Robservations: The high ‘Price’ of partying
All this time, I thought coaches went home every night and worked on their game plan.
Just days after the story of Iowa State basketball coach Larry Eustachy’s suspension for inappropriate behavior, we’re now hit with a second scandal involving a college coach.
This time, it’s new Alabama football coach Mike Price, who is being investigated by his university for reportedly spending hundreds of dollars at a topless bar in Florida the night before an unidentified woman attempted to charge over $1,000 in room service to his hotel bill.
According to reports, the 57-year-old married coach spent an evening at a nightclub in Pensacola, Fla., April 16, spending fists full of cash, including around $200 on dancer “Destiny” Stahl.
“There was no sex, no touching, no lap dancing,” Stahl said of Price’s high-priced evening. “He was a gentleman.”
Well there you go. What better character witness does he need?
The Mobile Register went on to report on the next day, when a woman in Price’s hotel room ordered more than $1,000 in food and drinks on Price’s bill, and asked for it all to be put in boxes so she could leave with it.
Should we assume that after his wild night with the “dancers,” Price decided to spring for brunch the next day?
Wow, he is a gentleman.
And now, he’s in trouble with the university, which is reviewing his “behavior in certain public settings and the inappropriateness of that behavior.”
Saturday, the school will decide on Price’s future as the Crimson Tide’s football coach. Until then, he’s left wondering about his fate, and wondering if a few hours of strobe lights and g-strings was worth losing his job.
• You know what word you never hear anyone use anymore?
“Hooligan.”
Ever wonder why? It’s probably because it’s now become synonymous with those nutso English soccer fans, who riot, fight, stab and destroy everything in their path all in the name of fan loyalty.
This week, however, the hooligans cost their country a pretty large chunk of change, as England’s soccer federation was fined $111,000 because fans chanted racist slogans and ran onto the field during an April game against Turkey.
More than 90 fans were arrested during the game, and policemen on horseback had to drive back a group who were attacking Turkish fans’ buses.
And we thought District 7-AAA fans were bad.
• There’s bad news out of Louisville.
Hall-of-Fame jockey Pat Day hurt his back Sunday, then aggravated the injury while doing yard work Monday at his home.
Since then, he hasn’t ridden for three days, and may miss his 21st consecutive ride in the Kentucky Derby this Saturday.
The bigger question, however, is this. What will that do to the odds? Because it’s obvious in racing that no one cares about anything more than making a quick buck at the betting window.
Horse racing, I’ve often said, is a lot like a wedding. Months of hype, followed by a 10-minute finish. Of course you can gamble on horse racing, so I guess they’re a little different.
But now that I think of it, I guess you can gamble on a wedding, too. Is “I’ll give them six months” considered placing a bet?