Some wondered why the “five-second rule”, implemented after Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s slip last fall [at Talladega after winning], is not still in force [on Sunday at New Hampshire when #7-Robby Gordon said the ‘S’ word. That was not explained, although cable-vs.-network may have something to do with it. NASCAR vp/communications Jim Hunter said NASCAR had no plans to call for such a policy. “We’re going to tell our athletes not to use bad language when talking on television, that’s all,” he said.(Speed Channel)
NOTE: last October, NBC announced plans to use the 5 second rule for the rest of the season, and supposedly beyond, no idea if that was carried over to TNT, which is on cable. Fox never implemented the rule and when asked a few months ago, said they wanted to keep it live. MRN Radio and PRN Radio both have a 7-second delay. Also, since I get questions all the time on this when a driver says damn, hell or a*s, those words are not considered ‘bad’ by the FCC and are said daily on network TV during the day and primetime and have been for years.(9-19-2005)
