An Attempt to Distract You: This morning, I hope you'll join me in voting for and discussing the first annual "Double-T Nation Post Season Awards". I mentioned that I'm trying to distract you and whenever I thought this was a good idea I never thought that Texas Tech would be looking for a new head coach. This morning, we're voting and commenting on the offensive rookie of the year. Please join me as I try to distract myself from this current mess, if only for a few minutes.
I'll also try to distract you with Boston.com's photo blog, The Big Picture, with photos from New Year's Eve around the world.
If You Missed It: I'd like to try to remind you to take a look at everything new on DTN, but I'm having a tough time keeping pace. Please take note of the general guidelines for DTN per Tech92 (I would only add that I hope our discussions would be something that you would say to each other at a bar having a friendly conversation over a beer. No one expects everyone to agree, but I do expect you to be civil.); LondonRaider's take that Leach's termination was not about concussions (I'm working on a story/post regarding a theory as to why Leach was terminated, but it's taking a little more time, which means that I hope it's worth your time); and my coaching candidates (I'll fully admit that this seems a bit out-dated because I never thought that Texas Tech could afford Art Briles alleged buyout, Tommy Tuberville is going to get an interview and now Tommy Bowdens' name is in the ring).
I'd also like to point out SB Nation's Spencer Hall's post on Bob Davie's coverage of the Alamo Bowl and Craig James courageousness. If these two paragraphs don't entice you to read the whole thing, I don't know what will (hat-tip to Dunka for the FanPost):
On Davie: No one pays him to think, though. He's paid to talk, and on ESPN these can be very different things depending on who's doing the speaking. Davie is known as an announcer these days for ESPN's college football team. He has trademarks. He overemphasizes unimportant words in sentences like this: "The most important thing IN the game is taking care OF the footbaw." He also loves saying the word "footbaw," which would be charming if it didn't make up thirty percent of what he said. Take this sentence from Saturday's broadcast of the Alamo Bowl, for example:
"Texas Tech Footbaw they screen footbaw with the footbaw footbaw footbaw Mike Leach footbaw gosh footbaw."
On James: Courageous. Yes, we remember the time Craig James donated one of his eight kidneys to a sick little girl, all the while refusing to take his eyes off the microscope in the lab where he's curing AIDScancerplague. I personally recall the time Craig James fistfought with the chupacabra to help restore America's pride during the humiliations of NAFTA negotiations back in 1991. Who can forget James punching Hitler in the face at Woodstock Two and saving that girl from getting raped by a Nazi Biker Gang? Let's not even get into the time he saved Christmas with five safety pins and some well-timed macrame.
Go tell Spencer how much you love him.
Coaching Rumors: The rumors and interviews are finally starting to heat up. LAJ's Don Williams and FWST's Dwain Price report on Ruffin McNeill's interview yesterday. McNeill had this to say about the process:
"We’ve known each other, but it was a good chance for them to know me a little bit better," McNeill said. "I thought it went well. I’ve said it before: They’ve got to do what’s in the best interests of Texas Tech. I’d be honored to be the next coach here at Texas Tech."
And I found this admission from President Guy Bailey funny, but in a completely sad way, regarding the input from the team:
"We want their voice heard," Bailey said of Tech players. "Our team handled this situation in a phenomenal way. They did a lot better than any of the rest of us did. We’re real proud of them. We have a lot of great leaders there. We wanted to make sure their voice was heard."
I wonder who Bailey is referring to when he said, "the rest of us"?
LAJ's Don Williams is also reporting that former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville and former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden have thrown their hats in the ring. Tuberville will interview tomorrow, Wednesday, although Myers is quoted by saying that they have not made contact with Bowden just yet. For those of you who want a refresher as to why Bowden resigned, here's a short WWL recap. LAJ'sAdam Zuvanich is also reporting that Arizona offensive coordinator Spike Dykes is interested in the Texas Tech job:
"It’s a special place, and I’ve got a lot of friends there," said Dykes, who’s not been a head coach at any level. "Like anything else, of course you’re interested. You just want to make sure it’s the right situation for your career. I think it just depends on how it plays out."
CollegeFootballTalk reports that SMU's June Jones has come out with a statement in that he's committed to the Mustangs.
Everyone Weighs in on the Football Coach: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes a basketball notebook this morning and head coach Pat Knight throws in his two cents:
"I know people probably want me to be quiet about it," Knight said, "but it’s the state of Texas, no one listens to the basketball coach anyway, and my last name is Knight, so people are used to us speaking our minds. I would love it if Coach Ruffin is the next coach."
. . . F Corbin Ray is still having trouble with the bright lights of the United Spirit Arena due to concussions suffered earlier this year, but he's wearing a hat and not sunglasses (We all find this ironic, right?), but PK had this to say:
"The kid wants to come back and play, but I don’t know," Tech coach Pat Knight said. "I told him he’s got the choice of either redshirting or if you feel like you can play we’ll wait until then, but right now I think we’re a long ways away."
. . . the team is currently ranked 22nd in the AP and not ranked in the coaches' poll . . . PK apologized to SF Theron Jenkins, who was very effective against UTEP in limited minutes:
"I apologized to him," Knight said. "I should have played him more in the second half."
Early Season Bracketology: SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean (who also writes the excellent college basketball blog, Blogging the Bracket) has an early look at the field of 65 and Texas Tech makes the field with a 9th seed. I'd be happy with that.