Updyke's poisoning the good name of a former Alabama player now

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- As if we need more evidence of Harvey Updyke's despicable nature, he and ESPN have supplied some.
Updyke is the alleged poisoner of the oak trees at Toomer's Corner.
What he's done since is poison the good name of a respected, wonderful gentleman with a cheap, inaccurate and hurtful comparison.
You probably know Tommy Lewis' story.
Standing on the sidelines in the 1954 Cotton Bowl, Lewis saw Rice's Dicky Maegle running for a touchdown. Lewis, reacting without thinking, took two steps onto the field and knocked Maegle down.
Later, Lewis explained, "I guess I'm too full of Alabama."
Lewis spent a lifetime being embarrassed by it. In a 2007 interview, he confessed, "I just had a rough time overcoming it. I still haven't overcome it."
He became a respected businessman in Huntsville, a proverbial pillar of the community, a family man. Now, at 79, he lives in a nursing home, a victim of Alzheimer's disease after a series of strokes. He lights up with a smile when his family visits. Memories of the 1954 Cotton Bowl have long been erased.
Updyke, who won't surrender his 15 minutes of infamy, compared himself to Lewis to justify his tree poisoning. He did so first in a mea culpa interview with Paul Finebaum, next in the shallow, contemptuous ESPN documentary "Roll Tide/War Eagle."
Smugly, Updyke says he's "too full of Alabama," too.
Imagine you've been married nearly 60 years and you hear this criminal link himself to your husband. Imagine you're a son or daughter. If you're Helen Lewis, who still treasures the 1953 Alabama-Auburn game ball her husband was awarded as the Tide captain, "It breaks my heart."
Kathy Lewis McCool, Tommy's daughter, wrote a beautiful letter she sent to me. Here's part of what she wrote:
"(O)ur family was saddened and disturbed to hear Mr. Updyke invoke the name of our father and grandfather, Tommy Lewis, as his source of inspiration and passion for Alabama football. Dad's off-the-sideline play in the 1954 Cotton Bowl has been a source of scorn, ridicule, and to many, heroics over the years, but no matter what the reaction, he responded with grace, humility and often, self-deprecating humor.
"Indeed, there is no doubt that he was 'too full of Bama' but what most folks do not know is that he was also 'too full' of our mother, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchild, nieces, nephews, children-in-law, friends, pets, customers, charities, and everything he touched. He had enough passion and love to go around for everybody.
"Dad had an abundance of beloved Auburn friends. ... He was a stranger to the bitterness the rivalry has taken on in recent years, and would have been puzzled and disappointed by it.
"Mr. Updyke's hateful act perpetrated upon Auburn's proud old oaks at Toomer's Corner would have appalled him ...
"For Mr. Updyke to compare his passion for Alabama to Tommy Lewis' is heartbreaking to us. It is our sincere hope that our Auburn friends will not associate Mr. Updyke's misguided act of 'passion' with our Dad's love of Alabama. We harbor no ill will for Mr. Updyke and hope for his continued healing and rehabilitation. But mostly, we hope for the health of the beautiful oaks at Toomer's Corner."
Lewis loved Alabama.
But he loved Auburn people. He'd admonish his children if they pulled against Auburn.
Tommy Lewis led an Alabama team. He bled for Alabama.
Harvey Updyke simply hung names on his children like Crimson Tyde and Bear Bryant.
Lewis was full of Alabama.
Updyke is full of hate and delusion and self-importance.
Shame on him as he spreads poison every time he crawls out from under his rock to find a microphone in his face.