KMA. kurt
http://www.thetowntalk.com/html/216C8313-30B1-4C81-9160-5A2AB718D895.shtml GUILBEAU: Tide should get over it, move on Glenn Guilbeau / Louisiana Gannett News Posted on July 29, 2004 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - It took some 20 years for most University of Alabama people to realize that Bear Bryant indeed died in January of 1983. Just a few years ago, footage of the Bear growling unintelligibles was played before Crimson Tide games at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Bryant was actually listed as an intangible advantage in a matchup graphic on the morning of the 2001 LSU-Alabama game in the Tuscaloosa News despite him being dead for 17 years. Now, this pitiful dysfunctional family with three years remaining on its latest NCAA probation can't seem to let the fact that Tennessee turned it in to the NCAA die. Former Alabama assistant coaches Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams filed a $60 million defamation lawsuit against the NCAA several months after Alabama received its second round of major NCAA sanctions in seven years in 2002. Apparently, they were finding it harder to get a job than to recruit. Cottrell and Williams and their attorneys contend Fulmer and the NCAA conspired against Alabama, which was punished for major recruiting violations involving Alabama booster Logan Young and star prospect Albert Means of Memphis. Young allegedly payed Means $150,000 in 1999 to Means' high school coach to go to Alabama. Attorneys for Cottrell and Williams contend the NCAA, acting like the FBI, let violations by Tennessee go if Fulmer would turn in Alabama. In 2000, Fulmer and staff spoke to NCAA investigator Rich Johanningmeier about Alabama. In November, the NCAA notified Alabama it would be questioning players and coaches about rules violations. Soon, Alabama was back on probation. Fulmer has decided not to attend Tennessee's portion of the Southeastern Conference Media Days on Thursday because his attorneys told him he may be served a subpoena for the defamation suit set to go to trial next June. Fulmer, who doesn't have to play in the state of Alabama until 2005, also said he feared his safety so close to Alabama's den. I don't blame him one bit. There's no telling what these fans might do. Fulmer has been fined $10,000 by the SEC, which is miffed at his absence. In a cute bit of scheduling, the SEC had Fulmer set to appear before Alabama coach Mike Shula and players on Thursday along with LSU and South Carolina in the undercard. Yes fans, Alabama-Tennessee has actually replaced Alabama-Auburn in terms of hate in these parts. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville and players spoke Tuesday with nary a word about Alabama. What is going on? This Alabama-Tennessee story has been percolating in Alabama for nearly a year, but it has not been as big in the rest of the SEC states, well, with the Iraq war and all. It has gotten ugly and sadly silly. Alabama people have served up Fulmer as its round mound of revenge for all the ills that have beset its once-proud program. The Tide is headed for its fourth losing season in eight years with no relief in sight as NCAA scholarship reductions set in. And it's got to be somebody else's fault. This is the same fandom that once said national poll voters kept the Tide down because of the state of Alabama's poor civil rights record. Other SEC and Big Ten coaches also reported Alabama violations to the NCAA, but Alabama wants Fulmer. Perhaps because he is 8-1 against Bama? Coaches turning in other programs is nothing new. Fulmer may have done it with more zest than others, but he was proven right. Alabama IS on probation. Fulmer is surely no saint. Former Alabama player Kenny Smith and his mother filed a defamation suit against Fulmer in April alleging Fulmer said Smith's mother was involved with an Alabama assistant. Another allegation via Alabama attorneys says Fulmer established a credit line for former Vol star John Henderson. But Fulmer is not the guilty party here, yet. Alabama is, no matter how much its lawyers blame Tennessee. "I understand that Coach Fulmer had to weigh all the advice he was getting and make a decision," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said Tuesday. "I can't put myself in his shoes." Not exactly a ringing endorsement from the commish for Fulmer.Slive came to this league two years ago with a promise to clean it up. Yet he seems to want to keep it in the family more than he wants the family clean. His new rule establishing a protocol for turning in member schools made UT sound more guilty than the school it helped find guilty, which was Alabama. Instead of admonishing and fining Fulmer, Slive should be telling Alabama people to drop the lawsuits, stop cheating and get over it. ______________________________________________________ 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
