If you pay little attention to sports, which I think is the case for many of my readers, you may not have been paying attention to the events of the last couple of days regarding Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.

If only this blog had existed a year ago, there would have been some great stories about Leach and Washington's pursuit of him to fill its head coaching position. Today, more than any other day since his hiring, I am ecstatic we got Steve Sarkisian.

Texas Tech fired Leach today, two days after suspending him for his alleged mistreatment of one of his players. That the player, Adam James, is the son of ESPN analyst Craig James, is only part of this strange story. Leach was notified of the firing just minutes before his lawyer was scheduled to present a temporary restraining order to a judge that would have allowed him to coach in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday.

No, I am not confusing this blog with my sports blog. This is important because of its cause. Adam James had a concussion. Allegedly, Leach made had James locked a "shed" (it looked a lot like a garage), that had an ice machine and was next to the field. According to Leach, James wasn't locked anywhere, just told to go in there, with the ice, because it was cooler and darker.

Leach is the second Big-12 coach to be fired for "cause" relating to the mistreatment of players this year. But the concussion issue is the big deal.

Football is at odds over concussions. By far the most dangerous and life-altering injury suffered by any athlete, but specifically football players, is a concussion. And in the "tough guy" sport that football is, you ignore concussions and get back on the field. The allegations here seem to suggest Leach was punishing James for not just sucking it up. I stress, they are still allegations. Tech had plenty of other reasons they could have wanted to fire Leach, which include his references to his player's "fat little girlfriends" during the year, as well as his general eccentricity. But mistreating a player with a concussion gives a great out for the school.

Anyway, the point here is that, major organizations, including the NFL and NCAA have had trouble responding to concussions. Unless an athlete is clearly dizzy or showing some ill effects, the only way trainers and doctors can know how bad a concussion is is by asking the athlete. If you are a third-stringer scared of losing your job, are you going to sit out? No. Not a chance. In the NFL, that's your paycheck. And no, guys at that level do not get paid very much. So it is an issue in which leagues have to take hard stances. The NFL is finally doing that. Apparently so is Texas Tech.

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On a brighter note, the Top-10 Sports Moments (not stories) of 2009.

For a minute I thought about putting down the Idaho-Bowling Green game on this list, including Freddie Jones' 17 catches to break the NCAA single season catch record. Also, the game was pretty good, ending on a 2-point conversion. But, it wasn't enough.

#10) Johnny Damon in Game 4 of the WS: Damon made little leaguers around the country proud, stealing second on a play when the Phillies had a major shift on, then didn't stop, continuing to third because no one was there. From that point the Yankees scored a couple of runs and won game four, essentially clinching the series.

It was the ultimate hustle play for a guy that has been known for them his entire career.

#9) Tom Watson in the British Open: So yes, so far both of these were in the great stories list, but stick with him. This was the single best golf performance of the year, even better than anything Tiger did. You know the story, Watson, 59, came one 8-foot putt from winning the open.

#8) Santonio Holmes in the SuperBowl: Holmes made one of the most amazing catches you'll ever see to win the SuperBowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did it with both of his toes barely inside the endzone as he was leaning out of bounds. Just an absolutely incredible play. Holmes finished with nine catches for 141 yards and the biggest play of his life.

#7) Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati, DeFacto Big East championship game: Cincinnati was attempting to go undefeated and hopefully contend for a national championship birth. Pitt was coming off of a heartbreaking loss in the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia the week before.

And these two teams played with everything they had for 60 minutes. It is almost sad that it came down to Pitt missing an extra point on its final touchdown, followed by an improbable drive by Cincinnati, four plays, 61 yards and a touchdown in 57 seconds. It was Cincy's fourth TD of the second half, to comeback from a 14-point halftime deficit.

#6) Elizabeth Lambert vs. BYU: In some of the most incredible footage I have ever seen, video of Lambert physically abusing BYU players was an internet sensation for a couple of weeks, sparking debate about female athletes. Lambert punched BYU players in the face and back, but the worst was her nearly snapping the neck of a player by pulling her ponytail until she went flailing to the turf.

#5) Brandon Stokley's game-winning catch: See for yourself:



#4) LeGarrette Blount at Boise State: On that night in Boise, Idaho it looked first year head coach Chip Kelly had bitten off more than he could chew. Boise State thoroughly dominated Oregon, winning 19-8 on the smurf turf, leaving many to wonder just how good this Ducks team would be.

Minutes after the game, things got far worse than the results of the game. Provoked by trash talk, Blount sucker punched a Boise player in the face, right in front of Broncos head coach Chris Peterson. From there, he punched his in teammate who was trying to restrain him, then tried to go into the stands after fans. He had to be dragged off the field by police. It was bad. You add the very real danger that this was a black man in Boise (just ask Ian Johnson, who played there) and this as a disaster.

Incidentally, I criticized Peterson at the time for not punishing his own player, seeing as how there was blatant provocation. It appeared went Blount punched him, that Peterson was being rather stern with his guy. There was no suspension to follow and my only guess is that Peterson though be cold-cocked on national television was punishment enough. He kid, duck next time. Or shut your mouth.

#3) DeWayne Wise saves the Perfect Game: Mark Buerhle had come so far. The guy with the consistent career that has had a couple of fantastic moments, was less than an inning from perfection. They Gabe Kapler sent a ball flying toward the wall in left center field. No way this wasn't going to be at least an extra base hit. No White Sox player was on the screen. Then Wise, who was inserted as a defensive replacement, maybe the best move of Ozzie Guillen's career, came flying into the screen, timed his jump perfectly, and snatched the ball out of mortality's grasp. Buerhle would be perfect. So much so that he would have his postgame press conference interrupted by the First Fan. President Obama suggested he buy Wise a steak dinner. Here's guessing the kid got something a little more expensive and a little longer lasting.

#2) Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick, Wimbledon Final: Federer fell off the map in 2008, losing his top ranking to Raphael Nadal and leaving some to wonder just what had happened. Well, call it a year off. In July, Federer was all the way back. In search of his 15th Grand Slam title, Federer took on Roddick. The match last 4:16, with the final set last 30 games. The final scores: 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6, 16-14. And I watched the whole thing.

#1) Syracuse vs. UConn last Six Overtimes: The game was already a late one in the Big East tournament, starting at 9:30 pm eastern. I was working at UW and it started well before the game I was working started and was in the third OT when ours finished. The game lasted 3:46, ending at 1:22 am E.T. The two teams combined for 102 points, in the overtimes alone. Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn had 34 points and 11 assists in 67 minutes. The two teams play 1.75 regulation games and Syracuse, the winner, had to play the next night, or that night actually. Final score: 127-117.

Happy New Year.