Credit Gallion for Cottrell's win in court

Despite the fact that the actual charges in the $60 million lawsuit he and co-counsel DeLaine Mountain brought against the NCAA and former recruiting analyst Tom Culpepper on behalf of former Alabama assistant coaches Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams had been reduced from the grand conspiracy Gallion passionately believes in to a simple case of slander against Cottrell by Culpepper, Gallion never wavered.

Even in his closing argument to the jury Friday, he laid out the entire scheme again, even going so far as to lay blame for everything on Culpepper by saying if Culpepper had never talked to the NCAA, "we wouldn't be in this court room right now" because the University of Alabama football team would never have been placed on NCAA probation, he said.

It's no secret I didn't think Gallion had much of a case, when you got down to the relevant facts. What Gallion recognized is that relevant facts are in the eyes of the jury, not reporters sitting in the gallery.

Apparently, from the beginning this jury was on Gallion's side.

"I think (Culpepper attorney) Mr. (John) Scott and the other lawyers had a tall order from the beginning," said juror Wade Dailey. "They did the best they could, under the circumstances."

"There's no question, Ivy would have won, too," said juror Randy Tunnell. "I think they could have tried this case anywhere in the country where the NCAA is, and you'd find the same verdict -- especially involving NCAA cases."

"We were disappointed Mr. Williams' case was removed," said jury foreman Joseph Santina. "We'd have found for him against the NCAA, too."

That Culpepper believed the statements when he said them didn't seem to matter. They believed that he said them and that by saying them, caused irreparable damage to Cottrell.

"It was cut and dried," said Chris Morris, who was an alternate and so was excluded in the final decision. "Culpepper never denied making those statements. And no news travels like bad news."

Throughout all the post-trial interviews, the jury seemed to be saying they were finding against not just Culpepper, but also the NCAA. At least, they wanted to make a finding against the NCAA.

Outside the courtroom, Alabama fans seemed quick to declare it a victory by Gallion against the NCAA and redemption for the Alabama football program, which is exactly what Gallion promised. Gallion made this case impossible to separate from the NCAA. Even Scott, in his closing arguments, tried to distance his client from that organization, saying he and his client were incensed by the NCAA; that they didn't like the NCAA's actions, either.

But it wasn't enough to turn his client into a sympathetic figure, not when the jury had seen him, from the beginning, sitting along side the NCAA.

I have been critical of Gallion throughout this case, which he and I have joked about the last two weeks. Before Gallion left the court room Friday, he asked me what I would do now that I didn't have him to pick on anymore. I told him I hoped we'd get together again, and he offered to buy me lunch if I ever got to Montgomery.

If that happens, I can promise you one thing: I won't be ordering chicken salad.

Not after seeing what Gallion can do with chicken ... well, you know.