1,812 Miles To Texas Tech Football

1,812 miles, that’s the distance I must travel this fall to see my favorite team, the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

It's not easy being a "Techsan" living in the Northwest, no Tex-Mex to speak of—except a bland imitation at an unnamed franchise.

No BBQ whatsoever, there is one poser claiming to server “Texas BBQ”, but it is BAD and to make matters worse, does not serve Shiner Bock! The only football coverage is Pac something and I'm not into it.

Oh how I miss the high flying antics of the Mad Scientist, Mike Leach!

What a joy it was to watch him on 60 Minutes and to actually see a few Red Raider games on ABC last season.

While not as good as being there, eating a wonderful, greasy burger at Spanky’s in Lubbock and walking over to Jones stadium, it wasn’t bad for "Techsan" in exile.

After years of suffering, Mike Leach and his team of pirates finally beat TEXAS!  

My friend John P. was at the game in Lubbock and he cried when it was over. No. 6 Graham Harrell threw the game winner to No. 5 Michael Crabtree (five+six gets you seven in Lubbock)!

The Red Raider Nation stormed the field a few seconds before the game was over and had to be restrained (twice) before finally enjoying their win. 

Tech football has to deal with two major issues that result in getting a lot of junior college transfers and “lesser” recruits.

First, Lubbock is not a “beautiful” place, smells funny when the wind blows from the north (cattle yards near Amarillo), rains mud in the spring, and is a dry town (well, you can get a drink in a restaurant—just not in the grocery store).

The second issue is Oklahoma, Texas, and even the Aggies get most of the top recruits.  

Players that actually make it to Lubbock find it to be a wonderful place to go to school and Tech has the highest graduation rate for it’s football players in the Big 12.

Lubbock provides an excellent place to get an education (less distractions, but plenty of fun if you are creative).

Under Mike Leach’s “system” a few players have made it to the pros. Most notably Wes Welker, Sammy Morris, and Crabtree—also lesser known guys like Danny Amendola to the Eagles and Joel Filani to the Rams. 

It’s funny that some of Leach’s receivers find there way to the pros, but the QBs who threw them the ball, have not.

This is especially noticeable this year with Harrell going undrafted! This guy threw for 5,111 yards and 45 TDs this year and had 15,793 yards and 134 TDs in four years.

The scouts claim he has a weak arm, really???

2008 went down as the best season ever for Tech Football, 11 WINS!

That may not sound like much of a football pedigree, but Tech does so much more with less and Mr. Leach will go down as one of the greats.

Go Red Raiders!- redraiderjim