The ones who mean well will get hurt in AT&T suit

One of the Southern commandments -- in addition to minding your manners and respecting your elders -- is "thou shalt not air your dirty laundry in public."

Just like Aunt Tillie's underwear hanging on the line, it's not real pretty to watch corporations like AT&T and Sprint/Nextel squabble. When millions of dollars are at stake, not to mention crucial market shares in a competitive marketplace like the cellular telephone business where big companies swallow little companies for lunch, it's understandable.

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But please don't do it where the sun shines, like in a federal courtroom.

You have to feel most sorry for Richard Childress in this whole mess. There may not be a more loyal NASCAR supporter in the garage area than Childress, who made his debut as a driver in 1969 and has poured his heart and soul in the sport since. Losing a major sponsor like AT&T-Cingular could decimate his team, something nobody wants to see happen.

For all the public posturing, there's no one in NASCAR who doesn't wish this whole process couldn't have been settled long before it got to this point. NASCAR may act all tough and stuff, but it's always been about family first. And Richard Childress is family. Still, NASCAR has to protect itself -- and its sponsor.

The judge will rule in favor of one or the other. But that doesn't mean there's a winner. This is a no-win situation for everyone.

So why has it gotten to this point? The almighty dollar.

When you're playing penny ante poker, no one cares much about who's light in the pot. But when the stakes get high, everybody's watching all the other players like a hawk.

I guess that's a nasty byproduct of NASCAR's success. It wasn't that long ago race teams were sponsored by junkyards, tow trucks, furniture stores and car dealerships. There wasn't much reason for one sponsor to get all fired up about another, unless it was Marlboro and Winston -- and they pretty much carved out their own niches.

Now it's 2007 and NASCAR is big business. For the most part, NASCAR has been able to make corporations play nice -- consider Home Depot and Lowe's, Coke and Pepsi, UPS and FedEx. I'm certain NASCAR felt the same way in 2003 when they worked out the deal to grandfather Cingular and Alltel under the Nextel entitlement sponsorship.

There's just one problem. Nextel was bought by Sprint in 2005 and Cingular wound up back in the AT&T family this winter. So the folks who agreed to that agreement aren't necessarily the same folks in charge at either place now. And they're obviously spoiling for a catfight, no matter who gets in the way.

It's too bad NASCAR and Richard Childress are the ones who are most likely to get scratched up.