February 88 “I&I” column quoted former Dodger pitching great Don Newcombe on the inconsistency of the sport world piously warning about “drugs” at the same time it is being taken over by the breweries. He rightly referred to alcohol as “the most devastating drug on the face of the earth,” yet just about every sport in America is sponsored by some brand of beer.
Frank Dolson of the “Philadelphia Inquirer” agrees and wrote a scathing editorial. “Tell the truth, didn’t you gag just a little bit when you settled back in your easy chair… and then saw what looked very much like a beer label framing your screen when an announcer intoned, ‘This kickoff is brought to you by Budweiser’?”
“Here we are, in an all-out fight against drugs, one in which every major sport is supposedly taking part, and yet the games they play are being used to promote one of the most devastating drugs of them all. Yes, alcohol is legal. It also can be deadly.”