Fuck ESPN and the sick corporate horse it rode in on #rant

"Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ" (magooslaststand)
08/10/2014 at 12:05 • Filed to: None

Was on Oppo last night as tweets started going up.

Wasn't until I walked into my local coffee shop I learned Kevin Ward died and I learned this as they showed video of the hit. Thanks for that ESPN. So I'm standing there reading the subtitles and APPARENTLY ....

Tony Stewart was a victim of a terrible incident last night. They had an old racer on to talk about how the equipment in sprint car racing is not up to snuff and the fact you don't have a spotter really makes things difficult. And oh god how will this effect the point standings.

FUCK YOU, YOU SICK FUCKS.

Tony Stewart is officially a MURDERER and I'll do my best to avoid as much of your programming as possible. That ten minutes of bullshit seriously made me feel sick.

RIP Kevin Ward. Which is what the main message should be.

DISCUSSION (11)

GhostZ > Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
08/10/2014 at 12:12

I wouldn't go so far as to call Tony Stewart a murderer , but it's definitely negligent manslaughter in my opinion. I would find it almost impossible for you to prove any of the following:

1. He could not have taken the low line, like every other car there

2. He could not control his car well enough to take the low line

3. He could not see Kevin until he had already hit him

It doesn't matter if Kevin jumped in front of his car or not, as long as Tony decided he was not going to play it safe (this is where negligence comes in) and instead just stayed dangerously close, assuming Kevin would somehow get out of the way. There was no need for him to elevate this game of chicken, but he did anyway.

It's just like if a friend hands you a weapon and you're playing around with it, threatening him, and so he jumps on you to get it back. If you end up shooting him, was it his fault for jumping on a guy with a loaded gun, or your fault for not putting the gun down and making absolutely sure it wouldn't go off? Tony Stewart is the one driving, he should have known much better than to get that close.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
08/10/2014 at 12:12

Dude, it's way too early to call Tony Stewart a murderer. I've watched the video a bunch of times and I don't think you can tell that he hit him on purpose. Was it intentional? Possibly but I find that unlikely. If Kevin Ward had stayed in his car like every race series on the planet says you should do then he would be fine right now. It's terrible and tragic that he is dead and I feel terrible for his family but it's way way too soon to call Tony Stewart a murderer.

crowmolly > Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
08/10/2014 at 12:17

Without knowing EXACTLY what went on it's all speculation. And that includes your post. To label Tony a murderer based on third party reports and a Youtube video is a pretty big jump.

That said, the stick and ball sport guys should not venture into the motorsports arena. Some of the stuff from last night and today is pure ignorance of the way things work on a race track. It would be like talking about the NFL and wondering what type of bats they use. And whitewashing a crime because the person is a professional "athlete" is always vile. Be it Tony Stewart, Mike Vick, etc.

There are a LOT of variables at play here and I think it's ridiculous to pass judgement at this point.

I get your outrage towards ESPN but towards Tony is a *bit* premature at this time. His reputation precedes him for sure.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > GhostZ
08/10/2014 at 12:27

I think you'd have a tough time in court proving that. I don't think Tony has the requirement to play it safe legally. Kevin should never have gotten out of his car, basically ever race series on the planet will tell you to stay in your car unless it is on fire. Burden of safety is now on Kevin at that point, and I'm sure he signed many a waiver to that effect.

Also legally I don't think Tony had the requirement to take the low line, this is a private racetrack not the road, so regular road laws do not apply. From the definition of criminally negligent manslaughter:

"Criminally negligent manslaughter occurs where there is an omission to act when there is a duty to do so, or a failure to perform a duty owed, which leads to a death. The existence of the duty is essential because the law does not impose criminal liability for a failure to act unless a specific duty is owed to the victim. It is most common in the case of professionals who are grossly negligent in the course of their employment. An example is where a doctor fails to notice a patient's oxygen supply has disconnected and the patient dies"

There was no "duty" owed to Ward by Tony, Ward's safety is not Tony's legal responsibility. Also from watching the video some more it doesn't look like a lot of drivers were driving the low line. Ward got very very close to a number of other cars, and had moved further down the track by the time Stewart got there, in fact some of the cars appear to take higher lines than Stewart even after Ward is out of the car.

Also I want to make this clear, I'm not a NASCAR or a Tony Stewart fan, I know very little about him. But from my viewing of the video Ward was incredibly reckless, Stewart was too but there is very little you can prove from that video.

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
08/10/2014 at 12:28

Lets just make sure he gets a fair trial after his sentencing...

GhostZ > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK
08/10/2014 at 12:32

What reason would there be for Tony to take such a drastically different line than the other drivers, putting him that much closer to Kevin?

I imagine that in the event of a caution, you're supposed to stay as far away from the wreck site a possible, which would constitute that duty owed.

I also don't think Tony is going to go to jail or see any legal ramifications (like you said, a few signed waivers and it's a done deal) but speculating fault still makes me wonder why he didn't avoid killing him.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > GhostZ
08/10/2014 at 12:40

Go watch the video again, he didn't take a drastically different line than everyone else, it may look that way being Ward is now further down the track but he didn't really deviate from the line other people were taking until he had actually hit Ward, which would probably be the reason for the line deviation.
Really watch the video again, the car that almost hits Ward at 0:30 into the video is significantly further up the track that Stewart was when he hits Ward.

And no, legally Tony has no duty owed toward Kevin because they have not entered into a contract together, hence there is no duty. Even if the rules of the race including some sort of an agreement like that that could be considered a duty Kevin would have already violated them by coming out of the vehicle which would almost certainly nullify the contract.

Also any waivers signed don't absolve Stewart of criminal liability, only civil.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > GhostZ
08/10/2014 at 12:59

I just went through the rule book governing this series here: http://www.empiresupersprints.com/2014Tour/2014%…

I couldn't find anywhere where it specified to stay away from cars and drivers on track during a yellow. Really there are no guidelines for behavior under yellow except for the governing of the ensuring restart.

webmonkees > GhostZ
08/10/2014 at 13:27

There is another factor to consider..

That surface looked like it had several damp areas, especially in the straight right before the turn. Dust control perhaps, earlier rain? Make the cars slide better through the turns? Fine when there's nothing to avoid.

Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ > crowmolly
08/10/2014 at 15:32

Admittedly the Tony part was just my disgust raging from the video. The ESPN part won't change in a week though.

crowmolly > Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
08/10/2014 at 19:42

Won't change ever. They won't shit where they eat.