Classless clown award for 2003 - and the winner is...

[PlanoStang]

What I want to hear is a Bobby Knight quote on how this compares on his list of worst classless stupid dumb things that collige studints pull.

[Thumper]

Tech fans are generally pretty decent sorts. I wonder if they cringed when they heard Knight's comment about SMU fans or if they got sick at the sight of that touchdown celebration. I would have (in both cases).

[Pony4Life]

That celebration is something where the Commissioner of the Big 12 or the NCAA should step in with a strong statement about how athletes represent the game, the conference, etc. Mandatory suspension for players involved, with a mandatory apology to Navy.

[MrMustang1965]

Here's how one Tech player feels about it. Printed in today's Lubbock newspaper.

letters to the Sports Editor
A Tech Player's Reaction

I am writing in response to the recent letters degrading the Texas Tech
football team.
These letters have been appalling, yet amusing.

The celebration antics were not directed toward Navy in any manner. The
"bomb"
celebration was started last year against Clemson in the Tangerine
Bowl, but certainly
did not receive this much negativity. The "bomb" is an accumulation of
many things:
midnight practices in February, grueling practices six days a week in
the off-season,
5:30 a.m. workouts in the summer and strenuous two-a-day workouts in
August in 100-degree
heat. The "bomb" is an opportunity for the seniors and the Tech
football team to
culminate the season on a lighthearted note. This group of seniors, a
quarterback playing
with a torn ACL for 50 percent of the season, receivers breaking
records (and finally
getting due recognition), offensive linemen protecting our quarterback
as if their lives
depended on it, and senior defensive teammates providing the leadership
skills to improve
their unit week after week, guided us to a new level.

I have the utmost respect for the Naval Academy and what they do for
our nation; however,
they made their choice. Does that make them more patriotic? If so,
fine, but I would not
want to go to war without my Tech teammates next to me.

Football should be entertaining — that is what we as a team offered in
the 2003 season.
There were no letters written after the A&M game when we received
several celebration
penalties. Why is there a double standard for Navy, or do we as Tech
fans and players
look at A&M as if they are the Middle East?

The team's actions were not focused or pointed toward Navy and their
fans. However, the
television commentators, with their biased comments, persuaded people
who did not attend
the EV1.Net Houston Bowl to think otherwise. One of the commentators, a
member of SMU's
"Pony Express," assisted his university in receiving the death penalty
from the NCAA.
Were his comments and opinions of the Red Raiders accurate? Please
consider the source.

For those who have criticized our coaching staff and team, I ask you to
get off the
couch, come to a game, and actually support the Red Raiders.

Coach Mike Leach and his staff have done an outstanding and superior
job the last four
years. They have taken the Red Raiders to four consecutive bowl games,
and our football
program is now recognized on a national level. Coach Leach's offense is
like poetry in
motion and is fun to play and fun to watch.

The 2003 Texas Tech Red Raider football team is composed of respectful
and classy
individual young men. We provided financial assistance to two of our
managers who
encountered unfortunate circumstances in December. Several team members
are involved
weekly with youth groups at their respective churches, and some of the
players visit
Lubbock's elementary schools on a regular basis. And, yes, we did stand
beside the Navy
football team during their alma mater at the conclusion of the EV1.Net
Houston Bowl.

For those who attended the Houston Bowl and the other games in 2003,
our team says 'thank
you.' The Tech fan attendance in Houston was impressive, and we are
sincerely grateful.
GO TECH!!

Cody Hodges/Lubbock

Texas Tech football player

[Mike Damone]

"I have the utmost respect for the Naval Academy and what they do for
our nation; however,
they made their choice. Does that make them more patriotic?"


Uh, YES!! That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. That article makes no sense.

[onn4]

OK, I can't take it anymore.

I watched the "bomb";

I watched the flea flicker when Tech was up by 30 over NAVY with only 4 or 5 minutes left;

I watched the goal post being shoved into the A&M fan section;

I've listened to Bobby Knight publicly go into F Bomb rants to the media on multiple, multiple occassions (redudant?, oh well);

I watched the way Tech fans acted last year at Ford field when SMU was ahead late in the game. They were bitter and just short of violent;

I watched Tech fans in Lubbock when SMU went up 3-0 - I was basically told to sit down and shut up after simply standing up and clapping (not even saying anything)

Now this open letter: What a disgrace - The Tech Football program will always be a UT, A&M wannabe program. Yes those Navy kids made their decision, and what a difficult one it must have been; go into the military at a time when military men and women are dying and being disfigured on a daily basis;

Shame on you Texas Tech, shame on you for all of the above - and then shame on you for trying to defend your thoughtless actions!

[Bergermeister]

Lame response from a bushleaguer. It has to do with CLASS. Texas Tech has none. Some people just don't get it.

[DiamondM]

I can't take it any more either. You guys are way overreacting. The "bomb" was not directed at Navy as a matter of disrespect, it was a youthful show of togetherness and exuberance -- a unified celebration of the end of a well-played season. Plus I thought it was funny.

I hold the utmost respect for our military academies, but this "how dare they" attitude because Tech played Navy instead of a non-military academy is silly. Those players were recruited same as every other athlete out of high school. For most of them, had they not been recruited for their football they would have gone to another university. Get a grip.

This was a funny post on the Tech board in response to the outrage. Remember, it's tongue in cheek.

Dear editor,

I am writing in response to the play and actions of Texas Tech during the Houston Bowl that was played over a week ago. I am still fuming about it because I have no life and want to get my name in the paper. Not only that, but because my Aggies were unable to go to a bowl game.

The fact that Tech threw a flea flicker in the fourth quarter is appalling. What is even worse is that the Texas Tech receiver stopped running and let the Navy player run into him. After seeing the play, I was worried for the Navy player and was hoping that the receiver did not injure our sensitive man in the armed forces. If Tech didn't throw a flea flicker, this man would never have been put in harm's way so close to the goal line. It is classless for Tech to run this play and endanger our fighting men in such a way.

The celebration in the end zone was also tasteless. If you look at one of the pictures from the celebration, you see that the Tech quarterback almost landed on one of the Navy players. This is unheard of and he should be punished by having knee surgery. This should put him out of commission for a couple of months while that Navy player has time to heal from his wounds of catching the quarterback.

I will never forget the classless acts of Texas Tech against the men who will someday boss around our fighting men. When they are on their ships while the army is fighting face to face with the enemy, I hope they are able to perform their actions of swabbing the deck without having any flashbacks to these atrocious acts.

GenericAg