Hello. I'm back and first and foremost, thanks to RndRckTTU for posting yesterday's links and the baseball post. Very much appreciated.
The funeral went well, or as well as a funeral could be. My grandmother lived in Castroville, Texas (the photo on the right), which is just a bit west of San Antonio. I was honored to be asked to read one of the eulogies written by my uncle (I am one of 33 grandchildren, so there were a lot of options).
I'm glad that nothing happened yesterday that would cause a further divide of a fanbase . . . well, we almost made it through the Easter weekend with nothing bit happening.
At this point, I'm pretty tired of the whole thing. I've said this before, but I started writing DTN because I love sports. Not because I think the politics behind what's happening with the Chancellor or the Board or Regents or the President or alums that want to see the figures. I don't care. If Texas Tech achieves Tier 1 in one year, then great. If Texas Tech achieves Tier 1 in ten years, then that's great too. I personally never had an expectation, despite whatever news that I saw, that Texas Tech would be a Tier 1 school within two or three years of starting the process. Maybe I should care, but it's just not that important to me.
I also don't have a problem with opening up the books, not because Texas Tech has to do it, but because that's pretty standard for an organization that you all somewhat invest in as fans. I'm part of the finance council for my church and we'll open up the books to whoever wants to see them. That's okay as far as I'm concerned.
As far as the allegations that something is strange in getting the comment of the former defensive coordinator that Leach might be behind all of this and that an alum just might want to see Texas Tech fail, well, at this point, nothing would surprise me. I do know that there are alums that absolutely despise Texas Tech, I also know that there are alums that are tired of the drama that can't seem to go quietly into the night. The only thing that I can offer is that it wouldn't surprise me to see a young reporter get led a bit as to who to ask for a comment. I'm not doubting the reporting chops of Ms. Courtney, but I do know that when you talk to people, sometimes they'll tell you who to talk to next. I have no idea if Leach or anyone else is "behind" all of this. Here's what I do think: I do think it's strange that a Texas Tech alum would retain a high-priced law firm to file an open records request in an attempt to find out if Texas Tech is fudging on facts regarding Tier 1. I also think it's strange to allege that Leach is behind "it", but I also think that at this point, that it wouldn't surprise me if Hance knows a lot about Eastham and Hodges. It also wouldn't surprise me if there's some communication between Leach and Eastham and Hodges.
And so when I say that whatever is being alleged, nothing would surprise me at this point..
I also wanted to mention that there have a few comments about the article in the LAJ that was an interview with Hance where he said that Leach fired himself with his words. In the Fan Shot discussing this article (I did not read the article because I have maxed out the articles to read on the LAJ) Hance says that Leach fired himself by telling Hance to go eff himself. Many on DTN felt that Leach's comment may have been appropriate given the circumstances. In the comments and perhaps with a bit of irony, someone told the majority of DTN to "Good luck luck with the rest of your p&**ant life". A handful of DTN folks mentioned that this comment and this type of comment is not the type of conduct expected on DTN.
That is true, but the ironic part (I really hope this is irony) is that many of you were quick to tell TTGrill that this conduct isn't appropriate, but many of you didn't have a problem with what Leach said to Hance (I'm pretty sure this is confirmed in the depositions) even though it is similar (i.e. there is a certain conduct that professionals expect, even if that professional is a football coach). Ultimately, what was said that day between Leach and Hance isn't what got Leach fired, or at least I'm pretty sure that it was a culmination of things that had built up over the years. It wasn't a singular event, although there was a trigger event that started the snowball to start rolling down the hill. I honestly think that Hance is just tired of answering the question and this is the easiest way to explain it.
It's good to be back, but sometimes I wish I could just write about sports.