Little League Baseball Nixes Team Sponsorship for Gun Store Owner

[News Shooter]

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/...-sponsorship-gun-store-owner/?test=latestnews

A New Jersey man is firing off after his business -- a gun store called Constitution Arms -- was rejected as a Little League baseball team sponsor.

A New Jersey man is upset that a baseball league has rejected his gun store as a Little League team sponsor, MyFoxNY.com reported.

Matthew Carmel's son played in the South Orange-Maplewood Baseball League last year and he wanted to sponsor a team in the coming season. A sponsorship costs $300.

The league committee rejected his offer, and Carmel thinks that it is because his business happens to be a gun store called Constitution Arms.

"It is fairly clear that someone has a problem with firearms," he told MyFoxNY.com.

Carmel started the sponsorship process in October. He says after months of correspondence and delays he finally received a rejection from the league secretary via a short e-mail.

The e-mail read: "The committee asked me to thank you for Constitution Arms' offer to sponsor a team in the South Orange Maplewood youth baseball league. The Executive Committee of the league voted not to accept Constitution Arms as a sponsor. The committee did not give a reason for its decision."

Carmel says what really bothers him is that, while he was rejected, other approved league sponsors appear questionable, including businesses that sell or serve tobacco and alcohol.

He told MyFoxNY.com that a restaurant called Cluck-U Chicken even got the OK.

Carmel says the very name is a play on profanity. And he says on a recent visit to the store there was a shirt displayed at the cash register with a scantily clad women with the words "Large Breasts, Juicy Thighs, Luscious Legs."

 

[Titan]

It surprises people that this would happen in New Jersey?

 

[Admin]

Sheep

 

[william_munny]

Sheep indeed. The fact still remains that they're within their right to accept or deny any offers for sponsorship. I definitely think they're a bunch of knuckleheads for denying Constitution Arms but accepting Cluck-U Chicken, however. The guy's rightfully upset in that scenario. That's just poor taste.

 

[Beansie_Time]

I run a youth basketball league and there's no way I'd turn down $300 for the kids from a business because I didn't like what they sold. Not to sound like a bleeding heart here, but it's for the kids, and if someone wants to put up money to help the kids play youth sports, take it and use it to better the lives of the kids.

 

[HooVooLoo]

It's to protect the children. Pffht.

Instead, the guy should send a letter to the Little League management that he is instead doubling his pledge, and donating it to the local youth shooting league.

 

[terraformer]

Carmel says what really bothers him is that, while he was rejected, other approved league sponsors appear questionable, including businesses that sell or serve tobacco and alcohol.

He told MyFoxNY.com that a restaurant called Cluck-U Chicken even got the OK.

Carmel says the very name is a play on profanity. And he says on a recent visit to the store there was a shirt displayed at the cash register with a scantily clad women with the words "Large Breasts, Juicy Thighs, Luscious Legs."

This just shows they are hypocrites with no class. I can respect people who don't believe as I do if they are consistent and display a solid underpinning for their beliefs. This shows me that they are not consistent and have no such solid basis on which to hang their objection.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

If Derek or someone decides to have NES sponsor a team, I'll contribute to the fund.

 

[Scrivener]

This just shows they are hypocrites with no class. I can respect people who don't believe as I do if they are consistent and display a solid underpinning for their beliefs. This shows me that they are not consistent and have no such solid basis on which to hang their objection.

Agreed. The league prefers Hooters to shooters, yet will claim it's acting in the best interests of the children. In point of fact, it is simply hoplophobic bias.

 

[FreeWillie]

Agreed. The league prefers Hooters to shooters, yet will claim it's acting in the best interests of the children. In point of fact, it is simply hoplophobic bias.

People may piss and moan about you but you make some good points.

+1

 

[SecondAmdFirst]

Oh, what would become of our baseball? Children could start to think guns are good!! The committe is filled with lemmings

 

[Bill Katt]

Well, you certainly wouldn't want the kids to think that it's OK to start playing around with the bats and holding them like rifles. Someone could get skeered or hurted or sumfin'.

 

[Zappa]

This happens more often than you know, on a small and large scale.
Example: Glock offered to sponsor a race truck in the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series.
Nascar was fine with it, but the network wasn't. SPEED Channel has the exclusive rights to coverage of the series and basically told the race team "We don't like guns. If you choose to plaster the name of a gun company on your truck, we can't stop you, but we can use every trick at our disposal to prevent ever getting your truck any visible camera time". So Glock backed out of the deal. No air time for their "hi speed billboard" is poor useage of the ad budget money. Needless to say, a lot of people were bummed. Big paying motorsports sponsors are really hard to get these days. However, GunBroker.com sponsors two trucks in the series and SPEED doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Maybe because they don't actually manufacture guns, they just help sellers and buyers find each other.

 

[Bill Katt]

This happens more often than you know, on a small and large scale.
Example: Glock offered to sponsor a race truck in the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series.
Nascar was fine with it, but the network wasn't. SPEED Channel has the exclusive rights to coverage of the series and basically told the race team "We don't like guns. If you choose to plaster the name of a gun company on your truck, we can't stop you, but we can use every trick at our disposal to prevent ever getting your truck any visible camera time". So Glock backed out of the deal. No air time for their "hi speed billboard" is poor useage of the ad budget money. Needless to say, a lot of people were bummed. Big paying motorsports sponsors are really hard to get these days. However, GunBroker.com sponsors two trucks in the series and SPEED doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Maybe because they don't actually manufacture guns, they just help sellers and buyers find each other.

I'd be the type that (if I had the money and owned glock) would put every cent possible into the fastest truck/driver combo and let the network edit out the winner of the race. That would go over well with the fans....LOL "how'd he come in 2nd, he was in the lead wasn't he? who the EF won the race? i didn't see the checkered flag" That would go over really well.

Sorry, it's just that as each day goes by and the more of all this BS that I see/hear/read about, the more pissed off I get. It's disgusting what's become of this once great country.

 

[Titan]

I find it really hard to believe the network could be very effective at 'editing out' or excluding a car from coverage. Will they not cover accidents, refuse to photograph lead changes, the winner, etc.?

 

[Bill Katt]

I find it really hard to believe the network could be very effective at 'editing out' or excluding a car from coverage. Will they not cover accidents, refuse to photograph lead changes, the winner, etc.?

That's my point in a nutshell. I tend to ramble a bit when I get pissed sometimes....lol

Although, they could use that blue dot thingy that was used in (I think) the OJ trial.

 

[Zappa]

That's my point in a nutshell. I tend to ramble a bit when I get pissed sometimes....lol

Although, they could use that blue dot thingy that was used in (I think) the OJ trial.

Exactly.
They may not be able to avoid showing the truck, but they have camera tricks they can use to blur the the sponsors logos, making them unreadable to the TV viewing audience. They threatened to do the same thing several years ago when Penthouse Magazine wanted to sponsor a race truck.

 

[SecondAmdFirst]

This happens more often than you know, on a small and large scale.
Example: Glock offered to sponsor a race truck in the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series.
Nascar was fine with it, but the network wasn't. SPEED Channel has the exclusive rights to coverage of the series and basically told the race team "We don't like guns. If you choose to plaster the name of a gun company on your truck, we can't stop you, but we can use every trick at our disposal to prevent ever getting your truck any visible camera time". So Glock backed out of the deal. No air time for their "hi speed billboard" is poor useage of the ad budget money. Needless to say, a lot of people were bummed. Big paying motorsports sponsors are really hard to get these days. However, GunBroker.com sponsors two trucks in the series and SPEED doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Maybe because they don't actually manufacture guns, they just help sellers and buyers find each other.

Yeah....because your average NASCAR fan would be offended by guns, right? LOL

 

[Zappa]

Yeah....because your average NASCAR fan would be offended by guns, right? LOL

Remington was a sponsor many years ago on the #75 car in the Winston Cup Series.
Nascar and the fans had no problem with it whatsoever.
The problem here is that one particular TV network (SPEED) has a hair across its ass about guns.
It wasn't a problem with the other networks that carried the CUP series at the time, such as FOX, ABC, TNN and ESPN.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

It wasn't a problem with the other networks that carried the CUP series at the time, such as FOX, ABC, TNN and ESPN.

ESPN has had a policy in effect that no sporting event involving the use of handguns may be covered on that network.

 

[dwarven1]

It surprises people that this would happen in New Jersey?

Speaking as a Jersey boy (who escaped), not in the least.

Instead, the guy should send a letter to the Little League management that he is instead doubling his pledge, and donating it to the local youth shooting league.

"local youth shooting league"

Stop it; you're killing me!

Dude... it's NEW JERSEY. It's so hard to even find a place to SHOOT, much less multiple ones, that I don't think that there ARE any local leagues down there!

 

[KBCraig]

My local indie minor league baseball team (now defunct, sadly) sponsored a youth team in the 10-12 year old league, and shared their name with them.

The team name: Gunslingers.

 

[terraformer]

Remington was a sponsor many years ago on the #75 car in the Winston Cup Series.
Nascar and the fans had no problem with it whatsoever.
The problem here is that one particular TV network (SPEED) has a hair across its ass about guns.
It wasn't a problem with the other networks that carried the CUP series at the time, such as FOX, ABC, TNN and ESPN.

Fox owns speed. You can bet that Fox is behind this.

 

[terraformer]

ESPN has had a policy in effect that no sporting event involving the use of handguns may be covered on that network.

Disney owns ESPN.