CNN ANCHOR RICK SANCHEZ BUM RUSHED BY LIMBAUGH

I can add the perspective of someone who was living in south Florida at the time of the incident Rush spoke of on 10/14 in response to CNN anchor Rick Sanchez continuing to report, as factual, comments attributed to Limbaugh that still have not been substantiated. Oddly enough, the incident is tied to an NFL game. It was a very memorable game actually, played between the Miami Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles. It was Dan Marino v. Randall Cunningham.

Rush went nuclear on Sanchez, relaying the facts of an incident Sanchez was involved in on December 10th, 1990. After the Miami Dolphins defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Overtime by a score of 23-20, Rick Sanchez who was then a news anchor for WSVN, channel 7 in Miami left the game in his Volvo. Sanchez had been drinking and was later found to be above the legal limit.

While driving, he struck a pedestrian who went into a coma for two months and woke up partially paralyzed. Not only that but Sanchez left the scene of the accident and returned after two hours. The MIAMI NEWS TIMES published an article about Jeffrey Smuzinick on August 7th, 1991.

Minutes after midnight on the morning of December 10, 1990, an intoxicated Smuzinick darted out in front of a Volvo on a residential street near Joe Robbie Stadium. The driver of the car, WSVN-TV Channel 7 anchorman Rick Sanchez, became the subject of a subsequent January 16 New Times story that described the odd circumstances of the accident. Sanchez, whom a Metro-Dade police officer said "smelled strongly of alcohol," first stopped his car but then later left the scene. A blood test to determine Sanchez's sobriety was not administered until an hour and fifteen minutes after the collision. Though Sanchez says he tried to aid Smuzinick at the scene of the accident and flag down motorists, eyewitnesses claim the anchorman ignored the injured man and loudly told police and bystanders that blood tests were pointless, and would hurt his public image.

Smuzinick would die in 1995. Sounds like Smuzinick's injuries largely contributed to his death. Rick Sanchez is a wealthy man who wasn't doing too bad back then either. I wonder to what extent he helped Smuzinick financially.

Again, interesting that the incident Rush chooses to bring up to fire back at Sanchez involved an NFL game. As a Dolphin fan, it was one of those that has stuck in my memory. Sunday night game on ESPN with Dan Marino leading the Dolphins back from a 10 point 4th quarter deficit to tie the game in regulation. The Dolphins went on to win the game in OVERTIME.

Also worth noting that Limbaugh likely would never have attacked Sanchez over this matter had he not felt that Sanchez slandered him with unsubstantiated quotes attributed to Rush.