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Mike Leach didn't actually call Dan Beebe from the sidelines

We're not sure if it makes the story any less humorous, though!

By Jeff Nusser
William Mancebo

A story surfaced a couple of days ago that Mike Leach once called Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe from the sidelines to complain about the officiating during a 2007 loss to Texas, which everyone pretty much agreed was insanely brazen -- even for Leach -- and made for a chuckle-worthy story.

More: The Mike Leach wacky story collection

Reached on Thursday to confirm the story, though, Beebe decided he wanted to ruin all the fun. "That's just silly," Beebe told Fox Sports Southwest. "I've never talked to a coach during a football game."

Beebe suggested perhaps former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, who told the story, was mistaken. It turns out, that's exactly the case, as Leach himself cleared up the story after practice Thursday evening. Via Jacob Thorpe at the Spokesman-Review:

"I never called Dan Beebe in the middle of a game. There was a game that had some questionable calls and so I did call the head of officials and pointed it out, that's what that was. It wasn't Dan Beebe, I know Dan really well. I talk to Beebe a lot, I talked to him after that one, too."

I'm sure you did, coach, since Beebe gave you that Big 12-record $10,000 fine after you made your postgame comments.

"What I remember is that he had violated the sportsmanship principles, and I was obligated to enforce them," Beebe said. "The issue wasn't just that he criticized the officials, he went further than that, which resulted in a fine, and he indicated that they were being biased and deliberately making calls that favored Texas."

Honestly, I don't care that it wasn't the commissioner that he called. Whipping out your phone and calling any conference official in the middle of a game takes a special kind of crazy, which makes the story still hilarious to me.

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