ESPN should Pass on Rush

Fans don't want politics interfering with sports

I don't want to listen to Rush Limbaugh. I just don't need the aggravation. We simply disagree on too many issues. The bombastic, nationally syndicated radio talk show host has pummeled just about anyone who isn't a card-carrying citizen of his vision of good ol' white-bread U.S. of A. That would include feminists, gays, blacks, immigrants -- if I left anyone out, please raise your hand!

In a reasonable world -- one in which Limbaugh and his ilk have the right to speak their views, and I have the right to tune them out -- I wouldn't have to listen to his Neanderthal opinions. But because I am an NFL fan who enjoys watching ESPN's NFL pregame show each Sunday, I no longer have that choice. Limbaugh has entered the NFL universe, and I am not happy about it.

A few weeks ago, ESPN announced that it had hired the politically conservative Limbaugh to join the network's Sunday NFL Countdown as a contributor. He'll offer one opinion piece each week (that's one too many, thank you) on some bit of NFL news, and chime in with the show's other analysts, essentially as Mr. Contrary, a role not unfamiliar to him. Mark Shapiro, ESPN's executive vice president of programming and production (in other words, the man who made this insulting call), has described Limbaugh as "a fan's fan."

My question: What type of "fan" is Shapiro referring to?

Certainly not me. 

Nor is it likely he represents fans who are relatives and friends of NFL players, roughly two-thirds of whom are African-American.

Indeed, Limbaugh doesn't seem to represent any NFL fan who believes in the value of varied cultures.

But hiring Rush Limbaugh is wrong for another, more fundamental, reason: Politics, no matter the slant, simply has no place in our sports arenas.

When we come together in our stadiums and arenas to cheer for our teams, from Little League to the big leagues, we leave our political views at the turnstiles. On any given Sunday during the NFL season, a diehard conservative could be sitting next to a bleeding-heart liberal. But then the home team scores, and there are high-fives all around.

And when we settle in our homes to watch games -- or one of the myriad preview, postgame and highlight shows that permeate the sports television universe -- we simply don't want to think about the rights and wrongs of the various issues of the day.

Indeed, sports arenas may be the most democratic -- not Democratic! -- of venues. I've had season tickets for New York Knicks games for more than a decade, sharing the same area -- and the same drama -- with the same people for years. They've watched my kids grow up; on occasion we've even talked business. But I haven't a clue about their political views. We never discussed presidential elections, the Persian Gulf battles or any of the various Supreme Court decisions on abortion, affirmative action and the like. Madison Square Garden was not the place for such discourse. We were simply there to cheer a little, suffer through another painful loss and go home.

Now, if I want to listen to the erudite views of some of ESPN's fine football analysts, I'll have to also be subjected to Rush Limbaugh.

Then again, perhaps I won't. Just as I chose not to listen to his radio show, I can choose not to watch Sunday NFL Countdown. It will be intriguing to see just how many potential viewers choose to do the same.

Roy S. Johnson is an assistant managing editor for Sports Illustrated. His "Pass the Word" column appears on SI.com every Friday. Catch Johnson on CNN Headline News every Thursday at 3:40 p.m. ET.