In case you hadn't heard, which probably would have required you to have been living in a convent, race car driver Kyle Busch must have thought he was playing Guitar Hero as he smashed a guitar given as a trophy following a race at Nashville Super Speedway.
Unfortunately, it was a custom-built, handmade Gibson Les Paul that Busch tried to smash to pieces.
Even Pete Townsend would have had reason to pause before obliterating such a classic guitar. It is a nine-pound chunk of solid mahogany and most of it actually survived Kyle's execution attempt.
This is the kind of story that is newsworthy even outside of NASCAR. It makes baseball writers such as myself talk.
Why the fuss over something that is seemingly so innocent in nature and has nothing to do with racing itself?
Well, apparently the outrage is based on the thousands of dollars Busch could have earned for charity if he had auctioned off the axe instead of wasting it.
It's also newsworthy because it's the first time a winner in any sport has smashed his trophy.
According to ESPN.com, "A.J. Foyt does tell a story that Parnelli Jones once used a trophy as a weapon, smashing a heckler in the mouth after a dirt-track race in Ohio. But the intruder in Victory Lane told Parnelli, 'I wish you'd got killed today.' So that's no precedent for Busch."
Yet, despite his Jimi Hendrix impersonation, Rowdy only managed to take two noticeable chunks out of its body.
Recognizing that, I say the guitar is now probably worth even more if offered up to charity. It is somewhat of a historic relic as opposed to simply a very nice guitar.
If it could talk (and Kyle ended all hope of that ever happening), it would be able to tell a story that goes beyond simply winning a race in Nashville.
Still, some just aren't pleased. Artist Sam Bass, who hand-painted the guitar in question, told this to scenedaily.com: "This is much more than just a guitar somebody plays at a concert and beats the hell out of it when they're done."
Sure, rock stars have routinely smashed their guitars on stage, but when is the last time you saw a musician trash his Grammy?
As the kids would say, "Oh no you di-int, Rowdy."
Oh, but yes he did. To top it off, he doesn't know his rock history very well.
"Ozzy's done it, hasn't he?" he asked teammates and media after his Victory Lane antics.
No, Kyle, Ozzy bit the head off of a pigeon. And Alice Cooper's legend is that he killed a chicken on stage. That second one wasn't his fault, as he didn't know chickens couldn't fly as he threw the bird into the audience, but it is the stuff of legend nevertheless.
As this will likely be. In 30 years they will be talking about how he killed his crew chief with the guitar or something. Which would only increases its charitable value, come to think of it.
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