Mark’s mind

Just one more reason why I love the Daily Show

Why the NFL Can’t Let Rush Limbaugh Be a Team Owner

Oct 13th 2009 9:23PM

First, let me say I love when I can talk about other leagues. It’s a freedom I really, really enjoy.  But lets get to the issue.

I’m guessing the NFL doesn’t really care about what Rush has said before on his show and on other platforms. If it were really an issue, they never would have let him in the broadcast booth a few years back.

What they should be terrified about , and why they should keep him out,  is what he might say AFTER he was an approved investor in the St Louis Rams.

The NFL has plenty of owners who I am sure have very strong political opinions.  I’m willing to bet that many of them back up those opinions with donations that are all part of the public record.  I’m sure some of those probably don’t align with the best interests of the NFL or even the majority of their fans and customers.    I can give you a minor example I have had with the NBA.  I am never on the same page as the NBA when it comes to copyright issues. I believe we waste too much  NBA money trying to fight piracy and other intellectual property issues.  We have agreed to disagree on this and other issues. It’s not a problem.  Nor do individuals who fall on either side of the copyright issue make their sports consumption decisions based on copyright positions.

Its a great thing that we all  just accept the fact that owners, leagues and fans can be on different sides of a variety of issues.  We love our sports and want to reserve a spot for them away from life’s partisan issues and problems. Thank goodness for that !

The problem with Rush is that its his job to take on all of life’s partisan issues and problems.  Not only is it his job to take on these issues and problems, its key to his success that he be very opinionated about whichever issues he feels are important to him and/or will cause his very large audience to tune in.  Given that we will never know what the “next big issue ” in this world that Rush will be discussing on his show is,  its impossible for the NFL to even try to predict or gauge the impact on the NFL’s business if something controversial, or even worse yet, something nationally polarizing happens. There is an unquantifiable risk that comes with the size of Rush’s audience.  The wrong thing said on the show, even if its not spoken by Rush himself,  about a sensitive national or world issue could turn into a Black Swan event for the NFL.

Thats a huge risk that is not commensurate with the value a minority investment in a franchise brings.

This isnt about Free Speech. Its about the NFL protecting their business.  There is no reason to put it at risk.  If Rush were to retire from his show, or become a local DJ in Sacramento, or just about anything else he may want as a vocation, then I dont think they would have any problem with him being an investor in a team.

Given the current set of circumstances, they would be crazy to approve him as an owner.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Will Rush the Racist run the Rams?
• NFL Rushing Out on a Limbaugh
• HOW MANY BLACK ATHLETES WOULD LINE UP TO PLAY FOR RUSH LIMBAUGH?
• Limbaugh, Checketts interested in buying the Rams

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Good post from Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks) on Rush Limbaugh's bid to become an owner of the St. Louis Rams.

I did something similar to this 5 or 6 months ago, and haven't looked back. Between Hulu, Netflix, and the antenna we get just about all the TV we can handle...at a fraction of the cost.

We desperately need to ask ourselves, and those around us, to revisit the purpose of email. Given what we know about the importance of flow to productive work, and how multi-tasking is largely a myth, is it worth the constant stream of minor interruptions?

We've overloaded email with so many meanings that it has imploded as a communication medium. Need an urgent answer to your question within a few minutes? Fire off a quick email and demand a response! Want to have a long back and forth discussion with several people? Email everyone! Do you have a new theory that you desperately want to explain to someone? Send it to them via email! Got a funny joke or picture you're dying to share? Email it to the office alias!

When we treat email as the kitchen sink of communication, appropriate for everything, it simply ceases to work at all.

Great piece by Jeff Atwood on the diminishing usefulness of email.

Most of us are pretty busy, just about every day.

Some like it that way — being busy is almost a status symbol, as it shows you’re important and productive and a go-getter and achiever. If you’re in a power meeting and sending emails on your Blackberry and making calls, you must be important, right?

I say we should reject that little game of who’s busier than whom. We should opt out. We should say, “I’d rather find peace of mind, and be able to relax, and really enjoy life, than allow it to pass me by just so I can be ‘productive’ and show everyone how important I am.”

OK, maybe say something shorter instead. Like, “No thanks.”

This is advice that I would be well served to follow.

"Truth is, while most of America might know that 62,000 U.S. military personnel are in theater, they apparently aren’t happy about it. A recent CNN/Opinion Research poll found that support of the war in Afghanistan has hit a new low. Only 39 percent favor U.S. military action in Afghanistan.

But does supporting the overall mission go hand-in-hand with supporting the troops?"

Very poignant piece from CNN reporter Danielle Dellorto on our troops in Afghanistan, and the amazing job they do each day.

Notes

The survey was designed and conducted by Drs. Salomeh Keyhani and Alex Federman of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Over the summer of 2009, they surveyed a random sample of more than 2,000 physicians.