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Keeping Limbaugh from
of TheColumnists.com
Whew!
That’s my sigh of relief that I won’t have to watch
a football team controlled by professional broadcaster and amateur
hater Rush Limbaugh.
Don’t let the door slam you on your big bottom on your way
out, Rush.
Limbaugh was supposed to be a partner with Dave Checketts, a
former Madison Square Garden executive failure, in the purchase
of the storied St. Louis Rams.
Limbaugh has a long family history of involvement in Missouri
politics and might have been a good fit for the Rams if he wasn’t
such a bad guy.
He may be the most famous broadcaster and the best paid on radio
but his on-the-air remarks about Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack
Obama, Donovan McNabb and dozens of others make him clearly unacceptable
as an owner of a team in the beloved NFL.
Activists Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson quickly announced publicly
that they were against the possible move of Limbaugh into an
NFL ownership position. They clearly indicated they thought he
was a racist though they wouldn’t offer that description
without evidence.
I met Limbaugh once 30 years ago in the press box of the Kansas
City Royals baseball team. He was a big, fat unimpressive young
man working on team stats and promotions. We didn’t have
time for each other. Now he has made a fortune having no time
for anyone.
He did become a pal of KC star George Brett. They attended each
other’s weddings.
His radio talk show is identified as one of the few on the air
that does not include guests.
Limbaugh always identified himself on the air as a big fan of
football. He made it to a television gig some years back but
lost his spot when he criticized the white press for blowing
up the significance of a black quarterback, McNabb.
The NFL is about 60 per cent black on the field (maybe 10 per
cent off the field) so Limbaugh’s presence as an NFL owner
would rub a lot of players the wrong way.
Rumors circulated that the possibility of Limbaugh as a team
owner would lead to a boycott of the Rams or even a strike by
some players against the admitted prescription drug addict.
The history of the Rams ownership is cloudy enough. They certainly
don’t need the taint of a bigoted blowhard around the team.
The LA Rams were once owned by magnate Carroll Rosenbloom. His
history would make a good “Chinatown” type movie for
Roman Polanski if he ever gets back to the United States as a
free man.
Rosenbloom owned the Baltimore Colts when they played the New
York Giants in an overtime sudden death thriller in 1958, the
game described by Sports Illustrated (I worked there at the time)
as The Greatest Game Ever Played.
Baltimore was a 3 ½ point favorite. Rosenbloom had often
been rumored to be involved in gambling. Under the leadership
of Johnny Unitas the team marched down field in the OT. When
they got inside the 10 yard line most fans expected a field goal
try. It was less of a gamble than a carry, even by Alan Ameche,
with a possible fumble.
Instead coach Weeb Ewbank, maybe on orders from above, sent Ameche
into the vaunted line of the Giants. He scored and Baltimore
had an historic 23-17 victory.
When the team faltered later, Rosenbloom traded the franchise
in Baltimore (he was a Baltimore native) for the LA Rams franchise.
On April 2, 1979, he allegedly went for a swim near his Golden
Beach, Florida home. A strong swimmer with much experience, he
drowned mysteriously in the Atlantic Ocean. His body was autopsied
after it was discovered with no evidence of foul play, according
to investigators.
The team became the property of his attractive wife, Georgia
Frontiere, another personage with a shady past.
In 1995 Frontiere moved the Los Angeles Rams to the city of her
birth, St. Louis. Limbaugh, just starting to become a national
political powerhouse through his conservative radio shows, had
his interest piqued.
After Frontiere’s death, the family heirs decided it was
time to unload the team, take the profits NFL franchises can
now generate and skip town.
Checketts, who was brought into New York to rebuild the Knicks
and the Rangers, made a pitch for the team.
As often happens with sports franchises, one man can rarely handle
alone the billion dollar costs involved in today’s sports
market.
Checketts is now looking for other partners with deeper pockets.
He is only one of many suitors for the storied team. Latest reports
also suggest that the Rosenbloom/Frontiere heirs may completely
withdraw their sale offers and hang on to the team.
At least Limbaugh is out of the picture.
Plenty of owners of sports teams could be described as big mouth
braggarts. I don’t know of any that could be described as
hateful braggarts.
©2009 by Maury Allen. The Maury Allen caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. The Rams logo is courtesy of the St. Louis Rams. This column first posted Oct. 19, 2009.
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