The Termination of Texas Tech Football Coach Mike Leach
As an alumnus of the University of Texas and the University of Houston (traditional defunct Southwest Conference rivals), I'm not a fan of Texas Tech football. In fact, Texas Tech's fluke last-second victory over Texas last year kept UT from playing for the national championship. Occasionally I'll talk sports in my posts, but my interest is not strong enough to write a series of posts. (But in case you're wondering, I believe that Shoeless Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, and Mark McGuire belong in the baseball Hall of Fame (and I think the Hall, by snubbing the true stars of the sport, undermines its own credibility).)
I'm not a lawyer, but I find Texas Tech's grounds for terminating Leach "for cause" to be arbitrary and pathetic, at least based on what has been discussed in public to date. What I do know is Adam James, the receiver son of former SMU and NFL running back Craig James, was disciplined by the coach, whom apparently didn't buy Adam's complaints regarding a possible concussion. The fact that Craig James decided to abuse his position as a prominent cable sports analyst to personally attack the coach over his son's treatment is unconscionable; since when is it a good idea for a daddy to fight his college sophomore son's battles for him?
Now I understand football coaches don't always believe excuses from student athletes, and the punishment perhaps wounded his pride (and personally I don't agree with how the coach responded to this issue); but these sorts of things or worse happen every day. I remember getting swatted by my high school football coach (whom also taught gym) on multiple occasions which in my judgment was totally unjustified (it didn't stop until he threatened me one time too many, and I told him that my parents were going to sue him if he touched me again). One incident in particular sticks in my mind; I had a high school friend, Duane, whom ran cross-country. So one day, an overwhelming compulsion to tell a bad pun got the better of me in the boys' locker room; I picked up a can of athlete foot spray and handed it to Duane, saying since he had the feet of an athlete, maybe he needed this. The coach spotted me holding the can (there was an unwritten rule against touching any property related to a sports program) I got at least 5 whacks from the thick board with drilled holes on my backside--in front of everyone in class. So Adam James is effectively told to go stand in a corner for a couple of hours? Cry me a river... [There must be more to the story, but the coach hardly got due process from an administration looking for an excuse to fire him; I mean, college football coaches deal with more significant injuries to their players all the time, and it shouldn't have taken 10 years and multiple contract renewals for a legitimate case against Coach Leach to surface.]
Ironically, if anyone should sympathize with James, I should. I don't write much about my Navy experience (other than to note I got an honorable discharge), but I developed a severe ear infection in Orlando, leaving me with an equilibrium problem, lightheaded and dizzy on my feet. The Navy physician I saw told me put me on some meds to deal with the infection and told me to tell my boss that I should be given light duty until the infection cleared up. My superior officer was having none of that; there was no middle ground: either I work on a normal duty schedule or I get a bed chit (i.e., 24-hour bedrest). He was convinced it was all an act on my part. He contemptuously taunted me in his best baby voice, suggesting maybe he should pull a fellow math instructor out of class, just to drive me back to the clinic, because he couldn't want me blacking out on the way there... Anyone who has served in the military realizes you cannot respond in kind to boorish behavior from a superior officer. I was fully prepared to take the risk of driving into a telephone pole rather than have to put up with this guy's unprofessional behavior for a moment longer. I reported what my boss said to me (i.e., about needing the bed chit), and the doctor at first argued with me, "We don't give bed chits for this condition. Didn't you tell him what I told you about light desk duty?" I told him to go ahead and call my boss, but the doctor finally believed me (i.e., he knew that I never pushed for a bed chit when I first saw him), wrote me the chit, and I thought my boss was going to burst a blood vessel when I presented him with the chit.
I know concussions are serious problems--certainly more than a temporary ear infection. I know what it's like being unfairly evaluated and publicly humiliated by someone whom is widely respected. But I do not respect what Adam James and his father have done in response; I also know what it's like for university administrators to use frivolous student complaints to obfuscate their politically-motivated agenda against a professor or coach. Shame on all of them!
McCain and Cantwell Are Wrong to Pursue
Reinstatement of Glass-Steagall
I was amused to see a debate on Fox News this morning by a debate between a FNC investment analyst and someone representing community banks on a quixotic attempt by McCain and Cantwell to reinstate a Depression-era anachronism that was rightly repealed a decade ago. (What are these two going to do next--propose a resolution saying the world is flat?) I have enormous respect for John McCain (in a post exactly one year ago, I named him my Man of the Year), but this is one of those things where his populist streak overrules his conservative principles. McCain never deserved his "wild west deregulator" reputation the Obama campaign and national media sought to pin on him.
The Obama Administration, to its credit, despite the measure's support by Obama advisor former Fed Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, whom I credit with breaking the back of inflation around the turn of the 1980's, has resisted an attempt to turn back the clock, which would instantly cripple our ability to compete on the global stage. I would argue that the correct action would have been to let the big institutions fail, and let the private enterprise system work. Of course, I don't buy into the Obama Administration's attempt to ensnare the financial market with its regulatory empire building. The issue was not one of absent regulation; it was of dysfunctional regulation. It wasn't rocket science when home mortgages were being written for people without a down payment or documentation of income and implicitly backed by the federal government.
Musical Interlude: Guy Lombardo "Auld Lang Syne"
For those whose idea of a New Year's Eve tradition is watching Ryan Seacrest ring in the new year or decade, mine was watching Guy Lombardo on New Year's Eve on CBS-TV. (I guess people now know I didn't have a girlfriend all those New Year's Eve's.) There was something endearing watching people my grandparents' age having a blast and being hopeful for the coming new year. I wasn't really interested in punk rock versions of Scottish poet Robert Burns' famous song; there is something timeless, smooth, sweet and enchanting in the Royal Canadians' version
Auld Lang Syne (The Good Old Days)
Robert Burns
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne
We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pou'd the gowans fine;
we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin' auld lang syne
We two hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne
And here's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne
