Monday, May 17, 2010

Cause and effect

First, review my old post, Philanthrophic Binge Drinking (I particularly recommend the banter in the comments).  Next, check out the reviews of the event in Oklahoma City last week.  Finally, check out the follow-up story, in which the reporter quotes my blog, but doesn’t include the link. 

I guess my concern that this business model could easily lead to some laws being violated weren’t entirely unfounded.  It’s a simple matter of cause and effect: if ten people drink twenty 60-ounce pitchers of beer in four hours, some of them are going to be drunk.  My favorite online BAC calculator is this one.

What a great way to support a charity.

10 comments:

ARRRRG!!!! said...

The drink wheel is a useful tool. Here's my favorite Pirate wheel.

Mary said...

In the follow up story's sidebar, it shows the gross receipts and then the adminstrative costs. What kind of "charity" spends 50% on administrative costs and gives only about 12% in contributions? What a joke. I'm glad they didn't get to have their "event" in Lincoln. Why not just encourage teams to directly contribute $40 to the American Cancer Society and skip the drinking? Ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Detox is full for all pub-crawlers.

Grundle King said...

This came off your Sept. 2007 post...

"The ACS recommends 2-3 drinks per day. So if you don't drink Sun-Thurs, then it's fine to have 18 drinks on Friday."

Holy crap. That has to be the most simultaneously hilarious and idiotic comment I've ever read. 18 drinks in one night? Let me run the math on that one...12 ounces/drink x 18 drinks = 216 ounces...otherwise known as 1.7 gallons! I'm not a small man (275 lbs), and if I drank that much over a period of 5 hours, I'd have a BAL of 0.184...over twice the legal limit. Even if I spread it out to 10 hours, I'm still at 0.12. I'd have to spread it our to 14 hours to stay under the legal limit...or 12 hours if I'm drinking light beer (which is more likely...got keep my girlish figure).

Oh, but hey...it's for cancer! Maybe they should organize a burger eating contest for heart disease.

Steve said...

After noon, and no comments yet? Maybe you've recycled this one too many times. :)

Pehaps you have gotten some comments and just haven't posted them yet.

As long as I'm here commenting, is the figure provided by your favorite BAC the same number used to determine legal BAC? (The fact that it is given as g/210 liters of breath and the accompanying descriptions makes me wonder.)

Anonymous said...

Chief-GREAT business model here. 1800 people@$40=$72000.

1800 tshirts@$5=$9000
Sent to charity=$10000

Profit=$53000

Sounds like something one of my kids thought up. Even more profitable than a high school kegger.

256

Anonymous said...

Chief,

If you review the BBB listing for this group and the finances disclosed, you will find that approximately 13% of their "charity's" earnings were donated.

http://www.bbb.org/kansas-city/business-reviews/fund-raiser-counselors/crawl-for-cancer-in-shawnee-ks-99140652

As a member of the military and a yearly contributor to charities in the Combined Federal Campaign, most of the charities in the Combined Federal Campaign have operating cost of less than 25%. So to put that in perspective the vast majority of those charities donate more 75% of the money earned through their charity work. And thus far the only ones that I have seen that promote drinking are trying to find ways to provide safe drinking water!

http://www.opm.gov/cfc/03-lists/2003NationalList.doc

Anonymous said...

The on line calculator you linked tells me that a 168 lb man who drinks three pints in one hour will have .068 BAC.
When I match those specs I'm definitely drunk.
Any comment about sub .08 impairment?

Anonymous said...

Sure, a person who doesn't drink regularly can be close to having their head in the toilet at a BAC that many professional transients could have and still be walking /talking.

Grundle King said...

Anon 7:24, I believe that, even if you're not legally intoxicated, you can be cited for driving while impaired. I would imagine this would only happen if you were driving poorly, and maybe failed the field sobriety tests.

Indeed, I would like to hear the Chief's take.