Texas Tech has an inferiority complex. No one likes to be 2nd fiddle, especially in a state with egos the size of Texas. And certainly no one wants to be the third fiddle...
Now I have many Texas Tech friends near and dear to me. In all liklihood, this post may earn me a swift kick to the balls. But after watching the trouncing Missouri put onto the hapless Red Raiders, I've come to a conclusion - the folks in Lubbock cannot push their sports heroes into the upper-echelon of collegiate athletics until a major attitude change sweeps the Tech community.
Frankly, I can't figure out what the problem is. The football team should have no troubles recruiting top ranked Texas-grown talent. There is more than enough to go around. With so many high schools moving to the spread offense, skill players should be lining up to get into head coach Mike Leach's pass happy system. Defensive players may desire to attend the biggest NFL factory in the state in Austin, but Tech has produced its share of NFL stars, notably Zach Thomas of the Miami Dolphins, widely regarded as one of the leauge toughest inside linebackers.
The men's basketball program received a much needed kick in the butt upon the arrival of Bob Knight, and have since taken that momentum further than folks thought they could. But when it comes to getting the best talent recruting can buy, Knight's boys keep coming up short. It may be that none of the pampered superstars coming out of the high school ranks want to play for someone nicknamed the General. Certainly it is not because Tech sells itself short on facilities (with the new bball arena) or fine looking, willing coeds (of which there are aplently at EVERY Texas school). The Red Raiders should be a consistant threat to make the sweet 16 every year, not fighting for its NCAA tourney life each March.
So what is the major problem in Lubbock? They can't beat anyone of significance when it matters. Turning an above average collegiate program into a perenial conerence champion contender takes a certain attitude, and the players, coaches, and fans of Texas Tech do not have it. When they play Texas, the city and school go crazy after a win. It's a monumental upset of biblical proportions, the likes of which students tell their grandkids, or friends relish 4 years later (I was at the football game where Simms cost you Longhorns your championship in Lubbock!) When they play Texas A&M, Tech goes into some kind of crazed mad scientist mode, where everything in the world stops mattering. Nothing is more important than beating those sheep humpers from College Station.
So when Tech has a chance to prove to the country they are ready to compete on the grand stages, as they did this past weekend with a trip to Missouri, they stumble. This is becoming a trend for the Raiders - while they have owned the folks at A&M, they have seemed to lose games they need to establish themselves as a top contender in the conference. And the worst part is - they don't seem to care.
Leach continues to deny that his spread offense will work wonders against the cupcakes of college football but fail when you aren't playing Northwest eastern Missouri College for Women. When you line up with Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas, OU on a consistant basis, you have to realize that the talent and speed possessed on both sides of the ball may hinder your video game attack. Spreading the field is fine. Not running the ball enough to threaten any teams is not. After watching enough tape and playing the same scheme, good coaches find ways to beat you - the current popular formula is to put man pressure against the Tech recievers, bump them at the line so they are off their timing routes, and get pressure on the QB. Saturday in Columbia, Missouri knocked Tech QB Graham Harrell to the ground throughout the game, forcing the overhyped Heisman contender into a season worse 4 INTs. This has been the formula each team has used to beat Tech over the past 5 years - and still Leach refuses to change anything. I mean, would it hurt him to run a draw every now and then, and get one of his running backs to slip by the blitzing ends from an overaggressive defense???
Why doesn't someone step up for the Red Raiders? The answer - Texas Tech fans are loyal to the death. Of everyone in their program. No one that I know has criticized Mike Leach - in fact they praise he creativity week in and week out. No one in the Tech family was critical of Bob Knight when his teams came up short in years past. In both cases, fans argue the programs are at a higher level then ever before. This is true, but the potential is there for so much more, but the fans, alumni, students, and admnistration seem to be satisfied with the status quo. It's like watching smart kids get B's. You know this is good, but you know that A's are better...
This is not how big time college sports work. You must succeed at the highest level, or we remove you. Failure is not an option. How many fans from UT-Austin are clamoring for a new offensive coordinator? Do you think Coach Fran will see another day past the annaul showdown with Texas after his abysmal stint at TAMU?
Tech needs to raise the bar and its expectations, get out of the "underdog / undersold" mold, quit praising Jesus when it beats Texas, stop living to kill Aggies, and recognize that good programs expect greatness each year, not once every blue moon. The facilities, coaches, and athletes are there - can the Texas Tech Red Raider Nation finally grow up?
Good for people to know.
ReplyDelete