War Of Words Or Sour Grapes?

The so-called war of words between Texas Tech's Mike Leach and Texas A&M's Mike Sherman may just be a case of sour grapes

By SCOTT M. CRISP

Updated 2:25 PM CST, Wed, Apr 29, 2009

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Despite a decade or so of Texas Tech dominance, the rivalry between the Red Raiders and the Aggies of Texas A&M has shown little sign of slowing down.

This is particularly true when taking into account the backhanded shot that Tech’s head football coach, Mike Leach, took at A&M when commenting on former-Aggie and recent Cowboy Stephen McGee.

When asked about the selection, Leach said, “The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did.”

Leach was referring to McGee’s time on the bench last season, which McGee and A&M coaches attribute to injury.

“I am shocked because my time at A&M was very special to me,” said McGee. “Obviously I got injured, and many people think that Coach Sherman benched me. That's just not true.”

Leach’s comments have been read widely as a mean case of sour grapes, as Leach’s go-to-guy, Graham Harrell was not drafted. It’s understandable enough; the fact that Harrell, the best pure quarterback Tech has had in a long time, didn’t get drafted, it’s hard to imagine any of his successors getting the call.

And this will hurt recruiting, at least to some degree.

Mike Sherman seemed miffed at Leach’s remarks, and praised McGee for his time with the Aggies.

As for the sour grapes theory, there seems to be ample evidence of Leach being in a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad mood of late. Harrell agreed to terms with Cleveland to attend mini-camp; ironic, somewhat, as Leach had taken issue with the Browns earlier in the week after head coach Eric Mangini labeled Michael Crabtree as a diva.

In a statement to the Sacramento Bee, Leach said, "Michael Crabtree has been more successful as a receiver than that guy has as a coach at this point.”

Leach went on to (kind of) defend his quarterback through a criticism of the NFL draft process as a whole. "The truth of the matter is that the NFL drafts quarterbacks notoriously bad," Leach said. "That's indisputable.”

Leach has a point. Players like Ryan Leaf are drafted first overall each year, while eventual stars, like Tony Romo, go overlooked completely.

Maybe Leach will be proven right in the coming years, with regards to his guy; but the shot at Texas A&M will forever be known as a study in bitterness.

And maybe, just maybe, this little clip board piece will be just enough for the Aggies to win in Lubbock this fall (Oct. 24) for the first time since 1993.