Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Avast ye coaching, matey!

Well, the Pirate-King is out in Lubbock. Nobody should really be surprised by this. You can claim "innocent until proven guilty" all you want, but the fact of the matter is, no one EVER denied the accusations. Leach and his lawyer just tried to justify and explain them away. Not exactly the actions of an innocent man, huh? I tell you what, I'd throw out the whole damn staff - they're all culpable in this. Leach said he would never "never intentionally harm or endanger a player," but we obviously can't by that. Apparently in his world, putting a concussed kid in a shed* is not harmful. WTF? Funny side note: The University delivered the termination message as the two sides entered the Lubbock courthouse for a cease and desist order on Leach's suspension. Well, I guess he won that one...
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* It can be argued it was not a "shed," as much as a luxury garage suite. Well, it looks exactly like the building my family parked our tractor in growing up. know what we called it? A mother-fuckin' shed!
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UPDATE: There are a lot of folks rallying around Leach right now - but I'm worried about the reasons why. I've seen things like "spoiled brat"," snot-nosed kid", "helicopter parent" and wanting them "put in their place". Look, I don't like any of those things more than anyone else, but shed confinement is not appropriate, period. To think otherwise seems immature or ill-informed or, honestly, both. I'm not saying you have to agree with me, but at least acknowledge that what Leach did was wrong. He admits to using the shed as confinement space but says it wasn't punishment or intended to be harmful, punitive, or embarrassing for James. But, then the assistant coach comes out and says that James was dogging it. So? If a player slacks off, use team punishments, extra assignments, or even cut his ass. Those are all legal measures. Do not, as the Moviegoer put it, go all "VC Andrews" on the kid. Maybe Tech was just looking for a reason to get out of a poisonous relationship with an iconoclast coach, but Leach didn't help his case by resorting to border-line illegal measures to prove a point.
UPDATE 1-a: Case in Point.
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UPDATE 2: Also, this is not just "tough coaching." Football is a tough sport and it requires a certain mental and emotional toughness, as well as physical. But there's a difference between the yelling, down-dressings, stadium stairs, up-downs, etc. and what Leach did. Nobody batted an eye when Mangino got tossed for inappropriate comments, but we're all rallying around Leach like he's a goddamned saint. I just don't get it.
UPDATE 2-a: And it's always fun to pile on Coach Fran if we can!
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UPDATE 3: Holy Shit this is Hilarious.

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