Fat Little Girlfriends Cookbook
Team Leach Forward
What or who is Team Leach? The basic answer would be that it is a Facebook group that was started on December 30, 2009, after Coach Leach was terminated by Texas Tech University and by January 7, 2010 we had in excess of 55,000 members. We became a Facebook phenomenon and a shining example of how social networking can bring people together in the 21st Century. We consistently maintained a 60,000 plus membership for nine months.
The larger truth would
be that we are a group of passionate souls that range in age from teenagers to
octogenarians. We come from every occupation, tax bracket and ethnic
group there is. We come from all 50 states and beyond. We have
members that have yet to graduate Jr. High and those with PhD’s and MD’s.
We have Tech alumni and students, but also have many members that have
never even been to Lubbock, but became fans of the Red Raiders only because of
Coach Leach’s tenure as Head Football coach. Most of us joined because we felt
that Coach Leach was wrongfully terminated and at the very least, the situation
was grossly mishandled by the Tech Administration. After much research,
we feel that his termination was choreographed months before and enacted not
only to massage the egos of a select few that hold the power at Tech, but do
not necessarily have the best interests of the Tech students, alumni and fans
at heart, and to refrain from paying Coach Leach the year end bonuses he so
well deserved. We wanted` to show our support in a tangible way for a
coach that we love. Team Leach has given us the direction and a forum in
which to do that.
Team Leach is a place to hold discussions, vent
frustrations, research and post links of the legal proceedings, keep abreast of
media coverage and to exchange ideas and personal thoughts. Fast and true
friendships have been forged, mostly by people that have not yet met in
person. And lastly, we are in search of answers as to the truth of
what happened as far as the Tech administration is concerned and determined to
bring about change to ensure that nothing like this will happen again at Texas
Tech University.
Why the passion for Coach Leach? Coach Leach
arrived in Lubbock in 2000 to take over a ho-hum program that had never got
much attention outside of West Texas, not to mention much respect, and never
cracked 20,000 in season ticket sales.
Leach doubled that record,
the first of many that he and his teams would set and/or obliterate.
Arguably one of the most innovative coaches in the country, he
installed an all-out aerial assault on offense, posted a pirate shipload of
points, set passing records, never suffered a losing season and made football
exciting for Red Raiders and the rest of the country to watch. He was
refreshingly original, was a dream interview for media sports reporters and his
quirky comments became much talked about sound bites. His distinctive
disdain for not “playing the game” on the greens and fairways of local country
clubs marked him as rebellious but fans loved that about him. He much
preferred to do his “talking” on the field. His teams produced football
world talents such as Wes Welker, Taurean, Henderson, Danny Amendola, Joel
Filani and Michael Crabtree.
Fat Little Girlfriends Cookbook
Mike Leach Forward and Acknowledgements
It was after a very disappointing loss to Texas A&M in the
2009 season. As a team, it seemed like we were somewhere else instead of
where we needed to be that day. So, in a press conference I said that we
as a team were listening to “our fat little girlfriends” tell us how good of a
football team we were instead of doing what we needed to do to get ready for
the game. “Fat little girlfriends” is a metaphor for relaxed, content and
complacent comfort which is counter-productive to football.
Little
did I know when I said it, the term, “fat little girlfriends" would become the
title of a cookbook designed to raise money for a scholarship named in my
honor.
After my termination at Texas Tech, a group of fans got
together on Facebook to start something called, Team Leach. It reached well
over 60,000 members. The outpouring of support I got from this group was
overwhelming.
To keep their mission positive, Team Leach
started a scholarship fund in my name. Their hope is to raise enough money to
start sending students who want to get into coaching to Texas Tech. Since
this group is not made up of a bunch of “high rollers” from country clubs and
corporate board rooms, it has never tried to rely on a few people writing large
checks to get this going.
To raise money, a fantastic woman
named Kerry Morrison came up with the idea of putting together this cookbook.
That’s when the press conference from the A&M game came up. “Let’s call it
the Fat Little Girlfriends Cookbook,” Morrison told her friends on Team Leach.
It stuck, and the work on the cookbook began.
I want to thank
Kerry for being the driving force. She had some wonderful volunteers helping
her like Carla Christensen and Tom Gleason.
Some other Team
Leach members I want to thank are administrators Mark Uptergrove, Lauren
Gongora, J.R. Ghaddar, Trey Hudietz and Becky Timmons. Mark and Becky
have done interviews with the Lubbock media on behalf of Team Leach.
Thank you. I would also like to thank Blaze Butler for talking to
radio and TV reporters before the Team Leach Rally held in January.
Also, Charlie Hodges for his public relations work for Team Leach and his
help in getting everything off the ground.
Over the last
few months, friends and family have been my rock as I’ve moved forward after my
wonderful 10 years at Texas Tech. It is only fitting that this cookbook is
devoted to family. Your family and mine. Please use recipes you find in
this book to make meals for your family to enjoy every night. Use some of
these recipes to make meals for you to share with your friends. There’s
nothing better than spending time to enjoy a meal, get close to each other,
laugh and just savor life. Although the relaxed, content and complacent
comfort which is provided by fat little girlfriends may not be productive to
football, it is the mortar that binds family and friends
together.
As you find meals you like, please buy more
copies of this book to give as gifts to your friends and families.
Finally, I want to thank you: the person who spent your hard-earned
dollar and free time to support the students at Texas Tech. It was an
honor to serve as your football coach and work with our great fans during the
most productive ten years in school history.
The Team Leach - Mike Leach Scholarship Foundation is an effort by a group of Texas Tech football fans to honor former Texas Tech Head Football Coach Mike Leach.
Leach left Texas Tech University December 30, 2009 after 10 years as head coach. During his tenure, he not only brought success on the football field for Texas Tech, he also established the highest football graduation rate for public universities in the country.
This group of fans, students and alumni are not rich by any means. They do not have the ability to write $50,000 checks on a whim. They do not have the wherewithal to watch football games in skyboxes and go to games to be seen or socialize while looking down at the crowd below.
The people setting up this scholarship get up every day and go to work and try to make ends meet in a down economy. They are the people sitting below who buy the tickets, and have been doing so for decades. But still, they give what they can to make The Team Leach - Mike Leach Scholarship a success.
We ask you to help us in this effort. Your contribution, no matter the size, will be greatly appreciated.
You can give online securely by clicking on this link. All Major credit cards, checking accounts, and Paypal are accepted.
Or you can send your contribution to:
Team Leach - Mike Leach
Scholarship Foundation
#111
3440 Bell Ste. 320
Amarillo, TX 79109
As a pledge from Team Leach, your identity will not be shared. You will not get the constant drip, drip, drip of phone calls, marketing mailers or slick emails asking for more contributions. Please give when you can, as much as you can. That’s all we ask.
Thank you for visiting our site. We hope you will decide to honor Coach Leach and his work at Texas Tech by helping us establish a fund that will help students for decades to come.
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