12/31/24
October 03, 2003
"Do we not have anybody that understands that there's way more scrubs in this game that are Anglos than there are black ones that are being pumped up? Trust me, it's not even close." -- Warren Sapp on Sporting News Radio
at least Rush was man enough to name names. Sapp is a sap.
posted by danostuporstar at 08:01 AM on October 03, 2003
You're really going to to with "man enough" for Rush? Even after he quit and on the Friday of a week where he's refused to answer any questions? And how is being just plain wrong and adding an unnecessary racial element to it "man enough"? Sapp doesn't have many bad games, but I can't imagine he'd refuse interviews after one. Sapp is a sap? Good one. How long have you been waiting to use that?
posted by joycey at 08:07 AM on October 03, 2003
In fairness - it's a little different when you're a blowhard with no actual connection to anyone who plays the game to 'name names' then someone who, well, actually knows/plays/particpates in the NFL. It's called being smart. Rush 'man enough' - thanks for the laugh.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:17 AM on October 03, 2003
It isn't worth another front-page link, but I really liked E.J. Dionne's Limbaugh column yesterday. A quote:
the Limbaugh hire so reeked of marketing and politics that it was an insult to all sports fans whose political commitments lay elsewhere. Most of us who love sports want to forget about politics when we watch games. Sports, like so many other voluntary activities, creates connections across political lines. All Americans who are rooting for the Red Sox in the playoffs are my friends this month, no matter what their ideology. Politicizing everything from literature to music to painting and sports was once a habit of the left. The Communist Party's now-defunct newspaper once had a sports column called "Out in Left Field." Now, it's the turn of the right to politicize everything.
posted by rcade at 08:29 AM on October 03, 2003
wow. umm, yeah "man enough." if what rush said was wrong, then what was sapp said was wrong...and sapp wasn't willing to put a name or a reason behind his statements. that's chicken shit. rush was wrong because he was race-baiting when we are all trying to move beyond race. but at least he made an attempt to prop up the batiting with an analysis of mcnabb's play. sapp's statement shows it ain't just white conservatives who have a long way to go before we live in a colorless society. and "anglos"? wtf...you know 'white boys' was on the tip of his tongue but all he could mediate it with was anglos? imagine if rush had said the media really wants an ethiopian qb to do great? all i'm saying is ... fair is fair. anyone who complained about rush -- and i was one -- has to make sap jokes about the other fat guy.
posted by danostuporstar at 08:58 AM on October 03, 2003
No - Sapp made a statement in response to the issue that Rush brought up - his suggestion is that the notion of the media propping up black athletes is not only untrue, but the reverse of what actually happens. You're right in the sense that Sapp is hardly taking a stance that is colour-blind - but there is something to be said for black people speaking about the black experience - as opposed to unaffected, disassociated white people speaking about the 'truth' of racism. And you 'know' white boys' was on the tip of his tongue? Speculative smearing my friend.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:23 AM on October 03, 2003
as usual.....it's the big mouths who have somthing to say....and they *will* be heard. rush and sapp....big mouths and it's not the first time either of them has said something ugly. honestly, where i live (hoboken, nj) and growing up in the general area where there's a huge cross cut of various cultures and races and languages spoken all within a 100 yards of where i reside, none of this matters. it's like some parralel universe being played out in the media that has no bearing on anything relevant. anyone who has their soul on the right thing just shrugs at this stuff.....'oh well, sucks for you that you feel that way'.....and just carries on. nieghbors, merchants, cops and homeless....we all interact and the people who make judgements based on 'differences', we know who they are. the world continues to spin....and the hope is....maybe someday it could spin without them.
posted by oliver_crunk at 09:26 AM on October 03, 2003
Breaking down Warren's argument there seem to be two parts
1. There's way more scrubs in this game that are Anglos
2. Blacks are not pumped up
Let's try and parse what Warren is saying. Argument 1 says that teams carry inferior players because they are white. I think Warren's wrong on that. I don't think being white helps anyone get an NFL job. I suspect that there might be a slight disadvantage to being white because of the negative stereotype that whites can't run or jump. Overall I suspect the "unathletic" perception hurts white players. I mean, comeon Warren, it wasn't Shaun King who took you to the Super Bowl.
Argument 2. The media doesn't hype black guys. Well, that would imply that the media hypes white guys. I see more truth in that statement. For example, I think that Sehorn got extra press because he was the rare white corner. But I think that a portion of the press was simply the uniqueness of white corner (as opposed to wanting to pump up white players). When you've got 56 starting NFL corners, 55 are black and 1 is white (plays in New York and dates Angie Harmon) well you're going to get some extra press. (And you can't underestimate the New York factor. Compare the press Shockey gets with the press Todd Heap gets. Shockey's not that much better). But it's not like anyone is out there hyping up Grant Winstrom just because he's white.
posted by Mike McD at 10:40 AM on October 03, 2003
Crunk, I live in Hoboken too, and feel pretty much the same way you do. I'm pretty sure it matters depends on where you live, though. As much as I loved Boston when I lived there, I have to admit there were a lot more people there who would have agreed with Rush.
posted by Samsonov14 at 10:41 AM on October 03, 2003
rcade, thanks for the link to the Dionne column. Most of us who love sports want to forget about politics when we watch games. That statement captures a lot of the feeling. It explains why for the rest of September 2001 I could not follow sports at all. I've actually been working on a column about why we care so much about sports, but I haven't got it down [yet].
posted by cg1001a at 11:22 AM on October 03, 2003
sweet....'the birthplace of baseball' is in the house!. in some ways, at the end of the day, i feel extremelly priveleged to have grown up where i have. i can totally see what you're saying, sam. as someone who has travelled this country some....i can verify that what you say is true. walking in to a bar in st. mary's, georgia and hearing the equivelant of the record srcatching and everyone turning around.....smelling yankee. getting stuck in the 'bad' part of new orleans....just needing to fill up my gas tank.....being looked at that way. and boston....not the most friendly place in the world for non-whites. i kind of got that same vibe in chicago too....though i haven't spent enough time there to know. i don't know....i feel like this whole topic is getting blown out of proportion. first it's the media....then it's racial....and of course it devolves into politics. the whole race thing....it's like trying to have people who aren't into jazz appreciate jazz. if you don't initially have the ear for it....you don't hear much but a bunch of noise and dismiss it....figuring there's no substance there. but if you listen long enough and get to appreciate it, everything comes into focus and every note becomes important. a whole world opens up....changes things. a lot of the people still hung up on the race thing just need to sit down and listen more, even if they are convinced there's nothing there....maybe they can catch a groove and see everything else in a different way. on preview....man that's cheesy....but what the hell.
posted by oliver_crunk at 01:03 PM on October 03, 2003
Oliver, the problem with Sammy is that he makes living in hoboken sound like, oh, a chore or something rather than the privilege that it is. the Limbaugh hire so reeked of marketing and politics As opposed to the sideline hotties so many networks use, especially on football, or, say, Dennis Miller and the Fox pregame show comedians? The people making the decisions are essentially only thinking of ratings and the dollars that will follow. One thing in this regard that continues to surprise me is the relative paucity of lingering cheerleader shots. You know if HBO or FX ever got broadcast rights they'd fit strippers in there somewhere.
posted by billsaysthis at 02:36 PM on October 03, 2003
Don't tease me Billy. Why, strippers and sports go together like the Super Bowl and wife beating!
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:05 PM on October 03, 2003
NY Daily news claims Tom Jackson essentially forced Rush out.
posted by pitchblende at 03:20 PM on October 03, 2003
Ugh, what Sapp said is no better than what Rush said. Both idiotic children. Billsaysthis, you are totally right. The bimbos that they have doing side analysis for games aren't there for their brilliant intellect, they're there for the eye-candy and $$ making. If they could get away with putting them in bathing suits, you know they would. It's all about the $$. And "hotties" brings 'em in. As does controversy.
posted by aacheson at 04:34 PM on October 03, 2003
I love how they slipped this in at the end. Icing on the cake. Thursday, media reports also began surfacing that Limbaugh was under investigation in Florida for allegedly illegally obtaining and abusing prescription painkillers. It could help his cause if he's abusing OC's (oxycontins). This stuff is prescription grade heroin. Maybe he was scoring them from Michael Irvin?
posted by usfbull at 07:42 PM on October 03, 2003
heroin has much more intense high.
posted by garfield at 07:49 AM on October 06, 2003
Good link, big shocker that Rocker defends Rush in the interview. I like Sapp, always have, he seems to have fun with his job and with his life. Will he get a pass for speaking out his ind there? I also think people might lay off Tom Jackson and Michael Irvin and Steve Young a bit. You really needed to parse out Rush's statements a little bit before responding. I guess one of them could have asked for a clarification...