ESPN pulls Hank Williams from MNF opening

[stillers4me]

The Hank Williams Jr. song that has opened Monday Night Football for 20 years will not be part of the opening of this week's Indianapolis-Tampa Bay game after Williams made controversial comments about President Barack Obama.

Williams compared Obama to Adolf Hitler on Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends" show Monday morning.

ESPN, in a statement, said: "While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast.".............

Read more @ http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7056003/espn-pulls-hank-williams-jr-ready-opening-mnf?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[The Patriot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eF6vCv13bw

lol

[beSteelmyheart]

Although the comparison seems alittle harsh, I think it's being taken out of context..And corporate/politically correct Americans have quickly followed with the typical knee jerk reaction to it. So much for free speech in the land of the free and the brave.
They were right to comment on his defensive body language though & he was being kind of a dickhead but still has a right to his opinion.
Ooops! Not anymore!
PS edit-And I agree with him about Herman Cain & thought the same thing while watching the debates.

[zulater]

Bummer! I like Hank Jr, and love the song, it really fits the event. But I also understand you don't compare the President to Hitler, no matter how much you dislike his policies. I hope he's given the chance to apologize and does so. MNF wont be quite the same without him and the song.

[fansince'76]

"Who do you like in the GOP race?"

"Nobody."

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[beSteelmyheart]

I don't think he should apologize at all. I'm getting so sick of people being forced to apologize for their own opinion & sick of the overblown political correctness in this country. What he said was taken out of context..he shouldn't have to apologize for being misuderstood, if a little harsh. Screw that, I'd respect him more if he stood by his statement, however "wrong" it may be.

[zulater]

I don't think he should apologize at all. I'm getting so sick of people being forced to apologize for their own opinion & sick of the overblown political correctness in this country. What he said was taken out of context..he shouldn't have to apologize for being misuderstood, if a little harsh. Screw that, I'd respect him more if he stood by his statement, however "wrong" it may be.

I guess what it comes down to is if he wants to be a part of MNF anymore? But you're right, he can do as he pleases, but for selfish reasons I want him and his song to continue as a part of it.

[XxKnightxX]

He pissed off the wrong Jews with that comment if you ask me. Mainly George Bodenheimer BSPNS Czar if you ask me. Lets not forget that comments like that pull away sponsorships and air time that will make ESPN money. When youre a public figure, your opinion may be free speech, at the cost of others. And if anyone gets offended by my first sentence, i hereby mean no anti semitism in that.

[zulater]

Williams released a statement through his publicist, saying: "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme - but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me - how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the president."
ESPN did not say whether the intro, synonymous with "Monday Night Football" since 1989, would be used again after this week's Colts- Buccaneers game.
"Every time the media brings up the tea party it's painted as racist and extremists - but there's never a backlash - no outrage to those comparisons," Williams' statement continued. "Working-class people are hurting - and it doesn't seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job - it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change."


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/10/03/espn.williams.ap/index.html#ixzz1ZlyXF1RK

[oneforthetoe]

I hate political correctness. That said, you cannot compare the President of the United States to Hitler and not expect repercussions. Williams has a right to state his opinion and ESPN has a right to disassociate themselves from him, if they do not like his stated opinion.

Now, if ESPN starts associating themselves with Danny Glover or Shaun Penn I am going to call foul, because both our on record for saying traitorous things about President Bush while snuggling with Hugo Chavez.

[tube517]

I prefer the old "ABC" MNF music intro but Hank is a Steeler fan and this was a typical knee jerk reaction by BSPN/Disney Channel II.

[86WARD]

I hate political correctness. That said, you cannot compare the President of the United States to Hitler and not expect repercussions. Williams has a right to state his opinion and ESPN has a right to disassociate themselves from him, if they do not like his stated opinion.


Not really a freedom of speech issue. Like Rashard Mendenhall, you can say whatever you want, but you need to deal with the consequences of your comments.

[stillers4me]

Not really a freedom of speech issue. Like Rashard Mendenhall, you can say whatever you want, but you need to deal with the consequences of your comments.

There were never consequences when people said things about Bush.

[BigNastyDefense]

Not really a freedom of speech issue. Like Rashard Mendenhall, you can say whatever you want, but you need to deal with the consequences of your comments.

Exactly.

Hank Jr., who I am a fan of, had the right to say what he said. And he is standing by it, his press release didn't redact the statement, he's putting what was meant by the comment out there since the media is just putting the quote out there and not putting the context around it (just as the media always does when there's a controversial quote).

But ESPN/ABC also have the right to distance themselves from Hank Jr., so they don't lose advertisement sponsors or have to deal with the backlash from not distancing themselves from Hank.

I hate political correctness and I am not much of a PC person, but I understand why ESPN did what they did and I cannot fault them for it.

[GBMelBlount]

There were never consequences when people said things about Bush.

Absolutely agree Sue.

Anyway, he is certainly within his rights to speak his mind as are the broadcasters to pull the plug I would imagine.

It is what it is.

[vader29]

I prefer the old "ABC" MNF music intro but Hank is a Steeler fan and this was a typical knee jerk reaction by BSPN/Disney Channel II.
If he was a Patriots* fan they would not have pulled the intro. :chuckle:

[CantStop85]

There were never consequences when people said things about Bush.

The Dixie Chicks suffered quite a few repercussions for bashing Bush.

[oneforthetoe]

Not really a freedom of speech issue. Like Rashard Mendenhall, you can say whatever you want, but you need to deal with the consequences of your comments.


I'm not sure what you mean that it is not an issue of free speech. Saying what you want, while having to deal with the consequences sounds like free speech to me. However, I agree with overall point. Freedom of speech guarantees the government can't stop your right to speak, but you are not guaranteed to be free from the consequences of your speech as it applies other individuals and non-governmental institutions.

[XxKnightxX]

If he was a Patriots* fan they would not have pulled the intro. :chuckle:

And fined Harrison 800 million dollars and given the Cheats* 32 first round picks.

[oneforthetoe]

If he was a Patriots* fan they would not have pulled the intro. :chuckle:

If he would have been a Patriots fan, Goodell would have had the tape burned and we would never saw the interview again.

[pepsyman1]

I hope they start using the old MNF theme. Was never a big fan of the Hank Willams one.

[fansince'76]

I hope they start using the old MNF theme. Was never a big fan of the Hank Willams one.

Same here. I will still miss Cosell's voiceover of the night's matchup, though:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50k5rDF1Q0A

[suitanim]

They should let Slayer take a crack at the theme....

PC is stupid. It ruins everything.

[vasteeler]

i dont care why he gone. im just glad hes gone. i have hated that song from the moment i first heard it

[X-Terminator]

The Dixie Chicks suffered quite a few repercussions for bashing Bush.

Because they forgot who their audience was. Their own fault, and no one else's. Classic case of suffering the consequences of your freedom of speech.

[whodat1]

I hate political correctness.

There is an annual contest at Texas A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term.
This year's term was "Political Correctness."
The winner wrote:

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

[whodat1]

There were never consequences when people said things about Bush.

Madonna called him Saddam and yet the NFL is having her as the SB half-time entertainment.

[ALLD]

Maybe we can get Faith Hill topless now. T-O-P-L-E-S-S topless.

[tube517]

Maybe we can get Faith Hill topless now. T-O-P-L-E-S-S topless.

:rofl2:
That would be an instant 200 rating.

[86WARD]

There were never consequences when people said things about Bush.

Sure there was. Ask Natalie Maines and it turned out she was 100% right...lol.

[86WARD]

Maybe we can get Faith Hill topless now. T-O-P-L-E-S-S topless.

When you get here you will do it. Topless. You have a problem with that?

[st33lersguy]

I guess political correctness and unremitting defense for Obama permeates to the sports section of the lamestream media. Would make sense because there is also bias at ESPN

[BigNastyDefense]

Maybe we can get Faith Hill topless now. T-O-P-L-E-S-S topless.

I WOULD LOVE IT! L-O-V-E LOVE

[SteelerEmpire]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eF6vCv13bw

lol

Wow. The guy on the right didn't find Williams comments amusing "AT ALL". Using the term "Hitler" is like saying the worse curse word on earth. You would figure HW would know that by now as long as he's been in the public eye. Oh well, 'another one bites the dust'...

[oneforthetoe]

The overriding question for me about this whole saga is -"why does the press keep asking famous people for their opinions on politics?" Is what a famous person thinks about the Middle East peace process news? And that question goes for either side of the political spectrum. I don't give a rats ass what Hank Williams or Susan Sarandon think about politics.

[venom]

Maybe we can get Faith Hill topless now. T-O-P-L-E-S-S topless.

Whoa whoa whoa stop the clock

[stillers4me]

The overriding question for me about this whole saga is -"why does the press keep asking famous people for their opinions on politics?" Is what a famous person thinks about the Middle East peace process news? And that question goes for either side of the political spectrum. I don't give a rats ass what Hank Williams or Susan Sarandon think about politics.

ding ding ding!

[BigNastyDefense]

The overriding question for me about this whole saga is -"why does the press keep asking famous people for their opinions on politics?" Is what a famous person thinks about the Middle East peace process news? And that question goes for either side of the political spectrum. I don't give a rats ass what Hank Williams or Susan Sarandon think about politics.

Amen!

And the other problem is a lot of people out there hang on every word of their favorite celebrities, so they follow the celebrities' view like a zombie instead of doing research for themselves to see if that person is misinformed or to see if they actually agree with that person. "Oh, so-and-so thinks this, so they must be correct about [place political figure's name here]."

Now while I do agree with what Hank Jr. was saying and I understand what he was trying to say, he was very stupid to say what he was thinking.

[suitanim]

One of the great ironies of this tempest in a teapot is that Williams didn't actually originally call Obama Hitler. He just compared him and Boehner golfing to Hitler and Netanyahu golfing, meaning two guys very far apart ideologically. He got in trouble later when he was asked to clarify, and then he stuck his foot in his mouth.

Let's face it, this guy isn't the brightest star in the sky to begin with...but, as usual, something that should only make a teeny tiny blip on the radar is now some big issue because the media chose to boycott, ban or omit something.

[The Patriot]

Wow. The guy on the right didn't find Williams comments amusing "AT ALL". Using the term "Hitler" is like saying the worse curse word on earth. You would figure HW would know that by now as long as he's been in the public eye. Oh well, 'another one bites the dust'...

I guessed that he kept looking offstage because his studio director was signaling him to change the conversation. :chuckle:

[X-Terminator]

The overriding question for me about this whole saga is -"why does the press keep asking famous people for their opinions on politics?" Is what a famous person thinks about the Middle East peace process news? And that question goes for either side of the political spectrum. I don't give a rats ass what Hank Williams or Susan Sarandon think about politics.

Exactly. And then they act all shocked if they have an opinion that's different from their own or that the average Joe might have. Bottom line is nobody cares, so stop asking them.

[beSteelmyheart]

One of the great ironies of this tempest in a teapot is that Williams didn't actually originally call Obama Hitler. He just compared him and Boehner golfing to Hitler and Netanyahu golfing, meaning two guys very far apart ideologically. He got in trouble later when he was asked to clarify, and then he stuck his foot in his mouth.

Let's face it, this guy isn't the brightest star in the sky to begin with...but, as usual, something that should only make a teeny tiny blip on the radar is now some big issue because the media chose to boycott, ban or omit something.
True, that's why I thought it was a knee jerk reaction & was being taken out of context, but the sheeple will just take whatever hype the media doles out & just feed on it till it gets all blown out of proportion because for some reason they don't understand the difference.

[GodfatherofSoul]

That song is tired as a 40 year-old hooker. It was time to retire it 10 years ago. I find it peculiar that the same people who slam players for voicing their own kooky opinions are swarming to the HWJr's defense. Players lose endorsements for off-hand comments or legal situations. HWJr gets to end his streak for longest-stretch-milking-a-one-hit-wonder. To quote a political commentator, just because your dad is a genius doesn't mean you won't be a moron.

[BigNastyDefense]

That song is tired as a 40 year-old hooker. It was time to retire it 10 years ago. I find it peculiar that the same people who slam players for voicing their own kooky opinions are swarming to the HWJr's defense. Players lose endorsements for off-hand comments or legal situations. HWJr gets to end his streak for longest-stretch-milking-a-one-hit-wonder. To quote a political commentator, just because your dad is a genius doesn't mean you won't be a moron.

I don't think anyone is really defending him, just his right to give his opinion, especially when he's on a news network and asked his opinion.

I don't think anyone on this board has said that ESPN shouldn't or didn't have the right to basically fire him. I have no qualms with ESPN deciding to end their relationship with Hank Jr. because it was their right and their decision. It's not going to affect my viewing of MNF.

What most people here have had a problem with is how the media has taken to quoting one part of what he said and putting it out there without giving the context of what he said. The media does this a lot. Either to get ratings, to create controversy, or to railroad someone (in this case, all three).

If you actually listen to the entire thing, you'll see (that's if you choose to actually pay attention & use the brain God gave you) that he never actually called Obama "Hitler." He was simply making an analogy, though extreme, that Obama playing golf with one of the head Republicans was stupid because they don't agree on much if anything at all.

And by the way, Hank Williams Jr. is not a one-hit wonder. The MNF theme was a remixed version of a song that was a big hit. He also has had many other hits such as A Country Boy Can Survive, Family Tradition, and Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound just to name a few. But if you don't listen to the specific artist or genre, nobody expects you to know much if anything about them.

Also, when it comes to athletes, I don't think most of us here have a problem with them giving their opinions. It's when they bitch and moan about people not liking their opinions or about them losing promotion contracts. They have every right to say what they want, I just hate when they don't like people's reaction when we don't agree with what they say.

It's more of a view of shut the fuck up if you can't handle negative reaction to your comments.

[SMR]

Exactly. And then they act all shocked if they have an opinion that's different from their own or that the average Joe might have. Bottom line is nobody cares, so stop asking them.

:applaudit::applaudit::applaudit:

[stillers4me]

I don't get what any of it has to do with football in the first place.

It's not like he called the der Kommissioner a devil or anything.

:heh:

[fansince'76]

I don't get what any of it has to do with football in the first place.

It's not like he called the der Kommissioner a devil or anything.

:heh:

....or a British slang word for "cigarette." :chuckle:

[stillers4me]

....or a British slang word for "cigarette." :chuckle:

Yep. Now THAT would be bad.

:lol:

[GodfatherofSoul]

If you actually listen to the entire thing, you'll see (that's if you choose to actually pay attention & use the brain God gave you) that he never actually called Obama "Hitler." He was simply making an analogy, though extreme, that Obama playing golf with one of the head Republicans was stupid because they don't agree on much if anything at all.


His follow-up when asked to clarify his comments: "They're the enemy... Obama! And Biden!" He wasn't making a mild, "political opposites" analogy. Besides, he lost a cush job rehashing an old song every week. It's not like this guy will be out on the street since apparently he has had more songs than that one hit.

[The Patriot]

I stopped caring three days ago!

[tube517]

I stopped caring three days ago!

Can't believe I agree with The Patriot! :chuckle:

[BigNastyDefense]

His follow-up when asked to clarify his comments: "They're the enemy... Obama! And Biden!" He wasn't making a mild, "political opposites" analogy. Besides, he lost a cush job rehashing an old song every week. It's not like this guy will be out on the street since apparently he has had more songs than that one hit.

I know plenty of people that feel the exact same way. I know I won't be voting for Obama when he's up for re-election. I am not impressed by Obama one bit. Many people feel that he is the enemy because he has done absolutely nothing to help with the problems this country has been facing.

[86WARD]

Barry Sanders is gonna narrate the opening this week. I like that idea.

[BigNastyDefense]

Barry Sanders is gonna narrate the opening this week. I like that idea.

I love the idea. I hope that they use a legend from the home town team (or both teams) to narrate an opening to MNF. I think that would be better than someone singing a song.

[The Duke]

Barry Sanders is gonna narrate the opening this week. I like that idea.

damn, that's a great idea!

If only they could get him out of retirement

[86WARD]

Hopefully they put some nice NFLFilms highlights behind him and do it up right.

[Godfather]

Hopefully they put some nice NFLFilms highlights behind him and do it up right.

That would be awesome.

I like the SNF intro video. The song is cheesy but the video is awesome.

[stillers4me]

My opinion, FWIW (mostly nothing).....BSPN took the opportunity to make a change and draw attention to it. Really, how many viewers were they going to lose over what Hank said? 3??? nobody was going to stop watching football over it, which means it's doubtful they'd lose sponsers. And who even knew about it before they made a big deal about it? 2??? This was nothing but a publicity stunt by BSPN and now everybody is going to tune in to see what the opening is going to be like.

Me, I'll miss the dumb song. Hearing Hank yell "Are you ready for some football???" got me all pumped up for some real live sock'em, shock'em, smack'em up football!

Now I suppose we'll have a kinder, gentler opening act.

[JayC]

that sucks but espn sucks so i'm not surprised. every time we have bad stretches they say the steelers are done, time to rebuild. and then the next year we go to the playoffs and they have no memory of saying the steelers are dead