[ESPN] Mike Leach suspended after player complaint

False imprisonment? That's hilarious. AJ was not held against his will. He consented.

 

I do recall there being case law authority that whether one was restrained can be determined by the fear of retaliation. I do not have the cite, and it has been 8 years since I have practiced any crim law. As for the need for no way out, there was one door with either a player or trainer there. Bottom line...bonehead move by the coach who should have acted like an adult.

 

Another interesting article this time by the football trainer. Looks like Myers and the Board of Regents jumped the gun based on some whiney punk instead of letting the story develop.

Texas Tech head football athletic trainer Steve Pincock said Red Raiders receiver Adam James was placed in a "sports medicine garage" and media room as "big as a two-car garage" while recovering from a concussion, and was monitored by two trainers at all times.

Pincock's account of the incident, given in a statement to representatives of former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, contradicts James' version of events that led to Leach being fired Wednesday.

James, who is the son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James, sustained a concussion on Dec. 16. He was examined the following day and told not to practice because of the injury and an elevated heart rate.

Pincock's statement was obtained by ESPN.com on Thursday night from Leach's representatives. Pincock refused further comment when reached on his cell phone in San Antonio, Texas, where the Red Raiders are preparing to play Michigan State in Saturday's Alamo Bowl.

A source told ESPN's Joe Schad that Leach called a trainer and directed him to move James "to the darkest place, to clean out the equipment and to make sure that he could not sit or lean. He was confined for three hours."

According to the source, Leach told the trainer, two days later, to "put [James] in the darkest, tightest spot. It was in an electrical closet, again, with a guard posted outside."

However, Pincock said James was initially placed in a "sports medicine garage, there is no lock on this building." Pincock said injured players are typically asked to perform exercises during practice, but "James could not participate in these drills, and was originally asked to walk around the field."

"Adam showed up to practice in street clothes, no team gear, and dark sunglasses," Pincock said, according to the statement. "Adam walked about 40 to 50 yards, very slowly and with a non-caring attitude."

Pincock said Leach then asked that James be moved to a location "where sunlight could not bother him as he was wearing sunglasses."

"I instructed Adam to stay in the garage and out of the sun, so the light would not worsen his condition," Pincock said in the statement. "While in the garage, Adam was walking around, eating ice, sitting on the ground, and, at one point, sleeping; at no point was there any enforcement to make Adam stand up."

Two days later, while the Red Raiders practiced at Jones AT&T Stadium, James was placed in a room that is used for postgame interviews involving opposing coaches and players. James told school officials he was placed in an electrical closet inside the room.

"I walked Adam to the room, which was at least as big as a two-car garage," Pincock wrote. "Inside the room there is an electrical closet. I looked in the closet and stated that there was 'no way that Adam would be placed in there.' I shut the door to the electrical closet, and it was never opened again. At no time during this practice was Adam ever placed in the electrical closet."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4787194

 

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God, the more I hear about this, the more I like Leach.

 

If this account of the facts is true, Leach got screwed.

I honestly believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

This is why you have to wait for more to come out before jumping to conclusions.

I'm not sure if Leach will come out smelling like a rose, but it seems likely Tech's vendetta against him caused the dismissal. In all that has come out, I have yet to see anything that would merit firing Leach with such a quick trigger when you consider the intimidation and humiliation tactics used by football coaches all across America.

For the record, I don't like or dislike Leach or Tech. If there are later details that indict Leach to such an extent, his coaching career should be destroyed. But the stuff so far is flimsy. If Craig James indeed called Leach, his staff and administration officials "more than all other parents combined" complaining about playing time for his son, the guy may as well resign from ESPN. I won't be able to stand the sight of looking at or listening to him.

 

It is important to note and acknowledge that the James family made a complaint to Tech. It was Tech that took it public. They could have handled it internally, but Tech chose not to.

I think that because Craig James holds a position with ESPN, it is easy for people to assume that he took it public. That is not the case.

 

I think his point is that he will not be able to stand James for seemingly (at least from Leach's point of view) using his status as leverage to critique Leach and push for more playing time for his (apparently lazy and possibly undeserving) son.

 

That is EXACTLY my point. And to those who will reply "anyone in Craig James position would have done the same thing" for their son, just go away.

I won't (yet) conclude that Craig James was retaliating against Leach for not giving his son more playing time. That depends on what exactly happened. It's also possible James' son lied and exaggerated to him and may end up destroying his broadcasting career.

My 2 cents so far: Tech and Adam James are the big losers. Almost no way they can salvage high ground. Mike Leach could end up being anything from a villain to a hero. Craig James might end up a loving father, a complete and total manipulative lying jerk or a victim (of his son's lying).

What a story!

 

Im right in the middle of all this and if you want to follow our coverage just go to everythinglubbock

 

Not sure if this has been posted yet but Craig James sounds like a major major douchebag:

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270202/19274638

Another side to the Leach/Texas Tech story

Shame on Craig James.

Shame on ESPN.

Shame on Texas Tech.

If what Mike Leach said was true in the New York Times on Friday, then what we all thought two days ago is a mirage. Leach and other sources claim that the coach did not, in fact, mistreat Adam James. Leach said only that he did not know where the player was taken and that he ordered only that James be taken "out of the light." Leach is supported by head trainer Steve Pincock and a team doctor.

Leach hasn’t spoken this candidly because he was busy suing the school. But now that it has fired him, the gloves are off. Most telling is the accusation by Leach that James leveraged his position as an ESPN analyst to get more playing time for his son. Through a spokesman, James said the accusations were "absurd."

I received two calls this week from people I trust saying James had bothered coaches and that he had tried to leverage his influence at the network to get his son playing time. Big Daddy James had become a royal pain in the you-know-what. None of that should dismiss the assertion that Leach allegedly mistreated James' son. But if a court ultimately rules in favor of Leach in what is sure to be an unlawful termination suit brought by Leach, James' job could be in danger.

I thought from the beginning it was borderline unethical that friends and co-workers of James were reporting this story. It had that "railroad" smell to it from the beginning with James being portrayed as the protective parent.

There is definitely another side to this, a side that ESPN hasn’t reported until after the Times ran its story. An ESPN employee said that it did report the e-mails written by assistant coach Lincoln Riley as well as a memo written by Texas Tech doctor Michael Phy before the Times story. Just throwing this out there but where was the Worldwide Leader’s info coming from – James, his son, maybe both? That’s OK if Craig James worked for Fox. It’s not OK if he drives a story in his favor with his employer.

With Leach firing back, Texas Tech better check its bank account and ESPN should consider firing their guy. First, he is now as radioactive as Leach in his own profession. The rumor that James is considering a Senate run might have to be addressed. Free publicity, it would seem, for a future politician?

Also, what coach will want to talk to James in the future? Even if his son was mistreated by Leach, the allegation that has been badgering the Texas Tech staff will not go over well in the coaching profession.

As is usually the case, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle but let's look at this a different way. The fact that Leach would not "apologize" to the James family didn’t make sense from the beginning. If Adam’s treatment was so heinous, why would a simple apology make Big Daddy go away?

There are three sides of this story: Texas Tech's, Leach's and James'. I don’t know quite who to believe but I do know who has lost. The Phony Express, Big Daddy James.

 

I was looking through video I shot back during Sping Practice and found this clip which is now pretty relevant...

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so he cusses at him? big deal

 

Seeing as how any normal person would start to immediately hustle, and not have a ****-eating grin on their face when they're getting yelled at like that, plus what Leach is yelling, in my opinion, shows that James has had this piss-poor attitude and entitlement issues all along.

 

agreed. is that TMAC3 is trying to infer? i havent caught up with the thread, is TMAC in the james kid is lazy camp?

 

I am a sports reporter in Lubbock just trying to help tell everyone the facts

 

oh alright. good video man, very telling. backs up what a lot of players and coaches said about the kid.

 

Seriously? For how long? If that is the case, explain why the video is relevant. How many players do you think Leach has done this to over his career? I wonder how many times a guy like Nick Saban does this each practice. I'm guessing you've never been to a football practice before.