Tech’s former Lead Pirate, Mike Leach, is back in the news. The A-J reports that Leach will be in town Friday to give his first put your hand on the Bible and tell the whole truth statements about his firing. Not only will Leach be giving his side of the story but other Tech officials like Chancellor Kent Hance are expected to put their statements down for history as well. Of course if this thing gets settled in the next few weeks like some still believe we’ll probably never get to see the statements. Probably.

I say that because conventional wisdom has been thrown out the window when it comes to this story. Leach has taken a much more aggressive stance than most fired coaches ever do and Texas Tech seems firmly entrenched and more than willing to let this play out in court confident that they’ve got the facts on their side. That’s what makes this so interesting to watch.

The element of the story about Leach this week that has tongues wagging is that his legal team is apparently seeking records from Frenship I.S.D. about Tommy Tuberville’s childrens’ enrollment status. In other words, when did they show up and did it pre-date Leach’s firing.

Some view this as a thinly-veiled attempt to smear Tech and Tuberville and encourage more conspiracy thinking on the part of the Team Leachers that think Leach’s firing and Tuberville’s hiring had been pre-ordained in the Old Testament. To some it wreaks of a desperate fishing expedition by a desperate legal team that knows they don’t have a chance in court so they’ll try to go scorched-earth in the media.

Then there are those that think it is a shrewd move to force Tech’s hand to hand over the cash and scare them out of a trial.

Some one’s got to be right, some one’s got to be wrong here.

Either way, if it does settle and there is no releasing of details, both sides will claim the other side caved in and that they won. They’ll also claim their disappointed the “facts” never came out, but they have to abide by the decision of the court. That’s why so many want this to go to trial. I still think those folks will be left wanting more, much more, at the end of the day.

By the way, if you’re looking for good comedy you’ve got to read the comment section after the A-J story on Leach. I worry about some of those folks, I truly do.

MORE LATER ON THE SHOW

Hyatt

Congrats to Coach Leland Bearden and his Smyer girls squad for winning the State Title with a very young team. Great to see the South Plains represented so well once again down in Austin at The Big House. There isn’t a ton of high-level DI talent out there in West Texas these days like we saw ten or fifteen years ago. The college game has changed and the high school coaching has gotten better around the state while more and more quality female athletes are choosing to play sports. That said, Texas Tech and Kristy Curry can count on the best of the best either already coming to Tech or on the line ready to make the move in future years. That’s a good thing.

Tech Baseball got the kind of pitching it takes to beat Rice Saturday night but not nearly enough from the bats. It is like a bad movie that keeps showing up at night on cable. Rice beats Tech. Again.

It doesn’t seem to matter if it is Larry Hays, Dan Spencer or Casey Stengel in the dugout for the Red Raiders, Rice figures out a way to win. Usually it has something to do with talent, by the way. Tech pitcher Bobby Doran got the start and for a second straight game proved he’s got plus stuff, but again came away with a loss as the bats went missing.

This Tech lineup stretches out a little better than last year but it is still in big need of some power that pitchers will be afraid to challenge and pitch to. Spencer’s got this bunch on the upswing but they still have a long ways to go.

Meanwhile there was the Tech men getting stomped in Colorado. That is seven straight losses if you’re scoring at home. I wish I could give you something encouraging but I can’t. I really think they’re a more athletic team that should have competed better against lower to middle level competition in the Big 12. For the most part they haven’t. Pat Knight is going to have to make a major commitment to getting in top high school talent and coaching them up. The JuCo route hasn’t worked and for the most part it won’t work. The question now will become: Does Knight have enough time to get high school players in and turn things around before a new Athletic Director decides to make a change? Answer: I don’t know.

Enjoy the rain on the South Plains today. It should put everyone in a great mood.

HYATT

http://twitter.com/RyanHyattWHShow

You’ll get updates on The Show, where we are going to be live and any special deals that might be out there for ya. Not only that but you can see who we follow and find out how much is too much information as we boldly go where so many are already boldly going.

See ya there.

Dan Spencer’s bunch took it on the chin Friday at Minute Maid Park in Houston getting stomped by TCU 11-2. The 7th ranked Frogs knocked around Chad Bettis pretty good, making it two starts in a row that Bettis hasn’t really looked, well, Bettis-like. Even in a win last week at home over Bethune-Cookman Bettis was tough on himself afterwards for not pitching better. After seeing Tech last week at home struggle against Washington State’s second and third line pitching I was more worried about the Red Raider bats than Bettis against TCU. Turns out it should have been both.

Today talented Bobby Doran takes the mound for Tech. He pitched well enough to beat a lot of teams last weekend at home against Washington State. Spencer probably left him in a few batters too long as his pitch count had mounted up to three digits before his exit. Doran has quality stuff and should be able to get Big 12 hitters out. One thing he must do better today than last week is get out of innings and finish off hitters. Sounds easy but it is something a lot of younger guys have trouble with.

Last week his game was like a round of golf where you have one blow-up hole each nine and it keeps you from scoring well. Doran had a batter each inning that gave him trouble, sometimes with two strikes, sometimes with two outs but each time making him throw more pitches and cost him a chance to go deeper in the game.

If Doran can close out innings quickly in the first three today he’s got a chance to give Tech a shot at beating Rice, something that should be savored any time, any place. If Doran struggles early the Tech pen has already shown that it just isn’t that deep right now and Saturday will be a long day if Spencer has to go to it in the middle innings.

Either way, wish I was down in Houston ( I never say that ) to watch this one.

DoubleTNation has a good breakdown as well today so make sure you drop by their site and say hello!.

MORE LATER

HYATT

5 Things

1. Baylor University has no code, no honor and has now officially exposed how they operate in the realm of college athletics. Winning matters more than anything else. Their handling of Brittney Griner’s criminal act in Lubbock has cost them any credibility they have moving forward. To say the things Kim Mulkey said Wednesday night about taking it seriously and then giving Griner only one game is a joke and should be viewed that way by fans and media alike. Anything they say and do will ring hollow with me from now on.

2. The Big 12 Conference and commissioner Dan Beebe also have no honor or code today. To blithely go along with the one-game suspension and even praise it is the utmost in abdication of responsibility. This of course is nothing new for the Big 12 “leadership”.  The next time there is an instance of violence on the court in the Big 12 you can lay the accountability right at the feet of Beebe and his office. They seem to care more that the 6′8″ super-freshman makes headlines in the NCAA Tournament and generate money and exposure for the league than they do about fair-play. The Big 12 can now quit running those TV PSA’s about sportsmanship during the games by the way. They are meaningless.

3.  I have many folks that I consider to be good people and good friends that surround the Baylor women’s basketball program. I hate for them that they get lumped in with this sad chapter. They are better people than those making the decisions.

4.  It is a shame Kim Mulkey didn’t learn much from Marsha Sharp’s suspension of Lady Raider Plenette Pierson for a full year in 2001-2002 for doing much less than punching another player. Mulkey says that you shouldn’t define Griner by one act, but it is Griner that is defining who she is right now by her actions and Mulkey, Baylor and the Big 12 are affirming to Griner that it really isn’t a big deal. Sharp on the other hand sent a message to Pierson that Pierson accepted and grew from. Pierson would not have had a WNBA career or a trip the next year to the Elite Eight if Sharp had blindly allowed her to continue to self-destruct and destroy a team.

Mulkey on the other hand will enable Griner to continue down a path that won’t serve her or Baylor women’s basketball well in the near future. I am beginning to think that Griner will be the first two-and-done player in the Big 12 and will seek her employment in the WNBA after another tumultuous season next year. Heck even Kristy Curry, a coach with a job on the line, sat down sophomore Kierra Mallard for five games for having a bad attitude in a year where Curry really needed her. Curry wasn’t willing to compromise her values though to win. . .

5.  Since Baylor and the Big 12 have abdicated their responsibility to police the game it is now up to others to do it. I call upon Lubbock County District Attorney Matt Powell to bring misdemeanor assault charges against Baylor’s Brittney Griner. Powell is charged with doing the right thing for the right reasons and this is a clear-cut case of a criminal act taking place in front of thousands of witnesses with video evidence, and resulting bodily harm.  If the league can’t take care of this it is the moral responsibility of the District Attorney to do. After that Griner can face a jury of her peers and perhaps learn from that that her actions weren’t just wrong but criminal as well.

MORE LATER

HYATT

“There’s no place for that in sports,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “I will deal with Brittney Griner and it won’t be discussed in the media. Not me or [Tech coach] Kristy [Curry] or any player will be proud of what took place on the court tonight.”

-Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey

Mulkey is right.

There is no place in basketball or in life for sucker-punching another person. If you weren’t at the Texas Tech Lady Raider game last night against Baylor or you haven’t seen the video of Baylor’s Brittney Griner punching Tech’s Jordan Barncastle in the face then do so. Here’s some light reading for you.
Avalanche-Journal
A-J’s Column
ESPN

I’ve got to be consistent here and demand that the Lubbock County District Attorney’s office look into filing assault charges on Griner. I’ve said for years that athletes should face the same consequences as the guy at the bar if they cross the line of “acceptable risk” in a sporting event. For far too long we’ve excused criminal behavior in the name of sports. Why?

If you can’t do it to another person over a highly competitive game of shuffleboard at The Fox and Hound, why can Griner do it in front of police and others at The United Spirit Arena? It makes no sense and it is time this stupidity in our culture came to an end.

Just like Oregon’s LaGarrette Blount after the Boise State game in football received an initial season long suspension Baylor should do the right thing and sit down Griner for the rest of her freshman year. If they don’t I think we’ll continue to see this be a problem for her and the Bears both on and off the court for years to come.

If Griner can’t learn to handle her emotions now she’ll never serve Baylor or herself well in the future. I have a lot of respect for Kim Mulkey as a coach and I’m quit sure she’ll do the right thing. I wonder if the Big 12 Conference would have the guts to do anything beyond a one game suspension though. . . They hit OU’s Longar Longar a few years back with a two-gamer for a flagrant foul. What does a sucker-punch get you now in this league? We’ll find out.

Coming up later today on The Williams and Hyatt Show we’ll visit with legal experts about the chances of charges being filed against Griner and why or why not athletes get special protection. We may or may not visit with a representative of Lubbock’s D. A. office. That’s developing. See you at 3 on The Fan.

MORE LATER
HYATT

1. Couldn’t have dialed-up a better day to open the college baseball season here in Lubbock with temps in the 60’s this afternoon. The A-J has a good read about Texas Tech pitcher Chad Bettis to whet your appetite today.  Now, if I could just get some real grass at Dan Law Field and replace the metal bats with wood all would be right with the world. Ya, ya, ya, I know why we “can’t” have grass out there when you try to play games in February and I understand the costs of wood bats vs. metal but I can still dream can’t I?

2.  Make fun of his hair and his looks, bag on the baggy jeans if you will but shredder Shaun White could give  a lesson or three to the likes of Tony Romo and many other so-called traditional athletes. Nobody shows up better on the biggest stages than White. He gets it done when it matters most. A rare trait indeed these days in hyped athletes.

3.  I’d pay good money to see this press conference by Tiger Woods rather than the joke that will go on today in Florida.

Thank you Deadspin. Just scroll down to the comments section and read what Azure Texan wrote. Classic. Warning, you might be offended if you get offended by stuff.

4. Red Light cameras still wouldn’t have stopped any of the accidents that happened in Lubbock lately. Sorry.

5. Admit it. Team USA vs. Canada in Olympic hockey will be on your radar screen this weekend whether you like hockey or not. It’ll come in third behind NASCAR’s California race Sunday and Tech/LCU baseball this weekend, but it will be on my radar. I can’t decide whether I should get upset is America gets beat by the godless Canucks or not. It’ll depend on how Tony Stewart does Sunday I suppose. I’ll let you know.

MORE LATER

HYATT