Ŧravis Armstrong

Matthew 5:16 | 11/02/19 | 04/13/23 | Texas Tech University

[Ŧravis Armstrong @TArmstrong_54]

❤️❤️❤️ @JArmstrong_02

[Zyler Buchanan 🌵 @zylerbuchanan]

This institution cancelled games with Tech over the integrity of the sport btw

[Texas Tech Red Raiders @TechAthletics]

Another 1️⃣

The only school in the country to produce a first round pick in this year’s NFL, NBA, MLB, and AUSL drafts.

[Matt Hayes @MattHayesCFB]

The Cincinnati/Sorsby question: Yormark chooses petty grandstanding over real leadership.
https://t.co/uy7Z1QFvMW

[Dallas Stars @DallasStars]

Year 18 in Victory Green ⭐️

[RedditCFB @RedditCFB]

2 schools had players selected in the first round of both the NFL and NBA Drafts this year.

[Texas Tech Basketball @TexasTechMBB]

THE PICK IS IN ‼️

@chrisanders2024 is headed to Charlotte!

[Texas Tech Basketball @TexasTechMBB]

Welcome to the league, @chrisanders2024 🫡

[Dallas Mavericks @dallasmavs]

Welcome to Dallas, Coach May!

#MFFL

[On3 @On3]

NEW: Brendan Sorsby's agent, Ron Slavin, claims Cincinnati knew about the gambling addiction and took no action:

“If anybody should be questioned or catching heat, it should be Cincinnati. Because they knew for two years and never said anything or didn’t do anything about it. That’s the part of the story that gets lost.”

(via @1053thefan)

https://t.co/1KmPd0cuFf

[Griffin McVeigh @Griffin_McVeigh]

Strong words from Brendan Sorsby's agent this morning during an interview with @1053thefan

🔗 - https://t.co/EdMjKvoUr9

@RedRaiderSports | @On3

[Texas Tech Red Raiders @TechAthletics]

A statement from President Schovanec and Kirby Hocutt

[Cody Campbell @CodyC64]

Statement regarding Brendan Sorsby.
Long Live the Matadors!

[Texas Tech Red Raiders @TechAthletics]

A message to the Texas Tech community from our leadership.

[Tim Cowlishaw @TimCowlishaw]

This is not the end https://t.co/D0lBz5iqBS

[Cody Campbell @CodyC64]

Great post, and this is part is absolutely spot on!

“There is a difference between defending the person and defending the mistake.

Texas Tech is in an impossible spot. Deep down, they may have hoped the final ruling would remove the decision from their hands. Exhaust every option, support the player, let the process play out, and if he is ruled ineligible, accept it. That is the cleanest outcome for a program trying to balance loyalty, discipline, public pressure, and competitive integrity.”

[Nate Longshore @mrlongshore]

I understand why people are uncomfortable with the Brendan Sorsby situation. Betting on sports as a college athlete is serious. Betting connected to your own team creates an obvious integrity concern. Nobody has to minimize that.

But there is another side to this that college football people should at least be honest enough to acknowledge.

When a player becomes part of your program, he becomes part of your football family. That does not mean you excuse everything. It does not mean accountability disappears. It means you do not abandon him the second the situation becomes difficult, public, or uncomfortable.

There is a difference between defending the person and defending the mistake.

Texas Tech is in an impossible spot. Deep down, they may have hoped the final ruling would remove the decision from their hands. Exhaust every option, support the player, let the process play out, and if he is ruled ineligible, accept it. That is the cleanest outcome for a program trying to balance loyalty, discipline, public pressure, and competitive integrity.

But now the court has ruled that he is legally allowed to play. That changes the structure of the decision.

If Texas Tech turns its back on him now, what message does that send to every player and family they recruit? That we will fight for you until the pressure gets too loud? That we will call you family when you are producing, but distance ourselves when standing beside you becomes inconvenient?

If I were recruiting against Texas Tech and they abandoned him after he was legally cleared to play, I would use that every time. Not because the mistake does not matter, but because trust matters. Families want to know what happens when their son is injured, struggling, accused, embarrassed, or sitting in the middle of a situation nobody wants attached to the program.

Accountability and loyalty are not opposites.

You can believe justice should be served. You can believe the integrity of the game matters. You can believe gambling violations deserve real consequence. You can also believe that a program should stand by its people through the full process, not just through the easy parts.

That is the hard part of family.

You do not only fight for your people when the optics are clean. You fight for them through the good and the bad, while still demanding accountability, treatment, discipline, and truth.

Texas Tech may not like the position it is in. Most programs would not. But once he is legally allowed to play and remains part of the Red Raider family, abandoning him strictly because of social pressure would send its own message.

And that message may be harder to overcome than the controversy itself.

[Awful Announcing @awfulannouncing]

'PTI' debates Brendan Sorsby injunction:

"Every other school in that conference and in the SEC and in the Big Ten would look at taking a guy like Sorsby, because he's a very good quarterback." 🏈 🤔

[Ŧravis Armstrong @TArmstrong_54]

@PeteThamel This is incredibly soft

[Cody Campbell @CodyC64]

Last week @CharlieBakerMA made an equivocal statement and failed to endorse the bipartisan Cruz/Cantwell bill, that is aimed at and will be effective in bringing order to chaos. This week Charlie and the NCAA are begging for Congressional support and intervention.

Blame Texas Tech, blame agents, blame plaintiffs attorneys, blame me and other boosters…hell, blame whoever you want...But if you want to know why college sports are in such a mess, look no further than right here.