Ex-ESPN Analyst Matthew Barnaby Drove Nine Miles On Three Wheels While Drunk

Matthew Barnaby, the ESPN hockey analyst who promptly got canned after his DWI arrest earlier this month, pleaded guilty and apologized for "bad decisions" in court yesterday. There were reportedly some repentant tears to go along with it.

Barnaby was arrested early in the morning on Dec. 5 when Erie County Sheriff's deputies pulled him over. He was attempting to operate a Porsche Cayenne that was missing a front wheel at the time, and sparks were flying. The Erie County Sheriff's Department told the AP that they'd found the Porsche's missing front tire on an interstate exit ramp "approximately nine miles from where Barnaby was arrested." In our minds, at least, that tire is already on display at the imaginary ESPN museum of dishonor and shame.

With his "voice cracking and hands shaking," Barnaby told the court yesterday that he takes "full responsibility" for the maneuver:

"I'm going to do my best, take the proper measures to make sure this does not happen again," Barnaby said Tuesday evening, following an hour-long appearance in the town court in Clarence in suburban Buffalo. "I take full responsibility for everything that I've done."

Barnaby then took a deep breath before issuing a vow to do better.

"I promise - my kids, my family, my friends. I promise I'll make them proud, this community proud," he said, as his eyes welled with tears while making a brief statement to reporters outside the courthouse.

"That's all," he said, before joining his attorney in walking toward his attorney's SUV and being driven away.

Barnaby plead guilty to four counts: driving while intoxicated, refusing a breath test, driving with unsafe tires (I think this refers to the fact that he only had three of them) and failing to notify the DMV of a changed address. He's been sentenced to community service, alcohol abuse counseling, and he'll have to pay $1,950 in fines. With the plea agreement, he'll avoid jail and the possibility of deportation to his native Canada.

ESPN hockey analyst Barnaby guilty of NY DWI [AP]