The Pirate Mike Leach era ends at Texas Tech, Time Warner v. Fox Network and Canada's government gets a nice, long break

- The Mike Leach saga took another fascinating turn Wednesday, as Texas Tech its quirky football coach just two days after he was suspended by the school as it investigated his treatment of a player with a concussion. "I'm very sad to say there's only one person to blame for this and it's Mike Leach," Texas Tech chancellor Kent Hance stated. He was backed up by Jerry Turner, vice chairman of the university system's board of regents, who said "other things" came to light during an investigation of Leach's treatment of receiver Adam James. Leach was accused of sequestering Jones inside an equipment shed and electrical closet after the player was diagnosed with a concussion and could not practice with the rest of the team. The alleged incidents occurred on Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, as the Red Raiders were preparing for the Alamo Bowl against Michigan State. Leach was then suspended Monday and took the university to court, seeking an injunction allowing him to coach Saturday in the bowl game. Instead, the school handed a termination letter to Leach's attorney, Ted Liggett, minutes before the two sides were to appear in a Lubbock courtroom for a hearing on the coach's suspension. Liggett said Texas Tech general counsel Pat Campbell approached him outside the courtroom and told him that regardless of the outcome in the courtroom, Leach was done as Tech’s coach, effective immediately. Liggett then informed the judge that there was no need for the hearing and he instead went about issuing threats and promising to file a lawsuit on Leach's behalf against the school "soon." While speaking his best legal-ese and not giving anything up, Liggett declared, "We can guarantee that the fight has just begun." This is shaping up as a bitter battle, in no small part because of the financial aspects of the case. By firing Leach with cause, as the school is attempting to do, they would not have to pay any sort of severance on the 5-year, $12.7 million contract extension he signed earlier this year. Additionally, Leach was due an $800,000 bonus if he were still Tech’s head coach today. By firing him with cause, the school is also looking to get out from under the $400,000 per year it would have had to pony up for firing Leach any time during his new contract. If you believe the school, Leach’s firing came because he was defiant an uncooperative with the administration as it attempted to investigate his alleged mistreatment of Jones. Texas Tech's official statement said Leach's actions made it impossible for him to remain coach of the Red Raiders. "In a defiant act of insubordination, Coach Leach continually refused to cooperate in a meaningful way to help resolve the complaint. He also refused to obey a suspension order and instead sued Texas Tech University," the statement said. When Leach decided to take on the university in court "in defiance" of his suspension, that's why "we are where we are," Turner said. Leach released his own statement patting himself on the back for turning the program around, improving its graduation rate and doing an all-around great job. He then opened fire with his verbal AK-47, taking aim at the university and most everyone associated with its operations. "Over the past several months there have been individuals in the Texas Tech administration, Board of Regents and booster groups who have dealt in lies and continue to do so," the statement read. "These lies have led to my firing [Wednesday]. I steadfastly refuse to deal in any lies and am disappointed that I have not been afforded the opportunity for the truth to be known. Texas Tech's decision to deal in lies and fabricate a story which led to my firing includes, but is not limited by, the animosity remaining from last year's contract negotiations. I will not tolerate such retaliatory action. Additionally, we will pursue all available legal remedies.” The few Texas Tech players who have spoken out publicly since Leach’s firing don’t exactly sound broken up about the decision. . "I have no complaints about this decision. [Leach] put Adam [James] in a shed like an animal. Like an animal in a cage. That was bull," defensive lineman Chris Perry said. "You call other players. I think it was a good decision. We have our pep back now. We practice hard this week. We had less stress this week. You know why? Because he's gone." Yikes. Angry much, C.? But his comments don’t seem so harsh when you consider that wide receiver Tramain Swindall backed him up and said he supported the decision to fire Leach. "I do agree and I'm supporting Adam and what he's doing because it's the right thing to do," Swindall declared. "And so do most of the players. It wasn't just about Adam. It was always a negative vibe. To top it off, Taylor Charbonnet said: "The players make this team, not one coach. As Adam's friend, I didn't like it at all what [Leach] did. He was my brother and I didn't agree with it. I don't know why [Leach] did that. But I know we are fully behind [interim] coach Ruffin [McNeill]. We love him and support him." Guess these guys weren’t as down with Leach’s pirate-y ways and personality quirks like I was. Then again, I didn’t have to put up with him every single day like they did…………

- If you are a customer of Time Warner Cable and you enjoy watching any channels served up by Fox Network, this next story is one you’ll want to keep a close eye on. The two entertainment industry titans are throwing down over money – what else would it be? – and Fox refused Wednesday to agree to an offer by to enter arbitration with the Federal Communications Commission to resolve their ongoing fee dispute. These two have been locked in a battle to the death over how much Time Warner should pay News Corp. for the right to deliver Fox networks into its subscribers' homes. The deadline is the end of the day today and assuming that no last-minute miracle agreement is reached, all of the Fox-owned broadcast networks and some of its cable channels could disappear from some Time Warner Cable subscribers' televisions on New Year's Day. What a way to ring in the new year, with no anti-Obama, conservative-spin-job chicanery and hijinks on Fox News. The only way this turns out well is if this battle drags on long enough for viewers to be protected from having to witness the debacle that is American Karaoke when Ryan Seacrest and his merry band of ass clowns return…..well, whenever the world’s largest karaoke contest is scheduled to resume on Fox. A series of letters about the battle became public Wednesday, with Fox stating in its letter that the company believes "these discussions do not belong in the hands of a third party" and wants to negotiate face-to-face with Time Warner Cable. Time Warner’s own letter, dated Dec. 29, said explicitly that the cable giant would willingly submit to binding arbitration. Smack-dab in the middle of this mess is Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who wrote to both Time Warner Cable and News Corp., Fox's parent company, to urge the companies to resolve their disagreement and suggested arbitration. Looking to be the bigger “person” in this dispute, Time Warner Cable said that it would enter into an interim agreement with Fox to avoid any blackout, but Fox blew right past that offer without addressing it. Whereas a Fox Networks representative would not comment beyond what was in the letter, a Time Warner Cable spokeswoman said "we are willing to do what it takes to get the deal done, including arbitration." And as you’d expect, News Corp. is playing the role of prototypical corporate greed buckets. "We are simply seeking fair compensation for content that has helped fuel the ever increasing profit margins of the cable industry," News Corp. chief executive Chase Carey wrote in a letter to Kerry, who is the chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communication, Technology and the Internet. In other words, give us our damn money, as much of it as possible. The showdown boils down to News Corp.’s plan to charge Time Warner Cable $1 per subscriber for airing its broadcast station, Fox. In the past, providers have only had to pay that fee for cable networks and not for broadcast television. Fox has plenty cable channels -- FX, Speed, Fuel TV, Fox Reality, Fox Soccer and Fox Sports en Español – which fall under that heading. Time Warner isn't without blame here, even if they are attempting to portray themselves as fighting for the average guy and claiming that Fox is charging too much to renew the contract and that any cost increase would only hurt consumers. With no deal reached, Time Warner Cable's customers would lose access to programming like NFL Football, "House" and "American Karaoke." That anger could cause them to cancel their Time Warner subscriptions, which underscores the company’s own profit-driven motives as its key concern. Time Warner should know how to resolve this type of problem, as it faced a similar battle with Viacom last year but reached an agreement early on Jan. 1. Step it up and get a deal done, you guys……….

- Been missing a lot of self-important, moderately funny wannabe comedians living in a tricked-out house, fighting with one another and attempting to win over the losers desperate enough to watch a reality series about a bunch of self-important, moderately funny wannabe comedians living in a tricked-out house? If so, do I have good news for you! Sources at NBC confirm that the network is in talks to bring back Last Comic Standing, a show that ran for six seasons on the network. Better still, the show would return with out host Bill Bellamy, which is good because most any replacement host would be a considerable upgrade over that dude. Paul Telegdy, the brains behind NBC’s reality shows (assuming that any brain power is actually involved with reality television) wants to re-launch the franchise with a new host and some format changes as part of the network’s summer lineup. Hopefully one of those format changes is not having Carrot Top appear as a special guest on the show anymore, because while that freak is clearly ‘roided out of his mind and rocking an impressive physique these days, humor clearly is not his strong suit. Should Last Comic Standing make a comeback this summer, it would join Losing it with Jillian, featuring The Biggest Loser’s Jillian Michaels, as part of the Peacock’s lineup. As with the previous six installments of the series, the winner would receive a development contract with NBC. The show’s last run, fittingly enough, was during the summer of 2008, when it averaged 5.2 million viewers and a 7 share among adults 18-49. Perhaps that success as a summer show is what has Telegdy and his crew considering LSC for a comeback. Those ratings aren’t exactly earth-shaking, but the show does perform very well among adults 18-49 living in homes with $75K-plus and $100k-plus incomes. Why white-collar, upper-class people enjoy this show, I have no idea. Just goes to show you that having a lot of money doesn’t buy you good taste when it comes to entertainment choices…………

- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper certainly does love creating the drama. For the second time in just over a year, Harper temporarily shut down Parliament on Wednesday. Members of opposition groups accused him of abusing parliamentary tradition for political gain, which is something I thought we here in America had established a monopoly on. Yanking the plug on an ongoing session of Parliament before starting a new one in March is not standard operating procedure in Canuck-land, so there is definitely cause for concern. Typically, only an established government several years into its reign takes this sort of step to reset Parliament’s legislative agenda, often as a to set itself up favorably for an impending election. The maneuver is a two-edged sword for Harper and his Conservative government, as it kills all legislation making its way through the parliamentary process, including bills they support. All parliamentary committees are shut down as well, which is convenient because one committee was busy digging into potentially embarrassing questions about the government’s policies on Afghans detained by Canadian troops before being turned over to the Afghan government. Several human rights groups and even a Canadian diplomat say the detainees were abused after being handed to the Afghans. Even though Harper’s government denies the allegations, many in and around the process aren’t buying what he’s selling. But there was the requisite canned explanation for the decision, delivered by Harper……in a prepared statement. “While we see tentative, early signs that the economy is emerging from recession, the recovery is still fragile,” he said. He went on to state that he shut down Parliament so that he could introduce a new economic plan in the spring. Harper did not explain why he shut the entire government down instead of introducing a new budget, but when the wise Stephen Harper speaks, I suppose you don’t question his genius. On the upside, this gives the government a chance to sit back and enjoy the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. They don’t have to worry about coming back from their break on Jan. 25 and can enjoy extra time off until March 3, when the new session begins. All in all, a very proud day for you, Canada. The American government may be inefficient, corrupt and ineffective, but at least no one person can simply shut it down on a whim, even if we’d like to do just that at times…………

- This time it really is true for car dealers: EVERYTHING MUST GO! INSANE DISCOUNTS THIS SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY (and pretty much every other day of the week). General Motors, it of the hefty government bailout and mild success resulting from it, are looking to put the final bullets in the forehead of its defunct Saturn and Pontiac brands. What better way to do that than to initiate a massive fire sale featuring large incentives offered to auto dealers to move Saturn and Pontiac vehicles? The resulting sales will drastically discount the cars' sticker prices, with a GM spokesman saying the automaker sent letters to dealers earlier this month detailing a plan to pay them $7,000 for each Saturn and Pontiac brand car they can get off their lots. The plan technically makes dealers the first owner of the cars in order to receive the incentives, then allowing the dealer to sell the "used" vehicles to customers at a steep discount. However, the deal expiries Jan. 4, so dealers MUST ACT SOON! TIME IS LIMITED, SO DON’T WAIT!! GM’s approach to the situation is certainly unique, as the company would have had to wait for buyers to come into the showroom and take the deal if it had offered the $7,000 as a customer incentive. By using the factory-to-dealer incentive plan, the company is able clear the inventory off its books right away. In other words, they dumped their pile of crap on the dealers and made it their responsibility to talk people into buying vehicles from discontinued lines. But I suppose these are the types of moves you make when you a) are the largest U.S. automaker and b) filed for bankruptcy and reorganized. I have talked to a few people who are sad to see Pontiac go, as cars like the Firebird were once staples of the muscle car scene. On the other hand, I have yet to hear from anyone who is sad to see Saturn go. The Saturn line was supposed to help GM gain market share on smaller, imported cars, but the lineup failed miserably at that (and every other) goal over the years and GM announced in October that the 2010 models would be Saturn's last. Only about 15,000 Saturn and Pontiac vehicles remain in inventory throughout the country, so selling them off isn't as monumental a task as it might seem. So if this sounds like your kind of deal, yo, get down to your local GM dealer ASAP and take one of these cars off their hands, er, um, get a super-great deal on an American-made car…………