Law weighs in on DUI

[indyredbird]

Looks like Law can't even come up with his own stupid ideas anymore:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/slezak/3 ... 25.article


But I could see where baseball should have a conduct policy. A suspension is worthy, but not a firing.

[JohnnyJay]

Law should stick to writing about baseball, which he doesn't do all that well to begin with anyway.

Law is full of dramaqueenery!

Let's just do this to make everyone happy. Fire LaRussa, send him to a maximum security prison. Ban him from baseball, never allow him to set foot inside a major league ballpark. If you ever see him in public, boo him as loud and as often as possible. If you have the means, throw whatever food, trash you can at him. Maybe then and only then, he might realize his mistake.


Seriously, how long does this have to drag along in the media? Tip to a good sports writer: WRITE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON, ON THE FIELD!!!!!

[arnie.k]

i'm so glad i'm not famous...

[Maclowery]

There's a big difference between a DUI and alcoholism. Go to a nice restaurant and a good quarter of the people would blow over after splitting a bottle of wine and an after-dinner drink.

I didn't even bat an eye when I read the article. If he'd been tore up, smashed his car through a wall or something, and blown a .2, maybe he should seek some serious counseling, and super conservatives could call for a resignation.

But being tired after some red wine and a long day? You gotta be kidding me. I wish everyone had a breathalyzer in their car so they could see just how stunningly often people drive over the limit, even if they say they aren't even buzzing, etc etc.

[Popeye_Card]

Hmmm.

What part of this column do you guys disagree with?

Seriously?

Baseball hands out suspensions for steroids not because they are illegal, but because they affect the integrity of the sport. They hand out lifetime bans for gambling not because it's illegal, but because it affects the integrity of the sport.

DUI's have no bearing on the integrity of the sport as it's played on the field. Let the law punish the threats to the public. Let the game punish threats to the game.

Keith Law really shouldn't talk. I'm sure ESPN has many employees who have DUI's and were not required to either go to rehab or resign. Companies punish threats to the companies. The law punishes threats to the public.

--P--

[M1IRONMIKE]

Looks like Law can't even come up with his own stupid ideas anymore:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/slezak/3 ... 25.article


But I could see where baseball should have a conduct policy. A suspension is worthy, but not a firing.

a suspension for one DUI where there was no accident and no one was hurt? That is ridiculous. How many people here or anywhere would be suspended from their jobs for getting 1 DUI? Very few of us that aren't in the driving business would be suspended. Larussa should be treated as any other 1st time offender is treated but to suspend him from his job or demand he go to rehab is just silly. I don't know Florida law but I am sure he will have to meet with a alcohol assesment counsellor and take some alcohol awareness classes and have his driving priviledges suspended for a while but any other punishment for a 1 offense is out of line.

[jim]

Looks like Law can't even come up with his own stupid ideas anymore:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/slezak/3 ... 25.article


But I could see where baseball should have a conduct policy. A suspension is worthy, but not a firing.

a suspension for one DUI where there was no accident and no one was hurt? That is ridiculous. How many people here or anywhere would be suspended from their jobs for getting 1 DUI? Very few of us that aren't in the driving business would be suspended. Larussa should be treated as any other 1st time offender is treated but to suspend him from his job or demand he go to rehab is just silly. I don't know Florida law but I am sure he will have to meet with a alcohol assesment counsellor and take some alcohol awareness classes and have his driving priviledges suspended for a while but any other punishment for a 1 offense is out of line.

Agree completely.

[maddash]

Hmmm.

What part of this column do you guys disagree with?

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa had so much to drink last week that he fell asleep at the wheel of his SUV

So if I had one drink and 2 hours of sleep over 48 hours, does that mean the drink caused me to fall asleep? TLR was drunk at the wheel, no doubt about that... but no reason to exaggerate the facts as we know them.

Baseball has a drinking problem, but it'd prefer that you not know about it.

Does Law show ANY evidence that people working within MLB have any more of a drinking problem than doctors or lawyers? He's making a foolish and patently unproven statement for dramatic effect.

If that's not bad enough, some Cardinals fans are actually excusing La Russa's inexcusable mistake.

True, and I can find a few Cub fans that think the moon landing was a fake... what in the world does picking a few sound bites from Cardinal fans prove, other than you can make it sound like they represent an entire fan base?

In the Cardinals' first game after La Russa's arrest, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. So it appears that engaging in a reckless and stupid activity that kills thousands of people every year is not only acceptable but also makes you some sort of folk hero -- and earns you no sanction from your team or MLB.

Again, how is showing respect for a man obviously in need of some support construed as show acceptance for drinking and driving. If an entire wing of Congress rise and clap for President Bush, it must obviously mean they support his every action.

Who committed the more egregious violation: Guillermo Mota, caught using steroids last year and suspended for the first 50 games of 2007, or Gustavo Chacin, caught for DUI this month and facing no suspension or penalty? Which is the bigger crime: cheating in sports or driving drunk?

Since when did MLB enforce our Government's laws? Since when did our Government enforce the rules of baseball. He's comparing apples and oranges and seemingly oblivious to that fact.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

There's a big difference between a DUI and alcoholism. Go to a nice restaurant and a good quarter of the people would blow over after splitting a bottle of wine and an after-dinner drink.

I didn't even bat an eye when I read the article. If he'd been tore up, smashed his car through a wall or something, and blown a .2, maybe he should seek some serious counseling, and super conservatives could call for a resignation.

But being tired after some red wine and a long day? You gotta be kidding me. I wish everyone had a breathalyzer in their car so they could see just how stunningly often people drive over the limit, even if they say they aren't even buzzing, etc etc.

How many of those people who get just over the limit from what they have at dinner fall asleep at the wheel? Regardless of what the number was, he was severely impaired, and it was a terrible mistake on his part to drive. Just because he fell asleep at a light instead of while he was going 40 down the road doesn't change how bad the decision was.

[Go_Crazy_Folks]

Hmmm.

What part of this column do you guys disagree with?

It isn't so much that I disagree with his premise, but rather the fact that it it happens to someone in the Cards organization and all of a sudden he feels the need to write moral code. There have been hundreds of DUI charges against baseball players but this is the first time he finds it necessary to write about it.

The part on the fans reaction is what bugged me. Anyone that knows Cardinal fans, know that they try everything in their might to help out on the field. Showing appreciation for someone that made a mistake and owned up to it, is hardly applauding DUI/alcoholism.

Whether there needs to be fines/suspensions for DUI charges (TLR) should be left up to the organizations or MLB, not Keith Law. That is my disagreement.