Let’s take a break from some of the smaller things going on the world like this coronavirus pandemic and get to the bottom of what really matters.
Mike Leach made a joke, and a few people didn’t like it.
The new fella in charge at Mississippi State is the only college football coach worth following with the possible exception of Lane Kiffin. Leach tweeted out a meme with a caption that said, “After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf..” and the photo shows an old woman knitting a noose.
This shouldn’t need an explanation, but the joke is she’s stuck at home with her husband all day long and she’s sick of him being around. This old married couple joke is something you’d see shared on Facebook where your aunt tags all her friends and everybody responds with far too many cry-laugh emojis. Fortunately for me, I have no life and live alone so I don’t have this issue.
A few Mississippi State players and a professor at the university took this in a whole new direction, turning this into a discussion on racism, leading to an apology.
I sincerely regret if my choice of images in my tweets were found offensive. I had no intention of offending anyone.
— Mike Leach (@Coach_Leach) April 2, 2020
If nobody apologizes, this is a non-story like it was. Instead, articles are written and apologies are Twitter’s green light to bring out the pitchforks, leading to a racism debate from all sides. This didn’t need to turn into that. I checked my records and as of April 3, 2020, zero opinions have changed based on an argument on Twitter.
This had nothing to do with race, however I could see the meme lady’s husband not taking too kindly of this photo because he could find himself on the wrong end of a Carole Baskin situation in the near future.
Stress levels are high during quarantine season, and it’s okay to laugh or don’t laugh when people make jokes.
When you bring in Mike Leach, you get the full Mike Leach experience, and nobody wants Mike Leach Lite.
Photo courtesy of Mississippi State University Athletic Communications
Keep the conversation going by reaching out to Erik Buchinger on Twitter or email erik@deceptivespeed.com.