Stay away from the Rams, Rush

"I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve."

That is the quote that got Rush Limbaugh fired from ESPN in 2003 -- and that's tame compared to virtually every other incendiary quote he has ever made.

Limbaugh, perhaps one of the most inflammatory people in the media, is teaming up with St. Louis Blues' owner Dave Checketts in a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams -- which, unfortunately, happens to be my favorite football team.

This is horrible. His radio show is no "joke" or "act," as some of his supporters seem to suggest. He makes comments that would get him assaulted if he were to make said comments to someone's face.

New York Giants' defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka and Jets' linebacker Bart Scott were both quoted in the N.Y. Daily News today, basically saying neither of them would want to have anything to do with a team owned by the staunch, some would argue extreme, conservative.

The support from Ram fans is rather surprising, but there are ulterior motives behind such support.

Limbaugh, a Missouri native, would team with Checketts to keep the team in St. Louis. The Rams lost their owner, Georgia Frontiere, after she died following the 2007 season. Current owner Chip Rosenbloom is looking to sell the team.

The Rams, which left Los Angeles after the 1994 season, could conceivably be moved again if a new owner wants to do so. Hence the support for a Checketts-Limbaugh ownership, as they would not move the team from the 'Lou.

Nearly 70 percent of the NFL is black, so it's no surprise to read Kiwanuka and Scott's quotes and expect a lot of other players -- black, white, hispanic, etc. -- to react the same way.

As a fan of the team my entire life, I suffered through the 1990s, which was atrocious -- save the 1999 season, in which the Rams won their only Super Bowl. I am not a liberal, but my political beliefs lean left more than right.

However, if Limbaugh became part-owner of the Rams, I could be in the market for a new favorite team.

It's hard to imagine someone supporting a team that is owned by. He is an intolerant, racist, close-minded jerk who is doing a fantastic job -- along with Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity -- of brainwashing a number of Americans into believing outrageous, hyperbolic things about everything with which he disagrees.

Future owner of the Rams? I think not.

You will not find a more loyal sports fan than myself, but this crosses the line.

The "man" is too volatile to be an owner in the NFL.

Luckily, the NFL is the most image-conscious sports league in the world, thanks to Commissioner Roger Gudel. For this pairing to be approved, 3/4 of NFL owners would need to vote in favor of the sale. In my heart of hearts, I don't see that happening.

Still, just the thought of that piece of garbage owning my favorite football team makes me gag, as if I had just seen a gruesome knee injury on the football field.

Keep this waste of space away from the NFL, Mr. Gudel.