Do You REALLY Want to be Brian France?
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 7:09pm CDT
By Marc, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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This is a follow on to a previous post at my other place of unemployement, Wishing You Were Brian France.
In it I opined many of the head honchos of America’s major sports might hold a bit of jealousy in their hearts for Brian France’s position based on the current scandals enveloping them recently.
This missive takes the opposite view.
Not withstanding France’s possession of “palm tree debris” and “sodas” while navigating condominium parking lots, NASCAR’s CEO has led a rather charmed life during his tenure. The sport is still number two and despite the slight down turn in viewership recently it remains the sport of choice for viewers on most weekends of the year.
Read this as a cautionary tale. Or if you so choose, pure BS. (a decision made while head is planted in sand)
Two of the current scandals on front pages from NYC to Kookamunga are a NBA referee’s ties to gambling and the NFL’s Bad Newz problem.
Both have a common thread, gambling. That connection is plain to see in the NBA’s case but I have seen some commentary that gives me an indication not everyone understands what drives the evil “sport” of dog fighting.
Without the ability to gamble on the outcome of dogfights the activity would be virtually nonexistent.
At this point I have no idea what NASCAR’s or ISC’s stance on gambling by its credential holders is. Obviously any illegal gambling would fall under the catchall of both the morals clause contained in every contract and Sections of The Mythical Rulebook 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing).
Beyond that I’m clueless. If anyone has heard or read of a more public stance by NASCAR officials drop the reference in the comment section.
I’m also unaware whether NASCAR has taken any preemptive action.
For example, the NFL allows FBI and other law enforcement personnel into the training camps to lecture teams on the pervasive nature of gambling and how easy it is to fall prey to the less than desirables that operate on the periphery of the industry.
I’m not sure if this policy is in effect for NASCAR, again if you know, straighten me out.
Before some of you may consider this as a “sky is falling” scenario, save it. It’s much better to assume the worst than wait until your view is obscured by “clouds” that have already fallen. Unfortunately, NASCAR has a habit of reacting, not acting on many occasions.
NASCAR has operated close to the gambling industry for a number of years. Holding events in Las Vegas is the most visible manifestation of that but there have been a few instances of race teams having secondary sponsors of casinos and the like.
Nothing wrong with that. It’s the scumbags, lowlifes, and at the risk of getting a knock on my door by “Guido,” The Mob types that orbit around legal gambling where the problem is.
Gambling on NASCAR is becoming big business. Select your search engine of choice and enter “NASCAR Gambling,” if you have any doubts. (Gordon & Johnson are co-favorites at 5/1 to win the Allstate 400)
(Speculation alert: What follows is pure fantasy but very plausible)
Despite the fallacy of NASCAR personnel being rednecks with IQ’s somewhere south of the Great Apes the majority are highly educated and that has led many of them to be very large fans of their alma mater’s basketball and college football teams.
Say, for example, a pit crew member of the #011 Adult Diapers Chevy gets into heavy debt to his bookie betting on his alma mater’s football team after a 2 and 10 season.
“Bonaventura the Bookie” is becoming increasingly upset with the several thousand dollar marker owed since late November and goes to said pit crew member in mid-January with an “offer he can’t refuse.”
Pay up, or sabotage the current betting favorite #011 Adult Diapers Chevy during the Daytona 500. Failure to comply will be at the risk of three broken legs. (the “third” being the most important to this young stud)
From there it’s easy to envision a dropped jack at the most inopportune time sending the #011 from first to 32nd, introducing a “slow leak” in a tire during a stop (don’t think something similar can’t happen? Think again.) or other performance degrading activity.
It’s all too easy for a single crew member to make a driver go from hero to zero in the span of a few laps. There’s a small margin between the two, a margin closed with such ease to be almost laughable.
NASCAR Nation has its share of caution flag/team favoritism Conspiracy Nuts, the last thing NASCAR needs is anything that even smells of a races outcome being altered for the sake of bets made on an event.
It goes without saying if it ever happens Brian France will wish he weren’t Brian France.
As said earlier, this is a cautionary tale but one that should, and better, be taken seriously by France and the ISC (and it’s share holders). If they have ignored the problem (something they have a habit of doing) mores the pity, they deserve the same treatment the NFL and NBA are getting now.
UPDATE: Hardly a surprising comment from Greg Biffle who has made plain his animal rights advocacy: “Just put him in prison and tell the general public, just give them all the details of what they do with those dogs,” Biffle said. “How they steal people’s dogs out of their front yards and use them for bait dogs and let other dogs kill them. There’s all the horrifying stories. You look at all the pictures on the Internet of the dogs, just maimed, mangled. It’s horrible.”
Nothing I can add except this, the NFL, and NASCAR better look at the gambling that fuels the cock fighting “industry.”
Filed Under: Marc Boland, Nascar, Nextel Cup, The Soapbox, The Way I See It
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