Mike Gundy is MAD!!
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy’s tirade against a reporter from The Oklahoman who was critical of former starting QB Bobbi Reid is probably the best college coaching meltdown since Dan Hawkins “It’s Division One Football!” rant from last season. He was so mad, that if you didn’t read the whole story you wouldn’t know his team pulled out a great shootout win over Big 12 rival Texas Tech.
Wow! She called him out for being a wimp, coddled and fed chicken. Kinda harsh for a college player but the Newspaper business needs eyeballs too. You can’t let Tiki Barber have all the fun. Of course after such a verbal berating - the columnist has to fight back, right?
A newspaper columnist for The Oklahoman on Tuesday defended her reporting on a story that prompted a tirade by Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy. Jenni Carlson, in a column on the front page, maintained the accuracy of an earlier column critical of the Cowboys’ former starting quarterback.
“I will not stand on the sidelines and allow someone to attack my credibility,” she said.
Carlson’s column Saturday suggested Bobby Reid’s demotion was a result of his attitude more than his ineffective play. It stated that Reid, who lost his starting job two games ago, had not always handled his nerves well and his slow starts put the Cowboys in some early holes, including some they dug out of with Reid “wielding the biggest shovel.”
It also called Reid the “most talented quarterback” on the team and indicated Reid was “nicked in some games and sat it out instead of gutting it out.” Following Oklahoma State’s 49-45 win over Texas Tech, Gundy used his postgame news conference to berate Carlson and left the room without taking questions.
On Saturday, Gundy called three-fourths of the column “fiction.” During Gundy’s news conference Monday, Carlson asked the coach to point out what he thought were factual errors.
The tirade was awesome and it’s great that he wants to defend his players from allegedly shotty reporting. But I wonder if she wasn’t a woman reporter - would have been as loud and forceful with his comments - and if there would have been the same reaction from the gallery. No doubt there’s still a stigma attached to women reporters in sports.
“It just happened because of my feelings for the team and the players and I just felt like it wasn’t the right thing,” Gundy said. “I certainly didn’t do it to receive recognition and I certainly don’t want it to take away from this upcoming game like it unfortunately took away from the last game for the team.”The situation has drawn more attention than the result of the game, which included more than 1,300 yards of offense and Tech’s Graham Harrell throwing for the fourth-highest total in major college football history.
“I thought it was more important that somebody stand up for a player who couldn’t stand up for himself,” Gundy said.
Football Writers Association of America president Mike Griffith called Gundy’s behavior “completely inappropriate” and suggested the matter “could have been handled in a more private and appropriate matter.”
The Association for Women in Sports Media said Monday night that Gundy handled the situation in an “unprofessional manner,” and while he has a right to his opinion “his decision to air his objections in the form of a personal attack shows a lack of respect for all journalists.”
We’ll see how this affects his team going forward. Surely Reid now has all the motivation he needs to prove his doubters wrong. But if he doesn’t, he’s hopefully getting a great education in Stillwater! How ’bout them Cowboys!
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