bro', seriously look into some therapy. this big conspiracy that you believe in is kinda sad really. Accept the fact that you suck and have sucked for a number of years, it's the AD and the boosters, not some X-Files episode. Dont you find it odd that Tennessee was not caught in this fictional bidding war that took place? of course we werent, it's all part of the grand scheme to kill the bama football program. you need help.
Haskell | Slaughter - News
6/24/2005 - What did Kramer know? Plenty
TUSCALOOSA -- It's interesting to hear Tommy Gallion rant and rave about people conspiring against the Alabama football program.
It's a lot more convincing to see memos and faxes supporting his claim reproduced on giant poster boards in a courtroom.
The most damaging information presented Thursday at the summary judgment hearing in the case of Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams v. the NCAA et al. didn't mention the plaintiffs or the defendants.
Instead it pointed a finger at former SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer.
What did Kramer know and when did he know it? A lot, and a lot sooner than a lot of other people.
It's been reported here before that Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer had started writing Kramer in 1998 accusing Alabama booster Logan Young of buying football recruits.
But reading some of those memos in court reinforces the suspicions Alabama fans have had about Kramer's role in the program's NCAA probation.
On April 13, 1998, Fulmer wrote to Kramer and alleged that Young had bought one defensive lineman for Alabama and "it's getting ready to happen again.
"This is not sour grapes," Fulmer wrote to the commissioner. "(Young) is making a mockery of recruiting and now is doing it in our state."
Our state?
On May 20, 1998, Fulmer sent another fax to Kramer naming other players he said Young had "bought for Alabama."
"I can't afford to let another recruiting season go by and they sign two more players from my state," Fulmer wrote. "I get the feeling we are falling behind fast on these two kids because of Logan."
The real smoking gun aimed at Kramer is contained in a July 26, 1999, memo to the commissioner from SEC investigator Bill Sievers. In that memo, based on a conversation he had with Tennessee assistant Pat Washington, Sievers told Kramer about Lynn Lang's scheme to sell Albert Means.
Washington said Lang told him he needed a house and a car for Means' mother, $50,000 for Lang and "something for an assistant coach."
So, more than six months before signing day, the SEC commissioner had evidence that Means was for sale. Yet he allowed Means to sign with Alabama without sharing this information with Alabama's compliance staff.
At the end of that memo, Sievers wrote a recommendation that reads like an outline of what's to come: "Coach Lang's actions amount to soliciting a bribe and extortion. We have the opportunity to have Washington tape record his conversations and have law enforcement authorities prosecute Lang.
"While this may sound harsh, I believe it will put a stop to high school coaches soliciting money from SEC coaches and send a strong message to others."
What kind of message did Kramer's silence send to the people who worked at Alabama who wanted to play by the rules?
One attorney for the NCAA asked these questions Thursday of Gallion: "Who does he represent? Does he represent the University of Alabama? Or does he represent Mr. Cottrell and Mr. Williams?"
Alabama might ask a similar question. When Kramer was SEC commissioner, who did he represent?
Albert Means - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Albert Means was a high school football star and later a college football player. Means became well known because of the rulebreaking that surrounded his recruitment by college programs.
Means was a standout defensive tackle at Trezevant High School in Memphis, Tennessee. As a high school senior in 1999-2000 he was Tennessee's Mr. Football, a high school All American and was one of the most highly regarded football players in the nation. Many analysts considered Means to be the best high school defensive lineman in the United States. Several schools competed to land him as a recruit. Trezevant assistant coach Milton Kirk asserted that head coach Lynn Lang had let colleges know that for $200,000 Lang would arrange for Means to play for a particular school. Other claims specific to the recruitment of Means included Kirk's assertion that Lang demanded and received $6,000 in cash from a University of Kentucky booster in the presence of Kentucky assistant coach Claude Bassett for arranging Means' visit to that school, and that Lang in similar fashion received $4,000 for each visit he arranged to the University of Georgia and the University of Alabama. These allegations and other evidence led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate the recruitment of high school football players in Memphis.
The FBI investigation led to the criminal conviction on February 2, 2005 of Alabama booster Logan Young for paying $150,000 in cash to Lang through 1999 and 2000 in order to have Means play football at Alabama. Lang and Kirk also received criminal convictions for their roles in Means' recruitment.
Both the University of Kentucky and the University of Alabama were given major penalties by the NCAA for violations of recruiting rules in their pursuit of Means. The University of Georgia , the University of Arkansas and the University of Memphis also pursued Means but were not sanctioned for any conduct regarding their recruitment of Means. At Young's trial Lang testified that Georgia head coach Jim Donnan gave Lang $700 "out of his own pocket", that University of Memphis head coach Rip Scherer promised free law school tuition for Lang's wife at Memphis and that an Arkansas coach offered him $150,000 or a position on the Razorbacks' coaching staff. At Young's trial, Donnan and Scherer denied Lang's allegations. Brad Lawing, an assistant coach for Michigan State University who recruited Means, said Lang demanded $200,000 to arrange for Means to play football there, and that Lang stated he would have to repay $50,000 to another school that had already paid for Means. Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt stated that one of his assistant coaches was told by Lang that $200,000 was required to secure Means' enrollment.
Also during Lang's trial, Means testified that he never took a required standardized test for college admission. Means testified that Lang had another student take the test in his place.
At Young's trial, federal prosecutors offered evidence that Lang had tried to "sell" Means to eight schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan State University, the University of Mississippi and the
University of Tennessee.
Means played one season for Alabama in 2000, starting in four games and appearing in seven games as a true freshman. He then transferred to Memphis to finish his college career. He was overweight and academically ineligible in 2002 but in 2004 married, worked on his conditioning and improved his play. He was second team All-Conference USA as a senior but was not drafted by any NFL team.
Any more questions Rexvol?
lol::good!: You must have aced creative writing in school!
