Monday Night Football will not begin with the words, "Are you ready for some football?" -- ESPN is yanking Hank Williams Jr's famous theme song tonight ... after he compared President Obama to Hitler.

Williams Jr. went on Fox & Friends this morning and criticized President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner for playing a round of golf together -- saying, "That's like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu."

He later said Obama and Joe Biden are "the enemy."

ESPN told CBS Sports -- which broke the story -- "We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast."

http://www.tmz.com/2011/10/03/hank-williams-junior-monday-night-football-theme-pulled-espn-president-obama-hitler-comparison-fox-and-friends/

thats funny.. you go hank!

I always thought America prided itself on it's citizens freedom of speech. Obviously I was mistaken. This is a knee-jerk reaction by ESPN. And why is a sports network taking a political stand anyway? Politics should be kept out of sports in my opinion.

I always thought America prided itself on it's citizens freedom of speech. Obviously I was mistaken. This is a knee-jerk reaction by ESPN. And why is a sports network taking a political stand anyway? Politics should be kept out of sports in my opinion.Good post,Marvo.

Hank Williams, Jr. is absolutely, positively 100% correct on this one.

Regardless of your personal politics, if you were a higher-up at ESPN/Disney or the NFL, wouldn't you want to protect your brand from that kind of talk?

I bet he wouldn't have been fired had he said that about GWB. But I agree with Hank on this one!!!

Regardless of your personal politics, if you were a higher-up at ESPN/Disney or the NFL, wouldn't you want to protect your brand from that kind of talk?


good point Brad

I will say this though, if Hank Williams would have said he admires Hitler. I could understand firing him more than comparing Obama or GWB to Hitler. Bill Maher said he thought the 9/11 terrorists were brave and still had a show to go to at ABC afterwards. (Even though it was eventually canceled)

You're right. Yanking the song/Hank Williams, Jr. was extreme, but I don't think it'll be permanent. What ESPN should have done was issue a statement. "Opinions expressed by blah blah blah are not necessary the opnions of blah blah, its blah blah, or its blah blah."

Williams will be back, probably before the season's over.

In the hopes of trying not to sound distasteful, I'm pretty sure Bill Maher didn't intentionally say he supported the 9/11 terrorists, as it was supposed to be part of his act on television.

Here's Maher's exact quote (at least according to "Wikiquote" (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Maher)):

We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, that's not cowardly. Stupid maybe, but not cowardly.

He definitely wasn't supporting the terrorists, but it was a pretty stupid thing to say six days after the attacks.

WHAT???

It Looks Like Obama Is Starting To Become A Sacred Figure And If You Back-Talk Him...You're A Heathen!

What Nerve....

So are you saying it's Obama's fault Williams was fired?

Since ESPN boycotted Hank Williams, Jr. tonight, I boycotted ESPN. I watched the baseball playoffs instead of Monday Night Football.

Sweet - which baseball game did you watch?

Since ESPN boycotted Hank Williams, Jr. tonight, I boycotted ESPN. I watched the baseball playoffs instead of Monday Night Football.


LOL I am sure you weren't the only one Sonny. The Colts vs Buccaneers was a yawner...

I saw the segment on Fox and Friends this morning.

Williams wasn't actually comparing Obama to Hitler personally. He was talking about that stupid golf match between Obama/Biden and Boehner/Kasich earlier this summer. He said it was the stupidest idea he'd ever seen, and it didn't look good to a lot of people. Then he said the idea of those 4 guys pretending to get along was like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu.

Hank did say that Obama and Biden are "the enemy", but considering the purposeful destruction of the private sector (by this administration), who could argue?

Everyone associated with ESPN (except Bill Plaschke) is a far left liberal, so any negative comments about Obama (or any other Democrat) will be met with swift retribution.

Hank Williams Jr. Backtracks From Obama-Hitler Comparison
10/3/2011
by THR staff


Hank Williams Jr. is retreating from comments he made Monday on "Fox News' Fox & Friends" comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

The singer issued a statement Monday afternoon in which he claims his remarks were "misunderstood."

"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."



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hank-williams-jr-obama-hitler-comparison-243264

One of the sports radio hosts in DC said this on twitter and it makes a lot of sense so thought I would repost it,

This thing with Hank Jr is low even for @ESPN (http://twitter.com/#!/ESPN). If they banned all the athletes that said dumb things, they would have no programming

One of the sports radio hosts in DC said this on twitter and it makes a lot of sense so thought I would repost it,

^ Amen to that!! *coughTerrellOwenscough*

I dont see what the big deal is. People are way too sensitive. How many times during the previous administration did some leftist celebrity call George Bush a nazi and nobody got upset??


Only thing wrong with those comments and what Hank Jr. said is they are not accurate.

George Bush and Barak Obama may be a lot of things but nazi's they are not.


Bush and Obama never have tried to wipe out the Jewish rach, nor have they sent anyone to be tourtured and killed in a consentration camp.


Just saying

Remember the uproar that ensued when Natalie Maines said she was ashamed that George W. Bush was from Texas? Her career was never the same after that.

Since ESPN boycotted Hank Williams, Jr. tonight, I boycotted ESPN. I watched the baseball playoffs instead of Monday Night Football.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

So how did Monday Night Football come on Monday Night?-lol I had no interest because of the Colts vs Bucs

ESPN Fires Hank Williams Jr. After Controversial Comments
by Alex Moaba
posted Oct 6th 2011


ESPN announced today that it had formally cut ties with country singer Hank Williams Jr., whose song 'All My Rowdy Friends' served as the intro to the network's "Monday Night Football" broadcast.

Williams, and the song had been temporarily suspended by the network for this week's Bucs vs. Colts game in the wake of comments he made on "Fox & Friends" comparing President Obama to Hitler.



"We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of 'Monday Night Football' has always been about the games and that will continue."






However, on Williams' blog, the singer claimed he was not in fact fired, but had resigned.

"After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision," Williams wrote. "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."

http://www.aoltv.com/2011/10/06/espn-fires-hank-williams-jr-after-controversial-comments/

Disgusting. We'll see what ESPN does if someone from their network calls a Republican President a nazi or something. I know it's been done before...just don't remember if someone from ESPN did it but I'm pretty sure it's happened from their parent company, ABC.

There's this perceived one-sidedness when it comes to outrage. People on the right like to pretend that it only comes from the left, and people on the left like to pretend that it only comes from the right.

I seem to remember being told--quite often--to leave the United States if I didn't like President Bush during his presidency. Not to mention the Natalie Maines controversy...

To get back to Hank Jr.'s original comments, why are Obama and Boehner golfing together? They are polar opposites, as Boehner opposed Obama's healthcare policy. It reminds me when Scott Brown said he'd like to shoot some hoops with Obama, and he was supposed to be another opponent of his healthcare plan.

It's interesting that Hank mentioned Hitler and Netanyahu when comparing Obama and Biden. Obama has had a rather adversarial relationship with Netanyahu which has resulted in some very disgraceful, hateful behavior by Obama.

I was about to discuss the whole thing with a co-worker today, but he was so utterly convinced Hank Williams Jr. was a "racist redneck", and was of the opinion that for any white man (my co-worker is white) to oppose or criticize Obama is simply "racist". I felt I should give it up right there. There is no reasoning with these people. It's almost as if it's okay to be racist against whites, particularly if you are attacking white country singers such as Hank Williams Jr. "You know--they're those kind of people!!"

After officially dumping Hank Williams Jr. on Thursday over his controversial statements about President Obama, ESPN has found his replacement for the Monday Night Football intro: former NFL football player Barry Sanders.

Sanders, who played for the Detroit Lions from 1989-98, will be featured in a video segment that previews Monday's (Oct. 10) football game. Sanders tweeted, "Ok, I admit it. I will be at MNF this week and doing the intro."

PHOTOS: Hollywood's Memorable Mea Culpas

An ESPN spokesperson said to THR that it is unlikely to create a new song for the remainder of the season.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/espn-drops-hank-williams-jr-football-obama-hitler-243241