BREAKING NEWS: LARUSSA ARRESTED

[Dwtlr]

I read through the first five pages of this thread and some of you sound worse than some old washerwomen...He made a mistake and yeah he should know better..etc..

He's human and a baseball manager..For those of you who have had him on some high and mighty pedestal all these years well maybe you'll wakeup..

I've never been one of his biggest boosters but I've always respected him and for me personally that won't change because of this..

La Russa if you understand the kind of person he is will beat himself up for this long after anyone else does..

It might be a good time to support your "guy" now then talk about retiring and resignation and "oh My God" jibberish I'm seeing here..

Some of you need to grow up..

[jim]

Balltillyafall, maddash, kyle ... Some posts that are pretty much where my line of thoughts on this are, even if I haven't expressed them as well.

I guarantee you LaRussa will stand up to this, and do the right thing. I'll be very surprised if publicly or privately LaRussa is moaning about the .08, or the fact that he had been up since 5am, or the fact that the night air made him tired, or.....

I don't think any of us expect him to moan.

If I were caught at .093, I would not moan. Just as if I were given a speeding ticket for going 73 in 65, I would not moan about barely being over. I was over, I broke the law, I pay the price.

BUT, apparently this mishap reduces the respect some people have for LaRussa. I'm not in agreement with that. I think it's a simple mistake. That's my point in all of this. It's not to say that LaRussa isn't guilty of something he obviously got busted for, and that he doesn't deserve to be punished for it.

--P--

All right, I'll add you to my list.

Alot of times on bulletin boards we probably are almost all on the same page, but it seems at first that we are miles apart.

[Popeye_Card]

Obviously not due to the fact that I do not take DUIs seriously.

Yes, we're pretty much in agreement. But I have differeing levels of "seriousness" of DUI's. A bit over the limit? That stinks that you got caught. Not that it's excusable, but it's forgivable. Getting behind the wheel and blowing a 0.25? That's not forgivable. You're obviously drunk, don't get behind the wheel.

I don't think that all DUI's should be judged equally, just like all speeding tickets aren't judged equally. If you're more than 15 mph over the limit, there's higher consequences for your actions. Just like knowing you're drunk, you know you're driving far above the speed limit.

A few years ago, this wouldn't have been an issue with his 0.093 BAC because the legal limit was higher. Two years from now, they could lower it even more to 0.05. Today, I could get pulled over, blow a 0.06, and face no penalties whatsoever for my actions. Two years from now, I could blow the same, and get a ticket. Will my driving abilities be any different two years from now? IMHO, levels between 0.08 and 0.10 should be a warning or a less severe ticket, not a DUI. I do understand that they create an extremely low number so that less people chance going over that number, but I'm not sure how effective that is in getting the real drunks off of the road.

--P--

[Radbird]

I, like most on here, think I know my own limits of what I think that I can handle and still drive safely, and handle and still be legal.

While I agree with the former (I know my limits, etc), I have no idea about the latter as don't know what .08 feels like. I think the level at which I can drive safely is below the limit, but I can only conclude that based on some of the cites in this thread (6 drinks in 2 to 3 hours - I wouldn't feel safe driving if I did that). But I'm old and 2 beers is usually my limit these days anyway.

[heyzeus]

I think it was a mistake on LaRussa's part. If you've been drinking, especially if you're tired and you've been drinking, you need to call a friend or a cab - for the sake of yourself, your family, and the others on the road. A crime was committed, but not a felony.

We've probably all done something stupid while behind the wheel and realized "wow, that was dumb - I could've killed someone." Like a lane change without checking the blind spot, speeding, running a stop sign. Only by the grace of Whomever was nobody hurt. It doesn't excuse the error, but it also doesn't make me radically rethink the character of the man. LaRussa's character (from what I read of him) is such that I expect he will admit the error in judgment, take accountability, and make efforts such that he and others will not make a similar mistake in the future.

btw, looks like LaRussa isn't inclined to give an apology/statement just yet (from stltoday):

"“If you have baseball questions, I’ll talk about that. I don’t have anything to say about anything else,” said La Russa, who is managing the Cardinals today in their exhibition game against Florida. When La Russa walked onto the field before the game, many fans stood and applauded."

[Popeye_Card]

I'm not sure if I skimmed over the link on here, but the Smoking Gunhas a few more details now.

--P--

[Arthur Dent]

1. Don't drink and drive.
2. If you do, and get caught, don't take the field sobriety test. Don't blow in a brethalyzer. Sure you're going to jail. But you were going there anyway. Now they can't convict you.

Is that true? In Driver's Ed, I was told that when you get a driver's license you are giving "implied consent" to take the brethalyer test, and that the penalty for violating the implied consent was more severe than the penalty for DUI.

[Radbird]

I'm not sure if I skimmed over the link on here, but the Smoking Gunhas a few more details now.

--P--

Dude wears a lot of rings.

[Hungary Jack]

I'm not sure if I skimmed over the link on here, but the Smoking Gunhas a few more details now.

--P--

The gun reports:

LaRussa, 62, was popped in Jupiter, Florida.

Pun intended?

[thrill]

I can't tell all who he was with because that dude's handwriting is terrible. I got Vic Damon?, Mike Shannon and Dennis something.