Anniversary of Cardinal’s Death preaches alcohol awareness
On May 8, a year will have passed since the untimely death of a baseball player. He wasn’t the obsession of a crazed fan, nor one of many victims lost to steroid use. Cardinals pitcher John Hancock was killed in a DWI-related crash, when he slammed into a parking tow truck on I-94. His BAC level was more than twice the legal limit, and since then alcohol has been banned in the Cardinal clubhouses. Despite all the Budweiser ads adorning the field on game day, and fans carousing with their beers, the Cardinal players are sitting this one out, the alcohol tradition.
To sum things up, the ban is clearly not reflecting on the behavior of the Cardinal players, according to president Walt Jocketty. “it’ just something we felt we had to do. Some of the guys disapprove, and I’m aware of that.”
While most players resent the ban, Albert Pujols, their first baseman, is an advocate, acknowledging that this measure will further educate the public that no athlete is immune to the dangers of drunk driving. “Though most of the guys will continue to drink outside games, we shoudl be setting examples for the public. We lost John, and we don’t anyone else to have to endure a loss such as this, a loss that can easily be prevented.”
Though our favorite athletes may seem to have it together on the outside, on the inside they struggles with many of the same things we do, body image, drug use, and alcoholism. The former image of baseball players routinely chewing tobacco has given way to over a 1000 deaths due to nicotine poisoning. Steroids promise endurance, but most often result in physical impairments or death. Alcoholism seems to be the slyest addiction for athletes, for we don’t hear of them getting DWIs on a regular basis. Being subject to the pressures of fame, fortune and a career that may be disappear upon a knee or some other injury, many athletes continue to find solace in the bottle. Yet the bottle continues to trip them up, as do so many things, and admitting the issue is rarely practiced. The case of John Hancock should remembered as that no matter how hard you train, no matter how good of shape you are in, things like alcohol can slow you down, sometimes permanently.
