Love me some Leach
I’ve never hidden the fact that I love Mike Leach.
The reason: the Texas Tech coach speaks his mind.
The good news: he actually has something intelligent in there to talk about.
Leach is not only candid but also smart in what he has to say. Some coaches run their mouth because they have a platform, but nothing substantial comes out. Leach, on the other hand, is always coming up with something worth sitting up and paying attention.
His latest focused on the officiating crew during Tech’s game at Texas. Leach railed after the game Saturday about how the referee is an Austin resident. Perhaps it escaped Mike that there was a Lubbock resident on the crew, too. Perhaps it also escaped him that he wasn’t exactly complaining about the refs two years ago when Tech beat OU with a disputed last-second touchdown.
Sigh.
I never said the guy was perfect.
Anyway, Leach has sparked a debate about officiating, and I say it’s great. The Big 12 — and every conference — needs to look at its rules for officials. Why not do away with the practice of officials calling games involving teams where they live?
I know that similar rules exist for other situation. Richard Brown is a Big 12 football official. He’s usually in the umpire spot. His daughter, Brittney, played basketball until last season at OU, and while she was a Sooner, he did not call an OU football game.
Could he have been fair in a game involving the Sooners?
I have no doubt.
But you don’t want to give off even a sense of impropriety. Why risk it? Why chance it?
The same can be said of having officials from Big 12 cities call games involving those teams. Eliminating seems a lot easier than answering questions about the officials’ validity.
I’m not saying that the guys who called Saturday’s Tech-Texas game had it in for the Red Raiders. My father was a long time basketball referee, and I know from watching him that officials have too much pride, too much care for the integrity of the game to willfully try to screw up a call.
Keeping officials from a conference city from calling a game involving their hometown team is an easy fix. Being a referee is a hard enough job, though. Why not make it a little easier on these guys by taking out any hint of funny business?
Miles v. Stoops: Count me in
Another Monday, friends. Another video commentary.
Watch it here, or read it below:
Could the madness of this college football season end with something so perfect, so cosmic that it makes sense of the craziness?
If LSU and Oklahoma play it will.
Les Miles vs. Bob Stoops.
Would that be perfect, or what?
The two coaches traded verbal jabs time and again before Miles left OSU for LSU. They had more barbs than a livestock fence.
After OSU beat OU 16-13 in 2001, Miles said the Cowboys should’ve won by more.
Stoops shot back by saying some people are satisfied with four wins.
The Cowboys, by the way, just happened to finish 4-7 that season.
A couple years later, Miles said of the Sooners, “They’re the best team in college football, we’re told.”
After the Sooners throttled the Cowboys 52-9 in Norman, Stoops was less than warm during the coaches’ post-game mid-field handshake. The Sooner coach later said, “I was professional. I said good game. That’s all I need to say. I don’t need to hear his opinion about anything.”
Oh, it’s been rich, rich stuff between these two.
Most coaches walk on eggshells these days. Miles and Stoops made scrambled eggs instead.
And it didn’t stop after Miles left OSU for LSU. He still couldn’t resist a little Bedlam trash talking. During one of LSU’s caravan stops two summers ago, Miles was asked a question about OU, LSU’s opponent in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago.
Miles said, “When you guys were playing Oklahoma and I was representing another school, I watched every play and I was so damn happy that LSU won. I look forward to meeting that team again and that coach.”
Stoops fired back a few days later at an OU caravan stop.
“Boy,” Stoops said, “I bet it burned him to see us raise our third Big 12 championship in the last five years since he’s watching us play in these championship games all the time.”
Both Stoops and Miles have tried to insist that they play nice. Miles even said he called Stoops after he took the LSU job and told him what a pleasure it had been to compete against him.
But really, who are these two trying to snow under? Their bad blood runs thick.
Now with LSU at the top of the BCS standings and OU rising higher every week, a national championship showdown seems more likely than ever. Playing for a title would bring its own drama, of course, but wouldn’t it be sweet to have Miles and Stoops back together again?
With so many weeks between the conference championship games and the national championship game, one of them would be sure to slip up. All it would take is one little spark to start the inferno.
Through the madness of this season, a Stoops-Miles showdown might be one thing that makes sense.
OU and LSU have agreed to a home-and-home series beginning in 2018, but we may not have to wait that long for the fun of Stoops v. Miles.
I thought Kansas was a hoops school
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Earlier this week, I spent some time in Lawrence working on a story about Kansas football.
Kansas football?
Yep, Kansas football.
Isn’t Kansas a basketball school? I think so, but folks are definitely keeping an eye on football this year. The Jayhawks are undefeated, one of only three remaining undefeated teams in the country.
A friend of mine, who’s a big enough KU fan to have basketball and football season tickets, told me that her husband had to remind her about the first exhibition basketball game.
I guarantee that’s never happened before.
Usually by now, thoughts among the Jayhawk faithful have turned to the hardwood. Football, after all, is often a grueling struggle of not just losses but beat downs. Kansas football has been a laughing stock, even among Kansas fans.
The long-standing joke among students has been that football season isthe time you perfected the chants and the cheers for basketball.
Mind you, basketball at Kansas is hardly dead. Students camped out earlier this week for the basketball team’s game. Its exhibition game, that is.
Still, there’s a whole new vibe around football in Lawrence. It wasn’t so many years ago, that the athletic department lured fans to the football team’s home opener with basketball. Back in 2004, it invited fans to come to the football stadium a few hours early. The reason? To watch the basketball team’s exhibition at the University of British Columbia live on the jumbotron. The idea, of course, was for folks to stick around for the football game. Instead, some came for the basketball but left before the football.
Fans aren’t leaving early anymore.
It just underscores what an amazing turnaround Kansas has made. What Mark Mangino, his staff and his players have done is quite an accomplishment.
Now, if KU could just have a basketball team that its football team could be proud of.
A little bulletin board material?
Kansas linebacker James Holt is accustomed to creating havoc on the field.
The Altus High School grad enters this weekend’s game at Oklahoma State ranked second on the team with 67 tackles.
But Tuesday, he created havoc of another kind when he was asked whether he has high school friends at OSU.
“I come from a country town, and Oklahoma State’s like an agricultural school,” Holt said. ”Farmer John-type stuff.”
Farmer John?
Hmmmm, do I smell bulletin board material?
Holt admitted that he’s actually received more messages lately from friends at Oklahoma, not Oklahoma State.
“I’ve actually got a lot more from my OU friends asking us to calm it down,” Holt said. “I guess they’re getting a little nervous, I don’t know.”
Still, Holt expects to see plenty of old Altus High folks in the stands Saturday.
“I’ve got tons of friends there, probably be at the game, might even be wearing blue,” he said. “My OSU friends are just really excited they’re going to get to see me play. They’re real supportive.
“It’ll be fun.”
Is this one in the bank?
Just when you think Oklahoma State has this game in the bag, the Cowboys leave the door open a crack for Texas.
OSU leads by two touchdowns with nine minutes left in the game, and punter Matt Fodge just pinned Texas deep, deep, deep in its own territory. Instead of getting a stop, though, the Cowboys just allowed a 75-yard Jammal Charles run.
Now, Texas is within a touchdown.
Unfortunately, deadline calls, and I’m not going to be able to blog the rest of the game. I hope to check in later tonight.
I still like the Cowboys’ chances, but they need to score right now.
Critical for the Cowboys
Oklahoma State leads Texas by a touchdown.
And the Cowboys are in critical condition.
The Longhorns have scored on their last two possessions, and with the ball and five minutes remaining in the first half, they had a chance to tie the score heading to the locker room.
The Cowboys needed a stop.
And they just got one.
But now, they need to go score. Having only a touchdown lead against Texas isn’t enough. With four minutes until halftime, OSU has plenty of time to get into the end zone. Having a two-touchdown lead will be a huge psychological boost in a series that has been earmarked by big second-half comebacks by Texas.
In the past four games in the series, Texas has outscored OSU 137-7 in the second half.
The Cowboys need to build a double-digit cushion stat.
Where are the hands?
Oklahoma State’s pass catchers aren’t entirely living up to their name today.
Adarius Bowman and Brandon Pettigrew have both dropped passes in the past couple minutes against Texas. It’s one thing to miss a ball in traffic, but Bowman was in the open field and Pettigrew had only one defender close to him. Those guys are supposed to be sure hands, and in big games like this, your big-time players have to make plays.
By the way, the drive in which they had their drops stalled after Jason Ricks missed a 54-yard field goal. Now, Texas has the ball back with a chance to cut OSU’s lead to a touchdown before halftime.
If they make those catches, who knows?
The Cowboys could’ve extended their lead to three touchdowns. Now, this game may be closer than it should be for Cowboy comfort.
Stay tuned.
Boone Dock shaking
Boone Pickens Stadium is literally rocking this afternoon.
When Jacob Lacey intercepted a Colt McCoy pass, Oklahoma State’s stadium actually moved. For good reason. Lacey returned the pick for six, and the Cowboys took a two-touchdown lead less than three minutes into the game.
Granted, we’ve seen this before, OSU getting out to a big lead on Texas.
But this Texas team looks less than capable to come back from a big deficit. OSU’s offense drove down the field easily on its first possession. The Cowboys picked up yards in big chunks.
Now after another Texas turnover, OSU is driving again.
Could be a long day — for the Longhorns.
Bad sign in the Big Easy
The Hornets returned to New Orleans on Wednesday.
How’d it go?
Check out my video commentary or read here:
I want to believe that the Hornets will work in New Orleans.
After all that city has been through, it deserves to have something go well. The Hornets have a stout squad, a team that has all the earmarks of a playoff team. I hope that the Big Easy has a chance to experience that fun and that excitement this season.
I want the best for the Hornets there.
But after Wednesday night, I’m worried about their chances.
Wednesday was opening night for the Hornets. They tipped off the 2007-08 season in New Orleans, their first full season back in the Big Easy since Hurricane Katrina blew them all the way to Oklahoma City.
The opener was on Oklahoma City cable television, just as another 24 games will be this season. I tuned in about mid-way through the second quarter.
The first thing that struck me was how much it looked at first glance like Oklahoma City. The floor is the same, save the name of the city along the baseline. The uniforms are the same, save the city on the front.
But that first-blush reaction was quickly replaced by another.
“There’s no one there,” I said out loud to the television.
OK, so there were probably 10 or 12 thousand folks there, and Hornets owner George Shinn said during a halftime interview that the game was a near sellout. There were lots of empty seats, though. Shinn attributed that to Halloween parties, no doubt a big deal in a city that never passes on a chance to party.
Still, the no-shows were concerning. The sections behind the benches looked more empty than full. The crowds in the upper deck looked sparse as well.
That is not a good sign on opening night. That is one of those nights that almost every team packs the arena.
Not the Hornets.
Maybe Shinn was right. Maybe the answer was as easy as the Halloween holiday. Maybe the crowds will come for the other 40 games the Hornets have at home.
For their sake, I hope so.
But the truth is, the Hornets are facing an uphill battle. The rebuilding in New Orleans continues, and that includes being able to support an NBA team. It isn’t the most important thing happening there. Not even close. Schools and houses and security are paramount.
Thing is if the Hornets can survive in New Orleans, it would be a great sign of how far the city has come and how healthy the area is. It will take time, but for the sake of the city and the team, I hope that opening night is just the beginning, not a sign of things to come.
