I’m not saying I agree with Pat or anyone who is against you. I actually agree with your point, and feel that Albom was wrong to do what he did in this instance. His personal attacks on James were unwarranted. I am only hoping to illuminate the underlying hypocrisy of your article in case that is what is fueling your critics.

Being from Detroit I can tell you that he is pretty well loved in that town. I am not familiar with his whole body of work, but he wrote an article last year about the city of Detroit that was quite moving. Opinion drivel fluff, but still moving. He crossed too many lines with this piece on James, though. His point could have been made with lies, damn lies, and statistics, but he chose to focus on one case study instead.

Sure this stuff needs to be said, but it should be said and discussed constantly, without the need to wait until a high profile kid dies. The only reason Albom addressed it is because he knew it would up his click rate. And if you really don’t believe that’s the game most of these columnists (and bloggers) are playing, then you’re being naive.

I read the Albom piece. I felt he was sensitive to the situation. It needed to be said. Yes there are lots of articles about the downside to teenage drinking. However, it still goes on and in dangerous circumstances. Different articles are written in different ways to reach different audiences. If Albom’s article even changes one teen or their parent ( to make a decision to prevent their child ) from drinking and especially making stupid decisions regarding drinking, then the whole article will be well worth the the price of the print.

and im not attacking the authors of this site, either, because i love this site (as well as my fighting irish), but you guys are opinion writers too. I could easily say you are attacking the entire florida fan base for picking on their idiot coach. its opinion writing, someone somewhere will not like it.

james might have been the best kid in the world who made one mistake (a mistake that countless high schoolers make), but he was a high profile athlete headed to notre dame to play football. nobody wants to hear about the no-name kid who died because of drinking, it takes a big name to make a point these days. not saying its right or wrong, thats just the way it is

We’ve learned now from the comments that you basically deplore Albom’s tone and you think his advice is self explanatory. That’s fair. I think don’t think he’s a jerk, however, merely for writing a piece on the topic.