Houston Fans taking too much pleasure in TLR's DUI

by lawman3842 on Mar 23, 2007 1:56 PM EDT Comment 9 comments

At the Houston Chronicle, Jose de Jesus Ortiz wrote this article in which he bashes Tony and calls him a hypocrite and criticizes St. Louis fans for being supportive of Tony.

I had to write this response, and hope it makes it through the censorship:

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LaRussa was foolish to drive in his condition, there's no doubt about that. The pathetic thing I see here is the glee with which Astros fans read this story. Sure, in their comments in this forum are filled with righteous indignation about Tony's DUI, and are laced with the typical admonitions and diatribes on the evils of drunk driving; but the overwhelmingly obvious underlying message I see here is one of schadenfreude, the taking of pleasure in someone else's misfortune.

Jealous contempt for the superior baseball team is the cause, I'm sure. Astros fans hate the Cardinals, and now are happy to see the St. Louis manager make a fool of himself. Now they call him a hypocrite, but how pathetic is that? Was there this same degree of outrage among Astros fans with Dontrell Willis, or your touted Hunter Pence, when they were charged with the same offense? Certainly not.

All three offenses are equally deplorable, but the Astros' fans hypocrisy is as real, if not more so, than this tenuous hypoctirical "link" of between LaRussa's impaired driving and his advocacy of animal rights. I'm sure there will be a slew of responses to this message trying to draw a distinction, but sophistry can't change the truth.

Get over it, Houston. Leave your jealous contempt for the Cardinals to cheering for the on-field results, and don't take such pleasure in the personal failings of a rival manager.
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Poll

What do you think?

Ortiz is right, LaRussa is a hypocrite

1 votes

Ortiz is right, Cardinals fans are idiots

2 votes

Ortiz is wrong, and your brilliant comments resonate; you should be elected President

20 votes

Ortiz is wrong, but you're overreacting a bit

14 votes

I'm tired of this story already

36 votes

73 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 9 comments

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Comments

i voted played out

that said, i had a few things to say this morning about the incident at rabid redbird.

i tried to read through the comments to yours, but couldn't make it that far. surprise, surprise, there are some real lunatics in texas. and missouri.

Rabid Redbird

by gthedamned on Mar 23, 2007 4:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Can I vote other???

How about this guy needs to figure out what hypocrite means? There is no logic that lines up Tony being a PETA like supporter and him drinking driving as behavior that is hypocritical.

As far as the cheering, it's called a morale booster. When someone is going through a rough time, you go over and give him or her a kind word, a thought, a whatever. You don't have to condone the behavior, but you can support the person.

by Brock20 on Mar 23, 2007 7:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Other

Tony was wrong, there is no defending him. Astros fans, however, aren't REAL baseball fans. They are like early 90's Blue Jays fans, high attendance because their team has been successful. Who cares what they say?No matter what, the fans in Houston will never have 115 years of tradition and 10 rings until at least 2063 or so.
I'm tired of hearing McGwire's name dragged through mud. We will never know if he was on 'roids and he was a Cardinal for less than 5 years. What we do know is the Astros are a frustrated organization who envy us.

A walk is a waste of three pitches-Bob Gibson

by orlando card on Mar 23, 2007 8:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Unfortunately his (very valid) point

is diluted by his illogical arguements and name calling. If his point was that St Louis fans should have been more critical of Tony LaRussa, then I agree. However I don't think support for LaRussa proves an individual fan's lack of intelligence much less all fans' lack of intelligence.

And for the record, I don't think he is jealous of the Cardinals, nor do I think Astros fan are illegitimate baseball fans, I just think the guy doesn't write all that well.

by Zubin on Mar 24, 2007 2:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

My Comments to Jose

Jose, if your point is that Cardinals fans could be more critical of Tony LaRussa's behavior, I wholly agree. I don't know the details of the cheering, but given the circumstances any display of support should be solemn.

However, I completely disagree with your assertion that such cheering proves those Cardinal fans, in particular, or many Cardinal fans, in general, are idiots. And really can't figure why you'd write such a thing other than to be inflammatory. (There is also the logical flaw in calling LaRussa a hypocrite- but I see no reason to add to what others have already pointed out.)

As for the fans' behavior, I am sure as I can be that they were only expressing support and loyalty to LaRussa as a person, and not for his behavior. Still I can't say I agree with their actions, but having lived in Missouri for half my life I can explain it, in that Missourians tend to be very provincial in their loyalties. We are that way more so than any other Americans I have ever encountered, and that includes Texans.

It is a shame your blog didn't explore that theme in relation to LaRussa's DUI. Name calling is easy, but it is unlikely to provoke meaning changes in behavior. However a more thoughtful approach just might.

by Zubin on Mar 24, 2007 3:07 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Deja Vu

I think a similar situation happened two (has it been three?) years ago when Mitchel Paige admitted to being an alcoholic. However, I think that situation was a little more serious because not only does our batting coach have a problem that he needs help treating but it was believed we might have lost the World Series with our lack of offense, the offense headed by someone who just admitted to being an alcoholic. So to have Tony arrested for a DUI in florida in a situation no one was hurt and it being during spring training, I fail to see the severity unless Tony is an alcoholic as well but keep in mind they said he was on "medication" at the time of arrest as well and 2 glasses of wine doesn't seem all that alcoholic-ish(?) to me especially for someone in Florida.

Never-the-less, I voted I was tired of the story, because I am. Now, turn off the CNN and turn on FSN and wake me April 1st.

I'm a Jenius!

by gibbons on Mar 24, 2007 5:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

"Medication"?

Any crap about "medication" is a red herring, in my opinion, and needs to be dropped.

Unless he was also chugging cough syrup, no medication that I know of is going to alter his blood alcohol level, which registered at 0.093.

He's guilty of DUI. Period.

Any comments about "extenuating circumstances" and "medications" are weak-ass excuses and merely lend credence to the lame accusations thrown around by people like that irresponsible Chron blogger.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

by Mr Clean on Mar 24, 2007 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

But I wasn't stating otherwise, merely comparing and contrasting the two situations I can recall from the past couple years involving the cardinals organization and drinking problems. Although I excluded Sydney Ponson, but then again, he was never really a cardinal; was he?

I'm a Jenius!

by gibbons on Mar 24, 2007 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs