# Would you have cancelled the game? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070 "2007-04-29T18:41:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/21 "2007-05-01T11:58:37Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] How about the people who make their living working at the stadium? Don’t sell any beer, don’t collect a paycheck. [/QUOTE] Same thing would happen if the game was postponsed due to bad weather. I’m sure they have contingency plans for postponed games and this is just the same kind of thing, only without the bad weather. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/22 "2007-05-01T15:17:12Z")
If the Cardinals had decided to play on, saying that the players wanted to play, I would have respected that. Everyone handles grief differently. One group might rally behind the idea of the fallen comrade. Another group might need time and distance. To me, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to handle a death. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/23 "2007-05-02T03:16:32Z")
If I had a ticket to that game, how much would I have enjoyed being there, knowing that someone who was supposed to be there to “entertain” me had been killed 18 hours earlier? How much fun would I, the fan, the paying customer, be having knowing what the players were going through? I happen to be a Cardinals fan, but if I were a Cubs fan down from Chicago, how self-conscious would I have been to root against the Cardinals that night? The NFL played its regular schedule the weekend that John Kennedy was killed, and Pete Rozelle later admitted that decisionwas the worst mistake he made as league commissioner. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/24 "2007-05-02T13:57:16Z")
I was glad to hear the game was cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/25 "2007-05-04T19:11:34Z")
[Drunk](http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2860122&type=story) Mr Hancock was drunk and there was marijuana found in his SUV. Would you still have cancelled the game? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/26 "2007-05-04T19:16:57Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] [Drunk](http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2860122&type=story) Mr Hancock was drunk and there was marijuana found in his SUV. Would you still have cancelled the game? [/QUOTE] I wasn’t aware that players couldn’t mourn someone who was drunk and had marijuana in his SUV. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/27 "2007-05-04T19:49:24Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] Mr Hancock was drunk and there was marijuana found in his SUV. Would you still have cancelled the game? [/QUOTE] He was also apparently on a cell phone at the time, FWIW. I don’t see what relevance any of this has to whether the game should have been cancelled, especially since none of this was known at the time the decision was made. Though what was known was enough to at least suggest that the crash might have been in some sense Hancock’s own fault. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/28 "2007-05-04T19:59:32Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] Mr Hancock was drunk and there was marijuana found in his SUV. Would you still have cancelled the game? [/QUOTE] What’s your point? Only people who die heroically should be mourned by their friends and coworkers? It’s a baseball game, and a guy who was supposed to play in it died. It doesn’t require a natural emergency to postpone. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/29 "2007-05-04T20:07:52Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] [Drunk](http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2860122&type=story) Mr Hancock was drunk and there was marijuana found in his SUV. Would you still have cancelled the game? [/QUOTE] Mourning, wakes, funerals, etc. are for the benefit of the living. They’re for the benefit of surviving family and friends. How we react to those who die matters not to the deceased. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/30 "2007-05-04T20:56:12Z")
No offense to this person, but why don’t extremely wealthy people take cabs when drinking? I know why regular people don’t, because 20 bucks may be groceries for the week, but these guys make millions- a twenty dollar cab ride is pocket money- literally. They get like 150 per diem on the road? I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/31 "2007-05-04T21:03:32Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] why don’t extremely wealthy people take cabs when drinking? [/QUOTE] This would show good judgment—which is not something that people who have been drinking are particularly known for. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/32 "2007-05-04T21:08:23Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] No offense to this person, but why don’t extremely wealthy people take cabs when drinking? I know why regular people don’t, because 20 bucks may be groceries for the week, but these guys make millions- a twenty dollar cab ride is pocket money- literally. They get like 150 per diem on the road? I just don’t get it. [/QUOTE] Nor do I. No cite at the moment, but I was talking with a colleague today who is a Cardinals fan. He said that apparently a bartender offered to get Hancock a cab, but the Cards pitcher refused for some reason. In addition to the .15+ BAC and drugs, I heard he was also speeding, on the phone, and not wearing a seatbelt while driving at night. Hard to make that situation any more dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/33 "2007-05-04T21:14:07Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] [Drunk](http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2860122&type=story) Mr Hancock was drunk and there was marijuana found in his SUV. Would you still have cancelled the game? [/QUOTE] Hell, no! In that case I would have wanted _two_ games! With his mangled car dragged out to the pitcher’s mound between them so people could throw things at it! Not beer cups though. And not roaches. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/34 "2007-05-04T21:20:57Z")
Serious side question- would they cancel a game if he had killed someone else,and not himself? I can’t recall something like that before a sporting event. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/35 "2007-05-04T21:30:54Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] Hell, no! In that case I would have wanted _two_ games! With his mangled car dragged out to the pitcher’s mound between them so people could throw things at it! Not beer cups though. And not roaches. [/QUOTE] wow **jodi**..just wow :dubious: tsfr ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/36 "2007-05-04T21:35:18Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Serious side question- would they cancel a game if he had killed someone else,and not himself? I can’t recall something like that before a sporting event. [/QUOTE] My WAG would be: No. They would not cancel a game under those circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/37 "2007-05-04T21:54:39Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] He was also apparently on a cell phone at the time, FWIW. [/QUOTE] Arranging to meet someone in a bar. While he was already at twice the legal limit. And speeding in a construction zone. I would have canceled the game, but, in hindsight, his lionization by the media rings a little hollow. And there is no tragedy here. This was Darwinization, pure and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/38 "2007-05-04T22:16:34Z")
Agree 100%, as unpleasant as may be for some to admit. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/39 "2007-05-04T22:48:25Z")
[QUOTE=Scruloose] In addition to the .15+ BAC and drugs, I heard he was also speeding, on the phone, and not wearing a seatbelt while driving at night. Hard to make that situation any more dangerous. [/QUOTE] Were his headlights on? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070/40 "2007-05-04T22:53:03Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] I would have canceled the game, but, in hindsight, his lionization by the media rings a little hollow. And there is no tragedy here. [/QUOTE] Well, maybe it was, in the classical sense: a basically good guy has a fatal flaw that causes his downfall. From everything I’ve read, it looks like Hancock was a basically good guy, and the tragedy is that he let himself get out of control with alcoholism and/or stupidity. The fact that he managed to kill himself, I have mixed feelings about, as I do whenever I hear about a drunk driver who kills or injures themselves without hurting anyone else. I’m guessing he’s not the only one in baseball with this kind of a problem, and if so, I hope that what happened will serve as a wake-up call (as what happened to Tony LaRussa earlier this sprng apparently didn’t). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-cancelled-the-game/402070.md?page=3)