No Fun League strikes again: father busted for son HOLDING his beer for him at AZ Cardinals game

Estil

The father honestly thought it was some kind of Candid Camera prank; but no they get ejected and cited for trespassing

There's an old joke about the last words of a redneck: "Hold my beer and watch this." While such beer-holding moments often lead to mayhem and the occasional grievous bodily injury, in many cases they're simply just matters of common courtesy ... until the cops get involved, that is.

Arizona Cardinals season-ticket holder John Coulter was at Saturday's game, and as one does, wanted to get a picture. Also as one does, he was holding a beer at the time. So he handed his beer to his 15-year-old son for temporary safekeeping. And shortly afterward, he received a visit from some undercover stadium police, who informed him that he had been serving alcohol to a minor and would be immediately escorted from the stadium and handed a citation for trespassing.

"I thought it was a candid camera joke, I really did,” Coulter told USA TODAY Sports. “We just watched the opening kickoff and I wanted to take a quick picture. I literally handed my son my cup and said hold my cup, I reached into my pocket, grabbed my cell phone, put it on camera mode and took a picture.”

"Providing alcohol to an underage person or an underage person in possession of alcohol is a Class 1 misdemeanor," Sgt. Wesley Kuhl of the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control told USA Today. "The consequences could be up to, and this is a maximum, of two years in jail, $2,500 fine and three years probation."

Certainly, underage drinking is a problem, and not just within NFL stadiums. But Coulter claims he was the victim of "abuse and overzealous pursuing of the situation." If that's true — and, remember, we're only getting one side of the story here — perhaps a little more discretion in the exercise of power might be advisable. Either that or we cut right to the chase and treat NFL stadiums like libraries. Shhhh!

As if the NFL's rule of women not being allowed to carry purses wasn't bad enough. Seriously, I thought the idea is to get people to buy more tickets to games, not give them more reasons not to go.

itzagoner

considering the team's recent performance, they should all be cited for impersonating professional football players.

LarkinCollector

This is utterly ridiculous, but not unexpected. If I remember correctly don't they have cup holders in the arm rests there (like a movie theater) or on the back or the row in front? It's been a couple years since I've been there and I could very well be confusing it with another stadium, but that would have avoided the whole situation.

itzagoner

yup, they got cup holders there. and you'd expect thoughtful, not spontaneous actions from someone who just got cooked on zocktails at a tailgate party?

LarkinCollector

<< <i>considering the team's recent performance, they should all be cited for impersonating professional football players. >>


I've been pretty down on them the past couple of years, but with an actual QB (and a Honey Badger) this year, am intrigued with the possibilities. There might be something useful besides Fitz (and the occasional Def matchup play) for fantasy purposes at least.

MilehighHOF

One of my dad's favorite storys to tell is about the first Broncos game he took me to when I was 3 years old back in 1977. When we got near the gate he handed me a bag with a 6-pack of beer in it and told me to carry it in. Apparently, the lady at the gate asked me what was in the bag and I told her it was my dad's beer. He said she just gave him "the look" and told us to have a good time. Oh, how times have changed.

bigdogparty

I thought the undercover police were the ones that threw them out, not the Cardinals. Either way, still sucks for the father/son

bcubs

I think this is completely over the top. Couldn't they just provide some type of warning such as "a minor cannot hold an alcoholic beverage in the stadium" or something to that effect? Just unbelievable but I guess they play no games in AZ.

sportscardtheory

Utterly ridiculous. One thing they seemingly do not teach police officers is common sense.

jeffcbay

Not sure about other states, but here in the state of Ohio a parent or legal guardian can purchase an alcoholic beverage for their child.

Ohio Revised Code 4301.631

(H) No underage person shall knowingly possess or consume any low-alcohol beverage in any public or private place, unless accompanied by a parent, spouse who is not an underage person, or legal guardian, or unless the low-alcohol beverage is given by a physician in the regular line of the physician's practice or given for established religious purposes.

jeffcbay

So even in Arizona the father was within his legal rights:

Arizona Revised Statue 4-244

22. For an on-sale retailer or employee to allow a person under the legal drinking age to remain in an area on the licensed premises during those hours in which its primary use is the sale, dispensing or consumption of alcoholic beverages after the licensee, or the licensee's employees, know or should have known that the person is under the legal drinking age. An on-sale retailer may designate an area of the licensed premises as an area in which spirituous liquor will not be sold or consumed for the purpose of allowing underage persons on the premises if the designated area is separated by a physical barrier and at no time will underage persons have access to the area in which spirituous liquor is sold or consumed. A licensee or an employee of a licensee may require a person who intends to enter a licensed premises or a portion of a licensed premises where persons under the legal drinking age are prohibited under this section to exhibit a written instrument of identification that is acceptable under section 4-241 as a condition of entry. The director, or a municipality, may adopt rules to regulate the presence of underage persons on licensed premises provided the rules adopted by a municipality are more stringent than those adopted by the director. The rules adopted by the municipality shall be adopted by local ordinance and shall not interfere with the licensee's ability to comply with this paragraph. This paragraph does not apply:

(a) If the person under the legal drinking age is accompanied by a spouse, parent or legal guardian of legal drinking age or is an on-duty employee of the licensee.

jeffcbay

With that said, they person selling the alcohol has the right to refuse service.

LarkinCollector

<< <i>So even in Arizona the father was within his legal rights: >>



I don't think that covers So he handed his beer to his 15-year-old son for temporary safekeeping, only allows the underage person to be located in a place that serves alcohol.

ChiefsFan1st

The Ohio law is a slam dunk, not sure about the Arizona law. Its not as clear. Either way, its rediculius. Like was said earlier, cops should of given dad a tongue
lashing and move on.

jeffcbay

<< <i>

<< <i>So even in Arizona the father was within his legal rights: >>



I don't think that covers So he handed his beer to his 15-year-old son for temporary safekeeping, only allows the underage person to be located in a place that serves alcohol. >>



You're right, my reading comprehension fail.

I'm still right about Ohio though.

LarkinCollector

<< <i>I'm still right about Ohio though. >>


Agreed, I remember all the crazy midwest alcohol laws from my bartending days (and driving from IN to IL on Sundays to buy alcohol). Once I got to AZ, seeing kids sitting at the bar was a shock, but was happy I could pick up a 6-pack on a Sunday.

jeffcbay

<< <i>but was happy I could pick up a 6-pack on a Sunday. >>



Most places in Ohio can sell on Sunday now. At least we're better than Pennsylvania and Maryland, where you have to go to a State Store to buy some beer! Yikes...

vintagefun

Common sense ain't so common. And is putting my beer in the cup holder between my seat and my kid's seat, really THAT much different than him holding it for a split second.

If he was helping me load groceries into my car and lifted a bag with a 6-pack and a bottle of Jack, could I be busted for that too....or was it the fact that it was open container?

I know before remote controls, I was my dad's channel changer. He also used to send me to the liquor store on my bike to buy him his smokes (and a pack of cards for myself). Though technically illegal at the time I'm sure, the guy knew us, and used common sense to determine that this 10 year old was NOT a smoker and was more into the cards than the smokes.

Now this 15 year old in the story, may have actually wanted to take a giant slug off of dad's beer, but so long as he didn't they should have left well enough alone, and monitored it a little longer before getting involved...but I'm sure Johnny Law went home and told everyone about his big day at the office, busting a father/son who as season ticket holders get bilked for those lame pre-season games and then get tossed before they can even enjoy the kickoff, by some over-zealous wanna be do-gooder. Relax and MYOB dude.

A season of DIRECTV NFL Ticket costs me as much as attending a single game with the family...and my boy can get, open and hold my beer...no wonder I refuse to attend a game anymore.

LarkinCollector

<< <i>Common sense ain't so common. >>


I concur, and believe minors can't even touch it in a grocery store here in AZ. They can refuse to sell to me if my son (or anyone under 21) is with me in the checkout. My wife and I both get carded when purchasing.

In other idiotic AZ laws, tobacco is more harmful than guns and cannot be possessed anywhere on school property (ARS 36-798.03) even locked in my car. I think guns at least got an exemption for that, though it might have to be locked in a gun safe in a locked car (can't remember for sure).

MrNearMint

I'm surprised they didn't just throw him in tent city!

WinPitcher

I can see the alcohol charge, what I don't understand is how he received
a criminal trespassing citation if he had a ticket to the game?

BostonAmericans

Response was way over the top. A strict warning and/or talking to and let it be. However, given the preponderance of drunken idiots at NFL games theses days (I am not claiming the father was drunk by any definition), unfortunately a zero tolerance policy must be maintained.

That said (and coming from someone, who as others have noted, was able to get his father's tobacco (pipe for my dad) at the store when he was a kid), the father was completely in the wrong. I take my nephews to games all year long (NBA, NHL, AHL, MILB) and I have never given one of them a beer to hold. If I need to shuffle change, grab tickets, whatever that necessitates placing the beer somewhere, it goes on the ground between my feet. Would it harm the world if I gave it to my 14 year old nephew to hold for less than a minute? No. Never mind perception. In a public environment, an underage child (outside of Ohio apparently) does not hold alcohol.

WinPitcher

45 states where underage consumption is legal...

perkdog

Without question this is absolutely ridiculas, hopefully this will go viral and the AZ Cardinal organization will give them free tickets to a game.

I would completely be on the security details side if the kid took a sip but holding it for his dad and busting them is beyond moronic, in any situation where security is deployed the cardinal rule is to use common sense and when neccesary good "Judgment" calls are expected to be made especially when dealing with the public.

And Estil as far as Women being able to take pocketbooks into stadiums Im all for it not being allowed, without question you can put bad things into a pocketbook and in todays day and age you cant be too careful.

Brick

Sometimes I think we are surrounded by idiots. But then if we are so bright how did we allow the idiots to surround us?

Bosox1976

Haha. When I was a kid, my dad and his buddies used to use us kids as their mules at Pats games in Foxboro. We'd have to wear the snorkel jackets starting in October so they could stuff us full of High Life cans to save a few bucks inside the stadium.

fur72

I think I went to high school with that guy at the end. Westley Kuhl kind of weird.

P.S. He drank in high school