Personally, I think he should have had the chance to tell his side of the story. JMO..
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 7:53 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [RollTideFan] FICMP interview Here's the transcript if you didn't see it. http://msn.espn.go.com/gen/news/2003/0719/1583088.html Sunday, July 20, 2003 Price believes SI only got his 'name right' ESPN.com Mike Price is still not sure why he was fired at the University of Alabama. Price, who left Washington State after last season to coach the Crimson Tide, was fired May 3 by Alabama president Robert Witt after allegations arose about his conduct at a golf outing in Florida. He had a seven-year, $10 million contract on the table but didn't sign it before his termination. Price has sued Alabama for $20 million, claiming due process was denied, his civil rights were violated, breach of contract, wrongful termination and fraud. He has also sued Time Inc. for $20 million, stating he was defamed by a Sports Illustrated article about the strip club visit that led to his ouster. Price addressed his firing and what happened at the golf outing in this week's Sunday Conversation. Below is the transcript: Q: So what happened -- how did we get to this place? A: Well, you know, I had too much to drink one night and ended up at a topless bar and made a serious mistake and admitted my mistake. Q: Is that a problem for you? Is alcohol a problem for you? A: No, it's created a problem for me. I don't drink during the season at all. Haven't drank during the season for 20 years. It's just something I wouldn't do. But the drinking that night caused a problem for me there's no question about that. Q: There's certainly nothing illegal about topless ... A: There's nothing, I did nothing illegal or illicit the whole night. Again, I'd had too many drinks and made a mistake by going there, no question about that. Q: Were you surprised that people recognized you? A: As evening went on there weren't many people that recognized me there. I was very quiet and sat at the end of the bar. With a friend and that was that. Q: So there was none of this -- no lap dances? A: No. I wasn't. I know exactly how much money I spent at that bar and it was nowhere close to what was reported at SI and all those reports -- were supposedly all those things happened during the day and I came back at night, well, I was at Alabama until -- my plane didn't get to Florida until 5 p.m. and then went right to the dinner. Q: A lot of stories have been out there -- Sports Illustrated -- how much of what they reported was wrong and? A: Well they got my name right. That's about the only thing they got right in that story. And it was, I told the author, the writer of the story on the phone where he was completely off-base. I wasn't even in the state of Florida when he was making, when some of the girls were making accusations that they were making. I told him you know he was way off base with this story but he printed it anyway even though he had facts, other facts, he printed it. It was just ridiculous what was printed. There was no two, three women in my room. That didn't happen. Q: Was there a woman? A: Yes, there was a woman that came with me, followed me from the last place that we were at and came into my room. I fell asleep. I woke up the next day in my clothes with my glasses on and was surprised to see her still in my room. So I just, it was early, I had a golf tournament. It was early in the morning. I was embarrassed, got out of there, got dressed and left. Q: And you had to be really afraid at that time or were you? A: Yeah, oh yeah I was. It was, I hadn't done anything like that before and I didn't know where to go or where to turn to and um, but um, my wife and family have been great. And I did, at that time then, a few days later, did talk with Mal Moore, AD at Alabama and we went in -- and that's about the first conversation I've had with the president. When we talked about the situation and he said you're a good man you're caught in a bad situation, we'll help you through this. And at previous conversations through the week, he even said I've talked with your former bosses at WSU and they can't say enough good things about you so we're going to help you through this. Q: And then their answer was ... A: Was termination. They said let's wait for a week and I wasn't allowed to say anything to press or say my side of story and I was just waiting for the Board of Trustees meeting and that became a media circus. My wife was asked to come, and my boys they got up and spoke and some players on team got up and spoke on my behalf and then my wife and I waited for three hours for Board of Trustees outside in hallway. And then when they adjourned, I didn't even realize they'd adjourned, they just said it was a potty break, no decisions have been made yet. And President Witt went to the microphone and said I was terminated. I never actually -- you know he never -- said the words to me and I never had an opportunity to ask why. I still don't know what the reasons were for termination. Q: Which is part of the lawsuit? A: Which is part of the lawsuit. Right. Q: So they never said -- we've heard you've been out partying ... A: Absolutely not. Nope, no. Absolutely not. I've been doing this for 35 years in the profession. You can ask any players, any coaches, do I go to those kinds of places? No. Do I hustle college girls? No. Do I go on the campus bars with football players and drink with them? No. And ask anybody that's ever been around me and you'll find the truth. Q: What responsibility do you take for what happened? A: Well I stood up and admitted my mistake from the very start. And I just don't think I was handled correctly by the university. Think I was wronged by President Witt and I think I was wronged by SI and it's up to a judge and a jury to follow it up and get people on the stand that are -- that are witnesses that are under oath you know, not unnamed sources that so many of them in particular in SI did. Q: Can winning any of these trials or getting a judgment -- can that get you back what you lost? A: Well I feel like I had 35 years of integrity and character and honesty -- I've never been investigated by NCAA -- I love the profession, I'm a coach, can lead, motivate, inspire, I can teach and can coach, and that's what I'm going to do. And hopefully I'll get that second chance someplace else, but I never really got second chance at Alabama. Q: What did you tell your wife? A: I told her the truth. It's been tough. We've been together for 37 years and have known each other since kindergarten. So we're good friends. She made a sacrifice to come across the country to Alabama and I'm so sorry for the players there in that program -- great kids you know -- and I'm sorry that this happened and I looked forward to being their coach and coaching at Alabama. Q: Has the pain gone away? A: Every day I think about it. Every morning I wake up you know I wake up and think about it. But I've got good health, and when it's all said and done, and I've got great friends. I don't feel sorry for myself. I'm just going to improve. Make my marriage better, which is solid, and have some empathy and understanding about it. Think it's going to help me be a better coach. Q: So what is next? A: Well we're going to travel around country and watch some football games, watch practices, and just continue to stay in game of football. I've applied for some jobs obviously and talked to some people and maybe professional football, maybe head coaching, in college. I'd give anything to be coaching again next year. And I'll assure you, I'll never make that mistake again. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
