The opinions expressed on the Rants and Raves of Mac McIntyre are solely those of its author and are shared for the purpose of encouraging dialogue about life and issues in DeKalb County, Illinois.

Recruit Party at Amnesia
4.4 Forty and a Fake ID

Comments: 1                                                Addendums: 0

I've never met, nor even ever laid eyes, on James Sanfilippo. I haven't been in the bar he runs in DeKalb, Amnesia, for a decade or more, if I remember correctly. Mr. Sanfillippo is new to the area.  He's got off to a bad start.

Mark that last sentence down as a nominee for understatement of the year.

According to newspaper reporting of city reports, Mr. Sanfilippo, hosted a December party for members and recruits of the NIU football Huskies.  He, allegedly according to those reports, told the yet un-named organizer of the party to have those over age 21 pass their ID's over to those under age 21 so they could illegally gain admittance to the party which featured a flat fee cover charge that included all the beer they could drink.

If those allegations are true then James Sanfilippo is too stupid to have a liquor license or run a bar and the DeKalb Liquor Commission should act accordingly.

But this America. The land where you are innocent until proven guilty. And there's a couple of things about this story that, well, smell.

Sanfilippo is not the only allegedly guilty person in this fiasco. Neither is NIU Huskies junior wide receiver Dan Sheldon, who is the only other NIU player formally charged with any wrong doing.  Sheldon is charged with unlawful issuance of an ID card.

There is a possibility that the un-named party organizer, once caught, decided to pass blame on to Sanfilippo. "He made me do it," could have been the cry.  But the un-named organizer has not, yet, been charged with any wrong doing. That's kind of strange, to me, so I am going to consider James Sanfilippo innocent until proven otherwise.

It's also possible that Sheldon, one of the stars of NIU's nationally ranked football team, is paying an unfair price for his stardom. If he sold a fake ID he should be punished, along with all others who did likewise.  If he is being singled out, as an example, because of his name recognition, that's wrong.

Certainly, it seems to me, the un-named party organizer should share at least equal infamy with Sanfilippo and Sheldon.  He or she knew it was illegal to have minors in a Class A bar.  It was also his or her responsibility, as an event promoter, to know the city's happy hour laws.  And he or she knew that loaning or selling fake ID's is against the law.

To quote the mother of another un-named football player of fictional fame, "Stupid is what stupid does."

Mac McIntyre