Just had a conversation with coworkers, and they disagree with me

[CatWoman]

as I suspect many of you do.

But I'm with Keith on this issue of whether or not Rush should be able to buy an NFL team.

This is America.

People should be able to spend their money any way they like.

Ironically one of my coworkers had a similar incident happen to him. He was denied the right to buy land in Texas in the 60's. The owner didn't (white) refused to sell to him. You can pretty much guess why.

[Buzz Clik]

1. Rush will be able to buy the Rams if he so pleases and if his offer is accepted. As it should be.

[dmosh42]

2. We have no say anyway, but the other NFL owners do. n/t

[ejpoeta]

3. I don't care if limbaugh wants to own a football team. I think if he wants to, then go for it.

[supernova]

4. Oh, I think he's free to buy a team

if he wants too, agreed.

And equally, I think anyone who doesn't want to play for said team is also in their right.

Personally, my hope is he would buy a team and get so wrapped up in that, that he wouldn't have the time or inclination for his three hours of radio hate every day. But that's just me.

I also envision the NFL draft, what's he to do, when draftee after draftee turns him down?

[imdjh]

9. Do you honestly think anyone is going to turn down $$$$ because Rush signs the check?

[supernova]

12. Hey, I can dream

:silly:

Look, as someone further down notes, what's the difference between RL and other NFL owners. They're all odious.

[havocmom]

5. With the same rules & scrutiny other owners have to live up to, sure, let Rush dabble in sports

Players can either go along, or resign, as they choose, should Rush become an owner. The ones with the integrity to put their money where their values are might just get some Joe and Jill Six-pack worker bees thinking about the morality of THEIR bosses.

Yeah, I have the audacity to hope for a movement of American workers becoming vocal on the mores of the corporate class which employs (herding toward servitude) them.

[devilgrrl]

6. Most of the other NFL owners are as odious as Rush Limbaugh - what would the difference be?

eom

[imdjh]

8. ya beat me to it. nt

[imdjh]

7. What is the difference between Rush Limbaugh and anyone else who might buy a team?

We know what Rush has said, and we didn't like it.

Not that the two are similar, but I have no idea what George Soros says when no one's listening. David Geffen might be quite upset about the demographics of his new next door neighbors for all I know. What political party does George Steinbrenner support? Was Jack Kemp a Republican or a Democrat?

And then there is the most important aspect of this- who gives a damn about pro-sports?

[JoDog]

10. Rush should be allowed

to buy anything he can afford.

Now, whether it's a good idea, or if players and coaches should agree to work for him, that's another question.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. "This is America" Isn't that a little too simplistic?

No one is saying the Government should block the sale. But just like EVERY OTHER franchise in America, the franchisors get to pick and choose who they allow as a representative of their product. And we, as consumers of said product, get to voice an opinion - This is America after all.

[SutaUvaca]

13. Of course he can buy a team if he likes,

and he should attend every practice. Sooner or later Rush will be mistaken for a tackling dummy and poetic justice will attend as well.

[kjackson227]

14. Playing professional football for a racist isn't much different than...

working for one in the corporate/business world. I work in this type of environment everyday.

[thunder rising]

15. Rush has the right to BID and the NFL has the right to protect their brand and reject.

[la_chupa]

16. how do the owners determine who gets in

I don't know how the NFL runs things at that level. I think that he probably does have a right to bid for it. I think the owners have the right to turn it down if they want to.

But if he actually ends up with a team, we the people have the right not to support it. That would be tough if it were your town and a team that you grew up supporting, but when Michael Vick was being shopped around I swore I'd never go to another Panthers game if he ended up here.

[eleny]

17. I've been wondering if he would try to engineer an all white team

He's so divisive. But I don't follow the game and don't know about the internal workings of the league. It's just that he has so much personal wealth that he might wield power once he became an owner.

[Are_grits_groceries]

18. I say no.

Rush has used the radio to say some of the most openly racist things on the air heard in years. By doing so, he has belittled the players in the NFL, especially the 65% who are minorities. He has not done much better by women.

He is only one step up from David Duke, and David Duke is two steps down from pond scum. Would you let David Duke buy a team? He has been much more open than Rush, but IMHO that makes Rush more dangerous. Rush barely hides behind a veneer of "I'm just a radio guy."

There are owners who are his friends unfortunately. That is probably why the NFL had to institute the Rooney Rule. If a head coaching job or a senior operations job becomes open, the teams HAVE to interview minority candidates. Note that they don't have to hire them, but they at least have to talk to them. This gives them some exposure.

If you pay attention to any of the sport's leagues, they all seem to recycle the same coaches and managers over and over. They go from lesser positions to higher positions to the broadcasting booth, and back, and it never ends. Even if they have shitty records, they seem to never be out of a job. This perpetuates a certain group, and people they bring along.

If they let Rush in, they might as well forget about the rules they have that "protect" the league's image. The NFL is just like a business brand, and it can be devalued. That's one reason they began to crack down on players who have problems with the law. They would be letting in a racist, ex-drug addict attached to rumors of other problems.

I think that your friend buying land is a different case. Did your friend have other well known traits that might be undesirable? If it was just his race, then that is a different kettle of fish.