USC AD Pat Haden sends drunk Sarkisian home, fires him

[PaulDrake]

And so it begins. The blowback from Sarkisian's drinking problems and subsequent "LOA" is decomits from top recruits. Man, how did USC turn into a dumpster fire within 6 hours. Amazing...

http://gamedayr.com/sports/college-...tar-linebacker-daelin-hayes-decommits-142037/

 

[NVGator]

He should be fired with cause. I wouldn't give him a cent for a buyout and force him to sue me if he wanted to fight it.

An "illness"....oh boy. If I showed up to work drunk I'd be fired, and so would anyone else.

Every job I've had, including one that doesn't even promote drug testing, within the first couple of days of being hired handed me an Employee Handbook. Then, they give an acknowledgment form to sign. In the book states policies about not working under any influence including alcohol or Rx drugs. It's black and white.

 

[NVGator]

You'd be ripe for a massive lawsuit I would think. They've obviously known he has a drinking problem and are just now deciding to do something about it. I'm sure Haden has consulted with their legal team before he took any action. Like I said, I don't necessarily agree with it but it's viewed as an illness and there are serious legal ramifications for terminating someone's employment because of an illness. I would think this is especially true in California...it's known as a nightmare for employers.

There's so much ignorance in this post, I don't even know where to start.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

Haden is screwed if this has been an ongoing issue with Sark and he knew about it.

 

[Zambo]

If I guy drinks too much and his liver or other internal organs stop working correctly, you would say he has liver disease. But if he drinks too much and his brain stops working correctly, then its just a choice? Sorry folks, the brain is an organ just like all the other organs in your body, and whether you like it or not sometimes it doesn't work right. Somehow folks believe that everything is a choice but it simply isn't. When you get addicted to some substance, especially a legal one like booze, its just that...an addiction. It removes the "choice" part from the decision. Depression, anxiety, and other disorders of the brain are real things, no different than a heart valve that doesn't work right. Sadly, its amazingly common and almost always simply dismissed as not being tough or disciplined enough. You can't just "will" yourself out of an addiction or depression any more than you can "will" yourself free of cancer.

 

[gardnerwebbgator]

The man has needed help for awhile, now maybe he can get some. Haden should be shown the door.

 

[oxking]

I'll drink to that!

Now that's cold. However, it is just an "indefinite leave of absence."

 

[oxrageous]

If I guy drinks too much and his liver or other internal organs stop working correctly, you would say he has liver disease. But if he drinks too much and his brain stops working correctly, then its just a choice? Sorry folks, the brain is an organ just like all the other organs in your body, and whether you like it or not sometimes it doesn't work right. Somehow folks believe that everything is a choice but it simply isn't. When you get addicted to some substance, especially a legal one like booze, its just that...an addiction. It removes the "choice" part from the decision. Depression, anxiety, and other disorders of the brain are real things, no different than a heart valve that doesn't work right. Sadly, its amazingly common and almost always simply dismissed as not being tough or disciplined enough. You can't just "will" yourself out of an addiction or depression any more than you can "will" yourself free of cancer.

Nobody said he didn't have an addiction - it's obvious he's an alcoholic. However, did he have a choice to start drinking heavily in the first place? The guy is responsible for young men - this behavior is completely unacceptable.

If I keep coming to work drunk, I'm fired and told to get help. I don't keep getting paid while I get help and they don't hold my job for me. Nor should they.

 

[MissouriGator]

If I guy drinks too much and his liver or other internal organs stop working correctly, you would say he has liver disease. But if he drinks too much and his brain stops working correctly, then its just a choice? Sorry folks, the brain is an organ just like all the other organs in your body, and whether you like it or not sometimes it doesn't work right. Somehow folks believe that everything is a choice but it simply isn't. When you get addicted to some substance, especially a legal one like booze, its just that...an addiction. It removes the "choice" part from the decision. Depression, anxiety, and other disorders of the brain are real things, no different than a heart valve that doesn't work right. Sadly, its amazingly common and almost always simply dismissed as not being tough or disciplined enough. You can't just "will" yourself out of an addiction or depression any more than you can "will" yourself free of cancer.

Thanks for posting what any educated person should already know. However, one can make the choice to get help.

 

[ItsDookie87]

Nobody said he didn't have an addiction - it's obvious he's an alcoholic. However, did he have a choice to start drinking heavily in the first place? The guy is responsible for young men - this behavior is completely unacceptable.

If I keep coming to work drunk, I'm fired and told to get help. I don't keep getting paid while I get help and they don't hold my job for me. Nor should they.

We keep hearing you slur your ​words on the podcasts and calling teams by their incorrect names. You are officially put on notice, don't make me put you on a LOA!

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

Nobody said he didn't have an addiction - it's obvious he's an alcoholic. However, did he have a choice to start drinking heavily in the first place? The guy is responsible for young men - this behavior is completely unacceptable.

If I keep coming to work drunk, I'm fired and told to get help. I don't keep getting paid while I get help and they don't hold my job for me. Nor should they.

I think the only thing that's keeping them from firing him is apparently Sark is going through a divorce right now, as well. In the interest of helping the guy and keeping him from catastrophically hurting himself, firing him in the middle of a divorce when he has a severe drinking problem might not be the best thing to do. If that's why they're only making him take a leave of absence, I can respect the fact that they're more interested in truly getting him help than destroying what's left of his life. I just hope Sark can fight his demons and get his sh*t together, it's sad to see someone hit rock bottom.

 

[The Original DC]

When you get addicted to some substance, especially a legal one like booze, its just that...an addiction. It removes the "choice" part from the decision. .

But isn't there a series of original choices to start the process of addiction? I don't smoke cigarettes or snort cocaine, but I could choose to at any time. Then if I liked it, I could choose to do it again, or even if I didn't like it, I could choose to do it again. And the more I choose to do it, the greater the chance of addition. Then somewhere down the line, I become a victim of cigarettes or cocaine, a person with a disease, as opposed to a person who chose to smoke cigarettes and addict myself to nicotine.

I'm not downplaying your comments on the hellish battle many experience with various addictions, but most people make a series of original choices to get themselves in to trouble with whatever their substance of choice. The big exception here is folks who get addicted to pain medication as a result of some sort of injury or condition. Obviously in that situation, there wasn't necessarily a choice.

 

[ergator920103]

Twitter lit up about an hour ago with rumors flying about USC coach Steve Sarkisian. Looks like he showed up to work on Sunday drunk and Haden sent him home. I wasn't aware he had a drinking problem. One source said he claimed to swear off the booze for the season to the press...looks like he didin't make it.

http://www.si.com/college-football/2...ohol-treatment

Was The Chump drunk during games when he coached UF?

 

[Zambo]

But isn't there a series of original choices to start the process of addiction? I don't smoke cigarettes or snort cocaine, but I could choose to at any time. Then if I liked it, I could choose to do it again, or even if I didn't like it, I could choose to do it again. And the more I choose to do it, the greater the chance of addition. Then somewhere down the line, I become a victim of cigarettes or cocaine, a person with a disease, as opposed to a person who chose to smoke cigarettes and addict myself to nicotine.

I'm not downplaying your comments on the hellish battle many experience with various addictions, but most people make a series of original choices to get themselves in to trouble with whatever their substance of choice. The big exception here is folks who get addicted to pain medication as a result of some sort of injury or condition. Obviously in that situation, there wasn't necessarily a choice.

The underlying mistake I think people make with this line of rationale is thinking that everybody's brain works the same way. It doesn't. Remember we are talking about a defect here. A booze addict might not make any different choices than you or I during the formative stages. I used to booze pretty hard in college on an almost daily basis and I didn't get addicted and neither do lots of people. But another person might have the exact same amount of drinks and respond differently. They probably don't realize they're addicted until the day comes when they shouldn't have a drink and can't help themselves, then its too late. Its not really much different than your pain med analogy....they are just going along and doing the same things that their friends are doing with booze and all of a sudden they can't stop. Of course, a person could swear off drinking before they ever start and they would never get addicted....which is pretty much the way most of us avoid getting addicted to drugs. But in our society, people drink. Some of those people are going to get addicted.

 

[The Original DC]

The underlying mistake I think people make with this line of rationale is thinking that everybody's brain works the same way. It doesn't. Remember we are talking about a defect here. A booze addict might not make any different choices than you or I during the formative stages. I used to booze pretty hard in college on an almost daily basis and I didn't get addicted and neither do lots of people. But another person might have the exact same amount of drinks and respond differently. They probably don't realize they're addicted until the day comes when they shouldn't have a drink and can't help themselves, then its too late. Its not really much different than your pain med analogy....they are just going along and doing the same things that their friends are doing with booze and all of a sudden they can't stop. Of course, a person could swear off drinking before they ever start and they would never get addicted....which is pretty much the way most of us avoid getting addicted to drugs. But in our society, people drink. Some of those people are going to get addicted.

Addiction is complicated for sure. I still think there are an entire series of choices people can make before they let themselves get as severe as a Steve Sarkisian.

 

[The Original DC]

And a few others have mentioned this already, but what more did Pat Haden need to see after this event where Sark was on the podium in front of an important audience, totally hammered. Why did he need further evidence? You don't take a guy back stage and lecture him or berate him after an episode like this, you demand and require he get immediate help to protect himself and the institution he represents.

 

[Zambo]

Well in the end I don't feel bad for someone who gets addicted to heroin, because certainly they made a stupid choice to put it into their body. I simply contrast that to drinking, which is socially acceptable....right up until you can't stop. I think a lot of us, if we were simply wired a little differently upstairs, have drunk enough booze that we would be addicted.

 

[LagoonGator68]

I like addition. And Johnny Walker Black, too.

 

[dubster1]

there are reports that USC assistant coaches believed Sarkisian was drunk DURING the Arizona State game on Sept. 26th.

 

[rogdochar]

A guy likes to shoot guns. He shoots himself in the foot = now he has a foot disease.??
Some activists have introduced a PC definition of disease.
It's typical for a hospital to not fire a nurse stealing drugs (cocaine used as a proficient coagulant) as an addict and
the hospital gives her a LOA and pays for her addiction treatment. I believe they do this to avoid law suits, litigation.