My initial reaction to Billy's arrest on message boards was WTF? Why go through all of this hassle for a kid that blew a 0.02? That's basically just pinching him because he was underage and had 1 beer.
Well...according to police reports Billy didn't blow a 0.02. The Athens Banner Herald now says that they reported that information in error. According to their updated article with the correction:
When Humphrey was stopped on Georgia Highway 316 early Tuesday morning, his blood-alcohol content tested at .082 on the road and .129 later at the county jail, where he was booked on DUI and other charges, according to the officer's report. The Banner-Herald previously reported in error that Humphrey blew .02.I'm no liquorologist, but if your BAC is still rising when you got arrested then you went straight from the bottle to the road. Sigh.
That's not a "technicality underage bogus DUI." That's a grown up DUI. It's a DUI under the ultra strict modern .08 definition of DUI, and it's even a DUI under the old early '90s .10 to .12 definitions.
I like Billy the Player. Hell, I even have a photo of me and Billy after the SEC Tournament Championship with us standing side by side while he has the Georgia Tech basketball goal net draped around his neck.
As much as it pains me to say it, I can't fault Felton for dismissing Humphrey. This is his third arrest in roughly a year. It's no different than Richt sending Odell Thurman, Dana Graydon, Randall Swoopes or Akeem Hebron to Georgia Military College. Sadly for Billy, he doesn't have a Juco option. He's too old for that. He's going to need to find a place in a Div I-AA program where he can play immediately.
Billy is a smart kid and a good student. He gets his business done in the classroom. On the court, he tries hard and does a lot with what he's been given. But you can't stay in the papers like this. You have to be smarter and more careful than that.
What a complete and total bummer. I think Felton can be an overbearing hard ass. But I've got to agree on this one.
PWD
