Viewpoint / Letters : Padres and Beer Ban: Up-to-Date Message for an Old Problem

Now, I understand the drug and alcohol problem in professional sports. The Padres ban beer in the locker room and Gossage, Flannery and other players fly into a tantrum, accusing management of treating them like children. The management of every major league club had better take a good look at the implications of this childish outburst by the Padre players as it reveals a lot about what has happened in their business.

There isn’t a business in town, that I know of, that provides free liquor and beer in their employees’ lounge. Can you imagine beer in insurance offices and police departments? If it were allowed, what message do you think management would be sending to its employees about the use of alcohol on the job and in their personal lives?

The management of professional sports now realizes that the use of drugs in the locker rooms has been almost as common as the alcohol it so freely serves to its professional athletes. In the best interest of the fans and professional sports, management had better change its message; Ballard Smith just sent a new message.

KEN WOODWARD

Cardiff