Pete Golding arrested for DUI (link)

[Padreruf]

I think it is well known that I'm not a fan of Golding but I haven't called for his firing either. There is a problem, it needs to be resolved. What the best resolution for that is, I can not say. The positive side is that once you know there is a problem, it does give you a chance to deal with it.

As to the issue at the heart of this though. Unless there's some freak occurrence, a middle aged man just doesn't have any excuse for drunk driving. We all know not to, we all know how to avoid it, it's not something you do accidentally. It's willful negligence. Golding makes enough to have a full time driver if he wanted, we can't point the finger at society or blame the police here. If he drank and he drove, which all the evidence points to, he's solely to blame for that.

We have reached a point as a society where sometimes we try to rationalize and justify inexcusable actions. The only time that really is justified is when you don't have a choice in those actions. If you do something that is an act of will, then you own that choice.

Bad choices often become a pattern...especially one's like this one...

 

[PaulD]

I ain't gonna hang a man for 1 mistake..ain't gonna do it. He coulda been mere minutes from his house and blew a .08. Legally impaired...you bet ya. Could he have been functioning perfectly fine..you bet ya. Not everyone is the same at .08 or .16. My old man was stopped for a dui the last week he was in the army (a long time ago). When at the station and breathalizer was done on him, he blew a .26. MP looked at him and said "Sgt Parker, you're not supposed to be conscious, much less carrying on a conversation". Everyone is affected differently. Not condoning nor am i bashing. I know my old man functioned driving, working, doing every day life the last 5 years of his life and prolly would have blown a .15 any given minute of any given day. Did it scare the hell outta me knowing he was driving, you bet it did. Bout like knowing 80 something year old meemaws and papaws out there behind the wheel with less faculties about them. I'm thankful my old man never caused an accident or hurt anyone. I'm thankful that cPG didn't cause an accident or hurt anyone. I'm gonna let his personal life be and live with whatever his employer thinks is the best punishment for his transgressions.

The Alabama DUI statute (32-5A-191) no longer requires impairment. It simply says that "A person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle while there is 0.08 percent or more by weight of alcohol in his or her blood". You can get caught for a lesser amount with proof of impairment and for a person under 21, the amount is .02

 

[BamaBuc]

I'm gonna blame the system here. We advertise alcohol on every medium, we party with alcohol, we sell alcohol with dinner, we sell alcohol at sporting events, we sell alcohol at clubs, we give alcohol for presents, we have alcohol at celebrations, we drink alcohol at weddings, and even churches serve alcohol in some occasions, etc.

It's just no surprise that we have DUIs, because our society is 100% set up to create the situation. It's just like car accidents at intersections. Those aren't really accidents, they are collisions just waiting to happen.

Now he could have made better choices, but let's not kid ourselves that too many of us have and continue to make the same dumb mistake he did. I'm not excusing his behavior, as he's a leader and should know better, but we as a society clearly don't really walk the talk, nor will we ever until cars are fully autonomous.

And that's most definitely when I turn in my keys and maybe even my car and truck!!!

 

[BamaBuc]

Great comment! We can’t throw a human in the trash after one mistake. My gosh I would be a gutter rat.

Think, WHAT if he had an accident similar to Ruggs and someone had gotten maimed or killed, granted he wasn't going 100+ mph but the possibility is still there!

Don't know what the punishment will/should be outside of whatever legal penalties there might be, which would probably be not much more than a slap on the wrist, (if he's a first time offender)!

But like others have stated more or less 'I wouldn't want to be Saban'.
True he has brought in other problem coaches to the staff, but as far as I know he has never had a major problem with a coach that has been on the staff for this long a period of time...

 

[BamaBuc]

I hope this is not indicative of a larger problem in his life. If so, I hope he gets help for it.

It is...

If that be true "it is", then he most definitely needs some kind of help!
Alabama doesn't need an assistant coach Zach Smith episode that OSU had..

 

[NationalTitles18]

There is the message to not drink and drive, but it's a tiny, tiny portion of the message compared to the tsunami of party and drink messages out there. Again, I'm not absolving CPG for his actions, I'm just saying we've been set up to fail by our drinking culture.

Are you going to sit there with a straight face and blame this on the culture?

He is a grown man. I'm pretty sure he knows not to drive a car while drunk. If not, he doesn't need a flippin' license.

 

[bat123]

I think the biggest problem I have other than the fact of what he did was illegal and extremely dangerous, is that I am pretty sure he could have afforded an Uber or a taxi... Come on Pete

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I'm gonna blame the system here. We advertise alcohol on every medium, we party with alcohol, we sell alcohol with dinner, we sell alcohol at sporting events, we sell alcohol at clubs, we give alcohol for presents, we have alcohol at celebrations, we drink alcohol at weddings, and even churches serve alcohol in some occasions, etc.

Yes and for years even some of the beer companies have had "Please Drink Responsibly" and "We Don't Want Your Business Until You're Old Enough" that they have explicitly advertised. The "don't drink and drive" campaign was in full gear before I even had a driver's license.

This, to me, sounds eerily similar to blaming the gun when some guy shoots up a school or workplace. And yet in virtually none of those cases do you hear that a guy basically went down to his local pawn shop, bought a gun and ammo and drove to the place he did the shooting. Usually it's someone who has owned gun(s) for years.

It's just no surprise that we have DUIs, because our society is 100% set up to create the situation. It's just like car accidents at intersections. Those aren't really accidents, they are collisions just waiting to happen.

Maybe we should just ban alcohol and cars, might that solve the problem????

Now he could have made better choices,

The most important line in your post.

but let's not kid ourselves that too many of us have and continue to make the same dumb mistake he did.

Nah, we didn't get caught.
On a more serious note, most of us don't make his salary or have his level of being able to make sure this doesn't happen, either, but most of us don't do what he did.

I'm not excusing his behavior, as he's a leader and should know better, but we as a society clearly don't really walk the talk, nor will we ever until cars are fully autonomous.

Autonomous cars and Teddy Kennedy have killed more passengers than Golding did.

 

[CajunCrimson]

Cleaning a weapon without the safety on is stupid. Cleaning it without the safety on and it accidentally kills someone is a crime and likely extended jail time.

At this point, he’s stupid, and will hopefully learn. And be thankful he didn’t accidentally kill someone.

 

[AlexanderFan]

Yes and for years even some of the beer companies have had "Please Drink Responsibly" and "We Don't Want Your Business Until You're Old Enough" that they have explicitly advertised. The "don't drink and drive" campaign was in full gear before I even had a driver's license.

This, to me, sounds eerily similar to blaming the gun when some guy shoots up a school or workplace. And yet in virtually none of those cases do you hear that a guy basically went down to his local pawn shop, bought a gun and ammo and drove to the place he did the shooting. Usually it's someone who has owned gun(s) for years.




Maybe we should just ban alcohol and cars, might that solve the problem????




The most important line in your post.



Nah, we didn't get caught.
On a more serious note, most of us don't make his salary or have his level of being able to make sure this doesn't happen, either, but most of us don't do what he did.



Autonomous cars and Teddy Kennedy have killed more passengers than Golding did.

Some folks just want parents for their entire lives, someone to tell them what to do every waking moment. Or something to blame for mistakes.


Golding has a brain, one smart enough to impress Saban with his understanding of the complexities of defensive football. That in and of itself is impressive. He’s smart enough to know to do better than what he did.

You bring in guest speakers to tell your kids how alcohol ruined their lives and how hard they are trying to regain their lives. You don’t have those speakers coaching them on defense, especially if there’s evidence that his drinking issues are the underlying cause of the bipolar performances of our defense.

The longer I’ve thought about this the more angry I get. Fix the issues that make you want to drink yourself stupid. Friends do it? Get new friends. Wife make you miserable? Leave her. Geeze, don’t jeopardize the people around you with your stupidity and irresponsible nonsense.

 

[mdb-tpet]

Yes and for years even some of the beer companies have had "Please Drink Responsibly" and "We Don't Want Your Business Until You're Old Enough" that they have explicitly advertised. The "don't drink and drive" campaign was in full gear before I even had a driver's license.

This, to me, sounds eerily similar to blaming the gun when some guy shoots up a school or workplace. And yet in virtually none of those cases do you hear that a guy basically went down to his local pawn shop, bought a gun and ammo and drove to the place he did the shooting. Usually it's someone who has owned gun(s) for years.




Maybe we should just ban alcohol and cars, might that solve the problem????




The most important line in your post.



Nah, we didn't get caught.
On a more serious note, most of us don't make his salary or have his level of being able to make sure this doesn't happen, either, but most of us don't do what he did.



Autonomous cars and Teddy Kennedy have killed more passengers than Golding did.

I'm clearly not totally blaming the system here, but it's like 100% blaming people for gaining weight when our food system is jam packed full of sugar and sugary products. All I'm doing here is reminding everyone we're all set up for potential failure here (even with 2% of alcohol advertising telling us not to drink and drive) with the culture we've accepted. All you need is an extra drink and a momentary lapse of judgement getting behind the wheel, and you set yourself up for this situation.

But to finish off this statement, yes, he CLEARLY made a bone headed move here, but one that sadly happens every day, in every city. Something that happens everyday and in every town or city is not really an accident.

And autonomous cars, as scary and under develped as they are, are a decent solution to eliminating drunk driving (another one is user verified breathalizers in the driver seat). I'm not exactly excited about that either. But too many peope take a cavalier attitude toward their driving responsibility, then you give these folks more than one drink with dinner....

 

[bamaslammer]

I'll bet Golding is glad the Barn blew up the media attention only a day after he gets his perp photo in the news.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

If that be true "it is", then he most definitely needs some kind of help!
Alabama doesn't need an assistant coach Zach Smith episode that OSU had..

Looks like Pete will forgo a raise, and may become a active member of AA, OR ELSE.
Or he may lose the DC title and just be an assistant of some kind.