Rush Limbaugh vs. the St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are in trouble. Since their Super Bowl victory, the only thing they've been consistent at is getting worse; game by game and year by year. As the team continues with their "commitment to excellence," the chatter around the NFL is getting louder and louder and it seems there is a constantly increasing chance that the Rams are going to move back to Los Angeles. So as the moving trucks start fueling for a move from St. Louis to the coast, Missouri native Rush Limbaugh enters the fold with a group of investors that are willing to buy the team and keep them in Missouri.

As soon as word broke out, the players association started circling the wagons and ABC/ESPN went back to work painting Mr. Limbaugh as racist and a bigot for what he had previously said about Donovan McNabb. Then Rams players started coming out against Limbaugh and claiming that they wouldn't play for him which got me thinking...

Is the current Rams' ownership a bunch of racists and bigots as well, because the St. Louis Rams haven't won a game this season. What are they talking about not playing for Limbaugh when they aren't playing football now; five games into the season?

I honestly hope the Limbaugh venture fails and the team moves to Los Angeles, so that the Rams' players and the NFL players association will have to pay for their stupidity and incompetence with cold hard cash. ESPN Radio host Colin Cowherd actually turned me on this concept which has completely changed the way I see the free agent market in professional sports. Are you ready for this? When these get their first paychecks from the Los Angeles Rams, the first thing that they are going to notice is that it is smaller than it was in Missouri. And as they adjust their spending because of this diminished income they are going to be even more stunned when tax time comes and they owe "Uncle Sam" more money!

How could this be? Well, it's because the marginal tax rate in California, for salaries over 1 million dollars is 10.55 percent! That is a dramatic difference from the 6 percent marginal tax rate in the state of Missouri. Also, any California resident will tell you that the taxes that they pay to the state of California are not deductible on their federal taxes, while Missouri residents get to deduct every single penny. So instead of deducting the money that they paid in state income taxes, they are going to have to pay federal taxes on every single dollar that they pay in high state taxes..

What does this mean? It means that all players making the median income in the National Football League, $740,000, are going to see their state net effective tax rate increase by 58 percent or $26,000. Players making over a million dollars will see their net effective tax rate increase by 76 percent or at least $46,000. Now you might think it doesn't matter because they are all millionaires, but you have to remember that the league minimum is $285,000 and the average career in the NFL is somewhere around 3 and a half years.

So, are these NFL players ready to put their money where their mouths are? Are they going to see ESPN fueling the fire for what it seems or is it because that ABC/ESPN is trying to distance themselves from catching any sort of heat for hiring Limbaugh in the first place? Rush Limbaugh is a controversial figure; so much so that half of the country can't stand him. That said, what did ESPN really think they were getting? Finally, I think that the St. Louis Rams should actually win a game or two before they start saying who they'll play for and who they won't.

As far as moving to Los Angeles is concerned, I think they should leave the decision up to running back Steven Jackson, because the moving is going to cost him just over a half a million dollars a year! Now, I don't think the Los Angeles Rams players and staff are going to have to shop at Aldi's after the move, but it will affect their lives. So much so that it could be the difference between affording six top dollar cars instead of seven. To "Joe the Plumber," that sounds ridiculous, but to a poorly educated professional athlete, it might be what keeps him for being a happy employee and in all businesses an unhappy workforce produces poor results. Thus continuing the Rams' "commitment to excellence" while adding a new level of disgust to another major NFL market.

As a Colts fan, I'd suggest not hiring Mayflower for your move to the coast...