Tynan sings Limbaugh's Tune

So this morning as I was shuffling about corralling the coffee pot, a few eggs and some sausage in hopes of putting together some sort of decent breakfast, I was mistreated to a small-minded talker on the radio drone on and on about the wrong that was administered to radio's biggest talker, Rush Limbaugh, and the poor man's failed attempt to gain ownership of the St. Louis Rams.

This little wizard of the airways implied that because there were NFL owners whose views allegedly bent farther to the right than Limbaugh's, what happened to poor Rush was simply some kind of awful double standard. In fairness, in recent days, I've either heard or read this misguided nonsense from other folks beside the little talker.
Ugh.

Doggone it, I had every intention of dropping this thing altogether. Certainly enough has been said and written about it. Further, I realized that by typing away here, I was actually aiding and abetting Limbaugh's lost cause -- as was pointed out in of all places the Grill Room Thursday.

But with every bite I took, and contemplating the peril of ignoring my own advice, I decided it was worth making the effort, however misguided, to put an exclamation point on this hot, tired topic once and for all. Besides, what better way to burn off a good caffeine buzz?

Look, Limbaugh wasn't unceremoniously dropped from being considered an owner because of who he might be, he was dropped because of the caustic, hurtful things he's said over and over again through the years. It's that simple.

While I was eating my decent breakfast and listening to the little-minded droner, I came across this article in the New York Post.

Essentially, the story is about a famous Irish tenor named Ronan Tynan (we admit, we've never heard of the dude in the Grill Room). The story says that Tynan was dumped from singing his staple "God Bless America" before last night's playoff game between the Yankees and the Angels because he admitted to making an antisemitic crack to a Jewish woman who was looking to buy an apartment in his building on Thursday.

Here's how The Post reported it:

The alleged slur came while Dr. Gabrielle Gold-von Simson, an NYU Medical center pediatrician, was inspecting the building with a real estate agent and they bumped into the golden-throated team singer.

The agent joked to Tynan: "Don’t worry they are not Red Sox fans."

And for some reason Tynan responded by saying: "I don’t care about that, as long as they are not Jewish."

The burst of bigotry stunned Gold-von Simson, who said "Why is that?"

According to the team, Tynan said that a lot of "scary" Jewish ladies had been looking at the apartment before.

Up until Thursday, Tynan could well have been the biggest antisemite this side of David Duke, and it wouldn't have mattered. Up until Thursday, Tynan had managed to keep all that ugliness tucked inside his fat head and cold heart. He was just the Irish tenor with the beautiful voice.

The moment those nasty words came out of his mouth, and he admitted to them, everything changed. He was now the antisemitic Irish tenor with the beautiful voice.

Armed with that sad information, the Yankees felt bound to hold him and their reputation accountable, and they dumped him cold.

Was there really any other choice where Limbaugh and the NFL was concerned?

Redskins' Vets Need Eyes Checked

There was a time when the Washington Redskins actually went about their business on and off the field in a classy, dignified manner, and expected to compete for championships year in and year out. They were a model organization that did things the right way, even if they represented a city that has so often had it wrong.

I guess, then, it's mighty decent of these current Redskins to lower themselves several notches, so they no longer stand out in Washington's sea of dysfunction.

The new version of the Redskins wouldn't know class if they were handed the book. They are run by a maniacal little creep of an owner, Dan Snyder (pictured), who's wise-guy smirk has become the face of the organization.
Their undermanned and overrated team goes about its business on the field in fits and starts, and is coached by a nice guy who was placed in a position to fail by the creepy owner.

And if all that weren't bad enough for this bumbling lot, the proud ghosts of Redskins Past, have come back to pile on and haunt this team of Redskins Present.

Over the past week or so, the Riggins, Jurgensens, Huffs and Theismanns of the Redskins glory days have come forward, and in one form or another, verbally taken apart the current team.

But even this highly decorated firing squad has managed to come off half-cocked, because as they took dead aim and fired off their brutal assessments of the coach, the quarterback, and the general manager, they somehow missed the biggest target of all -- the owner.

Go figure.

Maybe the old guys' eyes aren't what they used to be, or maybe things are so bad for tortured Redskins fans that they can't even count on the proud past to help right what's wrong with the putrid present.

But while you're chewing on the Redskins' demise, there a few other things that need answering around the NFL.
Like...

Has there ever been a coach that deserved a win more than Cincinnati's defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer?
Here's why we're asking:
Because three days before Zimmer's Bengals were to play the favored Ravens in Baltimore Sunday, he came home to find his 50-year-old wife, Vikki, had died of unknown causes.
If Zimmer had taken a pass at coaching Sunday's game, or just skipped the rest of the season for that matter, nobody would have blamed him. But Zimmer made the trip to Baltimore and coached a defense that was probably the biggest reason for Cincinnati's 17-14 win over the high-flying Ravens. Zimmer got the game ball afterward, and told the team, "I just appreciate all your effort."
We'll take a guess that that sentiment went both ways.

Didn't Sunday's Tennessee at New England matchup look like a real dandy six weeks ago?
Here's why we're asking:
Because 0-5 Tennessee has been one of the biggest disappointment of the year. Frankly, you'd be hard pressed to come up with a team that's fallen farther faster -- ever.
At 13-3, Tennessee had the best record in the NFL last year. Over the past three years, the team has sported a 31-17 ledger, so this sudden futility is hard to explain.
Much was made of the departure of DT Albert Haynesworth in the offseason, but the Titans' biggest loss might have been defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who bolted to take over as head coach of the Lions. Under the new D-Coordinator Chuck Cecil, the Titans are ranked 29th in the league in scoring defense.
Defense has always been the bread and butter of this squad. Much more of this and their fans will want them on bread and water.

Is anybody surprised Rush Limbaugh is blaming others for his for embarrassing attempt to gain admittance into the NFL owners' club?
Here's why we're asking:
Because we just feel like rubbing it in.

Moving right along...

Take your pick

For informational purposes only...some picks for Week 6 action around the NFL brought to you by folks who most likely know as much about the game as you do:
ESPN
YAHOO!
CBS Sports
CNN/SI
NBC
SportingNews
AP

College:
SportingNews
CBS Sports
NBC

This Week's Grill Room NFL 100-PROOF lock: Jacksonville over St. Louis, minus-9.5:
We admit it, we played prevent-defense with our pick last week and you got burned. We were scared of the heavy road dogs, and you got mauled. Now you are wondering what you ever saw in this place.

Instead of going with what had been working all year, riding the heavy home favorites, we went back in time and served you a messy road favorite. Problem is, we went too far back in time and Hugh Millen returned to play quarterback for the Patriots against the Broncos. Tom Brady was supposed to be the headline ingredient of that selection, but went missing.

Well, no more looking back to the days of old, my dear customers.
If heavy-home favorites are the dependable dish this year, then that's what we'll serve. And just to show you how serious we are about all this, we will even lay off the tempting No. 1 Giants and the points on the road against the Saints. How's that for discipline?

No, this week we're recommending the flaming-hot Jaguar Del Rio, minus-9.5 against the pathetic Rams, who occupy the bottom spot our NFL 100-PROOF RANKINGS. The Jags have had a whole week to digest the mess they were force-fed on the road last week in Seattle. This Grill Room heavy home favorite will come out piping hot and blow you and the Rams away.
Enjoy.

(Season record: 3-2)

Tape it up

• To get the latest on all the aches and breaks around the NFL go here.
• For the very latest in-depth information on the key injuries in the league such as to quarterbacks E. Manning, Stafford, Palmer and more go here.
  

TV Time
If you can't stop by the Grill Room, here's the college and pro football fare that's cooking on the tube this weekend:
(For our U.S. military viewers and their families overseas the games American Forces Network will be showing are in bold.)

COLLEGE:

Friday, Oct. 16
Pittsburgh at Rutgers, 8 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, Oct. 17
Oklahoma vs. Texas at Dallas, Noon, ABC
Iowa at Wisconsin, Noon, ESPN
Northwestern at Michigan State, Noon, ESPN2
Ohio State at Purdue, Noon, Big Ten Network
Delaware State at Michigan, Noon, Big Ten Network
Mississippi State at Middle Tennessee, 12:30 p.m., ESPNU
Wyoming at Air Force, 2 p.m., Mtn.
USC at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m., NBC
Arkansas at Florida, 3:30 p.m., CBS
Minnesota at Penn State, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Texas Tech at Nebraska, 3:30 p.m., ABC
California at UCLA, 3:30 p.m., ABC
North Carolina State at Boston College, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Marshall at West Virginia, 3:30 p.m., Big East Network
Houston at Tulane, 3:30 p.m., CBS CSN
Colorado State at TCU, 4 p.m., Versus
Virginia at Maryland, 4 p.m., ESPNU
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech, 6 p.m., ESPN2
BYU at San Diego State, 6 p.m., Mtn.
Illinois at Indiana, 7 p.m., Big Ten Network
UAB at Mississippi, 7 p.m., FSN
Kansas at Colorado, 7 p.m., FSN
Kentucky at Auburn, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU
Miami at Central Florida, 7:30, CBS CSN
South Carolina at Alabama, 7:45 p.m., ESPN
Missouri at Oklahoma State, 9:15 p.m., ESPN2
Utah at UNLV, 10 p.m., Mtn.
Washington at Arizona State, 10:15 p.m., FSN

NFL:

Sunday, Oct. 18
(Byes: Dallas Indianapolis Miami San Francisco)
Houston at Cincinnati 1 p.m., CBS
Detroit at Green Bay 1 p.m., FOX
St. Louis at Jacksonville 1 p.m., FOX
Baltimore at Minnesota 1 p.m., CBS
N.Y. Giants at New Orleans 1 p.m., FOX
Cleveland at Pittsburgh 1 p.m., CBS
Carolina at Tampa Bay 1 p.m., FOX
Kansas City at Washington 1 p.m., CBS
Philadelphia at Oakland 4:05 p.m., FOX
Arizona at Seattle 4:05 p.m., FOX
Tennessee at New England 4:15 p.m., CBS
Buffalo at N.Y. Jets 4:15 p.m., CBS
Chicago at Atlanta 8:20 p.m., NBC

Monday, Oct. 19
Denver at San Diego 8:30 p.m., ESPN
(All times EST)

Limbaugh's loss is his gain

Rush Limbaugh won.
And with every word I type, or she types, or you read...his margin of victory increases.

The only person surer than I was that the right-wing, radio talk-show host had no shot at becoming an owner of the St. Louis Rams football team was Limbaugh himself.

And if I knew it, and Rush knew it, rest assured the NFL knew it too.

Commissioner Roger Goodell didn't just tip his hand, he clenched it in a fist when he addressed the Limbaugh issue earlier this week at the NFL owners meetings in Boston.
"I have said many times before that we are all held to a higher standard here," the commissioner said. "I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about. I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position within the NFL. No. Absolutely not."

But my, what commotion all this has created, eh? In addition to blunt reaction from the usually cautious Goodell, he had the players in all kinds of tizzy, the union readying the torches, the owners diving for cover, and sparks flying off the keyboards in newsrooms everywhere.

For people like Limbaugh, it's all about the attention. By simply being Rush Limbaugh, he knows he can inject himself into any conversation or situation no matter how patently ridiculous or unbecoming, because he is a proud, polarizing figure with a mountain for a pulpit.

I have never figured out whether Limbaugh believes everything he says, though I am quite certain he doesn't.
I give him full credit for being an evil-genius who knows exactly what to say for three hours a day to keep his base feeling disenfranchised, disillusioned, scared, angry, and most importantly, listening, so he can clean up on all that advertising moolah and buy his way into any conversation.

Limbaugh knows that with that loot in his fat, little hands, he is in a position to toy with the likes of the Republican Party, the NAACP, any number of women's rights groups, or the National Football League...

Limbaugh knows that enough of us still believe that right (no, not that right) has to win out over wrong at least most of the time in this world. It just has to.
He knows that if he can threaten that comfortable premise, he has succeeded in making his world a little bigger, ours a little smaller, and his wallet a little fatter.

Limbaugh is the chubby, snotty-nosed 6-year-old at the birthday party with all the toys and treats. He doesn't need another toy or slice of cake, he needs to be stared at and listened to. In the world of that spoiled 6-year-old, attention is currency, and, buddy, negative attention beats no attention at all.

In the coming days, Limbaugh will invariably dine on this latest 'slight.'
He'll make sure that the listeners, who chase his sludge like it were some kind of gospel, understand that he was the victim of a left-wing conspiracy that will soon will be knocking at their doors.

And when he's sufficiently satisfied that he has made his loss theirs, he'll slink away to his mansion, light a cigar, and laugh out loud.

He will have won again.

You're welcome, Rush.