Lessons from Castille’s arrest

N ick Saban addressed the Simeon Castille arrest Tuesday evening in much the same way Saban addresses every issue: He said it would be handled internally and fans must understand the difference between punishment and correction. Saban also took the time to address problems on the Strip.

Saban promised fans Castille would face some internal consequences for his actions, but hinted the All-SEC defensive back had already suffered much more than he deserved.

“Simeon will have some things to do internally…Of all the players on the team, He has been one of the finest citizens and best leaders…it was very unfortunate he was involved in this incident. He received a tremendous amount of punishment and embarrassment relative to what he did,” Saban said.

Obviously, Castille understood from the moment police confronted him he was in trouble. According to the police report (available online at myfoxal.com), he even cried at one point after being placed in a cell.

And what does the police report reveal about the night in question? What was the big crime? Apparently, it was cussing in the street.

I’m a conservative.I’m getting older. I don’t like the party atmosphere of the Strip, but after reading the police report only one thing comes to mind. Big Fucking Deal.

Yes, Castille should’ve been brought under control. Yes, he was acting like a moron. Yes, it was a disgrace to the University.

However, the man paid an absurdly high price for yelling curse words at someone. And to be honest, the condescending attitude of the police officer is laughable— where does he get off telling Castille he had a responsibility to live up to certain standards as a football player.

I didn’t know you could get arrested in Alabama for being an embarrassment to the University. If that is the case then why wasn’t Mike Dubose placed under the jail? And why wasn’t Mike Shula given a lethal injection? I’m not even going to talk about the amorous Mike Price.

If the Tuscaloosa Police Department wants to arrest people for embarrassing the program there are much better options than Simeon Castille.

The Strip

“Sometimes correcting somebody can be far more harsh to them than the punishment itself,” Saban said. That is a similar theme he hit on when responding to the earlier arrest of football players on the Strip.

Yes, the Strip. Apparently, even Saban himself thinks there are problems on the Strip based on this comment from his press conference:

“I tell my players all the time that there is nothing that I know good that happens after 12 o’clock at night. Obviously, there has been a lot of problems with college students and behavior on the strip. This is something that our players have to be above that. I feel badly for Simeon and his family, but I also think there are lessons to be learned from this and corrections that need to be made.”

Let’s hope one lesson is for players to stay off the Strip. Let’s hope the second is to get in bed before midnight.