A few thoughts on baseball, Leach and my Horns

I had forgotten how edge-of-the-seat suspenseful a baseball game could be and I offer thanks to the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox for reminding me last night. Tampa Bay was leading by 3-1 (the eventual final score), but every time Boston put a runner on base, I just new the very next pitch could radically change the game and the decision of who would play in the World Series. And when Boston loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, with Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon bringing on a different pitcher for each Boston batter, the tension was almost unbearable. Finally David Price, Tampa Bay's fifth pitcher in that inning, struck out J.D. Drew. What a game!

Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach is just that and I am sick of his bloodsucking approach to the game. I was at a friend's house Friday evening enjoying a backyard cookout and I mentioned my disdain of Leach's approach to the game to the host-chef. Then on Saturday, I watched Tech defeat Texas A&M. Now, being at UT alum (Hey, gang! Look who's No. 1!), I rarely root for the Aggies, but I was absolutely dumbfounded by the way Leach ended that game. Tech was up 36-25, it had the ball inside the A&M 5-yard-line with less than 30 seconds to play. Now in a situation like that, a coach with any class at all (Texas' Mack Brown, OU's Bob Stoops, to name just two close to home) is going to have his quarterback take a knee and run out the clock. But what does Leach do? He calls a time out to deliver a play to his quarterback who then runs in for another touchdown. That's like hunting deer with an AK-47. College football does not need to have its image tarnished by the likes of Mike Leach.

I was thrilled a week ago Saturday watching Texas come back to defeat Oklahoma. Then at the halftime of this past Saturday's Texas-Missouri game, with Texas up 35-0, I began thinking that this Longhorn team might actually be pretty good. I'm still not convinced because the Horns usually find a way to break my heart and their remaining schedule is still a tough one. But if they came out as strong against Oklahoma State this Saturday as they did against Missouri, a lot of my fears will fade.