Josh Hancock
May 8, 2007 16:30:52 GMT -5
Post by docx on May 8, 2007 16:30:52 GMT -5
You could argue this belongs in sports, but I'm trying to address a larger issue in society, so I made a choice. Move it if I choose poorly.
2000: 17,380 / 41% / 41,945
2001: 17,400 / 41% / 42,196
2002: 17,524 / 41% / 43,005
2003: 17,105 / 40% / 42,884
2004: 16,919 / 39% / 42,836
2005: 16,885 / 39% / 43,443
The first number (besides the year, obviously) represent the number of drunk driving fatalities. The second number is the percentage of total fatalities caused by drunk driving. The third number is the overall number of traffic fatalities. (Source: MADD.com)
I heard a very interesting diatribe on FOXSports radio today, regarding the reaction by the St. Louis Cardinals to Josh Hancock's death, and the overall outlook of pro sports in general to the subject of drunk driving. The sports guy's opinion was that the Cards need to mourn Josh Hancock privately, but remove the "32" patches from their uniforms. His stance is that if they want to put forth a socially responsible message, they should wear MADD patches, or something like that.
At first blush, it sounds kind of mean, right? But then, when you look at statistics, the area becomes a little greyer, maybe.
The Washington Nationals wore VT caps after the Virginia Tech massacre. 32 people died in that terrible tragedy. 16,885 people died in 2005 from drunk driving. That's over 500% more people dead, and MLB barely addresses the fact that the guy was hammered and driving dangerously enough to kill himself (and, thank God, only himself). How much uproar was there when La Russa got tagged for DUI? Was there any?
Is it wrong to not honor a guy who died being incredibly irresponsible? This wasn't a case of the guy dying trying to stop a woman from getting raped, or rescuing a kid from a burning home. He got shitty drunk (possibly stoned - the cops found a pretty large amount of weed [8+ grams?] in his car) and killed himself being dumb.
What do you think? Is this an overreaction? Should players, coaches, managers, etc. face fines or punishment on the field for driving drunk? Is it no big deal? And should the Cards remove/replace the patch?
2000: 17,380 / 41% / 41,945
2001: 17,400 / 41% / 42,196
2002: 17,524 / 41% / 43,005
2003: 17,105 / 40% / 42,884
2004: 16,919 / 39% / 42,836
2005: 16,885 / 39% / 43,443
The first number (besides the year, obviously) represent the number of drunk driving fatalities. The second number is the percentage of total fatalities caused by drunk driving. The third number is the overall number of traffic fatalities. (Source: MADD.com)
I heard a very interesting diatribe on FOXSports radio today, regarding the reaction by the St. Louis Cardinals to Josh Hancock's death, and the overall outlook of pro sports in general to the subject of drunk driving. The sports guy's opinion was that the Cards need to mourn Josh Hancock privately, but remove the "32" patches from their uniforms. His stance is that if they want to put forth a socially responsible message, they should wear MADD patches, or something like that.
At first blush, it sounds kind of mean, right? But then, when you look at statistics, the area becomes a little greyer, maybe.
The Washington Nationals wore VT caps after the Virginia Tech massacre. 32 people died in that terrible tragedy. 16,885 people died in 2005 from drunk driving. That's over 500% more people dead, and MLB barely addresses the fact that the guy was hammered and driving dangerously enough to kill himself (and, thank God, only himself). How much uproar was there when La Russa got tagged for DUI? Was there any?
Is it wrong to not honor a guy who died being incredibly irresponsible? This wasn't a case of the guy dying trying to stop a woman from getting raped, or rescuing a kid from a burning home. He got shitty drunk (possibly stoned - the cops found a pretty large amount of weed [8+ grams?] in his car) and killed himself being dumb.
What do you think? Is this an overreaction? Should players, coaches, managers, etc. face fines or punishment on the field for driving drunk? Is it no big deal? And should the Cards remove/replace the patch?