Alvord: Be thankful you're not this foolish
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 3:33 PM PST
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E-mail this articleColumn by Rick Alvord
Sports editor
Some things are just too stupid to comprehend.
The government’s bailout plan.
NFL instant replay.
John Madden’s vocabulary.
And the audacity, arrogance and blind sense of entitlement displayed by some of the most privileged individuals on the planet — professional athletes.
Former Major League catcher Jim Leyritz celebrated his 44th birthday last December by driving drunk at 3:19 a.m.
Ol’ Jimbo, the hero of the New York Yankees’ Game 2 win over the Mariners in the 1995 AL Division Series, never made it home that morning. He was taken to jail after slamming into a vehicle driven by a 30-year-old woman who was returning home from her job at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., steakhouse.
The woman, Fredia Ann Veitch, a mother of two, was ejected from her car and later died at the hospital.
Leyritz is awaiting trial on DUI manslaughter charges. In the meantime, he is free to drive anywhere he wants, as long as he blows into a court-ordered automobile Breathalyzer. His car won’t start if even a drop of alcohol is detected.
It seems like that would be a minor inconvenience for a man who is still walking and talking, laughing and breathing — unlike the woman he allegedly killed because of his own poor judgment.
Leyritz disagrees. He is asking a judge to remove the Breathalyzer from his vehicle because — get this — it is “bothersome.”
Leyritz’s lawyer claims his client “cannot leave his car with a valet, because it cannot be started by the valet.” And, to make matters worse, Leyritz “can’t eat things like chicken Marsala,” because certain foods cause false positives.
When you’re gathered ’round the dinner table for Thanksgiving, please say a prayer for poor Jimbo. Ask the man upstairs to give him the strength to park his car away from the entrance to his favorite restaurant or night club, and walk from the parking lot to the front door.
While you’re at it, pray that Jimbo will find something on the menu that isn’t made with wine or rum or something else with alcohol, and that he would enjoy that meal just as he would a hot plate of chicken Marsala.
You might also want to pray for Fredia Ann Veitch’s two children. A drunk driver, one who played for six Major League teams, allegedly wiped their mother from existence after his own birthday party.
Now, it should be pointed out that Leyritz claims he didn’t run a red light and crash into Veitch’s car. He says Veitch was the one who ran the red, because she also was drunk at the time and even caused another drunken-driving accident in the summer of 2007.
There’s a trial scheduled to straighten everything out, although Veitch will be unable to attend.
The point here, Jimbo, isn’t necessarily who entered the intersection when the light was red. The point is, you were blitzed and you were driving, and somebody got killed.
And now, because you can’t use valet parking and you can’t eat your favorite chicken dish, we’re supposed to yank that Breathalyzer out of your car and trust that you won’t be involved in another drunken driving fatality?
Leyritz also was reportedly upset in July when the Yankees didn’t welcome him back with open arms for the All-Star Game festivities at Yankee Stadium. Jimbo lamented the fact that the team didn’t ask him to be part of the Old Timer’s game or any other events.
Damn Yankees. How dare they have a conscience.
Unfortunately, former big-league ball players aren’t the only ones driving drunk these days. Judging by the police reports in this very newspaper, it’s one of the most popular extra-curricular activities among Cowlitz County adults.
Seems like a wonderful idea at the time, doesn’t it? Throw back a few beverages, watch the game with your pals at the corner tavern, grab the keys, head home.
One of my former buddies, while working as the sports editor at a newspaper in Wisconsin, did just that one night. He was stopped by a policeman on the way home and arrested for DUI.
His boss ordered him to write a front-page apology to the coaches and young athletes in the paper’s circulation area. And after serving a suspension, he was allowed to keep his job.
That same guy, a lovable alcoholic, died of a stroke a few years later. He was 36.
Have you ever gotten behind the wheel drunk? I have.
College days, Halloween party, feeling invincible. It only happened once, but once was enough.
The only thing I hit that night was a plastic garbage can. Crushed that baby real good.
But it could have been worse. It could have a mother of two.
How stupid. Difficult to comprehend how stupid.
As for Jim Leyritz? His stupidity is matched only by his foolish request.
Keep on blowing, Jimbo. Just shut up and keep on blowing.
the best wrote on Nov 19, 2008 1:54 PM:
BIGDAR wrote on Nov 19, 2008 2:53 PM:
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