Are You Ready For Some...Nevermind

Hank Williams, Jr, the country singer whose "Are you ready for some football" theme song and saying had been a part of Monday Night Football for twenty years, was let go today by ESPN.

Williams was dropped from ESPN's Monday Night Football team after making some offensive and disparaging remarks on Fox News' "FOX and Friends" television program. While on the program, Williams referred to President Obama as the enemy and wondered how he and House Speaker John Boehner could golf together and be cordial while fighting it out politically over government spending and taxation. His comparison was a bit over the top, as Williams said it would be like “Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu,” referring to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. I suppose if Obama were to round up Republicans and murder 12 million of them, Williams could be on the right track. ESPN originally suspended Williams while they sorted out the mess in the boardroom. Williams tried to apologize, to no avail. Here is an excerpt from his mostly illiterate apology. "I have always been very passionate about Politics and Sports and this time it got the Best or Worst of me. The thought of the Leaders of both Parties Jukin and High Fiven on a Golf course, while so many Families are Struggling to get by simply made me Boil over and make a Dumb statement and I am very Sorry if it Offended anyone. I would like to Thank all my supporters. This was Not written by some Publicist." I'm not sure he really needed to remind people that it wasn't written by a publicist. I'm not sure it was written by someone who had completed his GED. "Jukin and High Fiven"? I can't tell if he's being racist or if he's just a colossal moron. Then again, the two are not mutually exclusive. Of course, Williams decided to play the "You can't fire me because I quit" card. "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision," he wrote on his website. "By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It's been a great run." No, you didn't. You got fired. Be a man and own up to it. Quit, as you put it, jukin and high fiven...whatever the hell that means. This issue also doesn't have a damn thing to do with the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from censoring speech. ESPN is not the government. ESPN can prevent its employees and contractors from tarnishing the ESPN brand name with stupid, racist, offensive remarks. Just ask Rush Limbaugh — he got fired from MNF for being an obtuse turd, as well. In any case, Monday Night Football will live on. According to CNN, there is a plan already in place for the broadcast, minus Williams' song, which is an adaptation of his original song, “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight”. "The football-themed tease open that we have been using to start the telecast will now air before kickoff," an ESPN spokesperson said. "The overall telecast will begin with a quick scene set highlighting the atmosphere at Ford Field. In between the scene set and tease, we will have preview segments in the booth with Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski and a couple of commercial breaks as usual. This is the format we'll likely use for the remainder of the season. We haven't made any decisions beyond that." Good riddance to a bad song. Oh, and go Lions!