Hungary Jack wrote:
Good grief. You cannot put qualifiers around an action like this in an attempt to mitigate it's seriousness. If the charges are true, then TLR broke the law just as much as any other idiot who drinks too much and drives. This is a huge lapse in judgement, and he put other people at risk by getting behind the wheel. Thankfully nothing worse happened (Leonard Little).
What if he had blown a 0.079? Not legally drunk, but we're talking about a 0.014 difference--about half a glass of wine, or 30 minutes of additional metabolism. Does this small difference drastically affect his ability to safely operate an automobile? Or is it that he made a bad decision to drive home after having a couple of drinks late at night when he's probably exhausted. Drinks or no drinks, somebody who works as many hard hours as LaRussa does probably shouldn't be driving that late at night. The chances of him driving "impaired" from being tired are incredibly high.
--P--
Bottom line is that he broke the law when he blew the .093. He may not be convicted, but it's quite clear that he applied poor judgement. He not only put his own life and potentially other lives at risk while driving impaired, but he also put his own credibility at risk as a leader and risked compromising the integrity of his organization. Stupid is as stupid does, and in my view he's no less stupid than Leonard Little, whose actions resulted in far worse consequences.
I don't think TLR should be fired for this, but I think he faces a huge uphill battle in regaining credibility as a leader.
The difference between having a 0.093 BAC vs. 0.20 is the difference between driving 75 mph in a 65 vs. driving 162 mph. Falling asleep at a stop light is far different than blowing through one and killing a woman. Then getting behind the wheel drunk a couple years later and getting another DUI.
BTW, everyone breaks the law when they speed too. Speeding shortens the amount of time you have to react to a potentially harmful situation. Every day in St. Louis, 95% of the people on the roads are speeding to some extent (as long as they're not stuck in traffic). So are you saying that if somebody gets a ticket for driving 75 in a 65, it's no different than driving 160 and killing someone in the process? Breaking the law is breaking the law, and shorter reaction times are shorter reaction times.
Hungary Jack wrote:
Good grief. You cannot put qualifiers around an action like this in an attempt to mitigate it's seriousness. If the charges are true, then TLR broke the law just as much as any other idiot who drinks too much and drives. This is a huge lapse in judgement, and he put other people at risk by getting behind the wheel. Thankfully nothing worse happened (Leonard Little).
What if he had blown a 0.079? Not legally drunk, but we're talking about a 0.014 difference--about half a glass of wine, or 30 minutes of additional metabolism. Does this small difference drastically affect his ability to safely operate an automobile? Or is it that he made a bad decision to drive home after having a couple of drinks late at night when he's probably exhausted. Drinks or no drinks, somebody who works as many hard hours as LaRussa does probably shouldn't be driving that late at night. The chances of him driving "impaired" from being tired are incredibly high.
--P--
Bottom line is that he broke the law when he blew the .093. He may not be convicted, but it's quite clear that he applied poor judgement. He not only put his own life and potentially other lives at risk while driving impaired, but he also put his own credibility at risk as a leader and risked compromising the integrity of his organization. Stupid is as stupid does, and in my view he's no less stupid than Leonard Little, whose actions resulted in far worse consequences.
I don't think TLR should be fired for this, but I think he faces a huge uphill battle in regaining credibility as a leader.
The difference between having a 0.093 BAC vs. 0.20 is the difference between driving 75 mph in a 65 vs. driving 162 mph. Falling asleep at a stop light is far different than blowing through one and killing a woman. Then getting behind the wheel drunk a couple years later and getting another DUI.
BTW, everyone breaks the law when they speed too. Speeding shortens the amount of time you have to react to a potentially harmful situation. Every day in St. Louis, 95% of the people on the roads are speeding to some extent (as long as they're not stuck in traffic). So are you saying that if somebody gets a ticket for driving 75 in a 65, it's no different than driving 160 and killing someone in the process? Breaking the law is breaking the law, and shorter reaction times are shorter reaction times.
jim wrote:
The problem was he allegedly was drunk behind the wheel. I'm not saying he should be fired, I'm just saying don't give him a pass. If he is guilty, I hope he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I hope he is prosecuted too, just like any other individual would be. You get caught, you pay the price.
But part of that price is not getting fired, IMO. Or losing respect in the workplace. If I got a DUI this weekend (which I don't plan on doing, BTW), I would hope that I don't get fired, or that my co-workers lose all respect for me.
I_Bleed_Red wrote:For a guy who always talks about doing things the "Cardinal Way" and how we have mentioned before how great it is to have a team of clean cut guys on the team that don't get in trouble with the law and this to happen. This is not good.
I know I will get flamed for this, but I just lost respect for TLR. I wouldn't even mind him being fired over this. Flame away if you wish, but that is all I have to say on this subject.
But there are different levels of driving while intoxicated just like there are different levels of speeding.
BTW, in the drinking and driving thread in Social, you admit to having a couple of beers at dinner and driving back home. What if one day you have a third beer and get pulled over on the way home and blow a 0.093? Could happen. You never know. Trust me, a friend of mine has a breathalizer, and readings can be quite strange. Sometimes you have a couple and you blow real high. Sometimes you have a bunch, and you blow real low. It's not an exact science.
Yes, LaRussa was passed out cold. But to pass out from drunkenness requires BAC's upwards of 0.30. If he was that high, he'd still be blowing a 0.093 right now. It has to be a combination of the alcohol and exhaustion or medication.
--P--
Last edited by Popeye_Card on March 22 07, 8:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Whatever he did, in whatever combination, was enough to result in him sitting in a running vehicle in the middle of the street. The ESPN report says that the .093 came in the station, which was extremely likely to be at least 90 minutes after his last drink. So it is not the 0.093 that "made" him pass out in the middle of the street in a running vehicle; it was obviously much higher. If he blew .093 in the station, he was likely to have been at least 106 when they found him, and at least 110 when he got behind the wheel. At least.
Not making light of the seriousness of the offense, but the above paragraph is simply not true as there is absolutely no way to prove any of the assumptions you make. In fact, we can't even consider them likely.
wow, you're catching on fast
1) a cheap shot from masked Man -- who has come on this forum and made (admitted) drunken tirades of his own -- what a surprise.
2) Actually, most of my assumptions regarding what we've seen in the reports are sound. If you'd rather read wikipedia and assume that a quoted range of 15 minutes to two hours means that we can safely assume that it was two hours in TLR's case, that's fine. While you are 100% right that I am making some assumptions, and that I have absolutely no proof, in my day job I actually happen to have some professional expertise in this area.
RC21 wrote:Let's keep it friendly please.
I apologize in advance and will back off.
Last edited by skmsw on March 22 07, 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
jim wrote:
The problem was he allegedly was drunk behind the wheel. I'm not saying he should be fired, I'm just saying don't give him a pass. If he is guilty, I hope he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I hope he is prosecuted too, just like any other individual would be. You get caught, you pay the price.
But part of that price is not getting fired, IMO. Or losing respect in the workplace. If I got a DUI this weekend (which I don't plan on doing, BTW), I would hope that I don't get fired, or that my co-workers lose all respect for me.
--P--
Yeah, that's the point here I think.
I doubt anyone here thinks he shouldn't pay whatever the price is for this. But on a personal level or as a fan, it doesn't diminish him in my eyes, because I know blood levels like this are common and I'm sure I've driven in that condition back in my college days. I think, and have for a while , that the legal limit is too low. So I don't consider this a big deal.
"La Russa arrived at Roger Dean Stadium soon after his release. He declined to answer any non-baseball questions. A team spokesman said La Russa is expected to manage the club today in its 12:05 p.m. exhibition game against Florida."
"The arrest potentially represents La Russa’s first offense, according to the report."
