RUSH: John in Indianapolis as we go back to the phones on Open Line Friday. Great to have you here and hello, sir.
CALLER: Sir, man you need a break. You’re going to have a long weekend, but, like you, I like to get away from politics and let’s talk about something we both love dearly, let’s talk football.
RUSH: Yes.
CALLER: Two points. What did you think of the NFL opener last night, and the Manning Bowl because I think that game will be the one exceeding Super Bowl viewership because it will be the first time, the first time brother versus brother and —
RUSH: No.
CALLER: — the only thing I can say about that game is I just wish [Jeremy] Shockey was a Giant because he used to be to me the Bill Laimbeer — or used to be — the Bill Laimbeer of football, and I don’t blame Favre for losing that game. I blame Allen and the coaching staff for last night. What do you say, sir?
RUSH: Okay. In the first place it will be the second time the Manning Bowl has taken place. Eli and Peyton, the Giants hosted the Colts I think in a Thursday night game three or four years ago, and Indianapolis won. I don’t think the Manning Bowl is going to be bigger than the Super Bowl because it’s not going to attract the Muslim audience like the Super Bowl does. The Super Bowl is a worldwide audience. I don’t think the Manning Bowl is going to attract a worldwide audience unless there’s a fatwa on one of the Mannings. As for last night, this is what you get, this is what you get if you sit out training camp and you don’t build up a rhythm with your receivers and your number one receiver Sidney Rice is out for half a season because of hip surgery. I don’t think anybody ought to be surprised, you got a rusty quarterback, Brett Favre Brett Favre Brett Favre. He hasn’t worked all that much since last season, didn’t go to training camp.
I’ll tell you what the Saints did, the Saints looked at last year’s… You know, game planning the first game in the NFL is tough because you can’t look at the previous week’s opponent and see what they’ve done. So what the Saints did, they went back and looked at what the Vikings opened with last year, which was the Cleveland Browns and they looked at the game — I’m sure they did; I don’t know I’ll bet that’s what they did — and they game planned for the way the Vikings opened up last year. Of course they had Sidney Rice last year. But the thing I noticed about the game last night was the Saints defense. Everybody thinks the Saints are going to light it up offensively. It was a low-scoring game. I think it’s also emblematic of the fact that starters don’t play much in the preseason. It’s kind of like hitters are ahead of pitchers in spring training. So look out for the Saints defense this year. I think that’s one of the things I took away from the game last night.