Too Drunk to Drive

I'm going to buck the trend here and post a flattering picture of Eddie Sutton. It always cracks me up how the media will find the worst possible picture of a person, and run it with a scandal story. Take Quin Snyder for example. Sorry, couldn't resist.

But anyway, pegging a .22 on the BAC is a pretty big deal. .08 is arguably a fairly low standard for some people. It's pretty much a fact that when people are experienced drinkers (or even alcoholics) they can function better at higher BAC levels than people who don't normally drink. That being said, .22 is pretty high. Add that to the fact that Coach Sutton was likely taking prescription pain medication for his medical problems and it gets a lot worse.

Pain killers almost always exaggerate the effects of alcohol, sometimes exponentially. There was no excuse for the man to be driving in that condition.

I like Eddie Sutton. I always have. He's definitely my favorite Big 12 coach outside of Bill Self. But what really sucks about this situation is that it couldn't have come at a worse time for him. A horrible season culminating in a DUI scandal is not the way that this coach's career should have ended.

The blame rightly falls at his feet, at least for the DUI. But I do think the way he apologized, took responsibility, and committed to treatment of his problems is a great example for people to follow. It's really tough to say you were wrong, apologize, and ask forgiveness for anyone, much less someone in the spotlight as much as Eddie Sutton.

You can respect someone for what they do to get to the good times in life, but you learn as much, if not more about them by how they handle the tough times in life. I wish him good luck.