Craig James has Misread the Tea Leaves

So, former SMU Mustang and current ESPN college football analyst, Craig James is gearing up for a run at the U.S. Senate.

Of course, most Texas Tech Football fans know James for being instrumental in the turmoil surrounding the firing of Mike Leach before the 2009 Alamo Bowl and the football team over the past year.  James is also being sued by Mike Leach for his alleged role in his firing.

In today's edition of D Magazine, James is citing a base of support that I don't think he has:

“I feel very confident about our position,” said James (pictured). “Most people in Lubbock support my position. We did what any responsible parent would do. We did the right thing.” A complaint filed by James and his wife over Leach’s alleged mistreatment of their football-player son led to Leach’s firing late last year.

Realistically, most parents would support Craig's filing of a complaint to Texas Tech over the mistreatment of his son, Adam.  But with the allegations of Craig being an overbearing helicopter parent during the end of Mike Leach's tenure at Texas Tech; I think most Lubbockites and Texas Tech fans would rather see James disappear into the sunset and not run for U.S. Senate and not have the whole Mike Leach-James Family saga relived through the media during a political campaign.

Over the past year, on our local shows on KFYO and SportsRadio 1340 The Fan, caller reaction to the mention of Craig James has been negative.

WBAP talkshow host Mark Davis sums up my, and I'm sure many other Texans, feelings about Craig James' political aspirations:

CRAIG JAMES, ESPN football analyst. I include him only to comment on how absurd it is to include him. Zero political experience, zero ideological profile, and Lubbock isn’t the only place filled with Texans who blame him for his role in the possibly unwarranted hatcheting of Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach.

While Craig James does, in my opinion, an okay job on television for ESPN, he's a lightning rod for negative public opinion with the fanbases of two major universities in Texas (Tech & SMU).  Any political consultant worth their salt would tell James he has no chance in hell in winning a GOP primary for U.S. Senate.