Posted on 04/04/2006 6:52:44 AM PDT by Wolfie
Fox, NASCAR blasted for S-bomb during race
Family advocates rev into attack mode as car
called 'piece of s---' in broadcast
Family advocates are revving up against Fox Television and NASCAR after a driver's crew chief uttered the S-word during a nationally broadcast race Sunday.
The obscene word was aired during a car-to-crew conversation between driver Martin Truex, Jr. and his crew chief, Kevin Manion, at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn.
A frustrated Manion told his driver, "We missed the set-up today. It (the car) was a piece of s---."
Fox announcer Mike Joy offered an immediate on-air apology, stating, "We apologize for the language on the part of Martin Truex's crew chief, but the frustration is evident this late in the race when things happen."
A March 15 ruling by the FCC declared: "The 'S-word' is a vulgar excretory term so grossly offensive to members of the public that it amounts to a nuisance and is presumptively profane. Like the 'F-word,' it is one of the most offensive words in the English language, the broadcast of which is likely to shock the viewer and disturb the peace and quiet of the home."
Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell told Cup Scene Daily, "We are very sorry that comment escaped our screening process. We take audio very seriously and make painstaking efforts to offer only the best. We will continue to evaluate our policy but as of now there is no delay in place during our live coverage."
Joe Glover, president of the Family Policy Network, has filed an official complaint with the Federal Communications Commisison, saying NASCAR has a problem with foul language.
"It seems that every now and then, a participant in a nationally televised race will violate the FCC's clear rules against uttering vulgar terms on daytime television and 'let one slip' on the air," he said. "On one hand, leaders of the sport want families to think they're against it. On the other hand, they don't seem to want it to stop. ... At some point, you have to wonder if NASCAR is really serious about establishing a family-friendly environment for their radio and television audiences."
In addition to Glover's group, the American Family Association is urging people to file a complaint with the FCC against the Fox network.
"Fox had been warned about allowing the S-word on the air," president Donald Wildmon says on the AFA's website. "The network could have used a delay and bleeped the profanity. But they chose not to. The network chose to air the segment live. Millions of viewers, including children, were offended by the crude profanity."
But there are some who think these family advocates are going overboard with their desire to protect citizens from broadcast obscenity. Among them is radio talk-show host Neal Boortz.
"What a joke. The American Family Association says that millions of viewers including children were offended by the crude profanity. That's horse squeeze," Boortz said.
"These people were watching a freaking NASCAR race, not 'Barney & Friends.' Any adult that was offended by [Truex's crew chief's] rather explicit description as to how his car was handling should just crawl under a bed somewhere and wait until Judgment Day. As for whatever children may have been watching, you can bet that this is a word they've heard a hundred times before, probably from their own parents in the context of ... 'Don't give me any more of your C-word, you little B-word, or I'll kick your little A-word so hard, you'll have to unbutton your shirt to take an S-word.'"
As WND previously reported last September, NASCAR fined stock-car racer Robby Gordon a total of $35,000 for bad driver behavior and using the S-word during a live television broadcast.
Gordon shocked some viewers by verbally exploding against fellow driver Michael Waltrip, calling him a "piece of s---" and heaving his helmet at him. The uncensored incidents were broadcast nationally by the TNT network.
"Everyone thinks Michael is a good guy. He is not the good guy like he acts like he is. Caution was out, and he wrecked me," Gordon said after an on-track altercation during the Sylvania 300 in Louden, N.H. "He's a piece of s---!"
Was he driving a Chebbie? No wonder his pit crew was cussing!
(Ducks, laughs evilly and runs for the hills!!!)
I would suggest that if you raise your child in such a fashion that hearing a single word traumatizes them, you've done a poor job of parenting.
People like this are the scourge of society. They are of the mindset that believes "Why should I work when I can sue someone frivolously and get money.".
Agreed. We like to think that this garbage only comes from the left, but there are some on the right who are perfectly happy to join in.
Sure enough, they botched it during the first game -- a Yankee game, of course -- when Fox broadcast some colorful comments from the Yankee dugout.
The broadcasting network is ultimately responsible for what goes out over the airwaves.
Having said that, I also think there is no reason to come down hard on anyone in NASCAR who describes their car as a "piece of sh!t." People use this term to describe cars all the time.
And they say we're not descended from apes.
(Well, at least some of us are.)
ROTFLMAO
I work for a corporate law firm, you would not believe the crap I have seen from people trying to get big $$$.
I hear a lot worse in my opinion on the nightly drama shows--starting with a------ and going down from there.
And if anyone thinks 'freaking' refers to freaking out then they better get a clue. But those are deliberately put into the shows to create realism, ie. real life.
Things like this are gonna happen in real life and on live braodcasts, especially with the good ole boys of NASCAR.
The Christian right should get over it.
It's hardly news that Donald Wildmon is a, er, doo-doo head.
All of this seems to me to be the thing Conservatives do not like about the current legal system and that is going after the deep pockets and not the person who did wrong.
Nobody on FOX said this. They apologized immediately for something they did not say but did not catch. I am sure everyone in the control room was tired as they all filled in a couple of extra hours with the snow delays. They are listening to people who, depending upon your location in the USA, have a accent and to be honest may have been asleep at the switch.
If you want to go after FOX for some of their other programming then you can count me with you. This was a microscopic bump in programming compared to other sports, programming and commercials.
Some people need to grow up. There are worse things than hearing a cuss word. On the other hand, cussing is a good sign of immaturity.
And for the record NASCAR was never my favorite thing to watch and even more so now that they've decided to ban the Confederate battle flag.
If you're going to eavesdrop on the pit crew...
This language is unacceptable for children, and I will not have it in my home.
If you feel that way, do not let your home participate in the electronic eavesdropping of men at their work. You won't have that problem.
Any night,in prime time,on network TV, you can see people (graphically) murdered,almost x-rated sex scenes,witchcraft glorification,drug lifestyle glorification.
What have I missed?
If I'm not mistaken, I thought I heard the same word escape the lips of that pony-tail guy at The Masters yesterday.
Don't spend your life shootin up in the trash
homeless on the streets giving handjobs for cash
Follow this plan and very soon you will saaay
Its easy mmmkay!
One of the funniest things I ever heard was either Klick or Klack (the car-talk guy) relating how his crew of mechanics described a bad muffler.
"That muffler is obviously made of inferior material."
But the way he said it, you know what the mechanic really said.
In my day the euphemism was "fetching".
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