11/21/24
March 04, 2009
Player traded for Bats Found Dead: In what is a sad end to what to most of us was an amusing story, John C. Odom was found dead on November 5, 2008, from an overdose of drugs. Did the notoriety affect him, or was it only a part of his troubles?
I don't think it's fair to use the trade as a scapegoat for his problems. The guy had heroin, methamphetamine, the stimulant benzylpiperazine and alcohol in his system when he died. Being the subject of goofy and possibly humiliating news coverage does not make you do heroin and meth.
posted by rcade at 08:04 AM on March 05, 2009
No, I don't think blaming the trade entirely is the way to go either. But the coaches and GMs should know how to effectively deal with all the differing personalities on their teams. So, trading what seems to be a very unstable player for bats, could have contributed to his downfall in some way. Odom is the only person to blame for his drug use.
posted by BoKnows at 02:56 PM on March 05, 2009
Being the subject of goofy and possibly humiliating news coverage does not make you do heroin and meth.
And yet, I heard Dr. Drew has recently received numerous requests from DC United personnel for free detox.
I Kid!
posted by tselson at 11:28 PM on March 05, 2009
Sad to hear. I hope other GM's and owners realize that these players have hopes and dreams, and with that in mind, a trade of player for equipment may do more harm than good. While it was amusing at the time, and even Odom seemed to chuckle a little, I hope this kind of trade never happens again.
Connecting the trade to Odom's downward spiral may be hard and mostly speculation, but not completely unbelievable or possible.