It's all good to rally the fans.

We all know we need it...

but to put the program on the back of the fans seems a bit much to me.

While I do believe that success feeds from many different aspects; school size, school location, program excellence, national attention, education, ability to recruit, stadium size, training facilities, etc...

One large common denominator among all of these schools is that through out it all, the fans endured, remained strong, and even grew their base of influence.

That may be true...but to say that the fans are a contributing factor above the others is a stretch. 

We just finished recruiting so let's consider this list of elite teams that you want to compare with TTU and look at their ability to recruit.

These stats only go back to 2002 as per the info I was able to garner from Rivals.com

Team - (Avg)   -    '02 - '03 - '04 - '05 - '06 - '07 - '08 - '09 - '10

Tenn  - (12.78) -   2  -  18  -  11 -  4 -   23 -   3  -  35 -  10 -   9

LSU   - (7.78)   -   15  -   1 -    2  -  22  -  7  -   4  -  11 -   2  -   6

FL      - (7)        -    20  -  2   -  7  -  15 -   2   -  1  -   3    - 11  - 2

Ala     - (15.56)  - 30  -  49  - 15 - 18  -  11 - 10 -   1 -     1 -   5

OK     - (7.89)    -  7    -   4   -  8   -  3 -     9  - 14  -  6   -  13  - 7

TX      - (8.78)   -   1   -   16  - 10  - 20  -  5  -   5   - 14  -  5  -   3

USC  - (3.78)   -  13  -  3   -    1 -    1 -      1  -   2 -    8  -   4  -  1

OhSt  - (14.11) -  5   -   41   -  9   - 12   - 12  - 15  - 4  -  3  - 26

FLSt  - (8.89)    -  4    -  21  -   3    - 2   -    3 -   21 -  9 -  7 -  10

Miami-(11.22)  -  8     -  5   -   4   -  7    -  14 -  19 -  5  -  15 - 4

And of course...

TTU   - (39.78)  - 48  -  44 - 33  - 37  -   25 -  52 -  45 - 33 -41

We all know it's hard to recruit at Tech so this should really come as no surprise. 

Getting to the big show requires something special and a little bit of luck when you don't have the deck stacked in your favor.  I will argue, until proven otherwise, that Leach was able to do more with less talent than any other coach in College Football.  Yes we needed the D to improve but we were seeing that improvement come to light in the past couple of years with Ruff as the DC and he was getting better results with his recruits as well.  More with less. 

Tubs won't be able to pull it off if he doesn't capitalize (BCS) with the strong team and great schedule we have this year and it will be sullied by the fact that it is STILL Leach's team he'll be doing it with.

Yes...our team needs our support.

But to say

We have a choice. We can rightfully withold our monetary support for this team and protest the corrupt leadership who has surely embarrassed our great alma mater..........or we can support our squad in 2011 with such zeal and fervor that the "stooges" can't expand the stadium fast enough! We can bring about a level of fan support in 2011 the likes of which this school has never seen as we set records for attendance and noise! Let the "3 stooges" not be fired for the Leach debacle, but rather for incompetence due to underestimating capacity requirements at the Jones!

TTUMAR can't seriously think that "filling the stadium" to spite the stooges will get them fired?

They would be patting each other on their backs while sipping on scotch and laughing at the alumni that got so darned mad about getting rid of the captain.

Sure...support the team.  Go to games.  Do all of the things that good Red Raiders do...but don't tell yourself that filling that stadium will make the three stooges look like idiots. 

All you'll be doing is proving that they were right to fire the pirate and the Tubs was a good hire and who cares what everybody thinks because they know what's right for this school and now they're selling out the stadium thanks to their hire so guess what...they were right and loyalty, honor, and justice give way to getting more Wins because that's what really matters.

Yeah...winning matters...but Techsans do it with pride.  We do it with honor.

And that's the rub.  That's why so many people are angry.  Because those of us that are still hell bent on seeing Hance, Bailey, and Myers gone are left with little choice. 

What do we do?  Not support the team we love?  Or fill the stadium and prove that the three stooges were right?

We have been picked on, disrespected, and ignored not only by the nation, but by our own conference foes for decades.

That may have been true but I also remember thinking;

Finally!  We're getting real respect...real national coverage...people know TTU and know Leach and have actually heard of Lubbock, TX!  Finallly...our own conference is really starting to sweat the games they play against us.

TTUMAR...as much as I'd like to take credit for that as a fan...Leach brought that to us.  The three stooges took it away when they made a mockery of the school and our captain.

So what is Texas Tech's "next step"?  Getting rid of the three stooges is the ONLY step that puts this program back where it needs to be. 

Strive for honor evermore...

While I know that we're all trying our best to move on because we do have a University to support and a team who isn't getting their Captain back, I still feel strongly that there are people that do need to pay for the manner in which this was handled.

Interestingly enough I stubled across this poll at TimesUnion.com

No need for a jump - here's the link to the poll.

Currently there have been 3436 votes with 90% asking for Craig James to get fired.

Go cast your vote.

From the Washington Post Sports Columnist Sally Jenkins:

Link

Sally does a pretty good job of looking at this from as many sides as possible while showing the inconsistency of firing a coach like Leach for "brute behavior".

Leach is not some head-banging throwback. He's idiosyncratic and incurably outspoken, but nothing suggests he's a sadist or an idiot who would endanger a player. In fact, he is one of the more well-read and thoughtful men in the game, with a large curiosity and a law degree from Pepperdine.

It's probably one of the most thought out and well done articles from an outside perspective I've read thus far.

One thing's for sure: Another school should hire him.

I only wish she were talking about another chance with Tech.