RUSH: Deborah in La Crosse, Wisconsin, great to have you on the EIB Network.
CALLER: Well, Green Bay Packer loving dittos to you, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: I am just calling to say hey and this is my birthday and it’s my anniversary tomorrow, and I’m a mother of a three Rush Babies, been with you since the very beginning when you started broadcasting in La Crosse and even met you when you came here on tour.
RUSH: Really? Well, I appreciate that.
CALLER: I’m an old timer.
RUSH: Well, happy birthday, and I hope it’s a happy anniversary.
CALLER: It always is. My husband is just great. He’s the one who first found you and turned me on like within hours of finding you, and we’ve been happy listeners ever since.
RUSH: Terrific.
CALLER: Yeah. I’m just calling to talk about the Packer game last night and, oh, well, (laughing) better luck next time, because I’m sure they’ll meet up again before —
RUSH: Yeah, yeah, yeah, look, you know, you’ve gotta look at this long-term. Did you watch it on the NFL Network?
CALLER: I am sorry, but I live way out in the sticks and I don’t get the NFL Network, but I did listen the old-fashioned way.
RUSH: All right. Well, one of the things that they were doing throughout the game last night on the NFL Network was putting up the division leaders and their records, going into the game last night as the Cowboys 10-1 and the Packers 10-1 and then you go all the way down to the other divisions, and the division leaders are 7-4, 6-5, there are teams in the NFC still in the wild card hunt still at 5-6.
CALLER: Isn’t that scary?
RUSH: No, it’s just disappointing. It really is. It’s disappointing in the sense that there’s, you know, two or three elite — well, there’s one really elite team, two or three really good teams, and then after that it’s a crapshoot every week. You don’t know what you’re going to get. But regardless, the point is that the Packers could lose this game. They may not get home-field advantage, but you never know, there’s a whole month to go in the season here, anything can happen. You didn’t see the game, but what you ought to take out of this game is the Packers got jobbed on two bad calls.
CALLER: I agree. They sounded bad over the radio.
RUSH: They got jobbed. That’s part of the game. The point is they were in this game even without Favre and without Woodson and without KGB.
CALLER: Exactly.
RUSH: They learned a lot about Aaron Rodgers last night; that he can play.
CALLER: Yeah, he was great, he proved it.
RUSH: I think Packers fans, you know, it’s distressing and disappointing to see Favre get hurt like he did, but that’s what it is, too. But I’ll tell you, there was a pass interception, either the —
CALLER: The first one or the second one that Favre threw, is that what you’re talking about?
RUSH: No, no, no, I’m talking about the pass interference call —
CALLER: Oh, that one.
RUSH: Well, no, there was an interference —
CALLER: Al Harris.
RUSH: Al Harris literally stole the ball from T.O. —
CALLER: Yes, he did.
RUSH: But they blew the whistle dead so you couldn’t review it.
CALLER: No.
RUSH: When the whistle blows, that’s that, and the wrong official blew — happens. And then the pass interference call I think the third quarter, that was really not pass interference, but it was ruled that, and that was a 42-yard penalty, and that —
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: But the play that broke the Packers’ back last night, third and 19 from their own —
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: — 9 yard line, and they made a first down on a bomb.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: You know, you’re 10-2, every other team in the league other than New England and Dallas would love to be where you are.
CALLER: Oh, I know. And I know that they’re going to finish out the season in grand style. I just hope Favre can come back. He’s just been great, but Aaron is showing his stuff.
RUSH: He’ll be back.
CALLER: Oh, absolutely.
RUSH: He’ll be back.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: And, no, Snerdley, there’s only one elite team in the National Football League, and that’s the New England Patriots. It’s just the way it is. Here’s the tiers: You’ve got the Patriots, then you have the Packers and the Cowboys and the Steelers, and then Cleveland is coming up. (interruption) Well, the Colts, I got a bad feeling about the Colts. Marvin Harrison is not going to play this weekend again.
CALLER: You think they’re on self-destruct?
RUSH: No. I don’t think they’re on self-destruct. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Manning, but they’ve lost Dwight Freeney. That’s a huge loss in defensive end, and this show is on in every major market in this country, including Indianapolis, and I don’t want to make anybody mad there. I love the Indianapolis Colts and it’s amazing what they’ve done there. It’s just that, to me, they may be getting a little old. It happened to the Steelers after their fourth Super Bowl run, the Buffalo Bills. It’s just a fact of life because we all get old.
CALLER: Oh, sure.
RUSH: You still have to put the Colts as an elite team in the AFC, but not ‘the.’ There’s one elite team. And, of course, the Colts take the field you’re going to bet ’em to win, you give the points, so they’re still a factor, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here, folks, I’m a fan, just a little bit of a queasy feeling about this. It’s a little tougher for them to beat teams they ought to be smoking.