OT-Leach Suspended
Mike Leach suspended indefinately for player treatment.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/ncaa/12/28/ttu-leach.ap/…
December 28th, 2009 at 5:16 PM ^
Maybe Sparty actually has a prayer....
(snicker)
NAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
December 28th, 2009 at 7:35 PM ^
they have a prayer of is the announcers now discussing something other than their off the field issues.
December 28th, 2009 at 7:38 PM ^
Craig James is scheduled to announce the Alamo Bowl. I'm assuming that changes now
December 28th, 2009 at 5:21 PM ^
According to someone on ESPN:
"I'm hearing the player was Adam James, son of Craig James.... Adam had a concussion and Craig wasn't happy with how Leach/Tech handled the situation."
EDIT: Someone the the ESPN message boards this is, not someone actually from ESPN. Which in turn, is still probably more credible than someone reporting from ESPN.
December 28th, 2009 at 5:20 PM ^
Maybe Sparty actually stands a chance now.
I'm not really big on this trend of going after the coaches for "player treatment". Obviously Kansas warranted canning the coach, and I'm on the fence over South Florida (Seeing as how the story keeps changing little by little), but unless this is something Kansas-level, there seems to be a trend going now of making coaching as regulated and upright as high school teaching.
December 28th, 2009 at 5:24 PM ^
are smiling in Lubbock.
December 28th, 2009 at 6:16 PM ^
I am in Lubbock right now. I can confirm this. They are.
December 28th, 2009 at 5:28 PM ^
So you're saying there's a chance...
Damn.
December 28th, 2009 at 6:06 PM ^
I wonder if he made the kid walk the plank.
December 28th, 2009 at 6:12 PM ^
on his team and brought them all into a cave with his gold and blew the openings shut, so no one could ever take his beloved booty. ARGH!
December 28th, 2009 at 11:46 PM ^
(No, seriously guys, I'm stuck in this electrical closet over here... can someone let me out?)
December 29th, 2009 at 1:00 AM ^
Don't you know you can walk a concussion off?!
December 29th, 2009 at 5:57 PM ^
Can Spider-man or Easy Reader save you?
December 28th, 2009 at 6:15 PM ^
So, basically, no one from either team wants any part of this game... coaches, ski-masked players...
December 28th, 2009 at 6:23 PM ^
OH OH... Make The Bad Man STOP!!!!!!
December 28th, 2009 at 6:29 PM ^
When I saw this thread title I thought our own linebacker Leach got suspended. I was thinking to myself... "what a moron. When you're a walkon you don't have any room for error at all!".
December 28th, 2009 at 6:58 PM ^
Ha. Me too. Thankfully, it's not our own walk-on linebacker.
December 28th, 2009 at 8:49 PM ^
with that story.
I'm picturing the Free Press editorial meeting:
("What? MIKE Leach? The Texas Tech Mike Leach? Oh. Well, maybe Michigan's Leach is in trouble, too. And of course that would reflect badly on Rich Rodriguez. Matter of fact, Mike Leach reflects badly on Rich Rodriguez, doesn't he? I think I've got the lede -- TEXAS COACH, USING RICH ROD OFFENSE, IS SUSPENDED FOR ABUSE OF PLAYERS, MUCH AS WE THINK RICH RODRIGUEZ DID...")
December 29th, 2009 at 10:28 AM ^
Kevin Leach only figuratively locks people in electrical closets.
December 28th, 2009 at 10:59 PM ^
I thought "holy crap, we just lost a guy who beat out Mel Kiper's 5th ranked inside LB..."
December 28th, 2009 at 6:44 PM ^
Okay, if this is true and Leach ordered the kid locked in the electrical closet, he deserves some kind of stupid award. Not only did he lock the kid in an electrical closet (dumb) but this kid was the son of a decently high profile ESPN employee (weapons grade stupid).
If this is at all true ESPN is going to shanghai the pirate offense.
December 28th, 2009 at 6:56 PM ^
Mike Leach is annoying.
December 28th, 2009 at 7:14 PM ^
story from espn. It looks like it was indeed Craig James that made the complaint. This is definitely going to get ugly
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls09/news/story?id=4776848
December 29th, 2009 at 12:09 AM ^
Ahh, but the real question here is what is Rick James thinking?
December 29th, 2009 at 12:15 AM ^
Cocaine's a hell of a drug?
December 28th, 2009 at 7:29 PM ^
Edit: nevermind
December 28th, 2009 at 7:48 PM ^
i'm struggling to understand why a electrical closet might be a good thing to put a concussed player in.
December 28th, 2009 at 8:06 PM ^
I didn't know they were using shock therapy for concussions.
Seriously, though, this year we are seeing a disturbing trend. The steroids witch hunt is on its last legs, so the new witch hunt taking its place is the "abusive coach" who "mistreats his players" whenever he even raises his voice.
What I find the most disturbing is that all it takes is a couple of whiny, disgruntled players to complain, and the coaches are automatically "guilty:" not only in the backrooms of universities trying to lessen their potential losses in liability suits, but also in the "court of public opinion." Coaching is a hard enough job without allowing disgruntled players to get coaches fired or suspended.
I'm not condoning true abuse here, but I'm definitely not condoning witch hunts, either. Maybe the NCAA needs to come up with some guidelines for coaches. This could be done without making it the joke that the present situation is.
December 28th, 2009 at 8:23 PM ^
You have a point particularly on the issue of the court of public opinion in sports. Perhaps most especially in college football. We've been through that for the past two years. However, you make mention of guidelines for coaches conduct. The first guideline would be to use common sense. Now, the information is not complete yet with regard to reports that have been released. But, when it comes to a player/patient with a diagnosed concussion, the last place you would want him is in a secluded place where he cannot be monitored. He should have been in a comfortable (key word) place, at home or even in the football facility to rest with someone available who could check on him.
December 28th, 2009 at 8:35 PM ^
I'm actually looking forward to both teams talking about how they are "rallying" around those who are not at the game today - the coach who locked a kid in an electrical closet for being injured vs. a quarter of the starting offense who decided to beat up a frat. Should be scintillating television.
December 28th, 2009 at 9:10 PM ^
According to Awful Announcing, Craig James is slated to call the Alamo Bowl. He has done a good job being impartial while calling Tech games before, which is why he was on this game (he gets to see his son play, while also doing his job). However, with his son being involved in a situation like this, there is no way ESPN can keep him on the game. The conflict of interest has escalated to a new level.
(ESPN, if you happen to be reading this... please put Ron Franklin and Ed Cunningham on the game. They know the Big 12 & Big 10 pretty well, and I know they would handle the game well.)
http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/
December 28th, 2009 at 9:36 PM ^
Mike Leach is fucked. The media is going to kill him, especially with the Craig James factor, Mangino effect and concussions being big news as of late.
He. Is. Fucked.
December 28th, 2009 at 9:51 PM ^
Electrical Closets usually possess high EMF readings which can cause headaches and hallucinations. Discuss.
December 28th, 2009 at 10:14 PM ^
What the hell was he thinking? The son of a former
NFL player and ESPN announcer would be the last
player you'd want to abuse, not that it should
happen to any player. Maybe he thought the hum
of the high tension transformers would have some
therapeutic effect.
I don't think this would be news if it weren't
warranted. I agree, he's F#*ked.
December 28th, 2009 at 10:09 PM ^
Rich Rodriguez does not lock people in closets.
December 28th, 2009 at 10:24 PM ^
That Leach learned this technique from Rich Rod and that it will come out in the NCAA investigation.
December 28th, 2009 at 10:48 PM ^
pretty soon we'll have college coaches handing out lollipops for good practices, and tracking progress with charts marked with happy-face stickers..
lol.. not saying that what Leach did was right.. but with this new witch hunt.. well.. this is the way things will go.
December 29th, 2009 at 9:44 AM ^
Has he read any of the recent news blitz regarding concussions? The fact that he decided to pick on the son of a former NFL player with a national microphone is enough to question his judgment.
What was he thinking? assuming his was thinking
December 29th, 2009 at 12:07 AM ^
Why on earth would Leach do this to someone's with a parent working at a high profile job at ESPN. Makes me think Leach is an idiot.
December 29th, 2009 at 12:21 AM ^
So, um, did Mike James come out of the closet?
Zing!
Anyway, nice to see Leach sent to "timeout" until he's willing to say he's sorry and he won't do it again.
December 29th, 2009 at 2:23 AM ^
Assuming this story as it leaked out slowly today is true, Leach is in one heck of a lot of trouble.
This isn't the 90s anymore.
December 29th, 2009 at 9:47 AM ^
So he was forced to stand in the Texas Tech library... what's so bad about that?
December 29th, 2009 at 10:36 AM ^
texas tech had beaten texas and crabtree was a sweetheart of college football and leach's contract was up and everyone thought the big boys were coming for him. texas tech wrapped him up in a beg new shiny contract.
things are much different now.
December 29th, 2009 at 3:05 PM ^
He was even being asked for dating advice:
BTW, does anyone else think he looks a lot like a younger Bobby Knight?
December 29th, 2009 at 5:25 PM ^
Leach just released his defense. He is going to sue for an injunction to be allowed to coach and get his 800k year end bonus.
His defense is very lawyerly.
1. The kid wasn't confined to the punishment spaces for punishment. The storage areas were selected because they were cool and dry on each day, and the trainer assigned to watch him stand in the middle of the space for the three hours each time was there to assist him if he fell, not to supervise the punishment. "I did not have sex with the woman, she had sex with me."
2. The kid is bad, and his parents are bad. They are bad. The victim is soft. Very soft. Very soft victim. He deserved it.
3. He will sue. He really means it. Lawsuit--here it comes.
Leach is a piece of crap. Not only that, he is a bitch. If you are going to punish a victim for being hurt, be man enough to supervise it yourself.
December 29th, 2009 at 8:43 PM ^
Noir Leather Discipline Bowl?
Too LIttle vs Too Much
December 29th, 2009 at 8:32 PM ^
Rosendouche of FREEP reports that Texas Tech violation due ot the fact that James was confined to the closet for over 20 hours per week? NCAA rules limit confinement to closets to less than 20 hours per week.
NCAA rules do not apply to Rosendouche, he can spend eternity in the closet.
December 30th, 2009 at 1:58 AM ^
Leach is a douche. But I'm pretty irritated with the comments here suggesting that the problem was going after James, since his dad is with ESPN. The implication is that it would be ok to go after someone else. If someone has a concussion, and the doctor says they should sit, the coach shouldn't fight it. You can't mess with concussions. Your health and your life are a lot more important than overlooking a concussion.