NASCAR Responds

NASCAR confronted NBC about their attempt to stage news at a Nextel Cup event, and NBC fessed up to the fact that they were going to plant Muslims in the stands. And amazingly, even the Associated Press picked up the story.

"NASCAR said NBC confirmed it was sending Muslim-looking men to a race, along with a camera crew to film fans' reactions. The NBC crew was "apparently on site in Martinsville, Va., walked around and no one bothered them," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday.
"It is outrageous that a news organization of NBC's stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news," Poston said.
"Any legitimate journalist in America should be embarrassed by this stunt. The obvious intent by NBC was to evoke reaction, and we are confident our fans won't take the bait," he said."

I'm wondering if Fox would put up the money to buy out NBC's contract with NASCAR, and kick NBC to the curb...

Sporting News has a nice editorial:
"What concerns me is not that Dateline did this, but what the show will do once the newsgathering is complete. Races are daylong events, and if you walk around the grandstands, you run across thousands of people. It's easy to imagine one hateful, inexcusable comment in an entire day being crammed into Dateline's preconceived notions, and fans as a whole being unfairly tarnished. But let's give the show the benefit of the doubt for now.
There's no denying the stereotype exists that NASCAR/NASCAR fans are racist. It's a legitimate story to examine the issue. One way to kill that stereotype is to disprove it. Imagine, the "Muslims" show up at the track, with hidden microphones and hidden cameras, and nobody messes with them. Of course, I doubt Dateline would air that piece.

Jaynelle Ramon of The Arizona Daily Star has some rather funny stereotypes of other sports:
"Is my initial reaction when learning someone likes soccer to say, “Oh, so you must like getting drunk and picking fights and starting riots, and perhaps lighting things on fire, like cars?”
Of course not.
So what do you think of football fans, Jaynelle?
“Aren’t they a bunch of drunk white dudes with their faces painted and letters spelling ‘Jets’ written across their enormous hairy beer bellies?”
“You like hockey? What are you—Canadian?”

Michelle Malkin has some reader reactions and solutions to the issue at her site.

Also Covering:
Sports Illustrated
Fox Sports
World Peace Herald has a nice piece