http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/04/0 ... da-mishap/

"Witnesses and friends indicate he had become drunk and belligerent," Humphreys said. "He had leaned over the balcony rail, was shaking his finger at the people in the next room over. He fell over."

Another witness gave the following statement...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX3UqY8KZpU

...



I had written a long thought out response, but decided against it.

Let me just say this, I hope that you really dont feel like this kid deserved to die because he had too much to drink while on a vacation with his friends. And if so, I hope you've never done anything stupid drinking...otherwise you're a hypocrite. Just so happened he got a little too drunk, and his friends let it go too far.

Personally I feel for this kids friends, family, and community. It sounds like he was a good kid, who got a little too drunk, and it didn't end well for anyone.

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

It really sucks that it happened; I feel for his family. Not his friends - they let it happen.

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I deal with enough true victims, so I don't have much sympathy for someone that brings about their own demise, especially while acting out as a drunken asshole in his dying moment.

I'm sure his parents feel terrible, but why the hell did they let their 17 yr old go down to Florida for a shit-faced party time? As far as thinking he deserved to die - no, but to steal a quote, "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."

Holy prude alert batman

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

Not agreeing with sending an unsupervised minor off on a drunken spring break trip is being a prude?

First of all, how do YOU know he was unsupervised? Were YOU there!?!?!?!

By the way, direct quote from the fox sports story

"James was part of a group of about 40 St. Xavier students and a half-dozen parents on the trip."

And yes, calling you a prude is fitting. There is this thing called life, its pretty sweet. You should get out and live it sometime. Take it easy and give the KID a break. He lost his life at a young age and his parents will no longer have a son. Maybe you should show some compassion regardless of the circumstances? Have you never made a bad choice? Have no never drank? Have you never mad a bad choice while drinking?

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

Never done any underage drinking, 1980?

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mechaphil

EXACTLY!!! I hate to quote the Bible but "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone"

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

Yeah, I did some underage drinking, but that never affected whether I did stupid things or acted like an asshole. As far as supervision 1) so f-ing what, because the parents should know damn well that there would be drinking 2) he either wasn't being supervised at the time, or the supervision was completely useless.

HelloMKGs, I live a pretty good life, including some drunken moments. Being drunk never made me an act like a jerk though, and it wouldn't be an excuse anyway. People like to blame a whole lot of bad shit they do on being drunk, and I don't buy it one f-ing bit. How about if this kid landed on somebody (a child maybe) and killed them too. Oh no, it was "just a kid making a mistake" and that's why someone else is dead too (right?). This is exactly like the thousands of drunk kids that get into deadly car wrecks. They think life is a big f-ing party and that they can do whatever the hell they like, and then when they kill themselves or somebody else there's a big f-ing pity party. At least this kid's stupid mistake didn't kill anyone else, the way so many deadly DWI accidents end up.

I don't expect most people to have the same perspective I do on personal conduct, and how it can dramatically affect others. Most other people haven't done CPR on dying bodies, pulled burning or bleeding kids out of the road, or sat with dead bodies for hours at the hospital trying to figure out why the other asshole caused a death.

I do expect people to see the difference between right and wrong even if they don't foresee the consequences. Sometimes when people do the wrong thing, bad things happen to them. I'm not celebrating his death, but how I or anyone else feels about it makes no difference anyway. However, I won't cry for anybody that dies while acting recklessly and in a way that could hurt somebody else. Incidents like this cause people to mourn and celebrate the kid's life without being critical enough of the actions that led to death. People feel bad for a while and then go right back to doing the same damn stupid things, but maybe next time the stupid kid kills somebody else. That's unacceptable, and other people should think so too.

One more thing - you say I should show compassion for this kid. I show compassion for people about every damn day while we're all alive, so I don't have to show compassion at their funeral because I caused their death. Maybe this kid should've had the same mindset.

Wow. A kid dies and people feel it's right open their righteous mouths and say something cold and mighty. Bravo. By definition a kid makes dumb choices. By definition alcohol helps you make bad choices. So kids who drink alcohol (I know...shocking!) could make unwise choices and maybe act like a jerk? Why you don't say? So I guess that since I read an article about him getting drunk and being rude to someone it means I have the context required to characterize his entire personality and well enough to say he deserved to die.

In a perfect world teens would be very wise and listen to their parents, respect all life, clean their rooms without being told and never have a lapse in judgment. In this world however it is the times of youth that we find ourselves making mistakes and thus learning from them. Unfortunately for this kid he didn't even get the chance to wake up the next morning with his conscience. Unless you have NEVER made a mistake you should keep your mouth shut. If you ARE rare enough to be completely perfect then continue being so and keep your mouth shut.

*Edited for spelling dumb.*

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Oh....and for some context on me, I'm was a certified Substance Abuse Tech and worked in inpatient SARC units for the military and VA. I have held dead bodies, I have seen lives torn apart from drinking and drugs, I have helped heal those lives and I have watched booze consume people in hundreds of ways. I think you should be held to personal responsibility more than anything. That being said I am human and have made oodles of mistakes and understand that people, especially young ones will make even more mistakes. It's what they do. That's just life and how you grow up.

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I would love nothing more than to tear apart this "argument" and/or "rebuttal" to tiny little shreds............. but you've already made it plainly obvious that fact and common sense play no part in your comprehension of this discussion so for the better of all on this forum, I'm just gonna laugh to myself and let it go.

P.S.....Your horse is gettin pretty high. You might wanna jump off before it's too late

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

"So I guess that since I read an article about him getting drunk and being rude to someone it means I have the context required to characterize his entire personality and well enough to say he deserved to die."

I've done neither. I didn't say he deserved to die, I say that if you do reckless things, there is a good chance that you'll die from it, and we shouldn't be surprised or shocked by it. One (or two, three...?) incidents of reckless behavior doesn't define anybody's character, but the "true" character of someone doesn't mean a whole lot if their reckless behavior causes a death. Has it ever been enough consolation for the family of the deceased to hear that the person that caused it was "a good kid"?

HelloMKGs, what's to tear apart in my last post anyway. Are you so much against the concept of personal responsibility? Disagree all you want with my level of compassion for people that die while acting recklessly, but otherwise there's nothing to argue with. I worked as the police officer on school campuses for four years (usually called school resource officer). I had hundreds of discussions with kids, taught classes, made speeches to entire grades and schools, organized presentations with fire, EMS, and traffic officers around homecoming and prom. All these efforts about personal conduct and the dangers of alcohol were out of concern and compassion for their safety. I didn't have to do any of it, but I cared (or else I wouldn't have transferred to the schools in the first place).

I gave them the message with the same cold, hard reality that governs the scene of a fatality. Kids are used to parents and others that try to hold their hands and tell them how precious they are and that no matter what they do they will have support and love. That's great, but it ignores that some mistakes have a final and permanent consequence that can scar a survivor for life, and leave the deceased's loved ones empty forever. I tried to open their eyes, not with overly dramatic shock value, but with a reality that they just wouldn't comprehend otherwise until it's too late. I told them that despite all the love and support they might have, when someone dies it's ugly, sad, and useless, and all the good words at a beautiful funeral won't change the despair that lingers. Good words and deep compassion never brought anyone back from the dead. Call that message high and mighty - I don't care. It's true and some people need to know it before they kill someone else with their stupidity.

Sad and not really his fault, but seriously don't get so hammered and go outside it never ends well.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

If karma were involved, he would have been a murderer, not a random drunk jock.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

Yowza. There is first a big difference between not having sympathy for someone who died while making a bad choice and another for pointing it out and then using it as a way to show that unlike him, you are a swell, law abiding super hero who's turds gleam with the sweat nectar of awesomeness. Glad you think of yourself with such high regard because by what you're typing I would have assumed you were an arrogant douche bag.

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Jesus, I bet if the Sabres hadn't shit the bed twice in a row against inferior teams the tone of this thread wouldn't be so angry.

Fuckit, I have zero sympathy for this kid. I feel for his family n shit, but...it's not like any of this is 'unjustified' in any way. We're responsible for our own actions in this life, kid drank, kid leaned over a railing too far, kid died. Kid (presumably) did not get to pass on his genes. Overall gene-pool IQ increases infinitesimally, life goes on.

Oh come on DF, where have I tried to spout off about myself? I only brought up some personal stuff because of my "compassion" being questioned, but none of that was typed or intended in a way to trump myself up. Why would I want or need to compare myself favorably over this kid anyway...that's just ridiculous. If that's what you're getting out of it, you're just choosing to be adversarial.

I just think that it's much more important to act right, show people respect and "compassion" while they're alive. Once they're dead, it really doesn't matter how you feel about people. They are gone, you can't say nice things to them anymore, or do them great favors. If you don't do those things, sometimes the level of acting wrong, disrespect or lack of compassion can be deadly, and some (some) people don't realize that enough. That's not a commentary that has anything to do with me, it's about how people should live while they still have the chance to be good people and do good things.

ok, enough lurking once in a while, i decided to post on this subject, as it has no bearing on superstition.

the kid did something dumb, and paid the ultimate price for it. i used the word "kid" because thats what he is... well, was. what do kids do? stupid things. and you know how kids prepare for the future? by learning from previous mistakes.

life is just a series of trial and error. im sorry, but 1980, your statements are out of line, and your lack of bend for circumstances make me hope you dont have any kids anytime soon, because the environment they would grow up in seems like it would be more like hitlers europe circa 1943.

cheese n rice, give it a rest, and have a step down from your pedestal, join the rest of us in 2010. feel compassion and empathy, even if the circumstances surrounding the death are murky. give the kid, and others who make dumb choices and learn from them, a little slack.

you wanna walk the straight line, go for it. but your way of life isnt for everyone, so why not try and take a different view on the stance.







but i really do hate notre dame.

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