Raiderland Reaction to the Fallen Captain

My move to Lubbock began in February of 2009 in the midst of the controversial contract negotiations between Mike Leach and the Texas Tech administration. While I had spent plenty of time here before, the wife and I were a bit surprised at the city-wide focus on the pirate's fate as portrayed through every local TV and radio station, front pages, random pedestrians and the student protest outside of the athletic offices in support of keeping the beloved captain. For a few straight weeks as the negotiations progressed, the rumor mill overflowed with speculation that Leach may not get what he wants and peace out to Washington or the likes. It was a crescendo of emotions that had me realizing how important this was to Red Raiders everywhere and to the city of Lubbock. The Feb. 17 deadline passed with no resolve and the anxiety could be cut with a sword. Either the two parties would fail to agree, Leach would hang it up to begin a new venture and fans would be left with a heavy dose of confusion, disappointment, betrayal and the crashing of a Craiglist site weighed down by bargains on pirate garb - or - terms would be met, Leach inks a 5-year, $12.7 mil extension and the town goes nuts while stores cannot keep the booty in stock fast enough. The latter came to pass on Feb. 20 and the next several days held a breeze from the collective sigh of relief of fans hopeful for the continued success of the 2008 season, which had never been witnessed before. It was either a collective sigh or the daily gusts of cow shit making its way from the feedlot to Jones AT&T Stadium. Nonetheless, all creatures were relieved.

Everyone settled in and Leach continued to be Leach with what contributed to the most national attention Tech had seen to date along with, of course, winning games. He pissed off the Aggies in April and, in his style, was surprised at their reaction. Following the NFL draft in which A&M quarterback Stephen McGee was picked up as the first pick in the fourth round, he tipped his hat to the kid with, "I’m happy for Stephen McGee. The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did.". While most Div-1 head coaches would probably choose their words more carefully, the "mad scientist" sees nothing wrong or controversial about speaking his mind. This proved true when, after the Aggies handed the Red Raiders their own ass on their own turf, Leach attributed the loss to his players listening to their "fat little girlfriends". Once again, just one of the ship-full of examples of how Mike Leach doesn't give a damn how you, the media, the administration, or parents react to his antics.

Some people around the country have been amused with "What will Leach say next?", thus adding flavor to college football with his whit and "crazy" offensive schemes like the Air Raid. Others considered him a joke, an embarrassment to the game, a weirdo, a genius, a jerk, a clown, a revolutionary, etc. The fans embraced it, to say the least. They became the captain's shipmates in his crew of respect-hungry fans, alumni, students and players that have been waiting their whole lives to see their team succeed to an unprecedented magnitude at Texas Tech. Along with this embrace came a strong allegiance to Captain Leach and the quirk that he is; a feeling of having your leader's back no matter what and if the media or general public don't like it, screw 'em, this is how we roll in Raiderland.

Again, there are many differing points of view on the winningest head football coach in the school's history and it would be unfair to universally typecast the Red Raider fan. But it is quite clear that what became the biggest thing to happen to the athletic program has repeated itself in the same impact, but on the negative extreme. Not to delve into a discussion on the bias of media or even to state an opinion on who was in the wrong with the firing of Mike Leach, I feel obligated to note that ESPN's coverage of this saga (at least what I have observed) has been vastly different from the sentiment I am submersed in as I currently spend my every day around the Texas Tech campus. To put it gently, the proverbial shit has hit the fan in the hearts of those bleeding scarlet and black. There is a handful of different emotions circulating throughout the town this week - here are a few (thanks to whills for the suggestion):

Grievance: I was recently reading a book on what it means to be a sports fan in which the author describes losing a game as resulting in the same emotion as your childhood pet dying. This is kind of like that, but with a very controversial firing of the single person that has done more to put your team on the map. As part of the grieving process, fans were at first in utter denial at the idea that Leach would be suspended. Two days later he is straight-up fired. Quite literally, tears have been shed over this and it may take a while for some to get to the next phase. One poster said, "I actually feel like my wife of 10 years just cheated on me".

Anger: This has been the most common reaction, understandably so. Look at the different comments on threads around the web. While I will not hold this against anybody specifically, nor will I call them out by name as I realize emotions can make you do things you later regret, I am pretty shocked at some of the things people have said. Everything from "F*** you, Myers/Hance/Bailey!" to rather violent comments toward Adam James, all of which I am not comfortable sharing - you can find them on your own. Calls on the radio shows have been backed up since Monday as current students to grandmas have called in to express the rage they're unable to contain. Protest ideas are being tossed about left & right as to how to show the administration their disapproval of this. I could go on with this, but at the risk of creating a meaningless argument, I will suffice to say that some people are flying off the handle and I'm getting the hell out of the way until this blows over.

Quitters: I will yield a certain degree of respect for those dealing with this in a gamut of emotions, but I lack such for those that have turned their backs altogether. Several (lots) people have disowned any allegiance to the University they may have had by way of alumni donations, game attendance, merchandise, etc. A few specifics that come to mind: "I will never give another dime to this school", "Now I will never let my kids go to Tech", "I will now be a fan of whatever school Leach goes to". Even more shocking was: "I'm throwing away my red & black and will start wearing burnt orange". I'd say the most common reaction I have heard is "Who wants to buy my season tickets?". To these fans: I pity you.

Realism: It would be unfair for me to pretend like there are not some Red Raiders that are taking this as well as one can. Immediately following the news that broke out about Leach's firing, just about everyone was shocked and/or upset, but a good chunk of fans have been very level-headed about it. These are the ones who are expressing their disappointment with how the whole thing went down but are waiting to hear more about what actually happened and have not kissed the entire recruiting class goodbye. I heard one radio voice say that this could be Tech's finest hour, drawing the comparison to Apollo 13. While that may not be true, it is a good way to look at it. Tech could bring in a badass coach that wins games and handles the media well. Coaches come and go and although this situation was not the ideal way to go, TTU will still exist without the crazy pirate. Even if the worst case scenario comes true and a crappy coach brings another decade of losing seasons, these people will always love their team and I give props for that.

My opinions of Texas Tech and that of Mike Leach are irrelevant and should not be of concern to any Raider fans. However, while there have been a litany of aspects I like and dislike about the school and its athletic program, my heart goes out to Raiderland. This is not how you want to see a coach go, especially the one who has brought more wins and more attention than anyone else has or maybe ever will.