As the largest online directory of bars, pubs, taverns and breweries in the United States, I believe it is important that we are promoting the industry in the most positive light.  American Bars was not created to pay homage to drunkenness and the embarrassing, and sometimes violent consequences.  At the end of the night, we want everyone to get home safely to enjoy another day.  According to the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, 17.6 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse or dependency.  This does not include those who binge drink. That is why the recent firing of USC football coach, Steve Sarkisian bothers me.  I am not saying that he should have been allowed to continue to coach, but why was he allowed to continue for as long as he had when there was a previous pattern of alcohol abuse.

“Winning cures everything.”  In the sports world, you can be a bad person, commit horrible acts of violence, have issues with substance abuse and you will be welcomed back with open arms if the powers that be believe that you will provide enough of an X Factor to make a difference in the outcome of a game. Even if you don’t follow sports, you probably are familiar with some of these athletes and coaches.  However this only applies if you win.

I have chosen the following examples:

Steve Sarkisian – Former Head Football Coach at USC.  Terminated after second alcohol related incident.

Greg Hardy – Current Defensive End for the Dallas Cowboys.  Signed by Dallas Cowboys while being suspended by the NFL for domestic violence. 

Dana Holgorsen – Current Head Football Coach at West Virginia University.  Signed by university as coach in waiting even after six alcohol related incidents. 

Example one is former USC head football coach, Steve Sarkisian.  Sarkisian was fired as the head coach after his second incident of being intoxicated at a USC event.   Sarkisian’s problems with alcohol became public when he appeared at a USC function known as the, Salute to Troy.   During his speech, Sarkisian was slurring his words, dropping expletives and having trouble with balance.  In the coming days, athletic director, Pat Haden, admonished Sarkisian for his behavior but did not suspend or fire him.  Sarkisian said that he was seeking treatment but did not think he had a problem with alcohol. 

Here is the problem that I have with this.  From what is now known, Sarkisian’s drinking was common knowledge when he was the coach at Washington.  There have been multiple accounts by former players and staff providing instances of Sarkisian being drunk at a bar and showing up to practice smelling like booze.  According to Haden, they believed that they had thoroughly vetted Sarkisian as a candidate and knew nothing about this.  Ok, maybe I believe this. 

However, when you have a coach that shows up to a function drunk, and goes on a slurring, profanity laced tirade, that should be a pretty strong signal that your coach might have a real problem.  I especially love the part where he tells Sarkisian that he has a zero tolerance policy going forward.  We all know that will not stop someone with a drinking problem. 

Why did Haden allow Sarkisian to continue coaching?  I believe it is because he thought Sarkisian would win a lot of football games for USC.  Sarkisian was a controversial hire from the start.  Many in Trojan land questions the hiring of the coach known as “Seven Win Sark.”   It looked like it was going to be a great season for the Trojans.  They were off probation, Sarkisian had recruited a ton of talent and they had a lot of key pieces to what was supposed to be a good team.   However, after five games, the Trojans were 3-2 and the Trojans faithful were not happy.  When he showed up to the facility on Sunday, October 11th intoxicated, he was sent home.  Haden later contacted him and informed him that he would be taking an extended leave of absence.  On Monday, he announced that Sarkisian had been terminated.  Sarkisian found out that he had been fired from emails and texts from friends.  Haden couldn’t even wait to tell him in person. 

Example two is Greg Hardy, a defensive end with the Dallas Cowboys.  In 2014 while a member of the Charlotte Panthers, Hardy was arrested on domestic violence charges.  He was convicted but when Hardy requested a jury trial, the victim did not show up.  The prosecutors decided to drop the charges when the victim refused to cooperate after reaching a settlement with Hardy.  Hardy was later suspended 10 games by the NFL commissioner, but was later reduced to five games.  The Dallas Cowboys decided to sign Hardy in the off-season, even though they knew he would be suspended. 

This created a great deal of controversy, especially since Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner, had previously expressed outrage over the incident with former Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice, regarding a domestic violence incident caught on video.  The difference is that Rice’s skills as a running back had diminished so Jerry didn’t have any use for him.  Hardy was a different story.

In Matt Vererame’s, March 19, 2015 article on SB Nation, he provides Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ rationale for signing the controversial player. 

"This agreement involved an important element of our defensive scheme, specifically the pass rush, at a position that we felt we needed to address this off season," Jones said in a statement issued with the announcement that defensive end Greg Hardy has signed a contract.

"We entered this free agency period with the idea of utilizing key resources to help us on the defensive side of the ball. . . .

"We have spent a great deal of time over the last two days in meeting with Greg directly and gaining a solid understanding of what he is all about as a person and as a football player. A thorough background review of him, involving many elements of our organization, has been ongoing for the last few weeks.

"Obviously a great deal of our study was dedicated to the issue of domestic violence, and the recent events that associated Greg with that issue. We know that Greg's status remains under review by the National Football League.

"Our organization understands the very serious nature of domestic violence in our society and in our league.  We know that Greg has a firm understanding of those issues as well."

Here is what was really being said:

While we know that Greg Hardy has been accused of some really horrible stuff, he is a really, really good pass rusher and we believe that if he is on our team, we have a much better chance of winning. 

While we understand that domestic violence is bad and should not be tolerated, we really need a good outside pass rusher.  We know we are going to take a ton of crap from people for signing him, but if we win enough games it will all be worth it.  Hopefully he won’t get in any trouble while he is a member of our team.

Hardy is a Cowboy because he is really good at what he does.  When he no longer has any value as a player, the justifications will stop. 

The final example is Dana Holgorsen, the current head football coach at West Virginia, who made headlines back in 2011 when he was kicked out of a casino for being intoxicated.  As the story gained traction, more information was found.  In an article written by Graham Watson on May 30, 2011 for Yahoo Sports, it was the sixth alleged incident in which Holgorsen was asked to leave an establishment for being intoxicated.  “The guy wasn’t even officially the head coach yet and he is exhibiting behavior that would suggest a problem.”

However, in this instance, West Virginia Athletic Director, Oliver Luck, had picked Holgorsen to be his coach in waiting for Bill Stewart, who was coach at the time. Holgorsen issued an apology stating,  "As a football coach, I am always in the public eye and I have to hold myself to a higher standard.”  Holgorsen had not coached a single game as the WV head coach, but Luck believed that he was the coach that could take the program to the next level.  After a first season with 10 wins, his record to date has been 21-22.

For Holgorsen, his reputation as a partier is legendary.  As recently as May of 2015, there was a YouTube video, which surfaced and was later taken down.  Here is the post on the website Scout.com.

For a brief time earlier this week, a short YouTube video surfaced online (since deleted), apparently shot at Dana Holgorsen’s house. In it, the WVU football coach is holding what appears to be a bottle in a Crown Royal bag and a plastic cup. He smiles and points at the camera, doing what people are wont to do, which is have a good time.

There’s nothing wrong with any of that, of course, even the fact that Holgorsen is wearing WVU gear. Party on, dude.

Unfortunately, since almost the minute Holgorsen arrived at West Virginia 4?1/2 years ago he’s been tagged with a reputation as a partier and a drinker. His incident at a casino just before he was elevated from coach-in-waiting to head coach four years ago has never been forgotten by a whole bunch of folks, even those staunchly in his corner. Despite that, he’s made a fortune in raises and become the face of the program.

Shoot, I’d be partying, too, if I were him.

You just might want to do everything possible to avoid anything that even hints of public celebration, even if it’s a cell phone video taken in your own home. Maybe if your football team wins 10 or 11 games you can get away with that. But when you’re in a fight just to keep your job, well, that’s not going to win friends and influence people.

At least not the way you want to influence them.  

The only mention of why it might be a bad idea is that he hasn’t won enough games.

I want to end by making it perfectly clear that I am not saying people shouldn’t be given second chances.  However, I am suspect to why those second chances are being given. 

If your coach shows up at a university function drunk and embarrasses himself and the university, he has a drinking problem and needs to get treatment - not some half ass out patient lame excuse so he can keep coaching until he hits rock bottom, then fire him for doing what you probably knew he was going to do anyway.

If you hire a football player who buys his way out of a domestic violence conviction, save me the ridiculous rhetoric of how you’ve spoken with him and he understands the situation, and he promises he is not going to beat up women anymore.  You needed a pass rusher and were willing to overlook a horrible situation in the interest of winning.

If you hire a coach in waiting, and before he even becomes head coach, he has at least six incidences of being thrown out of bars for being hammered, you might want to wait until he deals with his issues before becoming head coach.  

I get that it is a business and that winning means, happy fans, more money and better facilities.   Did I mention more money?  I realize that in many cases job security is predicated on wins and losses.  I just wish they would be honest.  Stop telling me that you have spoken to them and they understand the gravity of the situation because they don’t, especially when they are allowed to get away

“Winning Doesn’t Cure Everything.”