Oregon State broadcaster admits he was the man in viral video drunkenly eating napkin

The video, posted on YouTube on Feb. 12, is entitled ‘Drunk man eats napkin at Denny’s’. The man looks remarkably like Mike Parker, the play-by-play voice for Oregon State athletics. And indeed, early today Parker confirmed that he is the man in the video. It was taken at a West Hollywood Denny’s, and by the timeline it appears that it was following an OSU men’s basketball game against USC. And while the people who shot the cell camera video were having a great tiome with it, Parker himself doesn’t consider it a laughing matter.

“The wrongdoing feels deep within the heart, whether there was anything illegal or not, I’m deeply ashamed for putting myself in a position,” Parker said with tears in his eyes after Oregon State defeated Portland on Tuesday. “To be in that kind of state, and so obviously terribly impaired from the alcohol that I could not be aware of what I was doing, is very frightening. It’s embarrassing, it’s shameful, it’s humiliating.”

A salient point in the Oregonian comments section: On a scale of 1-10 of weird things that have happened at Denny’s, this is probably only a 1.5.

But Parker said he has had “some long-standing issues with alcohol”, and that he is attempting to deal with the problem.

“People tell me in the meetings I’ve been to and in the program I’ve been in that sometimes a person has to hit bottom to really begin to rise up out of it,” he said. “I think I’ve had some arrogance that I can beat this on my own or some pride that I don’t really have an issue, that I’m OK and I’ve never really faced head-on the reality or depth of my issues.”

Oregon State seems to support him, so that’s good. From all accounts, Parker is said to be a really good guy, and I think we’re all hoping for things to turn out for the best.

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Oregon State’s Mike Parker confirms he’s the man eating a napkin in video circulating online [Oregonian]