Meanwhile, our local paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is fond of running articles asking of the Cardinals could/should have prevented the recent death of Josh Hancock, who died after plowing his vehicle into the rear of a stopped flatbed towtruck while speeding. And on his cell phone. With a blood alcohol content of 0.15.

Before you jump to the most obvious conclusion about what they are referring to vis-a-vis prevention, someone suggested that local athletes shouldn't be allowed to drive at all. After all, in addition to Josh Hancock, Tony LaRussa was arrested on a DUI in Florida while asleep at the wheel. At a traffic light. With the car in gear. And then there's always Leonard Little's multiple, and one at least one occasion, fatal exploits with alcohol and driving, though, to be fair, Mr. Little somehow beat the rap on the second arrest even though he failed field sobriety tests and refused to be tested when taken into custody. As they say on Jackass, don't try this at home. Unless, of course, you are a really, really, good defensive end.

But what strikes me as most troublesome about this 20-20 hindsight punditry is the apparent desire to continue to infantalize grown men instead of requiring them to be responsible for what they do and how they conduct themselves. The brand, spanking new beer ban in St. Louis is a typical reactionary response that will probably backfire. I think I read somewhere that someone in the Milwaukee Brewer's chain of command thought it was better to allow beer, since at least the clubs would then at least be aware of it instead of trying to implement a hopeless prohibition that may lead to more binge drinking outside the clubhouse. In a depressingly recurring theme, the clubhouse beer ban is more about feeling like they are doing the right thing than actually doing the right thing. Or, if I was cynical, I might think it's all about liability insurance premiums.

But what should we expect? After LaRussa's arrest, talking heads on several local radio stations actually were trying to excuse LaRussa's behavior because he was tired and overworked. I mean, come on, he loves animals and the Cardinals just won the World Series!

Sigh.

Here's a picture to appreciate the corniness/coolness of the mug and chalet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Brewer
and http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mil/fan_forum/bernie_brewer.jsp