Did Mike Leach get Swiftboated? It appears that very well could be the case, as Sports by Brooks outlines today in a post linking ESPN football analyst Craig James and the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, that funtime group of merry pranksters who waged a smear campaign against John Kerry during the 2004 Presidential election. Leach was fired as head coach of Texas Tech over allegations that he mistreated receiver Adam James, who is Craig James’ son.
Merrie Spaeth was the media consultant behind the Swiftboat Veterans, and heads Spaeth Communications, a Dallas-based PR firm. On Wednesday, James announced that he intended to run for the senate seat that would be vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and was assisted in releasing the news by Spaeth Communications. The plot thickens.
Yeah, remember that video of Adam James in the infamous Texas Tech shed? Seems that Spaeth Communications was behind that as well. But there’s more.
From Sports by Brooks:
Prominent Texas Tech alumni and media sources have told me the past week that Spaeth Communications allegedly played an integral role in the firing of Mike Leach. In addition to the video of Adam James that Spaeth circulated to the media, I’ve heard growing sentiment that Spaeth was behind much of the anonymously-sourced information about Adam James’ alleged plight reported by the media.
James has been considering a political career for some time now, well before what happened at Texas Tech. For that reason, I personally believe Craig James called in Spaeth after the Tech situation blew up, to help damage control his reputation and help preserve his viability as a political candidate. As a conservative, it’s also a natural for James to have Spaeth represent him as he ponders a political career.
Craig James is already an instant pariah with a large group of his potential constituency; just look at the billboards supporting Leach that are sprouting up around Lubbock. His supporters call themselves team Leach, and their ranks are growing. Note to James: That’s not an ideal petri dish to grow a political career.
***
Swiftboat PR Firm Repping James Against Leach [SportsbyBrooks]
Smear Boat Veterans For Bush [Salon]
Social networking group Team Leach announces pro-Leach rally [KCBD]
-
- Buckaoo Paul - Jan 10, 2010 at 10:18 AM
-
Great article. Its obvious the fix was in at the university for the past year and this was a railroad job of Leach.
-
- Barton Campbell - Jan 10, 2010 at 10:22 AM
-
NBC, I wanted to thank you for a great article on this travesty of injustice that has been bestowed on the best coach Texas Tech has had. I urge you to continue to dig into those responsible for the demise of Coach Leach and expose their backroom,good ol’ boy,backslapping ways and it seems to me that this was a big conspiracy ever since the contract negotiations of early 2009.I also believe that there’s a lot more than meets the eyes.
-
- Alana Kemmy - Jan 10, 2010 at 10:24 AM
-
Thank you for this article. Please continue to look into this. We need answers, and Coach Leach needs to be able to clear his name.
-
- Sam Goodrich - Jan 10, 2010 at 10:26 AM
-
Good article! But where does Coach Leach go to get his career and reputation back? I sincerely hope the media continue to pursue the darker side of this story and the culpability of the vidictive Tech boosters and Tech Administration political hacks who instigated this fiasco!
-
- Susan - Jan 10, 2010 at 10:28 AM
-
Great article!
-
- Janet - Jan 10, 2010 at 10:34 AM
-
Thank you Rick and NBC for a great article. Please keep up the good work on this story.
-
- cynthia - Jan 10, 2010 at 10:46 AM
-
smokehouse, obviously you’ve missed the entire point here. first of all you spelled your wrong. when addressing someone to call them an ass, it is spelled you’re, it is a contraction of you are. second this has absolutely nothing to do with our president or a senator and it has everything to do with a corrupt administration at texas tech. a personal attack on chandler, whom i believe has done a great job of investigating the situation, will do you no good. research the evidence and leave your political opinions out of this forum.
thank you to Mr. Chandler and NBC for writing and publishing a non-biased, well written, fact based article on the mike leach fiasco.
-
- kenda hill - Jan 10, 2010 at 11:04 AM
-
Thank you for looking into this from both sides. We want to get to the bottom of the corruption at Tech. We all wish it had never happened and know that Coach Leach will not be back, but the way he was treated is wrong on every level. We want to uncover the lies and show these good ole boys for what they really are.TEAM LEACH
-
- J Merrick - Jan 10, 2010 at 11:18 AM
-
We appreciate the reporting, keep it up…
-
- Lauren - Jan 10, 2010 at 11:47 AM
-
Thanks NBC for reporting the facts and letting everyone know the real truth about what happened to Leach
-
- amy - Jan 10, 2010 at 11:51 AM
-
Thank you for accurate and unbiased reporting. Unlike ESPN
-
- Rick Chandler - Jan 11, 2010 at 6:48 PM
-
OK, now I gotta rent that. Thanks for the info, Sam!
-
- Skip Humphreys - Jan 21, 2010 at 7:53 PM
-
Anybody who is thinking of possibly voting for Craig James should do a little investigating first.1. Did the IRS audit his income tax statement while he was on Governor Clements payroll while playing for SMU?2. If I remember correctly, all of their players were compensated.3. Remember they, SMU, got the death penalty.
-
- Dennis out west - Jan 28, 2010 at 11:06 AM
-
This story is a good beginning but since I am not from Texas I don’t know why anyone would be surprised by: crooked politics in Texas; lies and fake images for Texas politicians or football; ESPN telling lies; manipulation of high school football players to benefit parents; or, dirty tricks coming out of Texas. Craig James deserves to have the light of day shined on his behavior and real reasons for behavior. ESPN should be aware they have chosen the wrong horse in this race and if they continue their lies they need to explain to the FCC. TT deserves the financial drubbing they will take (unless the judge is on team James, wink, wink ).
-
- Mike Leach Supporter - Feb 3, 2010 at 1:07 AM
-
Good Article! Finally! Mike Leach got done WRONG by Texas Tech Administation. They need to Pay. Please keep us informed. So many of us still support Mike Leach and he had helped Texas Tech football program SO MUCH. Now Tech football will go back into the Dark Ages. Such A Shame. Craig James might as well forget about a political career. No Support from any of Leach Supporters FOR SURE!
