Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 04.15.2009

Odds and Ends

Red-Black Spring Game Stuff

I think that I heard on the first hour of Tech Talk yesterday that if you bring something from the Red-Black Spring Game you'll get 1/2 off to the baseball game. Again, feel free to email me if you want to meet up before, during or after the game. Also, the game will be on Fox34 with coverage starting at noon for those of you who don't want to enjoy a beautiful West Texas day.

Texas Tech Football

More on McKinner Dixon's Suspension, Part I

If you're one of those readers that reads the headlines, but doesn't read the content, then please don't do that today. There's a lot more about Dixon.

DT's Alex Ybarra (there's no byline, but I assume it's him) writes about the indefinite suspension of McKinner Dixon. It appears that defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill still believes that the group of defensive linemen he has are going to be just fine:

"We still got big plans," he said. "We got big plans for our team. It's not an individual sport. We love and care about McKinner. We wish him well. I hope everything works out for him. If it does, then coach Leach maybe will consider it. But it's a team thing at Texas Tech. It always has been.

"McKinner did a great job last year. It's unfortunate what you did last year can't count for what you do this year."

McNeill has always been the supporter of both he and Leach, and it's a role that fits him well. Keep reading.

More on McKinner Dixon's Suspension, Part II

I have a little more hope about Dixon's status after reading McNeill's comments, but then I found FWST's Dwain Price blog post on Dixon with some very descriptive language about the suspension from the Captain, Mike Leach:

"He's one of those guys who we jump-start him and it lasts a week, and it's all the same excuses,'' Leach said. "The broken car is his favorite one.

"He's always able to get to Lufkin, but then his car somehow magically always breaks once he's in Lufkin.''

Snip

Dixon, however, is not taking care of his school responsibilities and Leach is fed up with it and he's not taking it any more

"I think he plays a dumb card and I think people buy into it to a point,'' Leach said. "People fall for it, and then he does that every place.''

Leach said if his other players can follow the rules, then so can Dixon.

Meanwhile, McNeill touts Texas Tech's graduation rate, which was done in the comments of yesterday's post:

"We've got one of the top graduation rates in the country,'' McNeill said. "We love you being a great player, but you've got to go to class. That's important.

"He's got to learn the hard way. If he does what we tell him to do he can be on the team. He's got to do what we ask him to do.''

And it appears that McNeill has a little more sympathy (this probably isn't the right word, but I'm using it anyway):

"He's a good kid, but at the same time when you're going to make rules you need to make rules and stand by them,'' McNeill said. "I'd love to have him back, but hopefully he'll learn.

"How much is enough? The team is bigger than an individual.''

If anything, this absolutely confirms what I've thought about the situation, and it's not as if Leach & Co. haven't given Dixon plenty of opportunities to get his act together. I really enjoy having a coach that doesn't mince his words or make excuses.

Neglected Video, Audio and Photos

Fox34 with a long practice report including a look at Victor Hunter's move to defensive tackle as well as a look at Taylor Potts and Seth Doege, and Potts understands that he's got to be the best everyday and if he's not, Leach won't be hesitant to pull him in favor of Doege.

Tech Talk's second hour had a really good interview wih new special teams coach Eric Russell. If you have the time, I highly recommend this.

Texas Tech Baseball

Deep Big 12 Pitching

LAJ's George Watson does a great job of taking a look at the Big 12's deep pitching as well as a number of other notes around the Big 12. Texas Tech's head coach sounds impressed with the quality of the Big 12's pitching, especially in comparison to the Pac-10:

"I can’t believe how much pitching there is in this league," said Texas Tech coach Dan Spencer, who spent several seasons as a pitching coach in the Pac 10. "If you can pitch - even if you’re not as talented as the other club - you can beat them. I’ve been very impressed with the quality of arms and the depth of arms of each of the clubs we’ve played. I’ve never seen it like this in one conference, and that includes the Pac 10 where each team had a first rounder pitching on Friday nights. Nobody had the depth one through six or one through seven that (the Big 12) has shown so far, and that’s why the scores are like they are."