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Texas Tech fires Leach after player accusations
MSNBC ^ | 12-30-09 | AP

Posted on 12/30/2009 11:01:42 AM PST by Carbonsteel

LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech fired coach Mike Leach on Wednesday, just two days after he was suspended by the school as it investigated his treatment of a player with a concussion.


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: coach; fired; mikeleach; texastech
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To: deport

I realize Wikipedia isn’t the most trusted source but you can verify what’s posted, Knight’s past has been well documented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Knight

Btw, I am a fan of both Coach Knight and Coach Leach. I just find it hypocritical that the man who hired Knight after his well-documented past would fire Mike Leach for something that seems very minor compared to Knight’s history.


21 posted on 12/30/2009 11:43:21 AM PST by Alcibiades ("First come smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire"--Roland Deschain)
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To: Alcibiades

I’m not defending Leach either but was curious as to what you thought was out of Knight’s playbook. I’m not sure that Leach did anything that was necessarily out of bounds but I don’t know the details and haven’t really followed the story.


22 posted on 12/30/2009 11:46:04 AM PST by deport (63 DAYS UNTIL THE TEXAS PRIMARY....... MARCH 2, 2010)
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To: Alcibiades

“Btw, I am a fan of both Coach Knight and Coach Leach. I just find it hypocritical that the man who hired Knight after his well-documented past would fire Mike Leach for something that seems very minor compared to Knight’s history.”

To my knowledge, Knight never endangered a player’s life by using methods banned by international torture treaty, or punished him for being injured. Those are the accusations against Leach, and given the lawyer’s statements in the past 2 days, I’d say that they indeed did happen.

And, yes, Knight’s style of leadership belongs to days gone by too. Keady at Purdue was worse, and Heathcoat at MSU was just as bad I think. You’ll note that coach — if not leadership styles everywhere — are much different now.

Different, as Leach just found out.


23 posted on 12/30/2009 11:51:02 AM PST by TWohlford
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To: deport

“I’m not sure that Leach did anything that was necessarily out of bounds but I don’t know the details and haven’t really followed the story.”

Even if Knight (and other coaches of his era) did nasty things to players, such isn’t allowed now. Woody Hayes can’t be punching opposing players on the sideline, for instance.

The story is that this player was told to stay away from practice by doctors. To “punish” the kid, he was locked in solitary confinement in non-residential places (ie, cleaning closet?), in the dark, and told to stand there, not leaning on anything. If that would’ve happened at Gitmo then we’d be hearing about it on the nightly news (like the hooded guy w/ his arms out?).

It might’ve happened in the past, but it cannot happen now. And, even if Knight did that in the past, it doesn’t make it right (now or then).


24 posted on 12/30/2009 11:55:15 AM PST by TWohlford
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To: TWohlford
Key words.....

"The story is".....

We shall see what the real "story" is.....

Maybe we will get it.........

25 posted on 12/30/2009 11:58:05 AM PST by Osage Orange (Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It)
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To: TWohlford
Two sides to every story and this one may have many more than two.

The "closet" as it is called is actually the media room in which the coach is interviewed. The 'Shed" was an equipment building where they kept four wheelers and other equipment. Neither were little confined spaces.


26 posted on 12/30/2009 12:01:43 PM PST by deport (63 DAYS UNTIL THE TEXAS PRIMARY....... MARCH 2, 2010)
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To: Osage Orange

“The story is”.....

I knew Leach was a goner when this lawyers confirmed, albeit in spin (”the room wasn’t THAT bad” and “Those undergrads were pre-med students”) that these things had happened.


27 posted on 12/30/2009 12:02:00 PM PST by TWohlford
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To: deport

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/12720267/suspended-leach-seeks-court-order-to-coach-alamo-bowl

Basically, he gave a scholarship to the son of an ex-nfl player and the son was a problem child. When the kid got a note from a team doctor saying he had a concussion and had to wear sunglasses to practice Leach sent him to a garage and later a “media room”.

Story is pretty slanted either pro or anti Leach. The article I linked seems to be one of the least biased. The kid’s dad works for Espn so over there Leach sent Jr. to a closet and confined him because he had a concussion. Local TV footage of the “closet” show it as a one car garage with some equipment in it and are trying to show that Jr was a team cancer.

My personal opinion is that the AD fired Leach when he lawyered up and pressed the university so he could coach during the Alamo Bowl instead of just keeping this “in house”. Leach and the AD had a pretty big battle over Leach’s salary last summer.


28 posted on 12/30/2009 12:02:23 PM PST by Alcibiades ("First come smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire"--Roland Deschain)
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To: Trust but Verify; max americana
I don’t know if what he sis was a firing offense or not, but he lost me when he went to court to make TT allow him to coach during the bowl game.

His contract gave him an $800,000 bonus if he was head coach on December 31.

29 posted on 12/30/2009 12:03:01 PM PST by fso301
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To: Carbonsteel
The wussification of the military and college sports?Thank you feminism for the neutering of the American male.Give me a break!!
30 posted on 12/30/2009 12:03:58 PM PST by Apercu ("A man's character is his fate" - Heraclitus)
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To: TWohlford
Yeah....me too.

But that doesn't mean that's what exactly happened.

The Jacoby's probably figured...high profile parent of a player, not a good tale, let's cut our losses here.

My extremely wise pop...said many times...you can be totally right...but be wrong too.

31 posted on 12/30/2009 12:05:58 PM PST by Osage Orange (Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It)
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To: Alcibiades

“My personal opinion is that the AD fired Leach when he lawyered up and pressed the university so he could coach during the Alamo Bowl instead of just keeping this “in house”. Leach and the AD had a pretty big battle over Leach’s salary last summer.”

That, and a $800k bonus?


32 posted on 12/30/2009 12:07:39 PM PST by TWohlford
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To: Osage Orange

“My extremely wise pop...said many times...you can be totally right...but be wrong too.”

I was too late in learning that the CSA (Confederates) won most of the battles in the Civil War, but lost the entire thing.

I’ve won battles in my jobs, but lost my job to people w/ half my abilities ‘cause they were more popular.

Sometimes, you just gotta blend it.


33 posted on 12/30/2009 12:09:34 PM PST by TWohlford
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To: TheThirdRuffian

I’ve been surprised at ESPN’s obvious bias...mostly giving one side of the story (the dad of the athlete works for ESPN).

They did a very short interview with Leach’s lawyer, however, and it was clear Leach could have picked a much better lawyer. The guy sounded slow, not sharp at all.


34 posted on 12/30/2009 12:12:11 PM PST by Cedar
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To: Cedar
They did a very short interview with Leach’s lawyer, however, and it was clear Leach could have picked a much better lawyer. The guy sounded slow, not sharp at all.

Leach has a law degree from Pepperdine University, where he graduated in the top one-third of his class.
35 posted on 12/30/2009 12:17:21 PM PST by Overtaxed Patriot (Lock and load.)
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To: TWohlford

The problem is that the AD hired Knight in 2001 after Knight had been under investigation for what was basically assault and battery that had taken place the prior year.

While I agree that several coaching tactics that were used in the past are now inappropriate and rightly so I don’t think the cut-off date was 2001.

As for the kid’s life being in danger I don’t know enough about concussions to make a comment on that.
How was his life in danger?


36 posted on 12/30/2009 12:21:14 PM PST by Alcibiades ("First come smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire"--Roland Deschain)
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To: deport
Two sides to every story and this one may have many more than two.

Where does the team line up? Will they mail it in for the bowl game? I can't see them playing their hearts out for anybody, although I suppose they will be playing for personal pride.

37 posted on 12/30/2009 12:22:51 PM PST by dr_lew
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To: Carbonsteel
Leach will eventually collect his bonus and more for “career jeopardy” and “unlawful termination”, but only after a long legal battle.

The president of the university should also be canned for such a knee-jerk reaction. Future recruiting will be very difficult.

38 posted on 12/30/2009 12:24:25 PM PST by GoldenPup
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To: TWohlford
Or be your own boss.........

Cheers!!

39 posted on 12/30/2009 12:28:43 PM PST by Osage Orange (Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It)
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To: Carbonsteel

This kind of crap happens all the time in higher education, but usually not at such a visible and high level. The AD wanted to can Leach, and Pansy James gave him an outrageous, if true, story to accuse Leach with. I would bet the real reason has to do with the inability of the AD, Leach, alumni, and others to get along. Also, saving 800,000 bucks may have had something to do with it.


40 posted on 12/30/2009 12:41:42 PM PST by Jay Redhawk
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