Former Arkansas running back arrested in fatal DUI

[e_bowker]

Mark Pierce, who played fullback at Arkansas from 2001-03, arrested after a fatal DUI wreck in Texas. According to the Star-Telegram article, he was "arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid."
I wrote a long feature story on this guy a few years ago about how he was trying to turn his life around and latch on with an Arena League or CFL team. Seemed like a nice guy. It's a shame he apparently couldn't shake his demons.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1117705.html

 

[Notepad]

The guy:
- Was driving an SUV he stole from his mother.
- Drunk.
- Drinking while he was driving (empties were found in the vehicle).
- Ran from the car after the wreck.
- Had his college education paid for, but pissed it away, while so many in this country struggle to attend school or can't afford it at all.

Sorry, I don't see it as "a shame he apparently couldn't shake his demons" but I look at the guy as an asshole.
I don't feel bad, at all, for him. I feel bad for the 42 year old guy who was driving home, minding his own business and is now dead.

Forget calling it "demons" and call it what it is, an idiot feeling invincible who killed someone.

 

[e_bowker]

It's "a shame" on many levels -- that he's now pissed a once-promising life away; that he wasn't able to turn his life around even after getting married and having a child; and that the other guy had the tragic misfortune to find his way into Pierce's self-destructive path.
Just because I thought he was a nice guy when I last talked to him doesn't change my opinion that he'll deserve whatever punishment that he gets.

 

[Blitz]

How about a little of both.

It indeed is a shame to see "demons" cause problems in peoples' lives. :'(

Also, the guy had so much and pissed it all away.
True, he likely felt invincible and was likely coddled in grade school by everyone who told him not to worry about a thing.
Teachers, authority figures, etc.
He never got a good true discipline, maybe.

Whatever the case, he needs to pay for his transgressions if found guilty of what he's accused of.

 

[Football_Bat]

He's looking at up to 20 years for the intox manslaughter charge alone. In some states the same charge would be only a year.

 

[Ace]

Mark Pierce, who played fullback at Arkansas from 2001-03, arrested after a fatal DUI wreck in Texas. According to the Star-Telegram article, he was "arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid."
I wrote a long feature story on this guy a few years ago about how he was trying to turn his life around and latch on with an Arena League or CFL team. Seemed like a nice guy. It's a shame he apparently couldn't shake his demons.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1117705.html

I would imagine that the percentage of guys we write about who actually turn their lives around is in the single digits.

 

[e_bowker]

Mark Pierce, who played fullback at Arkansas from 2001-03, arrested after a fatal DUI wreck in Texas. According to the Star-Telegram article, he was "arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid."
I wrote a long feature story on this guy a few years ago about how he was trying to turn his life around and latch on with an Arena League or CFL team. Seemed like a nice guy. It's a shame he apparently couldn't shake his demons.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1117705.html

I would imagine that the percentage of guys we write about who actually turn their lives around is in the single digits.

Well, I did say trying.
My old editor, back when he was a writer here, did a story some years ago about a high school basketball player who had gotten into some trouble but seemed to be doing well. The story was about how he was given a second chance and was "trying to turn his life around."
Two weeks later he was arrested for burglarizing a computer lab at the school and trying to sell the computers to a teacher.
This business can suck the optimism about the human race out of you in a hurry.

 

[Ace]

Mark Pierce, who played fullback at Arkansas from 2001-03, arrested after a fatal DUI wreck in Texas. According to the Star-Telegram article, he was "arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid."
I wrote a long feature story on this guy a few years ago about how he was trying to turn his life around and latch on with an Arena League or CFL team. Seemed like a nice guy. It's a shame he apparently couldn't shake his demons.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1117705.html

I would imagine that the percentage of guys we write about who actually turn their lives around is in the single digits.

Well, I did say trying.
My old editor, back when he was a writer here, did a story some years ago about a high school basketball player who had gotten into some trouble but seemed to be doing well. The story was about how he was given a second chance and was "trying to turn his life around."
Two weeks later he was arrested for burglarizing a computer lab at the school and trying to sell the computers to a teacher.
This business can suck the optimism about the human race out of you in a hurry.

You got that right. I just pointed that out because it's easy for youngsters to go into those stories with wide-eyed optimism and it pays to be a bit skeptical.