Of Pirates and (Red) Raiders

Pirate-enthusiast and Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach gives his take on the recent events off the coast of Somalia.

Slow news days are unavoidable in this business.

Like taxes, death, and Brett Michaels reality shows, they come with no warning or apology, just the assurance that they will plague your existence intermittently, probably forever.
 
On this note, it is with a humble sense of journalistic duty that I present a story about a football coach four months before two-a-days begin, speaking on a situation that was resolved almost a week ago. But if you (like me) love football and pirates, this is a story for you.
 
It’s no secret that Mike Leach, head football coach for Texas Tech, loves pirates. He prominently displays a life-size, talking pirate skeleton in his office, which was a gift from basketball coach Pat Knight. He lists “pirate history” as one of his interests on his Myspace page. He has also actively aimed to transform Tech’s student section into a gang of swashbuckling pirates, via his “Pirate School.”
 

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And, word on the street is, he likes a glass of rum, now and again.  
 
Given the fact that Leach is adroit at producing sound-byte gold in any given situation, and with the recent ugliness off the coast of Somalia, his thoughts were just about necessary. Leach did not disappoint in his remarks, a nod toward civility while retaining his pirate-leanings.
 
"I've got to believe that even their Somali pirate friends are going to kill some of those folks that messed with American ships,” said Leach. “Because, up to this point, they hadn't really done that.”
 
Leach said that he was updated on the situation via texts.
 
“Whoever that leader of the SEALs is, I think he's got it right. I think you ought to get the Navy SEALs out, have a long weekend, and go have their fun."
 
As it turns out, this is more or less what happened, as Navy SEALs killed three Somali pirates to end the five-day standoff last Thursday.
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