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'Bama talks back Readers respond with barrage of Price-related e-mailsPosted: Monday May 05, 2003 12:55 PM
On Saturday, I had my say on the Mike Price firing. Now it's your turn. In a staggering response, I've received over 800 e-mails in the two days since that column was posted, most coming from Alabama, and most disagreeing with my take, which is understandable. No one likes hearing they're part of the problem. Here now, a small sampling of your responses ...
If firing a coach for getting so drunk he can't remember how a woman got in his room is "backwards," I'm proud Alabama is backwards. You make a valid point that Alabama fans are, at times, too obsessed with football. However, I'd question any school who DIDN'T fire their coach for the type of behavior Price exhibited. How can any parent of a recruit believe him when he says he'll take care of them. I wouldn't want my son playing for a man who would set that type of example.
So after reading your article, it is OK for Coach Price to have a woman other than his wife stay with him overnight? Not only that he pays, with a University of Alabama credit card, for that woman's $1,000 purchase of items from the hotel's menu? This is acceptable to you? This is a man you would want to lead young men?
Please don't be so incredibly harsh on Alabama for firing Mike Price. Yes, people take football way too seriously here, and maybe Price's actions might have been overlooked elsewhere, but this program is already in a tailspin. Most people here felt that to save what little respect we have left we had to start over ... again. Besides, can you imagine the taunts and torment from opposing fans next year had Price remained??
I agree with you that the football culture at 'Bama is poisoned, but your statements that Price's treatment was unfair are reprehensible. The Tide alumni didn't chew Price up, he did it himself. Any university coach, much less a $10 million Alabama one, who misbehaved so publicly would be in big trouble. Winking approvingly at such disgraceful public conduct isn't done anywhere in this country, except possibly the White House on occasion.
Regarding your column on Alabama football and the sad demise of Mike Price -- my thoughts precisely. How could Price possibly understand the nasty mean-spiritedness that is football in the state of Alabama after years in bucolic Pullman? As an Alabama alumnus I can assure you that, had he just won a national championship, after having humiliated Auburn, he would be a hero instead of a goat, and Destiny would be set for life.
On to other matters ...
I've been reading a lot about the Heisman hopefuls, but no where can I find any one that will give Virginia QB Matt Schaub even a mention. I find it hard to believe that even though Schaub was Player of the Year in the ACC, Philip Rivers from N.C. State still gets all the Heisman attention. Does Schaub have any chance to make a Heisman run?
He's definitely the least-heralded major-conference player of the year in recent memory, to the point where most fans outside the ACC probably still don't know who he is. Chalk that up to the fact that besides the bowl game, Schaub's most watched game nationally was probably the opener against Colorado State, when he played so poorly he got benched. It was absolutely astounding last season how he turned things around to not only reclaim the job but produce an amazing season (69 percent completions, 28 touchdowns, seven interceptions) despite basically no prior indication of greatness. Schaub will definitely be on the Heisman radar going into the season and can vault himself right into contention with a big performance the second week at South Carolina. But Rivers carries far more name recognition having been in the spotlight for going on four years now.
Is there any reason to think Lloyd Carr is on the hot seat? Consecutive losses to Ohio State and no Rose Bowl since '97 can't make the Maize and Blue faithful very happy. Or does he have a lifetime gig?
That's an interesting question. On the one hand, it's hard to find fault with a guy who's won 77 percent of his games (including more than any other Big Ten team the past five years), five consecutive bowl games, three league championships and a national title. On the other hand, the Wolverines have become quite predictable the past few seasons, always beginning the year as a top 5-10 team with sights on the Rose Bowl and ending it a top 10-15 team playing in the Citrus Bowl. Still pretty darn good, but maybe a tad disappointing by Michigan standards. By no means has Carr reached Joe Paterno status at Michigan, but I think the program would have to take a pretty significant step backward before the school would start thinking about a change. One factor might be the one you mentioned: Ohio State. Not just losing the game, though that did get John Cooper fired. With the Buckeyes winning the national title and obviously building quite a powerhouse under Jim Tressel, there might be reason for concern a year or two from now if Michigan feels its nemesis has surpassed it as a program.
How should Karl Dorrell's Denver Broncos-based offense and Tampa Bay defensive system stack up against the rest of the Pac-10 next season?
Hard to say, having never seen Dorrell coach and not knowing whether the personnel he inherited from Bob Toledo is suited for the system. But if the experience of other recent NFL hires is any indication, the Bruins should definitely benefit. USC's Pete Carroll, Virginia's Al Groh, Oklahoma State's Les Miles and BYU's Gary Crowton have all brought an NFL influence to their teams' overall systems and seen great improvement no later than their second season. It's no secret that the pros are usually a step ahead of colleges in terms of strategic trends and adapting to changes, so it'd be no surprise to me if UCLA takes the Pac-10 by surprise in some areas.
You had some interesting choices for schools that are at or near the top of both college football and college basketball. However, you left out a certain school in College Park, Md.
You're right, I forgot about the Terps, as many of you reminded me. Major brain freeze.
Every year Miami turns out a Heisman candidate that nobody expected to see in New York at the end of the season. Last year it was Willis McGahee, the year before that it was Ken Dorsey. Could Frank Gore be that guy this year?
I was just wondering how no one seems to talk about Georgia Tech's RB Tony Hollings. He had a sensational start last season, leading the nation in rushing (633 yards in just four games) with 11 touchdowns before he got injured.
When it comes to running backs coming back from ACL tears, you rarely see a guy return to the exact same form the very next season, but it helps the longer they've had to recover. For instance, Cedric Cobbs at Arkansas and Jamal Lewis at Tennessee both suffered their injuries midway through their sophomore seasons, and neither had nearly the level of productivity as juniors. (Three years later, Cobbs is only now regaining his explosiveness; Lewis returned to form as an NFL rookie). But Virginia Tech's Lee Suggs suffered his injury the very first game of the 2001 season and, after an entire year to recover, had a pretty good 2002 season. In Gore's case, he tore his ACL during spring practice last year, so 16 months will have passed by the time he returns to game action. Therefore, I'd expect him to have a huge year. Remember, this is a guy who averaged nearly 10 yards a carry as a true freshman and who 'Canes coaches feel is even better than McGahee. Hollings, though, I'm not as sure. It may be another season before he's 100 percent, and of course there's no guarantee he'll ever be the same player. Finally, in response to a question from Eric Krust of New Orleans, I asked for readers' suggestions last week on how to remedy the nearly nine-month layoff between college football seasons. About 90 percent of the responses echoed a similar theme:
It's called PlayStation2 -- it's the little fix you need.
There's only one thing that allows me to survive the offseason: NCAA Football on Playstation II.
While I don't disagree on the merits of PS2 football, some of you take it somewhat disturbingly far.
One solution for football withdrawal involves using the game system of your choice and a VCR. Play a game on "easy" against your team's archrival. Tape game, rewind, then exit and re-enter the room. Voila: Florida vs. Miami redux, Gators pound the 'Canes 83-3.
I think we can safely assume Spencer isn't married. There were a couple creative non-PlayStation suggestions as well.
I don't know what Eric Krust of New Orleans has been doing with his time, but the day after the Rose Bowl, I started construction on a Mardi Gras-size party float celebrating the Oklahoma Sooners 13-0 2003 season. If you've never built one, floats are pretty complicated and it's been a great way for me to pass the nine months with no college football -- or, as I like to call them, "the months that time forgot."
Amy, I'm not sure you want too many people around Austin to know you're doing that or the float is not going to make it through summer in tact.
A suggestion to the nine-month layoff: Have the spring games be exhibitions between rivals ala USC-UCLA, Florida-Florida state. Throw in one or two preseason games and we are down to a seven-month gap.
Still too long for most of us. Finally, Ken Shamus of Detroit makes a pretty good point regarding the originator of this topic. If the guy from New Orleans is bored, I think we're all in trouble. Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com. To send a question or comment for Stewart's Mailbag, click here. |
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