The performance put on by Interim Head Coach Ruffin McNeill and the Texas Tech Football Team in their 41-31 win over Michigan St. in the Valero Alamo Bowl was fantastic. However, some of the Red Raider fans at the game who booed embattled Tech WR Adam James indicates just how much, or how little, the Red Raider fans use their heads in processing the events involving James and fired Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach.
Unless you've been living in a cave, you by now know something about how Leach ordered that one of his players, Sophomore WR Adam James, to be locked in an electrical closet for at least a couple of hours since James was unable to practice due to a concussion. There is no doubt that this was done. Several of James' teammates, including Offensive Lineman Brandon Carter, have supported James through all of this. In the words of Carter, "this is just the first time someone stepped forward. I don't want fans thinking that Adam James did this because he was upset but it was just kind of the last straw, and sooner or later something was going to come out", Carter said. " This is the first situation that someone spoke up about."
According to what Carter is saying, there have been other instances of mistreatment of players on the part of Leach. More evidence to support this came from the Texas Tech Administration, as they released a signed, sworn affidavit from an athletic trainer, Steve Pincock, who said that Leach instructed him to lock James in a dark place and that he disagreed with Leach's treatment of James after the player was diagnosed with a concussion.
I wonder, how does locking a player in a dark room help him heal from a concussion? That sounds extremely strange. James sent a cell phone video which was obtained by ESPN. ESPN showed it on Sports center and it does show James was locked in a room that was mostly dark. As has been well documented, the administration investigated the matter and suspended Leach indefinitely. Leach ten filed a restraining order so he could coach in the Valero Alamo Bowl. He was then fired 2 days after the suspension as a result of him suing Texas Tech and due to the fact that the university found that mistreatment of James had occurred. All thsi you know about.
Other evidence pointing to Leach's guilt and deserved termination comes from Dr. Michael Phy, who said in a sworn affidavit that James "may not have been harmed," but he "considered this practice inappropriate, and a deviation from the medical standard of care."
If the Texas Tech fans would just step back, look at, and weigh the evidence, they will see that Leach crossed the line. Whether Adam James is "lazy", as Leach told ESPN's Reece Davis on a nationally televised interview, is not the issue here. The issue is did Mike Leach cross the line in how he treated James. The evidence show s that he did. Steve Pincock, the athletic trainer mentioned earlier, said in a sworn affidavit that "Leach told me to place James in a dark place near the practice field." Pincock also said that he told James he was "sorry for having to place him in a dark shed but these were Leach's instructions. I do not agree with this form of treatment for anyone, and I discussed this with James."
The fact that James's family, including his father, ESPN analyst Craig James, has been receiving death threats over this event, is nothing short of insanity. Also, some Leach supporters at the Alamo Bowl had little baby-sized t-shirts containing derisive statements directed at James. He didn't play in the game because of the concussion, but it's a good thing he didn't play anyway because I don't think he, or the rest of the team, would have been able to concentrate on making the necessary plays. In a nut shell, the evidence compiled by the university's investigation through it's interviewing of the witnesses involved, shows that Leach was in the wrong. The Texas Tech fans need to shut up and leave James alone. The only thing he is guilty of is standing up for himself and telling the world that he was done wrong. If Leach wasn't winning, the fans would have no problem with him being fired over this. Again, we come back to the quotes made by legendary Green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardy: "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing". That is all that most Texas Tech fans seem to care about. Some information for this blog was obtained from http://www.espn.com/.
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