ODDS AND ENDS | Wanted to go ahead and get this out there, Fox34 has obtained a copy of Texas Tech's rejection letter from Leach's offer to settle. Personally, I don't think that this is anything new, it's the same reasoning that Texas Tech has always had, and those reasons really don't really matter until the Texas Supreme Court rules on the sovereign immunity issue. I won't get into what the letter could have or should have said as that's seemingly a fruitless endeavor.
Remember last week that I thought that I'd be able to tell the story about changing the logo? Well, that story is going to have to wait for a while.
CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT | The Chronicle of Higher Education reported yesterday morning that the Big 12 is looking at conference expansion, although later in the day, Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas said that the Big 12 wasn't considering any additional teams. I think the Big 12 will eventually get back to 12 teams, but what do I know. You can also listen to Neinas on Double T 104.3 from yesterday.
LADY RAIDER BASKETBALL | This team is reeling. A 19 point loss to Kansas (official site) is not what this team needs and add to the loss is the fact that F Kierra Mallard was left in Lubbock with an apparent injury. LAJ's David Just recaps the game:
Tech returns home for a three-game homestand beginning Saturday against Texas. A win against the Longhorns would go a long way to boost the lagging confidence.
"One of the kids spoke up and said we’ve been here before," Curry said. "We’ve had the low point before. We bounced back. We have an opportunity to go back to Lubbock and be 5-5 in three games and be right back in the thick of things."
RED RAIDER BASKETBALL | It continues to be bad for the men, a 22 point loss, 69-47 (official site). I'll have some post game thoughts later this morning. LAJ's Nick Kosmider and DT's Chois Woodman recap the game and this is from the DT article:
"When you get a layup you need to make it, either that or get two foul shots," he said. "We miss — I mean we just continue to miss layups, and I have a hard time understanding how a college basketball player can continue to miss layups. I mean we missed 13 shots within four feet of the basket."
Sigh.
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | LAJ's Don Williams talks with former QB Steven Sheffield who is playing arena league football. He's also still unhappy that OC Neal Brown didn't play both he and QB Taylor Potts in 2010:
"It kind of blew my mind how (offensive coordinator) Neal Brown thought the only way to win was to start one quarterback," Sheffield said. "You have two seniors that have been there for five years. Why can’t they both play?
"Even though it’s a close race, you tell the media it’s a close race and everyone knows it’s a close race, you have one guy play 90 percent of the snaps and one guy sit back and his senior season goes to waste.
"You would think, ‘Hey, I have two good quarterbacks; let’s try to use both of them. There’s things Potts is better at than Sticks (Sheffield). There’s things Sticks is better at than Potts.’ They’re on the same team. Why not use them both?"
I hate teams that play two quarterbacks. Both Leach and Brown essentially chose Potts and I still think it was the right choice in both instances. I guess I'm somewhat surprised that Sheffield still harbors those emotions, but I can't say that I know everything that went on behind the scenes.
In a couple of additional notes, per LAJ's George Watson, the NCAA has banned 7-on-7 tournaments on college campuses. They can still have the tournaments, just not on campus. TAMU held the state's biggest 7-on-7 tournament on campus and many thought it was a significant advantage for TAMU to have so many players on campus. Additionally, per the mothership, the NCAA is considering going to a 7 win threshold to make a bowl game and I would approve this measure.