Got To Know The Wife

I was reading a post about the baseball induction or lack there of. This blogged mentioned names that should be there like Craig Biggio and other recently retired players. There is one man that should be considered but probably won't due to an incident that occurred almost a 95 years ago. His name is Joe Jackson or "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. He played in the teens of the 20th century. Considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. He could throw, hit, and field on a baseball field that hadn't been seen before.

Jackson was born in Pickens County, South Carolina, USA on July 16, 1887. His father was sharecropper who moved around a bit before settling in Greenville. With a poor family and him being the oldest of eight children, he went to work at 6 years old in the textile mills as a mill hand. He worked 12 hour shifts and didn't go to school throughout his formative years. It was rumored that he was illiterate but definitely uneducated. But in his own words, "It don't take school stuff to help a fella play ball." He learned to play baseball in the mill leagues starting at age 13. He got so good at it that eventually, the owner, Connie Mack from the Philadelphia (now Oakland) A's signed him to a contract. But he got so homesick from playing in Philadelphia that Mack traded him to the Cleveland Indians.

It was in Cleveland that his play got much better due to the fact the city of Cleveland was smaller and had lot of players who were from the southern part of the United States like he was. In his first year there, he hit over .400 and drove in 83 runs. His homerun total  was only 7 but keep in mind that was the dead ball where the leading homerun hitter hit only about 9 or 10 a year. This was due to the fact that was ball was handmade so the circumference of the ball was different in each ball, the homerun distances were further as well as the height of the fences, and only 1 to 4 balls were used in the whole game. So, if a ball was hit foul or for a homerun, fans couldn't keep the ball and had to return it back to the field. Likewise, pitchers and fielders messed the ball so much (saliva and dirt) that it became hard to hit after a few innings. The owners of baseball teams thought they were saving money by doing this. Finally, batters used a split-grip technique to hit a baseball which only afforded them to hit line drives of short distances.

But Joe was different. He put two hands at the bottom of the bat barrel and took a big swing. He called his black bats "Black Betsy" and his regular wood bats "Blonde Betsy." Big swingers tend to have bad technique or holes in their swing but opposing pitchers said they couldn't find a flaw in his swing. His swing was considered perfect that Babe Ruth copied his swing and became a hitter because of it (he started his career as a pitcher). He claimed that looking at a candle would sharpen his eyes by closing one or the other eye. He got this technique from the mills that he grew up in which were lit by candle light.  

Now, lets get to the scandal of the 1919 World Series. Joe by this time was playing for the Chicago White Sox. He played for cheap owner, Charles Comiskey, who forced them to clean and pay for their own uniforms. Likewise, he promised his teammate, Eddie Cicotte, if he won 30 games, he would get a bonus. Unfortunately when he won 29 games, he was taken out of the pitching rotation with five games left in the season by orders of Comiskey to his manager, Kid Gleason. That was the backdrop for the eight White Sox players to throw the World Series including "Shoeless" Joe by gamblers funded by gangster, Arnold Rothstein.

Problem was by many accounts, he didn't want to be part of the fix even though his teammate Lefty Williams threw 5,000 dollars under his bed. Though the Chicago courts found him and his teammates not guilty, new commissioner, Kennesaw Mountain Landis banned the eight guys for life when he got access to the affidavits that they were approached by gamblers and supposedly didn't it report it immediately to the owners. Due to baseball not being under U.S. anti-trust laws now and then, he had that power to do so. Jackson tried to or did report game fixing to the owner, Comiskey. Likewise, he even wanted to sit out the series when he found out that the fix was on. Eventually, the White Sox lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3 (9 game series). But Comiskey or his secretary told him to keep the money and sign some affidavits though he was illiterate and could barely sign his own name due to his wife's help.

Each year, his name comes up whether to lift the ban so he could be eligible for the Hall of Fame voting. He has had many admirers who have advocated his cause. As for the money, rumor had it that he kept the money and donated to his local hospital. After being banned, he played in semi-pro leagues then ran a liquor and restaurant business till his death in 1951. But one thing mystifies me, you see all the debates about whether he did or not from writers. You hear stories from his friends or relatives who knew him after his baseball career. From all accounts, a great man.

But what about his wife? Nothing. I mean, Joe was dependent on her for everything including his liquor business when it came to the written word.  What did she know about her husband? After being banned, Joe successfully sued Comiskey in receiving back pay from the 1920 and 1921 season by the Chicago courts. An illiterate Joe did this when he supposedly confessed to his lawyer given to him by Comiskey that he threw the World Series due to his illiteracy? My question: I like to know what she knew or did for that matter? I know this: wherever Joe was, she couldn't be too far behind

Have I Got A Story To Tell You?

Old-timers like to criticize today's athletes. I like to criticize today's announcers and media folks. I know old folks to slam today's announcers because I have Youtube to prove that.  With Jim Thacker, though, I love to learn. He was a sportscaster from Charlotte from late 60's to the 80's. I "can" him as a broadcaster athlete who did everything and well such as football, basketball, racing, golf, tennis and others. But he wasn't slaving himself to keep his bosses happy. He was a sports director for WBTV and WBT radio. Which means, he wrote, produced, and edited shows.  An artist and scientist in his profession.

Critics (some even his good buddies) will say that he didn't do enough major events to warrant a Hall of Fame resume.  Jim did Marshall University football and basketball while maintaining his duties of doing 6 and 11 p.m. for WSAZ sports (Huntington, WVA) from 1954 to 1967. Thacker moved to Charlotte in 1968 to take the job of  ACC football and basketball  as well as sports director for WBTV. He did some freelance stuff with CBS with the Masters, NCAA basketball (women too), NASCAR,  NFL, and PGA Championship for British TV.  Remember at one time, he did both radio and television on the scene and behind for a local network with Sun Belt basketball. Finally, he helped ESPN in their infancy, doing college football, basketball, racing, USFL, and golf.

Besides his impressive resume and talent (who many guys can do radio and television?), I like his ability to get out of his own way. He had a great voice and make the game so easy (he was an auctioneer) but he put the importance of the game ahead of himself. When you hear him or watch the game on television, live or taped, he didn't have those famous cliches or phrases. Maybe, he will say something about the game being a "barn burner." You really don't remember him but you will remember the game and the participants such as coaches and players.  Particularly in television since color television was a fairly new concept. Therefore, his belief was let the picture talk and talk when needed. If a guy made a great play, he would make an enthusiastic comment but he let the action speak more.

A writer once mentioned that if Jim was commentating over a family dinner with utensils, he would listen to what he had to say. That was his broadcasting charm.  Unlike other broadcasters, he served mentors to many broadcasters who exist today like Harold Johnson, Mike Hogewood, Paul Cameron, Brett McMillan, Bob Rathbun, Billy Packer, and so many others. Do you see that in other broadcasters who do that kind of mentoring? They usually only keep it within their family. Jim married but didn't have any kids but I don't think that would have mattered. Most broadcasters are too insecure to share or discover new talent. But Jim was about improving quality for himself and others.

However, the one aspect that stands out about Jim from other broadcasters is that he never allowed himself to get biased or regionalized.  He did Big 10 games for basketball and football. Yeah, he was ACC and is southern very proud of it, I might add. But it wasn't a crutch to hold on to.  In addition, he always kept preparing for something new and different. Shoot, he could broadcast cricket without knowing anything about it for the BBC. Just give him time and he could the make the game interesting to listen for hardcore fans. Lastly, he was a pioneer. The games he did for ESPN then weren't that great because ESPN didn't give him a research team of interns, travel expenses, or camera angles like they do now as well as time to prepare. He had to do it on the go (lucky to get a sheet with a correct names from the AD). Yet, he was asked to come back. Why?

I believe it is due to him being a reporter who could go down, get the materials, and make the story on that day with short notice (You were lucky if the AD gave you the right names of players?). With him doing sports for affiliates is impressive, considering at that time, you couldn't stick to one conference like he did with ACC.  You really had to move. Thereby, you couldn't develop professional relationships with coaches, players, athletic directors, and staff from the schools had he stayed within his conference like "homer" announcers. Now, there may be stories about him like you hear about players that media and writers vent about. From what I heard, a professional.

Covering the 1975 Masters.

Whatever it is, I like to see him be remembered. There is no indication of where he is born. I looked up ancestry.com and it say Cook County, Illinois or has his birth certificate issued in Illinois and Kentucky. I remember reading an article about serving in the armed services. Not sure if it was World War II or Korea. Charlotte Observer says he died at the age of 64 but he actually died at the age of 65 because his certificate says that he born on October 12, 1927 and died December 15, 1992. Still a mystery.  ESPN 30 for 30, Sports South, or Fox Sports should do a bio about him due to his thankless work at ESPN and for southern sports on TV.  I want him to make the Broadcasting Hall of Fame but for now, a wikipedia article?  Many individuals that he influenced are on that site with their bios but not him. That ain't right. Wonder if his buddies, will support that?

RAIL COMEBACK!

I wrote this letter to the University of Alabama Athletics foundation but I don't know if it got there.  So, I'm putting in my blog with better grammar and correct spelling (not saying much). This can be a letter to all cities or towns that have college teams with athletics or other means like choir. My UNC-Charlotte is a prime example of having railroads and not using them. Not saying bring it back but you may want to consider on occasion since air-travel and buses is getting to be hell for me. Here it is!


Whomever this may concern:

I was riding on Amtrak from New Orleans to Atlanta line (I started in San Diego). The train came by Tuscaloosa with a brief stop at the Alabama campus. I noticed the depot looked very dilapidated. Then when the train took off to Birmingham, same thing. Nasty depot station but the two cities are so close. The train went slow but it got there in less than 45 minutes. I had this thought to vent.

Since the train comes near your football stadium and other sports arenas, wouldn't it be easier for fans from Birmingham or who landed in Birmingham to come by rail instead of putting parking lots or buses at the stadium? Likewise, improve rail facilities at Amtrak depot stations, the rail cars, and tracks. Finally, develop a rail system track that get  fans faster with the ones like in Japan that go 200 miles an hour (Auburn game?). That way you get more fans to come by rail cars in and out. Of course, fans getting packed in one rail car needs to be regulated.

Its not like Tuscaloosa has an international airport. So, fans do have to go to Birmingham or other places to get out of there. Think about it!


Sincerely,

Davan S. Mani

Game 7 and Touch Football victim

The 1960 World Series is on paper. Charlotte Observer is my best friend. Youtube doesn't exist for me where I could look up each game now. I have to follow the box score, newspaper stories, or radio bulletins. The game is in color on NBC, shown at the Downtown library. The broadcasters are Bob Prince of the Pirates and Mel Allen of the Yankees for TV. Radio is Chuck Thompson from the Orioles and Jack Quinlan from the Cubs. Game 1 starters are Art Ditmar for the Yanks and Vern Law for the Bucs in Pittsburgh. The game starts real early like at 11:30 a.m. or maybe noon. I'll see the finish or sneek the radio.

I'm just interested in following Bill Mazeroski but he isn't the story. Lot of stories follow Dick Groat who played at Duke (great basketball player), Smokey Burgess (looks like smoked sausage but could hit) from Asheville, and Vinegar Bend Mizell from Winston-Salem. Secondary stories of Bill Virdon, Roberto Clemente, Vern Law, Elroy Face (relief), and Don Hoak. Will Dick Stuart's fielding issues cost the Pirates despite his bat? Mostly, it is about the Yankees, the Mick, Whitey Ford, and new player, Roger Maris. You have stories about Tony Kubek (his intelligence), Moose Skowron (his last year?), and Yogi Berra playing the outfield with Blanchard and Howard catching. The paper star is Bobby Richardson because he is from South Carolina and plays for the Yanks. He is player narrator for the 1960 WS coverage with game by game analysis and briefs.

Media expects a cake-walk for the Yankees even though the Pirates won Game 1. Meanwhile, a senior from Myers Park is sent to Charlotte Memorial after a touch football accident for care. Doesn't really say what happened except that a few moments after a fall, he either started to develop symptoms of swelling or something. He should be okay. Yankees won Game 2 with a 16-3 score thanks to two homers by the Mick and Bobby Richardson drives in 6 RBI's with a grand slam to beat the Pirates in Game 3. Back home, the condition of Russell Craig Hunt is getting worse. The man who got hurt in a touch football game is developing symptoms that doctors can't figure out. He is unresponsive to treatment. They will do their best.

Pirates win Game 4 thanks to the fielding of Don Hoak as well as Dick Stuart. Bases-Loaded and Yogi up with one out in the 1st. Hits a liner to third, Hoak fields it, steps on third and throws to first-baseman, Stuart, to get Berra. First base-coach, Ralph Houk, jumps and yells at the ump for making that call. No replay action from TV like in the future of whether Yogi is out or not. My eye says, Yogi is safe. In the 4th, Vern Law drives in a run with a double after giving up a homer to Moose Skowron earlier that inning. It should have been two runs but Smokey Burgess was running from first despite being two outs. No matter, Bill Virdon drove in Smokey and Vern with a single in front of Mickey Mantle for a 3-1 lead. Later in the game, Virdon makes a game saving catch in the 8th off Bob Cerv with two runners on base. Pirates 3, Yankees 2.

Back home, the parents of Russell Craig Hunt put a rest to their son and bury him at his birthplace towards Hudson, I think. Pirates win Game 5, 5-2. "Buth" the Yankees win Game 6 in Pittsburgh with Whitey Ford shutting out Bob Friend for the second time, 12-0. Friend lost control of his pitches and hit Elston Howard in the hand, causing him to leave the game. Bobby Richardson went crazy in that one. Everyone says, he should be the MVP but I like the Mick. He hits, bunts, fields, and runs. Amongst other things, he makes his teammates better with his situational play. Clemente is good and consistent but his teammates don't seem to like him. I like Vern Law because of his leadership presence on the mound. The relief pitchers of Shantz and Face is my key.

Bing Crosby, one of the owners of the Pirates, will listen to Game 7 in Paris, France from shortwave radio. He is too superstitious to see them in person. He will record the game in kinescope in case his Pirates win. The game will be live in color at the library but for Bing, he will have to see it in recorded black & white. The Pirates have made the decision of not starting Dick Stuart for the final game only use him as pinch-hitter. Elston Howard will not play due to a hand injury from Game 6. The findings of Mr. Craig's death is due to an existing tumor in his brain, exacerbated from the touch football game.

Grandfather's Walk

After the tour, I bought some gifts and food at the museum. The food wasn't too great and neither was customer service in general. They seemed to be in a bad mood except for that one dude in that pit crew exhibit. I think it was because it was Sunday and everyone wanted to be at church. I can tell most of these folks weren't from the south or NASCAR fans. Because in the South this is church, god damn it." I have to say that they knew there NASCAR stuff but as John Riley once told me that in a sports job (broadcast monitoring), you want a guy who loves sports but knows and does his job well. You either get one or the other rarely both.

After some time at Wild Wing Cafe adjacent to the museum (them wings were hot), I took awalk around downtown on a lazy cold day (less wind, thank God). It reminds me of walk that I had with my grandfather in the summer of 1987 before his death a few months later. We were walking around the town of Karaikudi. We may have bought something. One things stands clear: I remember him wearing dress shirt, with a lungee, and a towel over his shoulder. It was hot. I don't remember him saying much except him sayin "don't watch too many movies or television and when he caught me looking inside at every Ambassador taxi cabs on the street, "all Ambassadors are all the same."

Except, I was trying to find the 1975-1979 one. Inside it had a grill background in the middle with glove compartment on the passenger and driver side. Inside the grill, you had a big circular speedometer with these small rectangular cube lights: red and orange on the sides indicating the engine; green beside the red indicating signal; and blue indicating high beam (Something you see at an old 70's RCA TV on their logo with the colors of red, green, and blue something). Next to the lights were small circular fuel gauge and amp. Depending on certain cars, there were would be one with the speedometer and four gauges with the light cubes below them. That made it difficult for the driver to see but it took awhile for the engineers to place the gauges on the driver side with indicators on the sides of the speedometer and have only one glove compartment. It was small to begin with, you literally could only put a glove inside that. Yet, I miss that design.

My grandfather also told me not to say bad words or say Oh my God but came up with a more positive phrase. Before I left, he told me to get stronger was to roll your wrist in a circular(its a crutch, I know) motion either for twenty minutes or twenty times. I don't remember because I never did them since I was seven when a girl mocked me at an Indian outing in Maryland. Maybe, I will. My dad use to tell me stories of grandy running yak races on a wagon cart on a open field in southern India. He also used to carry "illegal rice" but I came to find out it was the Indian version of moonshine where you can extract from rice and coconuts. He use to carry a hand axe and a gun.

When I read the stories about the lives of these drivers, I couldn't help think about my grandfather. I think my grandfather could have been a racer in the 30's-40's when it was a bootleg league. But he never liked cars because animals, he could control. But he did like speed in his day. Maybe, if he grew up in America, his attitude would have been different. As far as the racial climate, he looked a lot like those race car drivers. He certainly acted like a lot of them. I don't know. Junior Johnson. Fireball Roberts. Lee Petty. Just to name a few.

Whatever? A my mind wandered. I saw other places and went back to my hotel on that monorail. Got into a philosophical debate with an Indian guy who ran the Daisy Inn conerning women while watching Forest Gump (Guess? India born women over American). He didn't even know about the movie. He graduated from UNC-Charlotte with an engineering degree in 2000. But he got a wife from back home. He started making generalizations about my character along with my tribal heritage in a fun way. I liiked the guy but he seemed to be a Carrie Underwood's servant. I mean could he get away with dirt running on the shower head over my head and not warn me before hand but afterwards and do it in a joking, patronizing manner? I think not. Then again, I would do the same thing but without the Indian values bull.

The only thing that I will take with me is the race simulator. After my failure in my trials. I got on this track that a resembled a go-cart track with real race cars but simulators above the steering wheel. I would use brakes, accelerators, and the gear on the steering wheel. But before I entered, there was a video presention of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on what to do on the race course. He talked about safety but he also mentioned about this being a race car and that you need to go fast. However unlike the trials guide, he told us when and how to go fast. He said that once you have reached a certain speed: shift to a higher gear but meet the speed and if you need to down shift do so but get back to speed and continue to go faster. I remember that once I got out of the pits and into the track. I always wanted to go slower but remembering Jr.'s advice, I went faster and got the number results that I couldn't get at the trials. Now, there is somebody who loves racing and is good at it.

For this Sunday, I reached for something that I couldn't get before. If that isn't spiritual then I don't know what is? I wonder if my grandfather would get it. I know he would be proud. How and why, I'm not sure nor do I care.

The Experience, part II

After that education, I decided to take the race simulator course. Basically, its a video game where you practice learning to drive on a NASCAR course. They had five video game consols with steering, brakes, accelerator, and gear shifts. Unlike in most arcades, you sit on this rail and reach your arms and legs for the controls. You had to wait in line to get into this. Kids loved it. When it was my turn. I couldn't do a thing but crash all the time. You had this guide who tried to show me the controls especially in the steering wheel area of how to use gear shifts, down shifts, and the red buttons to start over in case you crash. I couldn't figure and had to start over. When I came back, I didn't crash but I couldn't shift to the right speed and stayed on 2nd gear the whole race. As a result, my speed time was this ------ on the screen. I asked the guide why? She said, you weren't fast enough.

She said to try it again but in looking at the line. I felt I was ready for the real race simlator course. Next to the preview course was this "test your NASCAR Knowledge" screen. You had to put in your entry card screen which I did but I didn't put my information at the relations booth who let you enter the experience. I seem to remember this lady who was a Derek Jeter fan from Ohio who said that she was having computer problems of entering my information. But I was able to enter the info and continue. However, one glitch that I noticed is when you start typing, it always gives you typo errors. I typed trivfun@gmail.com but it coming as trvfun. Therefore, I didn't get all the information to my email that I was supposed to get. I downloaded some past drivers and contributors from the past and other exhbits on the third floor which was the history floor of legends and the pasts. When you passed an item, you placed your card down to show that you went by that exhibit. It would test your NASCAR knowledge and IQ, failed some and past some. Oh, well.

The typo errors continued when I wanted to type a letter for "legends that have passed" on. Might as well as call it the "Dale Earnhardt, Sr." room if it isn't called that already. The room was dark except for a movie screen of his of Sr.'s life and his last race. They showed other guys who passed on in still photos in police light against the wall. There was this desk where you wrote to a person who passed on. I wrote to Neil Bonnett and downloaded his file. However, I kept trying to type on this computer instead of writing it on pencil. Everytime, I typed the letter b it would show v. I figured it out: type the letter x and you get b. RIP Neil Bonnett. I still think you are alive and ready to do your TV show.

The third floor had the front ends of both Donnie Allison's and Cale Yarborough's car from the 1979 Daytona race with a Bill France statue looking directly at the car. Likewise, you had a TV screen above the car showing that race. The exhbits were amazing with old trophies, racing uniforms from old, bios of lesser known racers, Spirit of 76 tower at Daytona, pamphlets, magazines that took place in the 30's. My favorite one was the garage shop where they had this car which was painted in red called Kiekhafer . There was a phone that was ringing and you picked it up with somebody telling when the race was on. My personal favorite was the Junior Johnson exhibit of his moonshine distillery in a glass case with a diagram of how moonshine is made. Even this dummy knows that NASCAR came from moonshine runners who could out race the cops. That is why the tracks are so far away from the cities in obscure places in the south.

I can't give justice on this floor but let me just say it covered everything from Daytona to lesser races with TV screens filled with historical clip and interviews. But make no mistake about it, this is and was the Founder of NASCAR's production. Bill France and still in the family. You see a plenty of exhibits of him. No problem with that except for one thing. The France family had a lot enemies including the racers. Some the racers who weren't that good got more praise than the ones who didn't like Curtis Turner. When you try to unionize or go against Mr. France, you get your butt kicked. I'm just sayin. This is just an isolated incident, either? It seems that when you cross Mr. France, weird things happens to you some years later, you get killed and its never solved. Forgiviness is not one of his strong traits. Its good to be the King or David Pearson. Maybe, even Tim Flock. I guess that is how you judge good racers. Then maybe not.

The Nascar Experience

Once I got inside the museum, it wasn't much of a intimidating presence like it was from the outside but it was a circular presence, going three stories high. They would put exhibits close to the walls or on the walls like pictures, old billboards, glass cased model cars, and old live cars like Darryl Waltrip's 1981 Mountain Dew Buick. On the first floor, you had this oval paved track, lined with old cars and a floor to walkand for wheelchair access (not by your self to roll). The track would go up and sideways. The track didn't cover the whole just about a quarter of the space but it felt huge. I kept looking at the big ceiling. Likewise, I got to feel what its like to be on a real racetrack. It felt off-balanced due to the veering from the right upwards to my left. But there was a safety rail and shoe box step to get back down. Finally, you had written markers some about waist high and others about eye-level next to each exhibit detailing the items and their significance.

As I walked up to the second floor, I realized the first floor was the appetizer buta lot more fun. The second floor had exhibits but similators to experience what is like drive, broadcast, and fix a race car. I can say this: the pit-crew has my respect. In this one exhibit, I tried to lift this rear passenger side (not the whole car) against this wall, get the wheel locks out of a tire and put the wheel locks back on, put gas, and then bring the car down. Took me 11 seconds. Whew. They had weight tests which I barely lifted for the gas can, tires, and others. Finally, they had this foam version of an engine for kids to break it down and put it back together. That was easy but learned more from that.

A revelation came to me when I tried to broadcast the race. I can't hear or I can't talk. They had a radio and television broadcast with microphones and headsets with a videotape involving a crash between Dale Jr. and Kurt Busch from two years ago. Radio side first, the video would show how the commentators said it and it would last 4 minutes. Then it was my turn to broadcast but when they played back the tape, I couldn't hear myself except when they crashed and this was with bird ears. I tried the television side and same thing. I thought I was screaming the whole time but you could barely hear a chirp. Then I realized, its only 11 a.m. but I did have breakfast.

After that, I went to them exhibits concerning break parts, gear shafts, and shocks. I tell you this one is for the engineers. The engineering students from India will be impressed. If they don't have jobs, try for NASCAR. I had keep asking someone what these means and do. These American dudes looked at me strange and one told me to read the maker. The confusion lied in this: I can't tell what is considered cheating and what is not when I don't even know what each part does. I know about brakes, alternators, carburetors, and engines but I don't know how to make one much less how to make it work. Likewise, how can you cheat? Well after going back to the exhibits and reading them again and again my ADD mind figured this out, the officials understand that speed is the game and you use tools to make them faster but you want to be fair to the competition.

My favorite test that officials use is the magnetic test on items like shocks. There is a aluminum and metal one both the same feel. If you put the magnetic on the metal you see attraction but on the aluminum, no attraction which means it is lighter and can go faster with less power and more force. They'd give you test on other items of legal and illegal parts. I failed them all but I learned something: racing can be fair and balanced at times. However, I seem to remember that Richard Petty won a race in Charlotte in 1983, yet he was fined 50 grand for illegal engine and parts but got to keep the trophy. Rules don't apply to a king but he did get into a lot of accidents using engines from WWII planes. Maybe it does on a spiritual sense?