The Pirate Speaks: Leach thread v2.0

Fair enough. In one of the links I read, it described them as statements made to the university that were signed at a later date (when it became apparent they'd given contradictory statements elsewhere). I will continue to read both statements from the people involved with considerable skepticism.

And you're right about the dynamics. But given the options to punish a player who has a concussion, what Leach did doesn't strike me as out of line (assuming, of course, that he's being punished for a reason other than simply having a concussion). With concussions, generally you're not supposed to get your heart rate overly high, so you can't make him run or do stairs or morning weights or all the other coach favorites. Isolating a player in an environment that's not going to hurt him, even if it's humiliating or uncomfortable, doesn't bother me the way it does some of you guys.

Oop - as much as concussions are brain injuries, they're not as imminently dangerous or personality-changing as you're making them out to be. I had one a couple months ago and didn't miss a day of work, nor did I mouth off to my boss or sources because of it. If I had, I would have had to deal with the consequences. Being hurt doesn't give you an excuse to do whatever you want.

And you have no proof he was punished simply because he was hurt more than I have proof he was punished for doing something else that would deserved being punished.

 

maybe they should just settle it with their heaters at the ready

 

Leach's lawyerly training has been on display from the get-go. The words he chose in his statement ("retaliatory action") and the ESPN interview in which he said let's rely on the doctor, followed by the oh-looky-here-I-just-happen-to-have-his-statement act, show what he's all about. He was looking for the endgame as much as Tech was. Now that the doc and the trainer aren't his allies, I imagine he'll have his loyal assistants assassinate their character as well.

 

BUELLER!!

 

I wonder what ESPN's ombuds will have to say about all this. Mike Patrick just weighed in with some heavy editorial favorable to James and TTU and Bob Davie followed by noting that it is indisputable that Mike Leach is a quirky guy, as if that has some relevance here.

Pretty bush-league from ESPN, but I suppose if they ignored it that would be bad too. It'd be nice to see them just present the basic facts without editorial comment based on the obvious conflicts of interest, but I guess that's asking too much.

And here they go with more... oh jeez.

 

YOU GEEKS TAKE IT BACK TO THAT THREAD! WE'RE BUSY HERE!




Look, Smash, my personal experience with concussions is very diffrent from yours. I'll leave it at that. Agree to disagree.

Lots more will come out about this situation.

Leach will get another shot down the road, but I don't think he's done himself any favors.

 

To be clear, I am NOT saying that Leach endangered James with this punishment. I believe you are misunderstanding me when you assume that I am over-estimating the danger of a concussion.

My issue is with punishing a player who has a concussion because of the message it sends to that player and his teammates. It is the kind of thing that could encourage another player to hide concussion symptoms for fear of getting in trouble with the coach. And if that happens, it is very dangerous.

 

I bet those players know he "punished" Adam James because Adam James is a douchebag, not because he had a concussion.

 

OOP - I agree if he punished the player simply because he had the concussion.

But we don't know if (and some of the contradictory statements indicate that) James did something that would be punishable while he was concussed. I don't know if that's true either, but I certainly think a concussed or otherwise injured player can do something punishable.

We don't know which of those is true or if it's somewhere in between at this point, and that's all I'm saying. We've got both sides' versions (kinda), a bunch of contradictory statements from some of those people involved and a lot of CYA. I don't think that's enough to pass complete judgment on either side.

 

Once upon a time I had a concussion. Actually, I've had several, which is why the attitude on this thread bugs me, and also why I should stay off it.

Anyway, when the lights were out, and I was in the dark, I would fall down unless I was sitting or holding onto something. Maybe I could have hit my head again?

And no, the concussion the James kid has/had was not being treated.

 

Funny how many of his current teammates came out and took James' side, isn't it?