Why is the Fox guarding the hen house ?
By M.L. Morgan
Well, race fans, the ink is hardly dry on the mega-bucks new t.v. contract and already we have controversy.
We have talked about this in the off-season - when a lot of things were just speculation. Since their recent broadcast of the Budweiser Shootout, we know not everything was speculation. Some of our worst thoughts were proven true.
It was immediately obvious when the announcers were obligated to refer to the cars as the #3 Chevy rather than the #3 Goodwrench Chevy, just for example. Seems Fox has a policy referred to as "mention-money". If a particular sponsor doesn't pay - his name is not allowed to be mentioned. May not be illegal but it certainly reeks.
Then we proceed and see that sponsor logos on the non-paying cars are not depicted on camera. This doesn't reek - it sucks. Quote me.
Anyone who has been a race fan for more than an hour or two knows Cup Racing exists at its current level because many major corporations are willing to write checks in the $10 to $15 million range to get their products advertised on the cars. It's been a proven success. Race fans support the sponsors. And I agree with that. Some of us talk slowly, but we don't think slowly. Trust me.
We think Fox, in their arrogance, has presumed race fans will accept whatever the network decides we should get. We don't happen to agree. We are ardent race fans but we are absolutely not fools. We recognize b.s. when it is slung in our faces.
Sadly, we as race fans have very little clout. We can refuse to attend races. Look at all the empty seats at most every race. Didn't faze Nascar, which happens to own half of the tracks - they just sanctioned new tracks in different parts of the country. Nice strategy. New fans who might not know any better. But we doubt these new fans will be back next year. No fan wants to be ambushed. That's synonym for a phrase Helen Waite doesn't like me to use.
We think it is time for Nascar to intervene. We are not privy to the contract details. We have no first-hand knowledge if King William II sold his soul to Fox. Truly don't care. Race Views cares about race fans. And whenever greedy bastards like Fox get in the mix, the race fans have to pay the price. We don't like that one bit.
"Implore" is a 12-dollar word which amounts to 'begging'. Race Views doesn't do either. But we will ask Nascar to correct this problem. We know they can. The best game in town is at risk.
Mike Morganmailto:mikem@rockymountnc.com
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