Here's what I've gathered. A handful of Purdue basketball players were out last night at the bars. I've seen no photos or heard no evidence that any of them were underage. At least two of the players were questioned and handcuffed in front of one of the bars...and Byrd was arrested and held until this morning.
Byrd has not gotten into trouble with the law before...and and I can't find a count of the incident in which Byrd was disorderly.
Full disclosure: I'm a square. I didn't drink before I was 21...and I still don't understand how it's illegal to be in public following drinking alcohol if you're 21 or older. According to a bunch of accounts on Twitter and on message boards, police around campus are well-known for taking someone into custody because of the smell of alcohol on their breath and "suspicion of intoxication". That's garbage...athlete or not.
I don't know if Byrd was fighting someone, mouthy or causing problems...but if he wasn't, I hope Painter's punishment is light. If he was putting himself or other people in danger with dumb behavior, his punishment should show that. At the end of the day, Painter will know much more about what happened than I will.
Please understand I'm not one of these people that believes boys will be boys and everyone does whatever so it's OK...But if it's true that someone can be taken in by overly-aggressive police after they've had a few drinks, it seems bars should be made illegal or prohibition should return...and that's asinine. I'd love to think Purdue athletes are pretty good people...I like it when I can encourage my kids to cheer for them and they're likable players and people off the field of play. I have a pal who works closely with the athletes and he's said time and again that Painter's boys are really good guys...and those that I've met have done nothing to change that idea in my mind. We'll see what comes of this, but until there are more details, I'm not passing judgement.
3 comments:
Police get called, someone gets arrested. You get them out of the donut shop and someone has to pay a price. I can't tell you how many times I was in Pete's back in the day where there were multiple hoops players drunk off their ass (John Brugos being the chief culprit). This is such a non story it's ridiculous. College kids get drunk. Get over it.
As risk manager for my fraternity, I have worked on a professional level with the Purdue police, and honestly, they are very understanding of drinking on campus by the students. If someone is terribly drunk but are accompanied by friends that can take care of them, the police will almost always just check in and make sure everyone is ok. If they are going to take action, they usually just write a ticket. Arresting someone for for PI is the last resort for them and they only want make an arrest when they are causing problems for themselves or others. All this said, I believe the West Lafayette police responded to this call (at least that's who I saw when I came back from the cactus last night), and I don't think they are quite as understanding as the Purdue Police.
I hope DJ comes out looking good. I met him at Harry's once sitting over by the popcorn machine and he was nice enough to fill a bag up for me. He seems like a good guy, and I'd hate for him to be mixed up in something bad.
Not to throw blame around or rumors, but having been across the street from the bar when he was arrested and having multiple friends in the bar, apparently Kelsey Barlow became involved in an altercation with a few people. Byrd stepped in to diffuse the situation. Barlow was supposedly dragged out of the bar by the bouncers. Unfortunately it appears as though Byrd is taking the fall. Hummel probably spent a half hour talking to the police and trying to get Byrd of the hook. It's a messy situation all around.
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