Only hours after defiantly refusing to back off on his controversial bid to seek co-ownership of the St. Louis Rams, conservative talk host Rush Limbaugh has reportedly been dumped by his own ownership group.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Dave Checketts, chairman of the St. Louis Blues and head of one of the groups attempting to buy the Rams, will drop Limbaugh from the ticket, so to speak, and it will be soon. The talk host has been under fire from players, owners, pundits such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, for past comments that many view as racially insensitive. Checketts obviously feels that he is holding a losing hand, and must dump Rush if he is to save the bid.
Three-quarters of the league’s 32 owners would have to approve any sale to Limbaugh and his group. Earlier this week, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay predicted that Limbaugh’s potential bid would be met by significant opposition. Several players have also voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh’s potential ownership position, and NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith, who is black, urged players to speak out against Limbaugh’s bid.
Ultimately, the sources said, Checketts must reconfigure his group and find another investor to make his bid more viable.
Exactly when Limbaugh will be dropped is uncertain, though some familiar with the situation said it could be within the next week. It is unclear if the two sides even have spoken.
4:43 pm on October 14th, 2009
this is the perfect case study for our country’s current decline. whoever cries the loudest wins! the owners have every right to decide who gets in and who doesn’t but they’ll be damned to upset the politically correct entitlement “minority”. so we’ll keep the felons on the field and outspoken liberal ownership is fine (see fergie). at least rush will win libel and defamation lawsuits.
4:52 pm on October 14th, 2009
“Mr. Oxy” inconsolable at this hour.
http://images.sportsbybrooks.com/b/d/bdedb58321a7b157f517d953dace614c_ramsmascot01.jpg
5:06 pm on October 14th, 2009
Rick Chandler is a bigot. He thinks Stephan A. Smith is a “surprising” ally of Limbaugh because Rick Chandler thinks all black people, all black people associated with sports must dislike Limbaugh, and if they don’t it’s “surprising.”
5:27 pm on October 14th, 2009
Whoa Taylor…. Rick Chandler is not a bigot. He is just a liberal sportswriter who is ingrained to believe that conservative point of view is racist. So Rick, go to the Huffington Post and celebrate freely with all your other writer friends who question their sexuality on a daily basis. Ive seen your work buddy…. I know you can do it.
5:46 pm on October 14th, 2009
Wait, I’m a bigot, AND a Limbaugh hater? Pick one, guys!
5:51 pm on October 14th, 2009
Thought it really couldn’t get any worse for Rush. I was wrong.
Ugly.
7:07 pm on October 14th, 2009
No one is really a fan of Rush especially in one of the most integrated American pastimes.
7:19 pm on October 14th, 2009
Hey Rick, you clown. You’re trying to make the blogosphere a legit part of the world of journalism(which I support), right? How about channeling some truly accomplished vets of sports journalism.. A little more Verdi, Lincicome, et al, a little less Perez Hilton.
7:27 pm on October 14th, 2009
By the Checketts group…They read the official press release on NFL Network today where the group made it very clear Limbaugh is in no way (still) involved in their bid;
“Limbaugh is in no way involved in their bid (anymore) and he is a distraction and a disgrace and they want to keep the team in St. Louis but can’t do that with him involved because even St. Louis hates Rush Limbaugh because Limbaugh and his followers clearly are anti-American and that’s not what the ownership group represents…”
smart move on their part to distance themselves from Rush, improves their chances of buying the team and improves the chances of the Rams staying in St. Louis…good for everyone, except the people that hate America like Rush Limbaugh and his listeners…
7:29 pm on October 14th, 2009
“Thought it really couldn’t get any worse for Rush. I was wrong.
Ugly.”
You were definitely wrong, ha, but nah, told you Brooks, it was (a significant part) about the owners voting, and that they would vote No…
7:44 pm on October 14th, 2009
Still waiting for any of the neo-McCarthyites to show me one credible racist thing the guy has ever said.
And anyway, so he’s a racist, big deal. Racists just have to whine about hope and change, and they get to be president.
7:53 pm on October 14th, 2009
your still waiting to hear one racist thing?are you kidding me?rush doesn’t belong in prime time..keep on the far far right!
8:25 pm on October 14th, 2009
Limbaugh is a drug addict. A fat one at that. The group finally figured out that love him or hate him, it decreases their chancing of being approved by the league. So take a walk chubby. It could be because he hates black people, black presidents, and immigrants, and liberals, and Jews, Muslims, Indians, women, gays, Canadians, Hollywood etc..
8:50 pm on October 14th, 2009
mike nailed it…Limbaugh hates America, everyone knows that, plus all these people defending him don’t actually know him personally, the people that were part of the ownership group with him know him personally, and “Smart Move” above posted what they had to say about Rush (I also saw the same quote read by Rich Eisen on NFLN tonight)…
9:01 pm on October 14th, 2009
FAIL!!!! In 2009 racism only gets you as far as the racists that listen to your crap will take you….Sucks that it doesn’t work in civilized society…It ain’t 1864 anymore you can’t openly hate an entire race of people and still expect them to sweat and bleed while you make money.
AND I QUOTE:
“Look, let me put it to you this way: The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”
I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back. I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.
“You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed. ”
“Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
“They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares? ”
“Take that bone out of your nose and call me back(to an African American female caller).”
9:05 pm on October 14th, 2009
Oh Keith, stop your whining about neo-McCarthyism. While not everything racist attributed to Rush is true, there’s plenty that is: http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/limbaugh.asp
Now that you’ve been proven wrong, you can turn your attention back to finding Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate.
9:09 pm on October 14th, 2009
Karma, baby. Even a group of franchises run primarily by conservative rich white guys doesn’t want Rush or his money, given the baggage that comes with he and it.
When you’re a politically divisive, drug-addled, batshit crazy gasbag with racist tendencies, poor impulse control, and questionable social values, I guess that’s too much even for the NFL, which lets dog killers return to the field after prison time.
Kinda puts Rush in perspective, doncha think?
10:23 am on October 15th, 2009
Aaaah, I see the race card ploy worked again! Job well done my sheeps…now go and spread more lies about anyone who dares to question my motives! Go children, create more chaos!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
1:20 pm on October 15th, 2009
Good for the league!!!