RUSH: We welcome to our program — it’s an annual event the Friday before the Super Bowl — the Reverend Dr. Ken Hutcherson on the phone with us from Seattle to discuss the upcoming Super Bowl, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. Hutch, great to have you here, sir.
HUTCH: How you doing, my bro?
RUSH: Very good, my brother. How are you doing? How are you doing?
HUTCH: I’m doing good. I can’t complain one bit, but we better take care of first business first. Tell Kathryn I said hello and am looking forward to meeting her.
RUSH: All right, I’ll do that. I’m going to see her tonight at our little Super Bowl client dinner that we’re having down in Miami.
HUTCH: Be careful down there in Miami, man. They don’t like white people down there.
RUSH: (laughing)
HUTCH: (laughing)
RUSH: Hey, Hutch, what do you think about my idea — in honor of Black History Month next Monday — to serve the staff fried chicken, collard greens, cornbread and watermelon?
HUTCH: I think you got one thing missing.
RUSH: What?
HUTCH: Me.
RUSH: (laughing)
HUTCH: (laughing) The biggest problem with that, man, is if there’s anyone else that was conservative they’ve already been cooked and barbecued themselves. (laughing)
RUSH: Amen, bro. (laughing)
HUTCH: Fried chicken in honor of Black History Month. What in the world is this world coming to?
RUSH: Well, that’s the sign at the NBC commissary at 30 Rock. There’s a sign at the door when you walk in. It’s since been taken down, but they’re serving — in honor of Black History Month — fried chicken, collard greens, and cornbread. They’re not serving the watermelon.
HUTCH: Well, you have to understand now that liberals are not prejudiced. They’re very sensitive.
RUSH: (laughing)
HUTCH: (laughing)
RUSH: Yes, very politically correct. Hey, let me read a headline here to you.
HUTCH: Okay.
RUSH: ‘NFL Owners, Players Lining Up Lobbyists for Labor Showdown — National Football League players have hired a new union chief from Washington’s top lobbying firm and hired his former colleagues to help influence Congress.’ So you got lobbyists and unions and politicians. What could possibly go wrong with this?
HUTCH: Just the fact they get representatives to go in and try to tell the players what they need to do. Hey, these guys don’t want to lose money. They got a great contract. You know, the NFL Players Association is nothing like the national baseball one. The Baseball Players Association got its PAC, bro. They know how to take care of their players.
RUSH: Well, what they’re talking about here is an eight — I’m told this is what DeMaurice Smith is saying — that the owners want an 18% pay cut. What I know about this is is that Paul Tagliabue back I think in 2006 did a revision to the CBA that bumped up the players’ take to 60% and it also allowed for an uncapped year in 2010 if there wasn’t a renewal and the owners think they got screwed in that deal and they’re just —
HUTCH: Yep.
RUSH: — trying to reset it, they’re trying to reset it.
HUTCH: Yep.
RUSH: And the owner of the Ravens, Steve Bisciotti, came out a couple days ago and said there are some NFL teams losing money and he didn’t say which ones were but he did mention Jacksonville having to put tarps over 10,000 seats to make sure that they don’t have blackouts, and he said that there are some teams with the middle linebacker, you’ll love this, is making more than the owner.
HUTCH: (laughing) Well, I wish I was still playing at Mike linebacker.
RUSH: And you’d be making more than some owners —
HUTCH: I think that’s a flat-out lie, Rush, because every owner is going to split Super Bowl money.
RUSH: Well, there is revenue sharing, and they —
HUTCH: Yeah, revenue sharing. It’s the greatest monopoly in all the world.
RUSH: Well, there’s a court case before the Supreme Court that may come down and say that.
HUTCH: Good. About time.
RUSH: All right, let’s talk about the game. Are you jazzed about this at all?
HUTCH: I’m going to tell you something. This is probably one of the finest contests that we’re going to see in a long time. This is the first time, Rush, that we’ve had the number one team, the number two team, the number one quarterback, and the number two quarterback going to be playing each other in the Super Bowl.
RUSH: Well, that’s true.
HUTCH: It is, isn’t it?
RUSH: It’s the first time two dome teams have made it to the Super Bowl.
HUTCH: Yeah. You’re looking at the first time in the Final Four that you had three of the top four teams that made it.
RUSH: Would you have rather seen Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, rather than the Saints?
HUTCH: No. No, no, no, no, no, no. I think that the contest is the contest. I hated that the first Super Bowl was played two weeks ago. That’s the thing I hate.
RUSH: That was Indianapolis and who?
HUTCH: No. The first Super Bowl, man, was the Vikings and the Saints.
RUSH: Oh, the Vikings and the Saints.
HUTCH: Yeah. Now, that was a game, bro, you know that as well as I do.
RUSH: Yeah, it was a game, but I mean for crying out loud, the Vikings had five turnovers, fumbles and interceptions.
HUTCH: That’s what pressure does to a team, bro.
RUSH: I guess.
HUTCH: That’s the difference between winning and losing in the big game.
RUSH: Well, I think in any game.
HUTCH: Yeah.
RUSH: All right. So you’re excited about the matchup?
HUTCH: I’m excited about the matchup, but I’m excited about it for a total different reason than most people.
RUSH: Tell me why.
HUTCH: Because I think that there are so many things that people are not taking in consideration with the Saints. And, by the way, now, what kind of friend do I have that’s gonna agree with Obama about who is probably going to win this game?
RUSH: Hey, who’s agreeing with Obama? I made my pick before he did. I’m not agreeing with him, I can’t help what he thinks.
HUTCH: (laughing) Okay, go ahead, get out of it. You both are still on the same team.
RUSH: All I know is that it’s the kiss of death when this guy picks a basketball winner, when he endorses a political candidate, now he’s picked the Super Bowl team. It’s worse than being on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
HUTCH: (laughing) It’s the kiss of death when the Hutch says, hey, with all the things going on everyone knows that everything is pointing towards the Saints. Everybody knows that. Baltimore is not playing the Saints, they’re playing a city, they’re playing history, they’re playing the future. But there’s one thing wrong.
RUSH: Wait a second.
HUTCH: There’s a guy over there called Peyton Manning.
RUSH: Wait a second. You’re saying the sentimental favorites are the Saints and everybody’s talking about the Saints as a powerhouse here?
HUTCH: Oh, yeah.
RUSH: Because of New Orleans, because of Katrina, because they’ve never been there before?
HUTCH: Absolutely. Why are you leaning towards them?
RUSH: I don’t want to say why ’cause has nothing to do with football.
HUTCH: Absolutely. I’m with you right there, see. You and I are together on that one. The thing that drives me nuts the most is our buddy, the owner of the Colts.
RUSH: Yeah. I must say that factors here.
HUTCH: That is the thing that is tearing me apart, I’m telling you right now, bro, when this guy was not a fan of my best friend.
RUSH: Jim ‘Hearsay,’ the owner of the Indianapolis Colts. And, frankly, you know, I know I shouldn’t react this way, and I’ve met Peyton Manning on the golf course a couple times, but frankly I’m tired of reading stories ‘Is he the best quarterback ever?’ and if he wins his second Super Bowl, he will be the best quarterback ever.
HUTCH: Well he is the best quarterback ever, Rush.
RUSH: You think he’s better than Montana?
HUTCH: Oh, for heaven’s sake, yes. I don’t even think they’re in the same ballpark, Rush.
RUSH: How many Super Bowls does Montana have?
HUTCH: I don’t care how many Super Bowls.
RUSH: He’s got four, Hutch, he’s got four.
HUTCH: Yeah, but, look, you think Manning’s going to quit after this year?
RUSH: No, he’s gonna play after this year.
HUTCH: That’s right. He’s gonna win some more Super Bowls, don’t worry about that. But he’s a technician of the game, Rush. He alone showing up can win the game. Drew Brees showing up by himself can’t.
RUSH: I didn’t put Drew Brees in the equation. But, look, that’s a bunch of hyperbole. Are you saying Manning showing up one against 11 can beat ’em?
HUTCH: I’m saying that he can take the other ten and beat any team on the field.
RUSH: Oh, that’s the old Bum Phillips thing.
HUTCH: Hey, baby, I’m going to tell you, you know what he said, Earl Campbell to the right, Earl Campbell to the left, Earl Campbell up the middle, and until you stop, left, right, and up the middle, that’s the way we’re going to run.
RUSH: Yeah. Well, that’s what Bum Phillips, my all-time favorite NFL coach, Bum Phillips said about Don Shula, he can take yourn and beat yourn, and he can take hisn and beat yourn.
HUTCH: (laughing)
RUSH: So that’s what you’re saying about Manning, he can play for any team and make ’em a winner?
HUTCH: Oh, yeah, just having him on the field as a general. And that’s why I had to remove all my emotions from Jim Irsay, I had to remove all of it. I don’t like the guy, I don’t like what he said about you, I don’t care if anyone hears it, you know, give ’em a phone call, personally tell him The Hutch does not like him, he messed up one of the greatest opportunities in the NFL. And I think I ought to start a campaign: Rush for NFL Commissioner. (laughing)
RUSH: (laughing) Oh that would be funny. Let DeMaurice Smith react to that. I gotta take a break here, but I want to find out what you’re throwing away emotionally here in order to pick Jim ‘Hearsay’s’ team.
HUTCH: Okay.
RUSH: We’ll be right back. Don’t go away; back with The Hutch.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: And we’re back, Rush Limbaugh with The Hutch, the Reverend Dr. Ken Hutcherson, Antioch Bible Church in Seattle. Okay, you were going to share with us your emotional reasons for wanting to pick the Saints, but you’re gonna broom ’em and you’re going to go with the Colts. What are these emotional reasons?
HUTCH: Well, you know, before we get into that, Rush, you know Fergie, part-owner of the Miami Dolphins?
RUSH: Oh, yeah, Fergie.
HUTCH: Black Eyed Peas.
RUSH: Yeah, Black Eyed Peas lead singer.
HUTCH: Yeah, you know that they had a song come out about a year and a half, two years ago, Let’s Get Retarded, and they made ’em change it.
RUSH: Really?
HUTCH: Yeah.
RUSH: Did Fergie sing it or did will.i.am sing it?
HUTCH: I think it was the whole group.
RUSH: Whole group sang it.
HUTCH: Yeah, and it caused a stir and they changed it, but Emanuel can get away with what he said? Rush, America needs to wake up.
RUSH: They actually had a song Let’s Get Retarded?
HUTCH: Yes.
RUSH: I’m sorry, Let’s Get R-worded?
HUTCH: Yeah, and they had to change the words.
RUSH: No kidding.
HUTCH: Absolutely, my brother.
RUSH: I didn’t know that. It’s rare that somebody tells me something I don’t know.
HUTCH: That’s why you and I are close.
RUSH: That’s exactly right. And I know that you got my back.
HUTCH: Let me tell you what’s going on that a lot of people are not taking into consideration, I believe. One emotionally I gotta remove myself from the owner of the Colts and just concentrate on the teams. Number one, I think if any defense, any defense of the Colts shows up, the game could be over at halftime.
RUSH: Well, speaking of that, I gotta ask you about Dwight Freeney. They’re playing games with this ankle of his whether he’s going to play or not. Let’s say he doesn’t play, that’s going to put somebody not nearly as good on the right side in the end, and the so-called experts are saying that’s going to start a shoot-out. Brees is going to have a field day because the Colt defense is not going to be able to get any pressure on him ’cause they’ll be able to double-team Robert Mathis on the left side.
HUTCH: Oh, yeah, but how good has he been lately though, Rush, with that bad hand, you know, and injuries that he’s had. Raheem is just going to have to step up.
RUSH: You mean Freeney?
HUTCH: No, if Freeney doesn’t play, Raheem’s going to have to step up because they’re talking about going ahead and operating on him, on Dwight.
RUSH: Right.
HUTCH: He may not even play at all.
RUSH: Well, I know. It’s confusing. They’re trying to keep everybody off guard by saying, ‘He’s getting better, less pain today, out walking on the beach, trying to keep flexibility in the ankle out there, might be playing, might not be playing.’ I just want to know, if he doesn’t play, are these guys right, does this open up a shoot-out for Brees?
HUTCH: No. I don’t think so. I think they already got this game plan set if Freeney doesn’t play.
RUSH: All right.
HUTCH: And Raheem is just going to have to step up, bro. And, you know, you got the other defensive end, you got Robert Mathis, he’s going to have to step up, you have Antonio Johnson, who is going to have to step up, you know, and Danny is going to have to — these guys are going to have to do their job, that’s what they’re paid for and that’s why I’m saying, if any aspect of the Colts defense shows up, this game could be through and over at halftime, I’m telling you.
RUSH: All right. We’ll keep a sharp eye on that.
HUTCH: Right. Please do. Now, the big problem we got is with the offense, if the crazy red stallion stands up out there and gets the offense fired up for the Saints.
RUSH: The crazy red stallion stands up?
HUTCH: Jeremy Shockey.
RUSH: Oh, Shockey.
HUTCH: That boy, man —
RUSH: He’s on a bum knee, too.
HUTCH: Yeah.
RUSH: I’m more interested in the Saints’ defense. I need to ask you a question about what happens in the NFL. I’m reading today that there are bounties out on Peyton Manning, that there are cash rewards being offered Saints defensive players for putting him out of the game. Does that stuff actually happen? We heard that about Buddy Ryan when he coached the Eagles.
HUTCH: Yes.
RUSH: Does that stuff actually happen in the NFL?
HUTCH: If it is it is not talked about in the locker room, bro. You do not talk about that kind of stuff in the locker room, and you don’t let news people know about it.
RUSH: Well, the news people are talking.
HUTCH: Of course they are.
RUSH: They’re asking the Colts’ offensive line if they’ve heard about this.
HUTCH: Well, they’re trying their best to make news, Rush. This is the quietest Super Bowl ever. There’s no controversy going on.
RUSH: Right. And no bad asses out there getting drunk and —
HUTCH: Yeah.
RUSH: — getting arrested with prostitutes.
HUTCH: This is a total different Super Bowl than they’ve ever had to deal with.
RUSH: Well, what’s that say about these two teams, clean and pure as the wind-driven snow?
HUTCH: What they say is they are very disciplined.
RUSH: Very disciplined.
HUTCH: They are very disciplined.
RUSH: Which coach do you like here?
HUTCH: It doesn’t matter to me. I mean either coach is fine, but, you know, they’re both rookies.
RUSH: Well, Sean Payton is not a rookie, he’s been around four or five seasons.
HUTCH: Yeah, but I mean the Super Bowl?
RUSH: Oh, Super Bowl. Yeah. Okay.
HUTCH: They’re both rookies going to the Super Bowl. That’s why I’m worried about the Saints.
RUSH: Why, because Caldwell’s been there before?
HUTCH: There you go. There you go.
RUSH: Okay, Saints are going to blitz. They blitz every play, they blitz everybody.
HUTCH: They’re gonna get busted. Don’t blitz my man if you’re not willing to get burned.
RUSH: If they do get burned on these blitzes do you expect them to dial them back? Because they haven’t been dialing them back. If they keep getting burned — and they haven’t been burned much, they’ve got a pretty good record. But that’s their defensive philosophy. They’re putting a lot of faith in Darren Sharper back there.
HUTCH: Oh, yeah, but they haven’t played my boy Peyton, have they?
RUSH: No, they haven’t played. I want to ask you another question about Peyton Manning.
HUTCH: Sure.
RUSH: All these audibles he calls to the line, how many of them are fakes, how many of that is just style, trying to screw up a defense or bide time to see what the defense is lining up in?
HUTCH: I don’t think any of them is fake. He’s too much of a technician and I think everything he calls, Rush, is from the line, what he sees, what he reads, what he sees what side of the line their strong safety, everyone is lining up on, how you reflect the formation that he’s in, and then he reads from the line. That’s what makes him such a great quarterback.
RUSH: Okay. So he’s actually in charge of — he’s the offense coordinator actually playing the game?
HUTCH: Absolutely. That’s why it didn’t change that much when they changed head coaches, bro.
RUSH: Well, but they didn’t change offensive coordinators.
HUTCH: No. But you got your general on the field, not on the sideline calling plays.
RUSH: Yeah, I think Dungy has picked, understandably, the Colts 38-17, 34-17, something like that?
HUTCH: I’m going to tell you, if any defense shows up on the Colts side people are going to be mad at the second half if they advertise for the second half of the Super Bowl. (laughing)
RUSH: The Colts defense is an underrated unit because of Manning. Everybody focuses on the Colts’ offense but their defense, when they do show up they are damn good, ask Bill Belichick.
HUTCH: I’m going to tell you right now, when they show up they’re good, but, boy, very seldom do they show up, Rush.
RUSH: Got one more question before we have to go, Tim Tebow, the controversy here over the ad with he and his mother —
HUTCH: My boy, I’m going to tell you I’m prejudice, I’m going to tell you I’m prejudice, we work with his dad from our church in the Philippines, you know.
RUSH: I did not know that.
HUTCH: Yeah, he’s part of our missions program at the church.
RUSH: No kidding, Tebow’s dad is?
HUTCH: Yeah.
RUSH: We’ve learned a lot here. Here is the ultimate pro-choice question, a mother faced with a possibility of dying during pregnancy or giving birth, ultimate choice, she chose to give birth, and now the NAGs don’t even want the story told.
RUSH: That’s right.
HUTCH: So no longer is pro-choice pro-choice. They have now confirmed pro-choice is pro-abortion.
HUTCH: That’s exactly right. But it always has been.
RUSH: I know. But now they’ve demonstrated it.
HUTCH: Now they’ve demonstrated. Three million, we’ve got three million. Hey, Rush, remember when I came down to Florida to do that movie?
RUSH: Yeah.
HUTCH: And you wouldn’t come down and have dinner with me?
RUSH: (laughing) What do you mean, wouldn’t come down to have dinner with you?
HUTCH: (laughing) We finally got it finished, I wanted to let you know, and I want to send you my book. Can I give you the name of it?
RUSH: Yeah. Four seconds.
HUTCH: Hope is Contagious, and I want you to read it and I want your honest opinion about it, all right?
RUSH: All right, I’ll give it to you.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: By the way, if you didn’t hear it the name of the Hutch’s book is Hope is Contagious, and he’s going to send me a copy of it, and when he does I shall read it and review it and pass it on to you.