Mike Price, a wonderful person with one mistake.

As a junior in high school, and ball boy for Washington State University, I have gotten to know Coach Mike Price quite well. These recent stories against Coach Price really hurt me. We need to ask some questions before believing everything that is said in the media.

I am a ball-boy for Washington State University, and have done so for the past three football seasons along side Coach Mike Price. During the past few years I have gotten to know him better, and truly realize what an amazing person he is. Anyone, who would take a high school kid under his arm and walk him around college football practice explaining the drills to him is a great person. Before or after every football game Coach Price would take time to talk with me. He is a man of class, and a wonderful person. Coach Price drove two hours to my small hometown of Prescott, Washington, to speak at an awards banquet two years ago at my request. Folks, there are only a few football coaches in the nation who would do all of this. As someone who knows him, of course the recent stories of his conduct shocked and hurt me. I do not see how he would do this, but we are all humans and we all make mistakes. Someone is paying people off to lie about this wonderful person and that upsets me. These stories are being blown way out of proportion.

I am ecstatic that Coach Price has decided to file a lawsuit against the University of Alabama. I hope he goes after Sports Illustrated as well. Those people need to be stopped in their dishonest tracks.

Many of the recent stories and lies about Coach Mike Price all over the media truly hurts me and makes me mad. I do believe that Coach Price made a mistake, but not an error that deserved his firing. The most recent stories about his actions at Alabama that appeared in a supposed trusted sports magazine (Sports Illustrated) are contradictory to what was originally said about Coach Price and his actions when all of this started.

Why has the stripper since changed her story from saying Coach Price did nothing wrong during the night, to he was a bad" man that night? I think you could get a stripper to call the color red, black (so to speak), if you paid them enough. Someone is paying off someone to lie about Coach Price. Why would anyone want to ruin the career of a wonderful person. Somehow the University of Alabama is involved in this because they want to feel better about their mistake in firing him.

The recent lies about Alabama students saying they saw Coach Price at parties four months ago is obviously bogus. Why would a university of such high moral and ethical standards allow this to go on for four months before anything is said? The University supposedly said they talked with Coach Price about his behavior, but why didnt any media find out? Obviously if people knew on campus, it would have appeared somewhere in the media, but amazingly no one has record of those incidents four months ago. College students are always desperate for extra cash. It wouldnt take much money for them to come out with lies against Coach Price.

Why didnt Alabama President Robert Witt allow Coach Price to make a statement about the recent situation when Coach Price wanted to? Coach Price was going to come out with the truth, instead he was told by President Witt to keep it to himself until he says its ok. Witt wanted it to appear that Coach Price was hiding something; the only person who had anything to hide was President Witt. He set a trap for Coach Price and lured him into it. Many people on the Board of Trustees, along with Witt, did not want Coach Mike Price as their football coach from the get go. It was obvious they wanted someone else. They were talking about a replacement for Coach Price before the rumors even started circulating. Coach Price, just happened to make a mistake that played right into their plan, and they finished it. President Witt would not allow Coach Price to state his claim to the Board of Trustees before their decision was made. Why? Because Witt did not want his preconceived attempt to get rid of Coach Price to be interrupted.

"One week ago, I could have made a statement, but at the request of President Witt, I was asked not to say anything, and I dutifully did my job and didn't say anything. And then I didn't get an opportunity to go into the Board of Trustees and give them my side of the story. I just don't think it's right," Coach Price said at his press conference.

Why havent we heard about Coach Prices shortcomings while he was in Pullman? Simple; there were none. As one who lives in a small town knows, there is not much that goes on that people dont know. All people in a small town practically know what you have for dinner each night. Surely people would have known about anything bad with Coach Price while he was in Pullman. There is no history about Coach Price being out of control. It is hard to believe all of these allegations.

As a person of high moral and ethical standards, I do not agree with the actions of Coach Price. Coach Price is also a person of high moral and ethical standards, he just made a mistake. We are all humans and we all make mistakes. That is why it is a great joy that we have a God who gives all who believe in Him a second chance. If you look in the Bible you see that David, a great leader in Biblical times and a man of God, committed adultery. He was forgiven by God for his error in judgment and God, as he always does, granted it, giving David a second chance. Coach Price has asked for forgiveness from God, his family, his coworkers, his team, Alabama, even from the nation. He realizes that he has made an error and that is why it devastates him. To see a man who is usually so happy and cheerful, so depressed now, you can tell that he knows hes let a lot of people down. He was ready to move on, and get a second chance.

"I felt like I could have been the one who could have carried us through this. It could have been a great lesson for us. The whole lesson could have been more important than any sports talk show, any Internet, anything else, any football game or any football player. I could have been an example, and will be an example, to see what happens to you when you make a mistake, you get knocked down. I will show everyone what kind of person Mike Price is. We call them in football teaching opportunities, here's an opportunity. I felt this was an opportunity for the university, and I don't think the punishment meets the crime."

Coach Price was ready to put the whole ordeal behind him and move on, but President Witt would not allow that. He fired a great person for one mistake. As someone was quoted as saying, In Coach Mike Prices 57 years, hes made one mistake." I sincerely hope that the next time President Witt makes an error in judgment, that he is fired. What about the current teachers at the University? If they make an error, are they gone? Hes sure made it difficult for the current football team to have any success at the University of Alabama. They have to get in a whole new coaching staff, and implement a new system in less than a month this fall. On top of the coaching change, many of the current football players have discussed transferring from the University. Some of the players said that in just four months Coach Price has brought them together more as a team than any other coach theyve had. Many of the Alabama players sacrificed years of eligibility to stand up for Coach Price and show their support for him. Those pleas for Coach Price, however, sadly fell onto the deaf ears of University of Alabama President Robert Witt on Saturday, May 3rd.

"I don't know if you remember four months ago, but I think that you felt like I came here as a man with dignity and class. And I am going to go out as a man of dignity and class. One mistake, one day of mistakes, will not change the integrity and the character I have had for 57 years. I am going to get through this, and I am going to be a better person because of it," Coach Price said.

There you have it folks. Are you going to believe a stripper and a starved media, or will you believe a man of dignity and class?

Paul Counts
Prescott