Josh Hancock: A Fitting Tribute
| 12
|
by user Aok2102
Josh Hancock's death was not a tragedy. That's not to say that it wasn't a sad day for his family, friends, and fans; it's just that the death of a completely unsympathetic character does not resemble a tragedy in any conventional sense of the word. Remember reading the Shakespearean tragedy in which the protagonist put back a few pints, went into battle with no armor, then ran directly into a blade because he was too blitzed to see straight? Me neither. Hancock is not worthy of our sympathy, and his story is only worthy of our time at this point if we are to hold him up as a negative example of what happens when a somewhat talented kid (a kid mentally, if not physically) is allowed to get out of control.
If you want to find a tragedy anywhere in the Hancock story, look no further than the lawsuit filed yesterday by Dean Hancock, the father of the deceased St. Louis Cardinals pitcher. The elder Hancock seemingly just filed suit against absolutely everyone at all involved with Josh on the night of his death. The owner of the restaurant where Josh got sloshed is named in the lawsuit, the manager of the restaurant is named in the suit, the owner of the tow truck that Josh hit is named in the suit, and even the driver of the vehicle being towed gets a legal shoutout. Are you kidding me? Dean Hancock wants everyone to give him money because his son never learned when to say no to a drink or his keys? Anything but an embarassing defeat in this suit would be a tragedy, and really, it's tragic that such suits are even allowed in our legal system.
I'm not saying that the restaurant shouldn't be held responsible for serving drinks to someone who was obviously already intoxicated. In fact, I'll go ahead and say that the restaurant should be fined heavily, if not shut down. But why in the world should Dean Hancock receive any money from anyone? The state should take action against the restaurant, but Dean Hancock should in no way be able to profit from his son's idiocy. This is nothing more than wasteful litigation filed by a father who can't accept that his son was responsible for his own death. At least wasteful litigation makes a fitting tribute to a wasted life.
