I'm a heavy drinker - simple as that. I honestly don't get how "don't drink" is an option in a lot of social situations that literally revolve around drinking. It's a character flaw.
I most certainly respect your opinion, as well as your honesty. I reacted to the statement above, though.
I am from Denmark in Europe. I don’t know the newest statistics but in the near past Denmark was among the top of countries in the World with most drinking in society. In other words, most social situations revolve around drinking. About five or six years ago I made the choice not to drink alcohol anymore. It wasn’t something religious or anything that led to the decision. I just didn’t want to do it anymore. Now, I can’t say that it has not excluded me from some groups or social gatherings simple because I obviously don’t know, but I can say that I have never been told anything negative about it to my face, and I have never been in situations where I felt pressured to drink alcohol.
I don’t think you are right. I think you can be in most social environments without drinking alcohol. I also think it is very sad if kids got the impression that they had to drink to sort of, for a lack of better words, be accepted in many social environments.
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When it comes to Steve Keim, I must say that I was stunned to read the news. My first reaction was that he would get fired, because Michael Bidwill has shown to have a very short leash in these situations. After thinking some more about it, I don’t think that anymore, but I do think he should and will be disciplined in some ways. In my opinion, there are two problems here. One is the drunk driving in itself. The other is his action in relations to his job. Multiple posters are right that we can’t and shouldn’t try to judge anything about the first matter, because we just don’t know the facts. The second part I think we can judge on, because I don’t think it makes any difference how drunk he was or how you feel about the action, as long as you think he should not have done it, which we can probably all agree on.
I will say, however, about the drunk driving part in itself that I feel very strongly about it. One of my best friends lost a girlfriend to a drunk driver, and to see him go through the sorrow made a very strong impression. I doubt people would be forgiving if Keim had actually killed someone. Yes, I know it might be taking my argument a bit too far, and since I am not American and don’t live in America I can’t relate fully to some of the elements to the situation. For example, some in this thread has stated that the police don’t always follow the laws when handing out DUI, and I can’t comment on that because I simply have no idea. That said, any driver can kill someone in an accident. If there is also too much alcohol in said drivers blood, whatever the limit might be, then that accident becomes even worse, at least to me. To me, driving drunk is inexcusable.
About the situation as it relates to Keim’s job, my personal opinion, without considering what I think will actually happen, is that he knew the law, and if he did indeed break it, then I think it says something about him in a very bad way. Maybe even in a way where Michael Bidwill, in my opinion, should consider Keim’s future with the team. No, I am not saying Keim should get fired. I am saying that his actions should at the very least make his employer think about it. He should think about it because Keim is the general manager of an NFL organization. He is a role model and sets examples for a lot of young people, both on the roster, in the community and places all around the country and really in the World. If he was in fact driving after having too much to drink, and if he keeps his job, then both Keim and Bidwill will have shown a lot of people, including youngsters, that driving drunk won’t cause more problems for you then maybe a night in jail, a fine, a short break from work and a public apology. For right or wrong, that is the signal it sends out. That is not what you want your organization to be associated with.
I don’t really understand the posters in this thread who says that this shows that anyone can make mistakes, and that it should almost benefit the organization because it proves that anyone is human. First of all, Keim is not anyone. He is held to much higher standards, in multiple ways, than most other people, and he is being paid as such. Second, what if he had killed someone? Is that “being humanly”? Third, what?! Him being late to a meeting would send that message. Him being caught smoking in the lounges at the stadium at game day would send that message. Driving drunk does not send that message at all! Among other things it sends the message that you should just drive your own car home after you had something to drink but are not sure if you have had too much, because nothing bad will happen since you think you can easily control your driving and most likely nobody will find out anyway.
I want to be perfectly clear that I am not judging Keim on the DUI since I simply don’t know the specifics in this case. I am, however, judging Keim in his position as general manager. To me, his actions were inexcusable if he did in fact drive after having too much to drink. I am not saying I won’t still be happy to have him as the general manager of my favorite team, but I would not be able to forget about this. It would always linger in the back of my head and put a shadow over whatever I think of him. Always.
Also, I should add that I don’t put much stock into those press releases. I think both Keim and Michael Bidwill knows all to well what I have wrote about, and definitely many other things, that almost forces them to say what they did in those statements. Even if Keim only had half a beer more than he was supposed to, then both of them still absolutely has to say things like “the seriousness of the situation”, “incredibly poor judgement” and “I will take the steps to ensure that I never put myself or the Cardinals in this type of situation again”. They have to show to everyone that what Keim did was extremely wrong, no matter if they think it actually was or to what extent he broke the law, so I wouldn’t read too much into it.
