Jackson would have bailed
"This was all about having a human train wreck on the scene to juice ratings."
The NY Daily News reports that Tom Jackson, the 16-year ESPN veteran and the most popular member of the Countdown cast, would have quit the show if Rush Limbaugh had stayed.
On Wednesday, Jackson told an ESPN executive by phone he was going to attend the Countdown production meeting, tell Limbaugh what he thought of him, quit the show and fly home.Jackson said bullshit, and even ESPN executive VP Mark Shapiro, who had rushed to Limbaugh's defense on Wednesday, knew there would be major problems if Jackson quit. If that happened, the rest of the Countdown cast members, all close to Jackson, would have been forced to do something.
Jackson's stance was exactly opposite to the one ESPN wanted the Countdown cast to take. With outside pressure mounting, management wanted Jackson and Co. to cooperate and help cool things down.
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