Odds and Ends
Just In Case You Weren't Sure
This is the offseason. Fortunately, we had Leach vs. Sherman to keep us occupied for a good week after the NFL Draft, but now . . . crickets. Whatever I can find, I'll post, but as the saying goes, some days chickens, some days feathers.
Texas Tech Football
Michael Crabtree Knows He Has Big Shoes to Fill
Sporting News' Bill Eichenberger sits down with Michael Crabtree after the draft and the comparisons to former 49er, Jerry Rice have started:
Q: How do you feel about playing for the same team and at the same position as Jerry Rice, widely considered the greatest wide receiver of all time?
A: I know I have some big shoes to fill. I'm looking forward to that, too.Q: Will you be comfortable if 49ers fans start comparing you to Rice?
A: It's a privilege to be compared to him. He's a great player, if not the best receiver to play the game. I just take all of that in and try to get better every day.Q: Have you met Rice?
A: I met him at Deion Sanders' place. He came to my cousin's house when I was doing the whole agent search thing. He's a good guy, behind the scenes.Q: Did he give you any advice?
A: We didn't really talk about football. Mainly it was about off-the-field things. He just told me to keep working hard and keep a level head.
Big 12 South = Pretty Good
The Waco Tribune-Herald's John Werner writes that the Big 12 is still loaded despite the losses to the NFL and Captain Mike Leach thinks that the Big 12 South will be pretty good:
"I think there will be four South teams in the top 20 and three in the top 10," Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said in a recent Big 12 coaches call. "This league is going to continue to be very difficult. You better be ready to play every week in this division."
Harrell and Leach vs. Mangini
The Sporting News' Mike Florio talks with Graham Harrell regarding the Leach vs. Mangini quotes. Here's Harrell:
"Coach [Leach] is just supporting his players and wants the best for them," Harrell recently told Sporting News Radio's The Monty Show."I haven't really heard all the things he's said . . . I had a friend from Lubbock call me yesterday and say that coach is saying some crazy stuff right now, but that's just him and he wants the best for his guys and he feels like he's spent a lot of time with us and wants the best for us. He's being very supportive and sometimes he does it in interesting ways."
Snip
"It's nice to have the guy that you spent five years with wanting the best for you and pulling for you and hoping that other people will kind of see what he saw in us," Harrell said. "And like I said it's great that he supports us, he just does it in interesting ways and more controversial ways than other people."