Posted on 05/08/2003 6:12:39 AM PDT by WhiskeyPapa
Associated Press
Birmingham, Ala. -- Former Alabama football coach Mike Price said he was "too drunk to really know" what happened at a Pensacola, Fla., topless bar on the night that ultimately led to his firing, The Birmingham News reported Wednesday.
But Price told the News that he did not have sex in his Pensacola hotel room that night, and he denied allegations that he bought alcoholic drinks for students in Tuscaloosa bars on other occasions.
Price's attorney, Stephen Heninger, also said Price had never been warned by athletic director Mal Moore about his behavior at Tuscaloosa bars. Moore said Monday he met with Price one-on-one about his conduct once and with the whole coaching staff on another occasion.
Heninger did not immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press. His secretary said he was in trial until Friday.
Price was fired Saturday for what university president Robert Witt said was inappropriate behavior in connection with Price's visit to a topless bar in Pensacola on April 16 and a woman's $1,000 room service order billed to his hotel room the next morning.
The News said that Price, with his attorney at his side, vehemently denied a Sports Illustrated article set for release Wednesday that said he had sex with two women in his Pensacola hotel room on the night in question and that he bought drinks and propositioned college students in Tuscaloosa. The magazine cited anonymous sources.
Price called the story "an absolute lie."
Sports Illustrated spokesman Rick McCabe said Wednesday: "We stand by the reporting and the story."
Price told the News that after passing out early that morning, he awoke fully clothed with a woman in his hotel room and did not remember having any women in his room the night before.
The newspaper said Jennifer Eaton, who claims to have been in the hotel room that night, supported Price's assertion that there was no sex. Eaton was described as a 30-year-old native of Hartselle, Ala., who used to work at Arety's Angels, the Pensacola topless bar that Price visited April 16.
Eaton said she was one of three women in Price's hotel room that night, but only dancing and "carrying on" took place.
"Please tell Coach Price that I'm so sorry if I was in any way involved in getting him in trouble," she sobbed in a phone interview, the News said.
Eaton said she was visiting the topless bar on the night of April 16 when Price came in. She said she is a huge Crimson Tide fan and was thrilled to meet him.
"He was so compassionate," she said. "He made me feel good. He was a celebrity to me."
Eaton said she accepted an offer to return with him to his hotel to party after leaving the club about midnight.
"He was very respectful," she said. "He was joking around. I think he was just a man wanting some company. I think pretty girls make him feel good. He made me feel good. Is that wrong?"
Eaton said two more women whom she did not know joined the party later.
She said Price told the three women to order breakfast from room service. After he left for his pro-am golf tournament, Eaton said, one of the other women placed a $1,000 order. Worried about the expensive order, Eaton said she left.
Heninger said Price told him "he had so much to drink that he can't really say what happened that night."
FIGHT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!!!!
FOR THE ORANGE AND WHITE!!!
When I first heard that 57 y.o. Price had sex with two strippers, I thought, "hmmmm, that guy is a stud."
Having three strippers in the room and being too drunk to remember what happened -- that seems a lot more reasonable.
Walt
Let me correct your spelling:
When I first heard that 57 y.o. Price had sex with two strippers, I thought, "hmmmm, that guy is a stupid."
Ask his wife what she thinks???
When I first heard this story, my question was, "how old IS this guy?" I figured somewhere around 22.
I'm just trying to figure out what Ms. Galore ordered from room service to rack up a $1000 bill.
Do the words Beer Goggles mean anything to you?!?
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