Wednesday, Jan.30, 2009

The headlines on the sports pages these days have not been kind.

As the first decade of the new millennium comes to a close, it seems that scandal has overshadowed the accomplishments of the athletes, both at the college and professional levels.

From Tigers Woods “indiscretions” to Texas Tech’s Mike Leach being suspended, the end of 2009 and the decade are going to leave us with a lot of unanswered questions.

Throw into that mix Florida’s Urban Meyer and his strange drama over the weekend and it sets up for some interesting events, which will unfold in 2010.

We have gotten used to our professional athletes running afoul of the law, and to some extent, we have seen this happen at both the college and high school levels.

But it is unusual for coaches to get into the mix outside of the occasional recruiting violation.

But in the case of Meyer and Leach, these really come as a shock to most.

Only time will tell what the real reason was that Meyer announced that he would be retiring as head coach at Florida, only to recant that statement less than 24 hours later and switch to a “leave of absence.”

This certainly hints of a scandal that may or may not come to light in the next few days or weeks.

Stranger than that, is the Leach situation at Texas Tech.

Apparently, he has been suspended from the bowl game against Michigan State on Jan. 2 because of alleged mistreatment of a player who had suffered a concussion.

Apparently, Adam James, son of former college great and current ESPN analyst Craig James, was forced to stand in a small, dark place for hours while his teammates practiced without him.

If these allegations are correct, Leach should not only be fired and not allowed to coach football at any level again, he should be turned over to law enforcement authorities for additional action.

There is no place in our society for someone who would do something so cruel to another human being.

The only good thing that has come out of this situation with Texas Tech is that is has taken the spotlight off of the Michigan State football program and all of its suspensions stemming from a Thanksgiving weekend incident in East Lansing.

But unfortunately, it has taken away from the enjoyment these teams are supposed to be having as they prepare for the Alamo Bowl.