A Rush to Racism

Several years ago Rush Limbaugh lost his position at ESPN when he stated that Donovan McNabb was popular and highly regarded mainly because he was an African American and the 'liberal' media wanted him to be good. He was rightly removed by ESPN and his comments were properly labeled as racist. (Interesting side note is that on those occasions when McNabb did not win the 'big one' defenders of Rush jumped in and said that this proves that Rush was correct. I've not heard it said, before Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl that it was his race getting in the way or even his Southern twang. Or Dan Marino having Italian blood...)

We all have our moments, I suspect, of weakness where we may seem to have a twinge of prejudice here and there. True racists, however, manage to interject the issue of race even when it isn't an issue. No matter what race a person happens to be, when a person randomly interjects race just to interject it, you're in the presence of a true racist.

Rush has revealed his true colors again commenting on football. He said recently:

"And before we go to the break here, folks, I've got to get something off my chest. You know, the game was the game. And the game was what it was. But I - I can't handle any more press criticism of Rex Grossman. They're writing his name W-R-E-C-K-S. They're just ... worst quarterback ever to play in the Super Bowl. And it's been like this since the Green Bay game -- actually since the Arizona game, a little crescendo of it in the Green Bay game, the last game of the season for the Bears. And it's just unrelenting! It's just -- they're focusing on this guy like they don't focus on anybody!

"And I tell you, I know what it is. The media, the sports media, has got social concerns that they are first and foremost interested in, and they're dumping on this guy -- Rex Grossman -- for one reason, folks, and that's because he is a white quarterback.''

I myself have had a lot of fun making fun of Grossman's game and race hasn't entered into it. Why are people dumping on Grossman?

Second and 1 and moving into scoring position. He takes the snap, runs back and falls down. Next play he fumbles the snap, can't find the ball, and finally does and loses a ton of yardage. And it wasn't the first snap he fumbled either. Last I checked, receiving the snap was a basic foundational issue of being a quarterback in the NFL. Not unlike a chef who botches boiling water.

The game is still on the line. The weather is awful. It is obvious that it is impossible to throw long. The ball is too wet. Grossman, without properly looking and not reading the coverage at all, throws long to the sideline, into the teeth of coverage to a defender. Later, again, he throws long, a lollipop kind of pass, again into the teeth of coverage, down the center of the field.

Grossman played a bad game. Miserable game in fact. He has been criticized because when it was time for him to come up big, he came up little.

Rush Limbaugh finds this to have been racial. Here's the simple fact of life. Race had NOTHING to do with this. To interject race is, frankly, racist.

Interesting sidenote. A great deal of press was given to this game because Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy are both African American coaches and this was the first time that not only one, but two African American coaches were the head coach and it's the first time an African American coach has been the coach of a team that has won the Super Bowl.

Tony Dungy has been a head coach in the NFL for many years and has come close, but this was his first championship. Dungy has paid his dues being a head coach to finally win the big one. He was an incredible successful coach of both Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. He was treated dreadfully by Tampa Bay and has demonstrated his coaching skill in Indy in a big way. Since he's been there, the Colts have always been good and anyone who follows football knows that only the really good coaches win every place they go. Dungy is a proven winner.

I think that the jury is still out of Lovie Smith. His loyalty to Grossman was admirable, albeit misguided. His team had a great season in a very weak division. The Super Bowl was a game totally dominated by the Colts more than the score would indicate. Smith, that day, in my mind, was badly outcoached. He may end up being a great coach, but I haven't seen it as of yet. (Of course, this could be sour grapes, the Giants took Tom Coughlin over Lovie Smith....Ugh!)

The thing that concerned me about the coaching situation during the Super Bowl was that the Dungy/Smith matchup WAS big news. And it was big news that two African American coaches were coaching against each other. I long for a day when we don't even notice. I long for a day when race doesn't matter in the least and that people are just taken for who they are and judged only on their abilities.

Sadly, racism is still alive in our nation and we are the poorer for it.