5 Things You Didn't Know About Lubbock That Mike Leach Does

Among the many reasons that some college football gurus are so certain that Mike Leach is headed on the first train out of town, how many times have they popped the same argumentative question:

"Why in the world would anyone want to live in a podunk town like Lubbock?"

It's as if the perception is that it's a one horse town that wouldn't even have the one horse if not for the Masked Rider because after all, the Rider just wouldn't be the same if he/she came out on gameday riding a 10-speed Huffy. 

You would think that even the Amish feel that Lubbock is too far behind the times...

...that even Dairy Queen can't find it on a map...

...that when people saw the students on TV camping outside of the stadium in what is known as "Raiderville," they of course thought that those were actual homes in Lubbock...

and so on....

But there are reasons why Mike Leach has turned down offers from other schools that go a bit beyond his loyalty to Tech.

He really likes Lubbock.

If you need proof, do a little searching for the video clip of him helping a local TV weatherman give his forecast. It's not hard to find and you'll be sure to laugh as Leach discusses the greatness of Lubbock weather in his own typically abnormal fashion.

Lest we forget, Bob Knight himself took one look and decided to make Lubbock his home. He even told his son to come along to take over the family business.

Now I'm not saying that Lubbock is a utopia by any means, or that Adam and Eve were kicked out of it because they ate off the wrong tree, but there are some misconceptions about Lubbock that need to be straightened out.

Here are the top five wrong ideas that average Joe has about Lubbock, Texas:

5. There's nothing to do in Lubbock. 

There is your average full size mall, your average movie theater, your average night clubs/bars, your average city parks, your average Super Wal-Mart, your average Applebee's and of course, your average 30,000-student university.

If there is something else you can only do on a daily basis in a big city that's not listed here, let me know because I don't see it.

4. Lubbock is a dry county, so it must be lame to live there.

If you like to have cocktails every now and again, don't worry, you don't have to sneak it in from across the Mexican border. The liquor stores are a 10-minute drive to the county line from just about any spot in town and they sell alcohol at restaurants and bars inside city limits.

There is even a nice winery called "Llano Estacado" that ships their premium wines all over the country.

3. Lubbock is too far away from anything.

If you do a little research, you should easily find several great stories of Mike Leach traveling around in places like Pearl Harbor, New York City (hanging out with Donald Trump), and even in small towns around Texas to find some obscure artist to do a portrait of him.

Sure, Lubbock is a little bit farther from Dallas than Austin is, (ok, double the distance...) but it's really not that much further in terms of relativity.

If you do drive to Dallas from Lubbock once every two months or so, then really, what's another hour and a half when compared to Austin?

2. Lubbock is hot and dusty all the time.    

Hard to argue against the dust that kicks up due to the West Texas winds (what's bad is when it starts to rain when the dust has been kicked up in the air...there's nothing quite like having drops of mud come down on your clean, white Sunday School clothes), but the average yearly high temperature in Lubbock is 73 degrees and there is an average of 10 inches of snow per year.

Not exactly the cactus-laden desert that everyone imagines (that comes complete with cow skull and circling buzzard).

1. Lubbock is such a small town. Leach would be better off in a bigger city.

For starters, for every big-time program that you can name that rests in what's considered a 'big city' you can probably just as easily find two or three big-time programs that are located in small towns...although that's not really the issue here.

Lubbock is the third biggest hometown in the Big XII with a population of over 210,000 people and is only about 10,000 away from catching Lincoln, Neb., for the 2nd spot.

To put it into perspective, Lubbock is bigger than Norman, Okla.; Lawrence, Kan., and Boulder, Colo., combined.

Sure, there are many other factors that help Leach determine where he wants to go, but just don't try to tell me that he wants to leave because he can't stand Lubbock any more...

...and in case you were wondering...yes, there are Dairy Queens in Lubbock...five of them to be exact.