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Unfriendly rivals Fans of opposing schools linked to Alabama saga
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama football fan Logan Young and Tennessee fan Roy Adams used to be buddies. They'd while away time talking college football over dinner or drinks. Today the Memphis, Tenn., men are bitter enemies -- yet they still have something in common. Both are somewhere near the center of an NCAA investigation into the Crimson Tide football program. A Memphis high school coach, Milton Kirk, has alleged that representatives of Young paid a coach to steer defensive lineman Albert Means to Tuscaloosa. Adams, meanwhile, has been linked to Kirk. "Roy hates Alabama and he hates me," Young told The Birmingham News in a story Sunday. Young denies allegations that he paid a high school coach to direct Means toward Alabama. The News said he blames Adams for the whole flap. Months before newspapers began writing about the claims, Adams was one of the first to make detailed allegations of a recruitment payoff involving Means. Adams made the charges in a series of postings on an Internet site for Tennessee fans. "I think he's very much involved in it," Young said. Adams dismisses Young's theory as nothing but an attempt to distract people from the problems mounting against Tide football. The newspaper said Adams acknowledges buying dinner for Kirk on two occasions, and Adams said Kirk did ask him for an automobile after going public with his claims, but the request was refused. "I said, 'Milton, people are accusing me of giving you money,'" Adams said. "'I can't give you money or it would destroy all credibility.'" Adams said his contact with Kirk has little to do with the merit of accusations against Alabama. "If all they have is that Roy H. Adams knows Milton Kirk, then Alabama doesn't have doo doo," Adams said. Adams attended the University of Tennessee, but athletics director Doug Dickey has ordered him to stay away from Vols players for fear of rules violations. "Dickey makes sure the guys know they are not allowed to go near Roy Adams because they know what a weak individual I am as far as helping athletes," Adams said. Young is an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, but he says he was a close friend of the late Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. University of Alabama telephone records show members of the Crimson Tide coaching staff made a series of calls to Young around the time Means was recruited. Means left Alabama amid the growing controversy and now attends the University of Memphis.
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