Dumb Letter to the NCAA
From TV Week:
[Nine c]ongressmen today sent a letter to NCAA President Myles Brand urging the NCAA to ban alcohol ads entirely from broadcasts.
“We find it puzzling that NCAA advertising rules prohibit ads for cigarettes, other tobacco products, organizations promoting gambling and alcohol beverages, yet continue to allow ads for beverages with alcohol content of 6% or less,” said the letter. “Given the devastating problems caused by underage college drinking, much of it in the form of beer, that policy makes little sense and flouts the core value of sports and learning.
“Please act to protect the integrity of college sports and the health and safety interests of college students, athletes and young fans by ending all advertising during NCAA broadcasts,” the letter said.
The letter was signed by Reps. Henry Waxman, R-Calif.; Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif.; Lois Capps, D-Calif.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Hilda L. Solis, D-Calif.; Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.; Jim Ramstad, R-Minn.; Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.; and Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.
First off, Waxman is a very liberal Democrat, not a Republican. Second, four of these nine congressmen (Roybal-Allard, Capps, Solis, and Grijalva) voted against banning Internet gambling in 2006. How do they reconcile these two diametric positions? It's okay to gamble your life savings away, just don't drink while you do it?
HT: Stu Clark
