh understands that. It’s just more bluster, balderdash and bull from him. The NFL is better off with out him. To say nothing of St. Louis.