During his heyday with the Patriots in the 1985-86 season, Craig James was known throughout the sporting world as “The Great White Hope” because of his odd pale skin color in a position dominated by, well, less white folks. (Conventional wisdom is that white people just aren’t smart enough to play running back.) In fact, James’ 1,227 rushing yards he put up that year are still the last time a white running back has passed that all-important 1,000-yard barrier. So for someone always associated with the color of his odd skin, it’s no surprise that James spends his free time doing one of the whitest things imaginable: Stone cold ranchin’, Texas-style!

(Glory Days: Craig James circa 1986)

In an interview with NEWSOK, James comes clean with what he does when he’s not manning the broadcast booths for ESPN’s college football coverage: raising some cattle in the great state of Texas. Honestly, besides square-dancing, wearing pants up around your belly-button, or watching “Mad About You”, is there anything more inherently white than cattle ranching?

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Remember the 2004 baseball playoffs, when everyone was suddenly getting on the Boston Red Sox bandwagon because they were such a great story, composed of a bunch of scrappy, rambunctious, gritty players? And do you remember how everyone conveniently forgot the fact that the Red Sox had the 2nd highest payroll in baseball,  taking away some of the “Cinderella” imagery? Well, Andy Staples of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED wants to make sure we don’t make the same mistake with the upstart Texas Tech football team.

(Coach Mike Leach needs some bling on his fingers)

Yes, Texas Tech currently holding the number two ranking in the country is a fun little story, especially because the school doesn’t necessarily get a lot of attention for their football team. But before this Saturday’s much-anticipated “David vs. Goliath” contest between the Red Raiders and fifth-ranked Oklahoma, SI.COM goes and plays the role of killjoy, bringing our attention to the fact that Texas Tech has spent a whole bunch of money on their football program.

Even more than Oklahoma!

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It wouldn’t be Christmas without some gifted words from Bobby Knight:

The ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that the Texas Tech coach was reprimanded by the Big 12 Conference for comments he made about the officiating in a Dec. 15 game against New Mexico.

During the 80-63 loss, Knight didn’t think the Lobos’ 47-foot shot before the half should’ve counted, claiming that the ball wasn’t released in time. When asked about the basket after the game, Bobby replied, “I thought it was a horrendous call.”

Knight also fumed about a Red Raiders’ 3-pointer nullified by a charging foul, calling the call “horrible.”

Apparently, such opinions violate the Big 12’s sportsmanship code, which prohibits public comments being made about officiating.

We’re shocked at such an outburst. Bobby has always been such a calm, cool, collected coach.

It must have been the bad influence of a fellow Lubbock laborer.