Saturday, January 29, 2005
The government has rested its case against Logan Young in Memphis. And the biggest surprise, at least to me, was that the judge didn't crack the gavel and say, "No mas, no mas."
He should have thrown this case out the window and, in the process, thrown the United States Attorney and his staff out of the courtroom on their ears. What the judge should have said is, "This is the biggest crock I've ever seen and if you dare ever waste the taxpayers' money on anything like this ever again, I'll have your law license revoked."
So Lynn Lang, the former Trezevant High School coach, apparently held an auction -- with as many as half a dozen schools participating -- and Young, the defrocked Alabama booster, is facing time in a federal penitentiary because his favorite school won the services for Albert Means.
Young has been accused this week by the government of many things, ranging from being a heavy drinker to a gambler to a windbag, even of throwing around cash to perhaps influence where a 17-year-old high school player decided to attend college.
Where in all of this has this met a standard of criminal activity? Oh, don't read me the law book. How is this man a menace to society because he was passionate about his favorite football team? Did he ever raise a hand and threaten someone? Did he threaten to burn down Means' home if he chose another school?
Nope. He may have violated NCAA by-laws (of course, giving a player a $10 T-shirt qualifies for that), but how is society better off if he is sent to prison?
From a personal standpoint, I've known Young for 20 years. You can't be around Alabama football and not come in contact with him. We were cordial. So were dozens of other sportswriters with Young. We've had lunch and dinner on occasion. He was a charming guy to hang around. He was someone I would call a few times a year to get a temperature reading on all things related to Alabama football. His football acumen was intuitive as he was the first to start questioning Bill Curry's competence and strongly felt the former Alabama coach was ruining Crimson Tide football. Hard to dislike a man for telling it like it is.
However, the man is about as dangerous as a fly at a company picnic. There is a lot of fault to spread around here. I've always felt the culture at Alabama was such that there was an air of invincibility that nothing bad could ever happen to the Tide. After all, Young was a part of the culture. He was one of Bear Bryant's closest friends. He had friends in high places and gave boatloads of money to the school.
Regardless of whether he got too close to the epicenter of Alabama football or not -- and the NCAA and Alabama eventually agreed he did and disassociated him -- that doesn't make the federal case in Memphis right.
At the end of the day, if Young is convicted and sent off to jail, what will have been accomplished? What message will have been sent? Like him or not, agree with what Young did or not, this case in Memphis is terribly wrong.
Here's hoping Logan Young walks out of this courtroom a free man and someone holds the U.S. Attorney in this case responsible for this colossal waste of time and this outrageous miscarriage of justice.
(Paul Finebaum's column appears Tuesdays and Saturdays in the Mobile Register. Contact him at [EMAIL PROTECTED])
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