Not pro-Alabama enough? Columnist loses radio job

Neal McCready, a Mobile Press-Register sports reporter and columnist, lost his moonlighting job as a local radio sports program co-host when Mobile's WNSP-FM fired him after his show last Wednesday, according to McCready and station management.

McCready said he was fired as co-host of the weekday "Afternoon Sports Drive" program because of a perception that he "wasn't pro-Alabama enough."

"The reason that they gave me for my firing was advertisers, specifically Alabama fans who were advertisers, pulling their ads because of a perception of negativity on my part about Alabama," McCready told the newspaper.

But the radio station's management denied McCready's assertion that Alabama football boosters are directly responsible for WNSP parting ways with him.

"It is totally untrue that we were forced by Alabama boosters" to fire McCready, said WNSP program director Tim Camp. "We make our own decisions in our business."

However, Camp acknowledged that complaints by some of the show's advertisers were taken into consideration when the decision was made to fire McCready.

"Neal has a negative style," Camp said. Anybody who "listens to him on the radio can gather he likes to stir the pot. ... We have had some advertisers who are interested in pulling ad dollars from the show because they don't like his negativity. That is something we have to consider."

Suspended Players Available: It seemed like a textbook example of how to handle losing five players to suspension.

Alabama rolled to a 24-point win over Tennessee even without a group that included star offensive lineman and team leader Antoine Caldwell before proceeding to lose the next three games.

Now, the five players suspended for improper receipt of textbooks are back in time for the Iron Bowl on Saturday at No. 25 Auburn and coach Nick Saban has made it clear they have served their punishment and are free and clear to compete for their old jobs.

They've been practicing throughout their four-game suspension, so Saban thinks their return to the fold shouldn't be disruptive.

"We're going to use those guys to help us in this game, however they can help our team," he said.

How big an impact the three key players returning - Caldwell, guard Marlon Davis and Glen Coffee - will have on the game remains to be seen. Guard Justin Britt thinks they will provide a big boost, and that Caldwell will resume his leadership role seamlessly.

"He has been our leader on the offensive side of the ball and to get him back is going to be tremendous," Britt said. "It's going to help us out a lot."

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said preparing for the five returning players required a little extra film study of games before their suspension.

"But there's not a lot you can do," Tuberville said. "They've been practicing. They haven't been suspended from practicing, so I'm sure they're excited about them being back, as we were when we got Brad Lester back and some guys that were suspended."

The returning players have not been made available to the media this week.