JAMES GANG HELPS TECH GET REVENGE ON LEACH

That'll teach Mike Leach to embarrass Texas Tech University during contract negotiations.

This is the definition of payback, everyone. Nearly a year after the fact.

The record will show that Leach, Tech's unorthodox yet highly successful coach, was fired Wednesday for mistreatment of a player with a "mild" concussion. The reality is Leach was fired because he took Texas Tech for everything it had last February during contract negotiations -- and made the university brass look like bumbling fools in the process.

Not that this latest human resources/relations disaster didn't just one-up everything.

This isn't about a whiny, entitled player kicking and screaming to get his way, or a whiny entitled Little League dad kicking and screaming to protect his little boopie from the mean man. The James Gang -- Adam (see: "mild" concussion) and Craig (see: Little League dad) -- have done more damage to themselves than anything Leach could have possibly done by sending Adam to timeout.

That's another story for another day -- something that will play out over and over in the legal discovery process of lengthy depositions spearheaded by two lovely attorneys making big bucks to make the wheels of justice turn. Enjoy that unlawful termination lawsuit, Tech.

Oh no, this is about jettisoning a rebel coach whose power had clearly eclipsed that of nearly everyone in the university -- especially athletic director Gerald Myers -- after last year's game of chicken during contract negotiations. A quick recap:


Adam James' complaint helped seal Mike Leach's fate.Leach wanted specific provisions in his restructured deal, and the university said no for nearly a year. Tech had a huge season in 2008, Leach seized public momentum and opinion, and Tech (see: Myers) still said no all the way to the 11th hour before capitulating and -- get this -- giving Leach everything he wanted and more.

This firing now is Tech's way of stating -- truth be damned -- that no one person is bigger than the university. Unless you're a backup wide receiver whose dad just happens to be a former college star and an analyst for the biggest sports conglomerate on the planet.

Look, if ESPN can't help Tech fire Leach, who can? Imagine the giddy feeling Myers must have felt when he realized, for the first time, that ESPN actually was on his side this time.

First, there were "sources" who told ESPN about Adam James' "mistreatment." Once it became known that Adam James was the player in question, those "sources" became Craig James being interviewed on SportsCenter by an anchor who threw fatter softballs than my daughter's baseball coach.

Related Links
Leach says school dealing in lies
The news: Leach fired by Texas Tech
Then the story advanced over the next couple of days and took on a bigger life, despite conflicting evidence to the original stories of mistreatment and numerous emails from former players and current coaches at Tech not only backing Leach, but clearly explaining the entitled behavior of Adam James.

Instead of using due diligence by investigating all facets of the incident, Tech fired Leach a day before he was due an $800,000 retention bonus. Let's call it what it is: Texas Tech wanted to fire Leach from the moment his bosses became subservient to him when he signed his contract extension in February.

Tech simply found a way this time.

Truth be damned.

Story courtesy of www.sportingnews.com