WHIT BAZEMORE, LENNY BRUCE AND ATTENDANT COSTS

4/8/05

Jeff Burk Photo

love listening to and being involved in a good spirited discussion. I dare say I'd almost consider it a hobby of sorts. It's how I learn. Someone says, "Iraq is one of three in an axis of evil," and I counter with "When you Wish Upon A Star," and off we go. I love controversy, because it is one of the lubricants that feed the wheel of progress and keep the whole crap shoot rolling toward the cliff edge of eternal damnation.

So naturally when I heard about Whit Bazemore's recent pointed commentary on one of the NHRA national event sites, something about (and I paraphrase), "The track is shit," my ears pricked up. And when I heard NHRA's response was a $10,000 fine, well, to state it country-simple ... we have grounds for a discussion here.

Readers are no doubt aware that the Burkster fired away on this last month, and had I not already met my deadline with my addled screed, I'd have weighed in on it, too, but I was too tired to get involved. Besides, Pat's Cocktails had one more hour in their happy-hour program and I was getting a backache hunkered down in front of the TV screen of death. However, this is the type of story that doesn't age quickly, decorum in front of someone else's microphone, so-called bad language in front of an alleged unwilling audience, what about our kids? ... all this is called up in the remarks by Whit and the response by the hosts. In a world run by bathroom monitors, a story like that involving Bazemore and the NHRAers has an almost universal appeal.

To Whit .. er ... to wit

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In judging remarks, editorial remarks, biased remarks, I, initially, care about one thing ... Is the statement true, relative or otherwise, does it sound like a reasonable position designed at arriving at the truth? At the very least, does this person have a case? Next, how did he or she present it? Did you understand it? Was it long rambling meth-crazed drug babble? Did it appear as an honest shot at dealing with the subject?

From everything I know about the race, Bazemore met those criteria and certainly wasn't lying. The track couldn't have been that shitty because someone figured it out well enough to run it and win. However, there were a lot of people spinning the tires and at a certain point, one could reasonably assume that based on the assembled mechanical talent, there was the strong possibility that the track indeed was shitty. And as anyone will tell you, even at NHRA, there are real "mineshafts" (tracks where the cars fly) and "dog tracks" (where the Top Fuel record is in the mid-4.5s at a speed barely approaching 320 mph). So element one, was Bazemore lying on national TV? No, certainly not intentionally, and there is the small matter of his right to an opinion.

So, in my opinion, the ten grand pulled out of the "Whitster's" wallet wasn't because he was lying, but instead due to some shit he said on TV. And this is I think the heart of the matter.