Texas Tech Says A&M Overstated Vandalism Claim

For those of you who are unaware, Texas A&M officials leveled some very public accusations Saturday afternoon that the buses they had taken to Lubbock for their game against Texas Tech had been vandalized.

Specifically, A&M athletic director Bill Byrne took to Twitter to detail very graphically what he said happened to the buses that created such a stink.  So to speak.

“Someone vandalized our buses in Lubbock. Excrement inside and outside of buses plus spray painted vulgarities on outside. Classy,” Byrne wrote on his Twitter account.

Tech officials conducted their own investigation into the situation, and came to a slightly different conclusion than Byrne.  And, suffice to say, Tech is pleased with neither what they perceive to be ill-informed accusations made by Byrne nor the fact that the athletic director aired the dirty laundry on a social media site.

Here’s Tech’s press release on the situation:

Many of you are aware of a tweet from a Texas A&M official that their team buses were spray painted and animal feces were spread inside of the buses early Saturday morning.  The clear implication of the tweet was that this was the responsibility of Texas Tech fans or students. Texas Tech has conducted an investigation regarding this allegation, and has discovered the following: 

• The buses were not spray painted. Instead, washable shoe polish was used on the windows of one of the buses.
• No feces were found either in or on the buses.  Fish bait was dropped onto the floor of one of the buses.
• The alleged “vandalism” was cleaned by the bus drivers and Holiday Inn staff before it was seen by the A&M official who tweeted the information.

While incidents such as the ones alleged are inappropriate and strongly condemned by Texas Tech, it is no less wrong to condemn the entirety of our university, students and supporters by posting inaccurate information on the internet for the purpose of sensationalizing the actions of one or a very few. We are disturbed by the careless use of social media to share these inaccuracies.

A&M officials have yet to issue a response to Tech’s response, although sources tell CFT that should happen at some point during recess tomorrow.  Or, possibly, right before gym class.