"Swing Your Sword" by Mike Leach - ESPN suspends writer Bruce Feldman

Dan · Jul 20, 2011, 10:07 AM

Quote:

A Day With Mike Leach: Sailing Key West's High Seas With The Pirate Captain

Spencer Hall spends eight hours on a boat in Key West with Mike Leach, The Pirate Captain himself, which gets him an elf story, a discussion of fish and their lack of education, late-night pizza, and much more that he never anticipated.

Spencer Hall

SaltLife · Jul 20, 2011, 04:51 PM

On the surface 8 hours on a fishing boat off Key West doesn't sound bad at all. Now with Mike Leach aboard it may be a different story

Mark Seifert · Jul 24, 2011, 10:38 AM

Finished the book. It can essentially be divided into thirds: The first third is Leach's background, rise through the coaching ranks, and how he developed his various philosophies. Second third is getting to Tech and how he developed that program. Last part is the Adam & Craig James situation and how that led to his dismissal.

The beginning is very interesting. Finding out a bit about what makes a guy like Leach tick is what I wanted out of the book.

The part that starts to get into the Tech years is good, though as a casual football fan I was less interested in the specifics of his offense, details about how his staff worked, etc. If you're a big football fan (or of course, a Tech fan) you'll probably love it.

The part covering the James situation is basically about getting his side of the story on the record. He is of course extremely critical of ESPN, Craig James, and certain Tech administrators.

Honestly, since I only had a casual knowledge of that situation before now, the extreme one-sided telling of the matter hurts the book somewhat. Throughout the book, there are brief passages from people who know Leach, talking about specific events. They could've gotten third-party perspective here from non-ESPN sports people (such as from yahoo, cbs sports, etc) to give some context here and that would have made Leach's telling of it all the more biting.

That said, he set out to get his unedited side of it on the record here, and no doubt cause the other sports media to follow up into his claims (which are backed with various included emails that came out during his legal wrangling with Tech and other investigations), and he accomplishes that goal and I think there will probably be consequences for some people from what he lays out here.

An interesting though very brief section involves Bob Knight. Though he goes out of his way to say he got along with Knight and has no beef with him, he says some of his issues at Tech were caused in part by power struggles between Tech administrators who were inside Knight's circle and those who were not. In a nutshell, some people inside Tech had bootstrapped their influence around Knight and his ability to schmooze boosters, and Leach's rising success had started to destabilize that (according to Leach, obviously).

Overall, an interesting book and if you're a football fan I think you'll probably like it.

Botb9 · Sep 1, 2011, 09:32 AM

As I expected, this episode backfires on ESPN ultimately. Bruce Feldman has left and is apparently joining CBSSports.com.

Quote:

Ladies and gentleman please welcome Bruce Feldman to CBSSports.com.

@DennisDoddCBS

Dan · Sep 1, 2011, 09:35 AM

Audio: Bruce Feldman on the Dan Patrick Show today http://t.co/c8tR1zO

OlivetNaz · Sep 1, 2011, 10:07 AM

Some da**ing stuff there on ESPN. Withdrew a contract extension and raise because Feldman has "credibility issues"...but they keep Craig James and Mark May.

Botb9 · Sep 1, 2011, 10:20 AM

This is one they're going to live to regret. That guy was bringing in money. What did Craig James ever do for ESPN except get them embroiled in a lawsuit and spew nothingness for four months out of the year?

OlivetNaz · Sep 1, 2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botb9

This is one they're going to live to regret. That guy was bringing in money. What did Craig James ever do for ESPN except get them embroiled in a lawsuit and spew nothingness for four months out of the year?

ESPN doesn't have what I would call a single objective CFB reporter or analyst on their network now that Feldman's gone. Shameful.

ThunderNutz · Sep 1, 2011, 05:31 PM

I have listened to The Dan Patrick Show a lot on my SiriusXM and I LOVE how he always refers to ESPN as "The Mothership"

illynifan34 · Oct 7, 2011, 01:36 PM

Bump.

Reading the book right now, about half way through and loving it.

KBLEE · May 9, 2012, 11:51 AM

Mike Leach Appears To Have Autographed A Copy Of His Book With A "Craig James Killed Five Hookers" Reference

Outstanding!!!

aiwpfan · May 9, 2012, 12:24 PM

That is awesome!

256ILLINI · May 9, 2012, 09:54 PM

I urge you all to google the words "Craig James kill" and then stop typing and look at what google suggests you search.

BluesBro · May 10, 2012, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kramer116

Yea the more I think of it, the more I do not think that is correct.

Err this is driving me nuts, it happened at some point in the past year and I remember they were such a laughing stock for not doing it. Maybe it was the Big Ben stuff I am thinking of.

They were blasted earlier in the year for sitting on the Syracuse sex abuse stuff...the tapes of the coach's wife with the accuser/victim.

Sep 1, 2011, 10:07 AM	#31
OlivetNaz Location: East Central IL Posts: 4,088	Some daing stuff there on ESPN. Withdrew a contract extension and raise because Feldman has "credibility issues"...but they keep Craig James and Mark May. __________________ "If life were logical, men would ride side-saddle."**

Sep 1, 2011, 10:20 AM	#32
Botb9 Realist Posts: 3,155	This is one they're going to live to regret. That guy was bringing in money. What did Craig James ever do for ESPN except get them embroiled in a lawsuit and spew nothingness for four months out of the year? __________________ Hype is a self-serving beast that feeds on the hopes and dreams of fans.

Sep 1, 2011, 05:31 PM	#34
ThunderNutz Location: Hancock County Illinois Posts: 176	I have listened to The Dan Patrick Show a lot on my SiriusXM and I LOVE how he always refers to ESPN as "The Mothership" __________________ "You are a direct reflection of me. When you lose, I am a loser. When you fight, I am a fighter. When you win, I am a winner. When you and I work together, we are a team." ---Anonymous high school coach

Oct 7, 2011, 01:36 PM	#35
illynifan34 That's a winner!! Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 7,635	Bump. Reading the book right now, about half way through and loving it. __________________ www.afsp.org In Mike I Trust Aggressive

Jul 20, 2011, 04:51 PM	#27
SaltLife Banned Location: Ormond Beach Posts: 5,876	On the surface 8 hours on a fishing boat off Key West doesn't sound bad at all. Now with Mike Leach aboard it may be a different story

Jul 24, 2011, 10:38 AM	#28
Mark Seifert Posts: 485	Finished the book. It can essentially be divided into thirds: The first third is Leach's background, rise through the coaching ranks, and how he developed his various philosophies. Second third is getting to Tech and how he developed that program. Last part is the Adam & Craig James situation and how that led to his dismissal. The beginning is very interesting. Finding out a bit about what makes a guy like Leach tick is what I wanted out of the book. The part that starts to get into the Tech years is good, though as a casual football fan I was less interested in the specifics of his offense, details about how his staff worked, etc. If you're a big football fan (or of course, a Tech fan) you'll probably love it. The part covering the James situation is basically about getting his side of the story on the record. He is of course extremely critical of ESPN, Craig James, and certain Tech administrators. Honestly, since I only had a casual knowledge of that situation before now, the extreme one-sided telling of the matter hurts the book somewhat. Throughout the book, there are brief passages from people who know Leach, talking about specific events. They could've gotten third-party perspective here from non-ESPN sports people (such as from yahoo, cbs sports, etc) to give some context here and that would have made Leach's telling of it all the more biting. That said, he set out to get his unedited side of it on the record here, and no doubt cause the other sports media to follow up into his claims (which are backed with various included emails that came out during his legal wrangling with Tech and other investigations), and he accomplishes that goal and I think there will probably be consequences for some people from what he lays out here. An interesting though very brief section involves Bob Knight. Though he goes out of his way to say he got along with Knight and has no beef with him, he says some of his issues at Tech were caused in part by power struggles between Tech administrators who were inside Knight's circle and those who were not. In a nutshell, some people inside Tech had bootstrapped their influence around Knight and his ability to schmooze boosters, and Leach's rising success had started to destabilize that (according to Leach, obviously). Overall, an interesting book and if you're a football fan I think you'll probably like it.

Sep 1, 2011, 09:35 AM	#30
Dan Admin Location: Champaign, IL Posts: 25,894	Audio: Bruce Feldman on the Dan Patrick Show today http://t.co/c8tR1zO

May 9, 2012, 11:51 AM	#36
KBLEE Location: Montgomery, IL Posts: 6,248	Mike Leach Appears To Have Autographed A Copy Of His Book With A "Craig James Killed Five Hookers" Reference Outstanding!!!

May 9, 2012, 12:24 PM	#37
aiwpfan Location: Springfield, Il Posts: 59	That is awesome!

May 9, 2012, 09:54 PM	#38
256ILLINI Banned Posts: 453	I urge you all to google the words "Craig James kill" and then stop typing and look at what google suggests you search.