OT: ESPN analyst Craig James threatened to sue TT
Interesting that ESPN never reported this.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/james-texas-tech-memo-012710
January 28th, 2010 at 9:18 AM ^
Scumbag
January 28th, 2010 at 9:20 AM ^
Maybe he threatened to sue ESPN if they reported it?
January 28th, 2010 at 9:21 AM ^
They should have fired James the second that Leach was fired, but they chose to support and enable a meddling father and an entitled son. James still having his job while Leach doesn't is not the least bit equitable.
Maybe Leach should threaten to sue ESPN; it might get James fired.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:23 AM ^
Based on the ESPN coverage of that event, you figure Leach hit the younger James in the back of the head with a golding char a la WWE every couple of days. Sounds like James was a douche, Leach called him on it, and everyone overreacted. It will be TT's loss.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:30 AM ^
Leach to get him fired, now can't get along. Guess when you have a bunch of self-serving idiots in cahoots, and the sh_t hits the fan($$ lawsuit), everyone goes back to serving their own interests. Serves them right.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:32 AM ^
I'll agree that Craig James is probably a scumbag, but not for this particular part of the story. I mean, if your son told you that he had to stand in a utility closet for hours after getting a concussion, what other recourse is there? It may seem drastic, but I bet a lot of parents in that situation would at least consider litigation.
Now, what went on with Adam James and the rest of the involvement with his dad and TT I don't know. This just seems like something a lot of people would do - threaten to sue when their son was allegedly being abused/mistreated.
Also, ESPN might not have known about this piece of the story, since it was just released yesterday. But, yeah, ESPN still sucks.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:14 PM ^
If that was my son, and knowing what happened according to other coaches, I would have no negative reaction at all. One of my pet peeves in life is when parents immediately assume their kids are in the right without investigation. My first question to Adam after "what happened?" would have been "what does Coach Leach say about this?" After talking to Leach and his position coach, I would have no negative reaction to it at all. Leach did nothing wrong whatsoever.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:20 PM ^
but I am a little out of the loop on this story so forgive me if I have missed something, but has it been proven that what James Jr. said is a lie?
You are saying that you wouldn't take your sons word for something but you would take the coaches version as being the truth.....Are you being serious here?
I can see if what the kid said has been proven to be untrue, but if it is still in the he said/ she said stage I find it hard to believe that a parent would take the word of a coach over that of their child.
Maybe your relationship with your children/parents is a lot different than mine, but that just seems off to me.
January 28th, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^
No, we still are in a situation of he said she said. I have made my own conclusion, based upon the weight of what we hear from James and others. On one side we have James, on the other the testimony of (most, not all) of the players who knew him and the coaches that coached him, who all paint a picture of a kid that is lazy and entitled. Given that James' original story was "locked in a closet" which was proven to be either an exaggeration or lie, that didn't help James' side either, IMO.
Regarding relationships with kids, to each his own. But while a parent's impulse is originally to believe your kid, how many kids outright lie to their parents? I would say every one at some point. And given that, my second impulse would be to hear from the coach and other coaches. And hearing that, there is, IMO, at minimum a doubt as to James' story.
Finally, the fact that he sent him to that room, was at the very most (IMO) embarrassing to James and at the least, nothing much. And if I doubted my kids story after an investigation, yes, I would believe a teacher/coach over him.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:38 AM ^
Nice of the ESPN ombudsmen to not report any of this in his findings. There is a real conflict of interest here, and they have done everything to protect him. It will be interesting to see if ESPN runs with this angle now that the info has been leaked?
January 28th, 2010 at 9:53 AM ^
I am wondering from some comments if the allegations were proven to be false? It is a genuine question because I haven't followed the story.
If they have been, I can see thinking the guy is a douche, but if the allegations are true it is a different story.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:28 AM ^
in the "he said, she said" stage, with the lawyers posturing. So nothing proven. The case (Leach v. TTU) is currently in court-ordered mediation (deadline is February 5th), and under a gag order.
I'll be curious to see what the new coach does with Adam James -- if it were me, I'd want that shit to go away. It seemed pretty clear to me that he was exaggerating whatever it was that he was asked to do.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^
Thanks. I guess, then, I am just curious why everyone is all over Craig James in this instance? I think the guy is an ass anyway but this story doesn't make him look any worse than he ever has IME (if the allegations are even somewhat true).
As a father I can say that if my son came home and told me this I would be outraged as well. Having said that, being quite bad while growing up, I would also be cautious when moving forward knowing that young men can stretch the truth from time to time.
I guess my point is, if the kid is being honest about what happened I don't think CJ has overreacted in the least. In fact, if it was my son Leach would be sitting in the hospital planning a lawsuit against me instead of the university.
As parents we are protective of our children. It's hard to fault a guy for that.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:44 AM ^
it was never proven, and TT never even investigated before firing Leach. It's pretty simple.
The issue with the lawsuit is relevant, because ESPN never reported this (shocking, I know). The reason that ESPN never reported this is because it may have put the James family in a bad light.
That is poor journalism, but really, what do we expect of journalists.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^
Leach (Sorry. I meant James) couldn't have done this privately? Did an overzealous father abuse his clout? Did TT choose to fire Leach at the particular time when they wouldn't have to pay his bonus under his contract? Was the whole thing investigated by anyone? Will we ever find the answers?
The only thing that is in litigation is how much TT will have to pay to have Leach quietly go away. Too bad the gag order wasn't in place before becoming headline fodder.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:19 PM ^
I can see that there are issues surrounding espn and TT and the way all this has been handled, and I agree with those being at issue.
My comment is more in relation to the ripping Craig James is taking in all this. I am by no means a Craig James supporter (in fact I can't really stand the guy). My point is, what father would react differently under the circumstances?
If we assume that the story that the press has grabbed onto is accurate as far as the son telling Craig James what supposedly happened, was what CJ did so wrong?
Whether what the kid said was true or not is up for debate, but if my son came home and told me what this guy told CJ I would have done far worse than what Mr. James did in this case.
I would abuse every bit of power I had to make sure the coach paid for what he did (or supposedly did). As a father I would take what my son said as being the truth (rightly or wrongly) and worry about the rest later.
I do think that ESPN and TT have acted strangely in this circumstance, but CJ did what I would expect most fathers would (maybe even excercised more restraint than most IMHE).
January 28th, 2010 at 2:04 PM ^
Do you coach? Do you have any idea what students can say to turn things around on coaches? I am not saying that Leach or any other coach deserves a free pass, but to say that you wouldn't even sit down to talk about the situation is amazing.
What are you going to accomplish by doing this? If the student is right or wrong, that doesn't bother you? I agree that if Leach was wrong he should pay with his job. To say that no matter what I would get revenge even if I found out later that my son lied.....just because he's your son that doesn't mean that everything he does is correct. Just to remind you.
Maybe you should try coaching some time!!
January 28th, 2010 at 2:13 PM ^
For one, you are talking about "students" and I am talking about my children. There is a big difference between how well a coach/teacher knows a student/athlete and how well a parent knows their child.
Secondly, who said I wouldn't talk to the coaches? You are making a lot of assumptions based on nothing that I said.
I clearly stated that IF what James Jr. said was true (in part or the whole story) than I would act. I have been very clear in my posts stating that I DO NOT know the whole story and carry on to say what I would do IF the stories the kid has passed along were true.
FYI I have coached sports the past 8 years and in quite murky circumstances as well (HS Girls Volleyball). Coaching boy has its challenges but you rarely have to worry about sexual assualt charges and the sort with them.
Please, before you attempt to lecture someone read their post and don't make assumptions about a person you have never met.
January 28th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
Looking back on this story now, if you didn't know the truth how would you have handled it? Coach to coach.
I think this is a tough situation, but I want to make a point by saying that even though you know your children that shouldn't be the final indicator of what your actions would be.
There are always two sides to a story, so I have always believed that looking at both sides is the best way to go. After looking at your post I thought you were basing your actions solely on your childrens side. My bad, please address the questions above because stories like this happen all the time.
January 28th, 2010 at 2:45 PM ^
I guess we are coming at this from different directions. You are looking at it as a coach and I am looking at it as a father.
Having been a child who was often in trouble I know there are two sides to every story, and most often the truth lies in between. This is usually true regardless of circumstance.
As a father, if my son came home and told me James Jr.'s version of what happened I would be livid. I would likely hear what the coaches version was as well, and pass that version along to my son to give him an opportunity to clarify the events.
Once I did this I would take my sons version of what happened to be the truth and act accordingly. At this stage it is still he said/she said and as a father I would be in my son's camp, not the coaches. I am quite sure (but not positive) that most parents would do the same under these circumstances.
As a coach, I would never put myself in a situation like this in the first place. As a coach of 16-18 year old young women I am very aware of things like false accusations. I protect myself constantly to insure I am covered in the event some young girl gets upset about playing time and decides to make it personal.
This has happened only once in my eight years and the parents took the side of the child (as they should IME) but because I never allowed myself to ever be alone with any players and always had a female manager present the investigation got to the truth and I was cleared.
Unless the child is a pathalogical liar, I can't see any scenario where a parent should not defend their child until it is proven their stories were lies. Maybe that's just me, but that is MHE.
January 28th, 2010 at 6:14 PM ^
During my 2009 baseball season there was a parent who was having issues with their sons playing time, and he was wondering why I wasn't playing him enough. So this father pulled me aside and asked me a few questions about why he wasn't playing.
Then about two weeks later this parent calls me up and puts me on the spot, he says the following "my son came home and went straight to bed last night, he didn't eat or anything. The next morning we asked him what was wrong and he said that Coach *** (me) was not playing him in baseball games because the parents had a conversation with me".
He then told his parents that I told him this straight to his face. This never happened and in a small community this kind of stuff can get around. I have seen students take stories and run with them and that is my only point.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:09 PM ^
Well ESPN did report this, perhaps just a bit late...
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4865197