Posted on 12/30/2009 1:42:30 PM PST by writer33
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech fired coach Mike Leach on Wednesday, two days after he was suspended by the school as it investigated his treatment of a player with a concussion.
The school handed a termination letter to Leach's attorney, Ted Liggett, minutes before the two sides were to appear in a Lubbock courtroom for a hearing on the coach's suspension.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Despite coming from different backgrounds, Eric Dickerson and Craig James shared similar success before arriving at SMU. Both led their high schools to undefeated 15-0 seasons and state championships as prep seniors in 1978. Once at SMU, they became the heart of one of the most prolific backfields in college football history – “The Pony Express.” • One of the most memorable plays in SMU football history took place on November 13, 1982, when Bobby Leach took a cross-field lateral on a kickoff with 17 seconds left and raced untouched for a 91-yard touchdown to give the Mustangs a 34-27 win over Texas Tech.
What a coincidence!
I hope Leach forces TT to pay him millions for what they did to his image. All to protect a little whiner.
I hope that video report doesn't get deleted.
Yep, TT Football meet toilet.
you are correct. A D.O. is trained in residency programs that train MD's. I have met MDs that aren't very good and DO's that are... and vice versa. The MD are generally thought to have an edge due to the difficulty in getting into medical school. However once you get past school the residency program and clinical skills are where you make your reputation.
Hard work,compassion intellectual curiosity, and a willingness to learn are what make good doctors.
As far as team physicians... same thing. One of the ways to train for "team physician" is through a sports medicine fellowship, but most tend to be orthopedic surgeons for the immediacy of evaluation. However Sports Medicine involves both medical, nutrition, rehab and training disciplines and also demands reading up on stuff not covered by residencies in Orthopedic Surgery, Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine.....
As far as neurological evaluations of football players, they are way behind the curve. But it's money and that's the name of that game. If someone had a concussion and was put in a room, well actually he did him a favor as long as he was checked on regularly. If he didn't play for 30 days and required a neurological evaluation prior to returning to play then he was good to go.
I think Leach p#ssed off a lot of people by the one weakness all great men in authority fail to grasp at times..... no matter how far up you are, "you gotta serve somebody"... and he thought that he was such a good coach he could flip off the board, the regents and anybody that didn't kiss his a##.
He was wrong.
I'm glad, cause I want the Aggies to win and Tech was a pain in the a##.
To Whom It May Concern:
Texas Tech University and the athletic department is filled with great people from the top down, starting with the chancellor all the way down to the student athletes involved in the programs. In the football program, Gerald Myers and the rest of the administration have put together an unbelievable staff that believe success only comes from hard work and doing things right. The staff expects the players and everyone involved to buy into their beliefs, but like anywhere not every player agrees with or buys into what the coaches and program stand for. At Texas Tech the majority of the players do everything the coaches ask of them and anything possible to improve the team. Adam James is one of the few players who has never bought into what Texas Tech football was built on and in my years there with him had a negative impact on the team because of his attitude and work ethic on and off the field. Coach Leach demands a lot out of every player in the program and pushed his players and coaches as hard as any coach I have ever been around, but he is fair to every player and would never make and decision or action that is not best for the Texas Tech football program.
Before Adam James ever entered the football locker room at Texas Tech I heard how spoiled and selfish he acted in a team atmosphere from many of my baseball friends. Adam was on the baseball team his true freshman year at Tech, before he ever joined the football team, and did not make it through the baseball season because of his selfish attitude. After a baseball game in which he felt like he did not get enough playing time, but the team still won twenty to one, he came into the locker room after the game and “pouted and threw a big fit” according another player on the baseball team. A few weeks later in the middle of the season, he just stopped showing up to practices or game and quit because he was not happy about how he was being treated. One of my roommates was a baseball player on the team and many of my friends were a part of the team that witnessed all of this. These baseball players told me he was “spoiled and selfish” before he ever came to the football team. After quitting baseball he came out for football and his selfish attitude was very evident, as was his laziness. During off-season workouts he often would be caught skipping lifts in the weight room or finding ways to cut corners/get out of conditioning exercises. When we had player organized seven on seven throwing in the summer, when he would show up he was much more interested in playing his own games on the side of the field or telling people that he wasn’t going to run any routes because the coaches do not get him a “fair opportunity” anyway. During the season he was often “injured” (it usually seemed like a very minor injury that could keep him out of practice but never out of any other activity, including games) so he would not participate in some drills in practice. None of these acts were productive for our team, but the most detrimental part of Adam was his off field attitude and actions. In the locker room and away from the facility, Adam used any opportunity he had to tell other players how he was being treated unfairly, how the coaches did not give him a fair chance and how we did not have to do everything the coaches told us because they had no option but to play some of us. When I heard these kinds of things I usually tried to put an end to them but Adam pretty consistently talked bad about the coaches or down played the importance of working hard, when he was off the field. When he talked to young players or players that were usually on the scout he would explain how the coaches were not fair to certain players and only played favorites. When he talked to players that did get some playing time he would talk about how we didn’t really have to do what the coaches asked of us because the coaches had to play us anyway. And it almost always tied back to how he was not getting a fair chance to play just because the coaches were unfair. The coaches were always more than fair to Adam I felt, because he came in the game during certain formations and situations last football season, but because of his work ethic and attitude, many of the players on last years team had a hard time trusting him or relying on him because he was not always practicing and we had seen his laziness during the off-season. Adam was a kid that seemed like he had been given everything he wanted his whole life and acted like if things did not go exactly how he wanted someone was treating him unfairly or someone needed to be blamed for his failures. He was a selfish player on and off the field that was counter-productive for our team and would be for any other team.
Mike Leach was not only my head coach, but he was my position coach all five of my years at Texas Tech. I spent more time with him than any other player during my five years and had meetings with him every day. He was very hard on me and every other player in program and he held very high expectations for every player. He would push us all every day during the season and during the off-season. He felt that hard work, dedication and doing things right was the only way we could be successful and compete in the Big XII conference. He worked harder and longer than anyone else in program and was committed to winning at all cost. He would never have been unfair to a player or not played the best players he had because he wanted to win more than anything else. Coach Leach also expected us to be tough but smart at the same time. He would not pressure a kid to play with a serious injury or play when he did not feel ready to play. Coach Leach is a man that cares about his player and puts his players, coaches and the well being of the Texas Tech football program above all else.
Coach Leach is a great coach at Texas Tech that emphasizes the importance of hard work and doing things the right way so that the football program has the best opportunity possible to be successful. He, along with the administration and the rest of his staff, have built a great football program at Texas Tech that is built on the virtues and principles that give any program an opportunity to be successful. Every single player may not buy into the program’s beliefs, but Mike Leach has almost everyone on board with him and the Texas Tech football program on a successful track.
Graham Harrell
One of my husband’s favorite phrases goes along with that funny comment: Wash the sand out of your vagina - I think his drill instructor used to say that...
This put my wife in stitches. :) :)
HTV, one can only speculate. I doubt they are close kin.
Bobby Leach of SMU fame is black, so probably a common ancestor goes way back.
This may not have been ALL about him; but he certainly was at the epicenter and it looks that way to me.
However, the AD may have a secret agenda as well, they usually do.
surprisingly enough, I found out a few years ago that you can qualify for unemployment benefits if you have been fired... in Colorado, anyway.
Uh, it was two large rooms, one of which was a media center they used for post-game interviews ....
I know, but I was making a joke.
Poor, biased coverage by ESPN in my estimation ...
Room #1 (espn "shed") - looks like a 20x40 or 25x50 room
Room #2 (espn "wire closet") - nice media room for visiting coaches
I say the kid, and his dad, are spoiled brats.
I also believe ESPN should have muzzled Craig James on the air tonight at the Nebraska-Arizona game unless they could get a live interview with Leach. Allowing Craig to spout off was clearly biased ...
video link clearly showing the rooms can be found here. Take a look.
You have seen the room called the “electrical closet” right? It is the media room where the opposing coach gives his press conference.
Maybe, if people wait for facts before making determinations, incidents like this would not be so prevalent.
Please ignore my previous post, I did not know you were joking.
Your guess is so far off base.
My dad was an orthopod who loved the DOs. He taught them surgery alongside the MDs. They have their place. But remember that their basic training, their view of the world, is different than is that of the MD. I would have made the same comment about any GP deciding that it was okay for someone to play who had a concussion. The understanding of what shaking does to the brain is just now becoming clear. The risks are too high and the death rate too great just to show that you can ‘man up’. A neurologist should be making the call, period.
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