We don't talk much football around here anymore, do we?
I was at Saturday's game with Mike for our yearly football outing. Although we were both sick and thought about staying home in bed, I'm glad we went. It was very entertaining.
Surely by now you've heard Coach Gundy's tirade against Jenni Carlson's article for The Daily Oklahoman.
Two things come to my mind:
First, as my wife pointed out to me, it's nice to see a coach get that agitated and still be able to communicate without his words having to be bleeped out. Not a single profanity. Unfortunately, that's rare these days.
Second, if he went too far (and I think he did), at least he erred on the side of standing up for one of his players, not just for himself or his own decisions.
I lived in Oklahoma City for almost 10 years, and took The Oklahoman the entire time. I remember when Jenni was first hired (they made a huge deal about it), and from the very beginning her articles have been poor. This is nothing new. Her presence on the sports page has been nothing more than a circus, constantly trying to stir up trouble and treat issues like soap operas. From sports talk radio to my co-workers and friends, Sooner and Cowboy fans alike, everyone I knew had long since written her off as a joke, not even close to a real sports journalist.
Yes, she has freedom of speech. It's her choice to write stuff like that. But Gundy has the same right, and is free to voice his disagreement. Let the court of public opinion decide who is right. I think The Oklahoman is going to suffer if they don't put an end to it soon.
I'm just glad to see some fire from Gundy. He's been awfully passive on the sidelines during our two pitiful losses...
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While some in the media have called for Mike to be fined or fired for this tirade, others (in the bazillions) have risen to support Gundy for his "calling out" the media in a poorly written article.
I personally say, "Mike, I applaud you for taking young person." I've never been a Oklahoma State fan, but I'm sure a Mike Gundy fan.
Check out this article referenced on the front page of msn.com today:
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/7262930
As of right now in the online poll, the voting is 94% in favor of Gundy, 6% in favor of Carlson.
I've found only a handful of articles by sportswriters out there that are critical of Gundy. But let's remember that they can't exactly be considered impartial. Of course they would come to a fellow writer's defense. Although I would guess that most of them do not know Jenni personally and if they had read a greater portion of her work (beyond just this article), they might not be so supportive.
And I fully realize that I can't exactly be considered unbiased, either...
I'm still sorting out how I feel about this...
My first reaction is "This is GREAT!" The press (especially OK and TX press) is REALLY hard on their sports teams. Finally someone stands up and reminds us that it's just a game!
On the other hand, thinking about Donovan McNabb's recent comments, maybe it's good for these college kids to learn how to get tough skin before they hit the pros.
While his delivery could probably use a bit of work, I agree with most of Gundy's points (he did take it a bit far towards the end though). The media is all too often one of groups in our society that thinks they can do whatever they want whenever they want without repercussions. I am very happy to see Coach Gundy willing to put himself on the line for his players--I think that is one mark of a good coach.
Interestingly, Bob Stoops basically sided with Gundy when asked about the incident as well. Stoops said something along the lines of the media not being able to take it when a coach says something about them rather than the other way around, the way it normally works. It seems to me he has a valid point.
It was cool that this happened right as I needed an example for my newspaper class about "reporting all sides of the story" and "telling the truth!" Funny... we discussed the situation in my class and all of my kids were supportive of what Gundy said. We took a look at both sides of the issue and even looked at Carlson's responses... still doesn't excuse the fact that she's attacking (opinion or not) a kid who is playing football to pay for college!
I'd go to bat for my girls' if someone came at them! I was just in shock that Shane and I just left the game... OSU just won... and as I turned on the radio the commentators were saying how Mike Gundy went off on his press conference!
Now I know... and I think that he set a path for how coaches will start responding to the media and I think that reporters need to start gaining the trust back in coaches... because I don't think that coaches will have a whole lot to say to reporters after this fiasco happened.
Kelly Ogle... that's my 2 cents.
Good Day :) God is Love, May you experience God's Love this Day, may we really learn to Praise him in all things :) Lets Share God's Love today :) You are Loved!
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