Posted on 09/07/2005 12:58:10 PM PDT by raccoonradio
The NFL, under fire from conservatives for cozying up to the Rolling Stones, is standing by Kanye West and will keep the rabid rapper on the bill for tomorrow night's Patriots-Raiders ``NFL Kickoff'' concert.
``Did we ever consider dumping him, no,'' League spokesguy Brian McCarthy told the Track. ``We are working with the Rolling Stones, Kanye West and Green Day for their entertainment value, not for their political views.''
Still, good ol' gridiron fans might be excused if they think the bill is a tad blue-state centric, what with the Stones and their ``Sweet Neo Con'' controversy and West, who called President Bush a racist on national TV the other night.
As you are all too aware, West unleashed his anti-Bush tirade during NBC's ``A Concert for Hurricane Relief'' Friday, proclaiming, ``George Bush doesn't care about black people.''
The Grammy-winning rapper accused the government of deliberate foot-dragging in its hurricane relief efforts, slammed the media for portraying black storm victims as looters and said, ``They've given them permission to go down and shoot us.'' The camera quickly cut away to comedian Chris Tucker.
``Like many Americans, this is an emotional time for Kanye,'' McCarthy said. ``But we don't anticipate any issues with our performers.''
Just to be on the safe side, West will be taped in advance and his performance will be edited and inserted into the pregame show, which airs on ABC beginning at 8 p.m.
Santana and Green Day will be live from Gillette Stadium – but on 10-second delay to avoid any Janet Jacksonesque scenarios.
The Stones, who will be featured in NFL promos and on ``Monday Night Football'' all season – in addition to playing the Super Bowl XL halftime show – were pretaped during their Detroit gig. They'll play ``Rough Justice'' off the new ``Bigger Bang'' CD and ``Start Me Up.''
West, Maroon 5 and Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria will do their thing from L.A., the site of the first Super Bowl. The Stones' Detroit performance ties in to Super Bowl XL, while Santana, Green Day and Freddie Prinze Jr. will be live in Foxboro.
McCarthy is promising some ``surprises'' during the show but not of the bare-breast variety. We hear a previous Santana collaborator will be in da house to perform with Carlos & Co. And, as long as everyone sticks to the script, no one will get hurt.
File Under: Political Football.
"Green Day, whose ''American Idiot" LP is nothing if not political, has made no secret of its dislike for Bush. At the band's show at Gillette Saturday, singer Billie Joe Armstrong introduced himself this way: ''My name is George W. Bush. My name is [expletive]."
I hope he's BOOED OFF THE STAGE!...............................
ping to NFL list
It says West's performance will be pre-taped (how courageous) but I hope that if the special is shown live to the crowd at Gillette
(look sharp! feel sharp! be sharp!), that the crowd will boo!
The NFL League spokesjerk needs to be reminded who the fanbase of NFL football is. (Hint: it ain't the pantywaist metrosexual Bush-haters, jackass.)
Uh-huh.
I used to watch football with my Dad when he was alive, but since his passing in 1992, I think I can count on one hand the number of football games I've seen on tv. For that matter, I don't watch any of the professional sports anymore, nor do I attend any of the games in person. As far as I'm concerned, they are all overpaid and underworked bums. Perhaps others should do the same. A boycott of advertisers, poor ticket sales -- that may hit them where they live. Perhaps then they will sit up and take notice that maybe a good number of the fans aren't going to go for any more wardrobe malfunctions or anti-American rhetoric from those "entertainers" they have hired.
They know their fan base all too well. A chance of any meaningful boycott over this is nil. What are guys going to do on Sunday afternoons in the fall instead?
PRO FOOTBALL IS GOING THE WAY OF BASEBALL.....THE FLASH, ZING AND PRIDE ARE GOING FAST.....ART ROONEY WOULD HAVE HATED ALL THIS.
Who does the NFL think their viewership is?
I'm sure my dad and all his cronies will love this show as much as they did the one 2 years ago with Britney Spears and a bunch of rappers.
I'm the biggest NFL geek alive but I won't watch this spectacle, including the advertisements so it won't impact me. I doubt I'll stay with the game for long once NE spanks the Raiders' butts red in the first half. Isn't there a college game Thurs night as well?
You are right. Trashy stuff.
Me, too. But Green Day and Kanye West are 'huge', any boos will be drowned out by cheers. Not that the media would show us if they weren't.
That's exactly it. This show isn't to reward the loyal football fans, it's to attract new ones.
They old fans couldn't give a crap about this - just call us over after the coin toss.
...and I hope the Gillette crowd will boo Green Day if they do American Idiot, though there are probably a lot of young men in the crowd, college-age ones who no doubt will CHEER
the Bush-bashing band as they walk about on the "boulevard
of broken dream"...(that's their song right? Pardon me if
I'm wrong--I'm 43 and a bit old for this modern music :) )
They know who their fanbase is. They know the hardcore football fans will be watching the pre-game show on ESPN before the game, and the casual fans will be totally away from football until kickoff. They also know they picked acts with a solid fanbase of their own that might not have watched any football before and they're hoping at least a few of the fans that tune in to see one of these acts before the game will not change channels and watch the game and get hooked then they have new fans.
It will be nice when Condi Rice is NFL commisioner. Maybe she'll bring back the Punt, Pass, and Kick contests and dump this pop-star crap.
One of the last things I want to see at a football game is Mick Jagger's geriatric weezing. Or a bunch of leftist dick-wipes screaming anti-American rants. Or Janet Jackson's tits.
The NFL is really out of touch.
Now we all know that if Peter Jennings were still alive he would not allow such bashing on his program, much like he would not allow Toby to sign his song. /sarcasm still on.
They also want baby boomers who grew up listening to the Gall Stones--I mean, Rolling Stones. "Prop 'em up! They might fall down, if you don't prop 'em up!"
What, no Springsteen or Dixie Chicks?!
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