TheAgitator.com
ESPN’s Sad Penance
Sunday, October 26th, 2003Today’s ESPN NFL pregame show featured a stupefyingly awful interview between Michael Irvin and Warren Sapp. From what I could gather (and frankly, it was difficult to follow what either of them were saying), Sapp believes that NFL — which paid him $5.25 million last year — is guilty of “slave-driving” because, get this, the league won’t let him take his helmet off during the game.
Sapp believes this is an effort by white NFL higher-ups to keep America from recognizing the faces of black players, thus preventing them from “self-promoting and self-marketing,” thus the analogy to slavery. The NFL, he said, is afraid of allowing its black players to become “household names.” Oh yes, he’s also upset that the league fined him for assaulting referees and taunting opponents before the game. That too, is slavery.
Now, Sapp is an idiot. I expect him to knock the vocabulary out of quarterbacks. I don’t expect cogent analysis of labor law from him. He can blather all he likes, and look foolish, and still make lots of money doing what he does best — playing defensive end.
It’s that ESPN went out of its way to give him a platform that I find offensive. I can only guess it was the network’s way of apologizing for the Rush Limbaugh incident — giving back a little “equal time.” That’s too bad. Because if anything, it did a major disservice to the cause of black coaches and athletes by putting the spotlight on two of the most bumbling, caricatured and inarticulate black athletes in football, and allowing them to pontificate and play the victim on points that really made them look foolish. It was a painful, painful piece of television.
After the interview, in-studio analysts Steve Young (who’s white) and Tom Jackson (who’s black) attempted to argue some sense into Irvin, who generally agreed with Sapp that the NFL’s attempt to market itself as a team game somehow undermines the ability of its multitude of black millionaire athletes to, I guess, make millions more. Irvin’s main point? The NFL wouldn’t let him sell a Cowboy’s jersey with “Irvin” across the back. “I don’t see any money from those jerseys,” he said.
Jackson and Young had no effect. Irvin’s a dunce. He sat there in front of the national television audience that he’d never in eons have had a crack at were it not for his career, in his $1,000 pinstriped suit, and argued that the NFL and the player’s union did nothing for him.
Honestly? If I were black (and granted, I’m not, so what follows is probably useless), I’d be more offended that ESPN continues to employ Irvin than that it once employed Limbaugh. If ESPN must find a black in-studio analyst to feel good about itself, I’m certain there are skads of them far more articulate than Irvin.
By the way, getting back to Limbaugh for a moment — Donovan McNabb still has the lowest passer rating of any quarterback in the NFL. And he’s one of, if not the, league’s highest paid players.
The weird thing in all of this is that Limbaugh’s point was at least arguable. You can disagree with it, but it was at least somewhat insightful (and, I think, correct). The Irvin/Sapp contention that the NFL is guilty of slavery is completely farcical, borderline libelous, and not even remotely defensible.
The former cost Limbaugh his job (and let me throw in here that I thought hiring Limbaugh was a dumb move to begin with).
The latter I doubt will get much play this week at all.
That is a very good point re: Rush’s statement. Thank you for pointing this out; I actually did not know that.
I should have been checking The Agitator more often…
wow, I missed that as I was crusing the channels before games (keep getting addicted to VH1′s “I Love the 80′s strikes back)… That’s crazy. I mean, I’ve heard some things out of Sapp before, but this seems a little kooky even for him. I don’t know about you, but I had thought the league was trying to ride Mike Vick and Donovan McNabb all the way to the bank…? Have you seen the Pro Bowl promos the league is running for going to their website or using your AT&T wireless phone to vote for the pro bowl players with Marshall Faulk? You go through the QBs to choose from, and the “mouse” picks McNabb to go to the Pro Bowl – perhaps they filmed this six months ago, but I think if the NFL is really trying to hold back black players, then I must need to open my eyes a bit more, because I don’t see it. But I could be totally off – I’m not a player in the league, and don’t see the day-to-day happenings that go on in the clubhouses and on the field. Though rules such as “no do-rags” are freaking archaic and need to go. I always thought that was idiotic.
Perfect post Radley, agree 100% … too bad a point like yours will never be made to 99% of the public.
Did anyone else hear Irvin say the Eagles would win their game against the Jets because of their defense, not their quarterback.
Bob Costas already threw a fit about this.
hey, i loved the “amos and andy” routine… they should have thrown in a few more “yess suhh”s or “show yah right”s.
honestly, does anyone take what these idiots say seriously ?? this is a terrific example of how liberal america overreacts to the concept of law – read:rule – based america. rules are great until they inconvenience me, even if my only inconvenience is not being able to intimidate the officials.
it also beautifully illustrates the oxymoronic position of “i gots to get mine”(i want to bump the official, i want to print up my own jersey) extrapolated to “the community”(the league/union ain’t done nothing for me).
ironically, these two inarticulate hardcore unemployables, michael irvin and warren sapp voluntarily work for the NFL and belong to the player’s union.
their (and my) ancestors didn’t have the same opportunity.
I don’t watch pre-game anymore.
Firing Limbaugh was ludicrous. Any fan of the NFL knows that McNabb is and has been overrated.
I enjoyed Slate’s take:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2089193/
Nothing sings like numbers.
Man, I really think a lot of generalizations have been made (such as this being an attempt of ESPN to counter Rush’s time on air) and some of Sapp’s point is being missed.
Where I do agree with Sapp and support his argument is that football is supposed to be “fun” and the league is trying to strip that away from the game. I think, to an extent, that is true. There are so many bullshit rules now, including removing the helmet, throat slash, excessive celebration, etc. that it seems they are trying to bring the manners of a tennis match to the NFL.
Another place I’d defend Sapp, is unlike certain other players’ antics, his rarely affects the outcome of a game. Come on, every sport needs it’s rebel to keep things exciting.
I really don’t think Sapp’s point is to make a coherent argument, just to ruffle some feathers. Try not to get offended, sports and the news about it is really just entertainment.
Sapp plays defensive tackle not end.
A major reason why the NFL cuts down on celebration is in part because of guys like Sapp who (as witness his dance through the Colts’ stretching line) do stupid things that by accident or design will largely serve to provoke the other team.
What they’re trying to avoid is on-field brawling, fighting between players, and/or deliberate attempt-to-injure cheap shots.
If they sometimes go to far, it is in part because of players like Sapp who don’t know where to draw the line. That makes them draw the line so far back, even those who cross the line the NFL has drawn don’t cross the line that provokes vigilante retaliation.
Limbaugh wasn’t fired, he resigned.
I don’t think his point was very arguable. Objective stats make a case that McNabb is over-rated, but it’s a little foolish to think this is because he’s black. Quarterbacks from successful teams are nearly always given undue credit, unless they have a prior reputation as journeymen. Plus, McNabb, even though his overall performance looks mediocre, has come up with big individual plays in big games.
Is there really anyone who thinks the NFL has, as Limbaugh put it, “an ongoing social concern?” Their only concerns are winning and ratings, which equal money. No one in the NFL cares what color you are if you can run a 4.4 40 or throw a football 60 yards on the money away. All true football fans know this.
Anyone who expects insight from Michael Irvin or Warren Sapp is a fool. And if you think that’s why they’re on TV talking, you’re an even bigger fool. They’re on TV talking for the same reason Limbaugh and Howard Stern are: to say inflammatory things and get people riled up.
The thing that has me most irritated today is the number of right-wing knuckleheads who will claim that “Limbaugh was right” if McNabb continues on his mediocre route. Lots of people besides Limbaugh were aware that McNabb has been mediocre, so he’s not showing much insight there. The reason Limbaugh caused such a huff is because of WHY he said that McNabb is over-rated. But I doubt many dittoheads will let this get in the way of anyt perception that reinforces that they are on the right side in their us against them world. Kinda sad.
Does Limbaugh think Steve McNair is overrated too? Michael Vick?
bk -
“Is there really anyone who thinks the NFL has, as Limbaugh put it, “an ongoing social concern?” Their only concerns are winning and ratings, which equal money”
Wasn’t this the same NFL that fined the Detroit Lions for not interviewing minority candidates for the head coaching position? Like Limbaugh or not, the NFL really does have “an ongoing social concern”. Penalizing the Lions for their choice of interviewees proved it.
“No one in the NFL cares what color you are if you can run a 4.4 40 or throw a football 60 yards on the money away. All true football fans know this.”
Maybe so, regarding the players (which are mostly black anyhow), but Rush’s comment was about media bias, not NFL bias.
If I read it correctly, Radley’s post was intended to highlight the double-standard that exists in race discussions. A white male cannot discuss race without risk of being labelled a racist, while a black man can seemingly make any racially-inflamatory statement he likes, completely without fear of retribution. If ESPN were to be consistent, they should renounce what Sapp said, and ask Irvin to resign. They won’t, however, since the network will immediately be labelled racist, and ratings will suffer.
That ESPN and society both tolerate the idiocy of Sapp and Irvin, all while while crucifying Rush Limbaugh’s arguably correct statement demonstrates that double-standard.
Hey Roger,
I suppose you’d rather be a black man so you can say insensitive things about white people than be a raging whitey huh?
Take whatever generalizations you want about people and turn them into an us vs. them topic and it just shows what a little, tiny person you are.
Balko has it right because he looks at it in terms of what the INDIVIDUALS involved in this stuff have to say. That’s where Rush was wrong, that’s where he lost credibility. Sapp and Irvin can say things that make them look foolish and Sapp and Irvin are the ones who should be ridiculed, but too many white people look at that stupid crap and believe that all black people are this and such. I think that we all know that idiocy and stupidity don’t discriminate. Roger proved that in his comment.
“The weird thing in all of this is that Limbaugh’s point was at least arguable. You can disagree with it, but it was at least somewhat insightful (and, I think, correct). The Irvin/Sapp contention that the NFL is guilty of slavery is completely farcical, borderline libelous, and not even remotely defensible.”
The more I look at it the more I’m convinced Rush was right on both points, that McNabb was overrated and that this was because of a social agenda in the media.
The fact that Sapp and Irvin will largely be given a pass (at least compared to Limbaugh) for these outrageous remarks is further demonstration of that agenda.
bk,
You wrote:
“I don’t think his point was very arguable. Objective stats make a case that McNabb is over-rated, but it’s a little foolish to think this is because he’s black.”
http://johnrlott.tripod.com/RushLimbaugh.html
“We also collected data by week for each of the first four weeks of the season on a host of other factors that help explain the rate at which a player is praised: the quarterback’s rating for each game; whether his team won; the points scored for and against the team; ESPN’s weekly rank for the quarterback’s team and the opponent; and whether it was a Monday night game. In addition, I accounted for average differences in media coverage both in the quarterback’s city and the opponent’s city as well as differences across weeks of the season.
Accounting for these other factors shows a much stronger pattern. Black quarterbacks’ news coverage is 27 percentage points more positive than whites. And that difference was quite statistically significant รข?? the chance of this result simply being random is the same odds as flipping a coin five times and getting heads each time.”
I agree with BK’s point about Limbaugh. My problem with it all is that Limbaugh made a controversial statement without providing evidence to back it up. McNabb has played terrible this year, just look at his results. I don’t think anyone here can argue that fact. However, if you’re going to assert that the media is very desireous to see a black quaterback succeed, and that’s why he’s over-rated, you better back that up with some pretty solid evidence–such at that John T. Kennedy provided. Also, ESPN isn’t really the forum to talk about a political issue, such as media bias. That’s where Limbaugh went wrong. He should of just said, “McNabb is over-rated and he’s not producing results this year.” Who cares if he’s black or not. Save that for a political forum.
nBdog,
I’m further convinced that Limbaugh was doing what he was hired to do. There is little reason to think he was hired solely on the basis of skills in football analysis, they fully expected and desired him to stir things up and his comment is perfectly in line with what they could expect.
I don’t think he’s obligatedt to provide hard evidence on such a show, in fact it would have driven people even crazier if he cited data like Lott’s.
If it were not for the drug problem I think Limbaugh would have successfully ridden out the flap at ESPN, retaining his job there. Being correct is a powerful defense.
Lefty -
What on earth are you talking about? Did you even read my post?
Trying to have start an argument with me is fine, but it helps to have a point.
Limbaughs comments were WAY out of line, and no amount of football statistics can change that fact. It is Rush’s standard M.O. to assume a fact from evidence that have nothing to do with the situation. Even if it were true the McNabb is overrated, it doesn’t prove that the reason for overrating him is based on race. Rush didn’t give one bit of supporting evidence to support a claim of racism by the NFL or the media. He just threw it out there as a “given fact.”
Throwing out totally unsupported accusations of racism in a sports context is asinine. This applies to both Rush and Sapp.
DougB -
“Throwing out totally unsupported accusations of racism in a sports context is asinine. This applies to both Rush and Sapp.”
I agree. The only problem is that while Sapp threw out accusations of racism, Rush simply complained of media bias.
Both individuals may have been wrong, but don’t confuse bias with racism; they aren’t necessarily equivalent.
bk-
The NFL shows ‘social concern’ repeatedly. How about their detestable rule about requiring black coaches to be interviewed? They have Mssrs. Jackson and Sharpton ‘advocating’ such issues all the time. There has long been a discussion about the lack of black starting quarterbacks. Only in the past 3 or 4 years has it been equitable enough to end that discussion. I don’t think Rush was far off in his point….I don’t really agree, but it is a valid point of discussion.
JTK, Do you REALLY think that you can quantify the things you talk about in your previous post? I know an awful lot about statistics, and my opinion is that trying to quantify these things is a fool’s errand. You have to make a ton of assumptions, there are a bunch of sampling problems, and a ton of subjective evaluations are involved. Don’t waste peoples time by contending that you can come up with an objective measure that balances out all other factors and shows objectively that blacks get better media reports. People will laugh at you.
For others, I stand by my statement that the NFL does not have an ongoing social concern. They have a PR concern.
I agree that Limbaugh was doing what he was hired to do. I wasn’t even all that troubled by what he said, and I thought his resignation was a sackless act of self-martyrdom. Yeah, sackless, not selfless. I haven’t read anywhere that ESPN asked Limbaugh to resign, only that he volunteered it. I’m open to correction on that, but until I see it, I’m assuming all the “ESPN did this, double standard that” stuff is just so much dittohead BS.
Limbaugh is unwilling to fight the good fight unless he’s the king of the court, surrounded by admirers.
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