This week, I saw two great examples of how NOT to do things and the consequences that came down as a result. Ironically, both came from the world of collegiate athletics. One example you may be familiar with as the story has made national attention in sports media, the other example was witnessed by only a few people and shared with only a few others. But both incidents are really, really good examples, and since I try to learn from the mistakes of others (and not just from the myriad of mistakes I make all on my own), I'm certainly going to take these to heart.

Example #1: Texas Tech vs. Mike Leach

Now, I'm not taking a particular side on this issue, simply because I do not have all the facts and thus cannot take all factors into consideration. I don't know exactly what transpired between coaching staff and player, nor was I a fly on the wall in the meeting where the decision to fire Leach was handed down. What I can say with almost absolute certainty is that the entire thing was handled poorly, and unfortunately Texas Tech has pretty much lost any credibility in the collegiate sports arena. There are so many ways this situation could have been handled, and I mean more than just the decision to place Leach on suspension or to fire him, that just about ANYTHING that the school had done differently would have been better than what has transpired. Sure, Tech may have been looking for an excuse, ANY excuse, to terminate the official relationship between school and coach, but is the damage that's been done to the football program at Tech worth it? How many recruits that had committed to Tech, or were considering Tech, because of Leach are going to keep that commitment? How many current players, especially players who, right or wrong, think that Leach was mistreated by the school are going to look at other options where they might not have before? And what quality coaching prospect is going to even consider filling the sudden vacancy left in the program?

Some would say that this should serve as a "wake up call" to collegiate football coaching staffs. I think this is a "wake up call" for anyone who thought about affiliating themselves with the Texas Tech athletic program. If there is indeed documented evidence that proves that Leach violated the terms of his contract in the spirit of the agreement, there are ways that the coach could have been dismissed that would have landed far less egg on the school's face. As long as Tech has been trying to gain respect in the Big 12, much less Division 1, any progress they've made over the past decade just got thrown out with the bath water.

Lesson leaned: avoid handling internal personnel matters in the national media, especially when the national media is predisposed to think you're a few cards short of a full deck in the first place.

Example 2: Improper motivation

Earlier this week, two Division II women's college basketball teams met for what should have been a run-of-the-mill regular season game. The two teams weren't even from the same conference, so while no one likes to lose, the outcome of the game really had absolutely no significance for either team when it comes to conference post-season tournament seeding.

The coach of one of the teams decided his team needed a little extra motivation going into the game. So, while on the court with his team prior to the start of the game, he shared with his team his opinion of the expected performance from the other team. Unfortunately, he shared this opinion loudly enough that it was heard by at least the other team's coach, and probably by players on the other team, and his opinion just happened to include the word "suck."

His team promptly went out and got railroaded by 39 points. Not because they played poorly. In fact, given their score and shooting percentage, they had a decent game by all other counts. It's just that when the opposing coach (and perhaps players) heard his proclamations, the team was energized to show everyone what they thought about his opinions. And they did, scoring well into the triple digits for the game.

Lesson Learned: If your team is coming into a sporting contest with a 2-10 record on the season, you might want to avoid telling your team how much the other team sucks, especially when the other team (and just about everyone else in the venue) can hear you.