Coach Blows His Top
It was one of those moments made for the internet - and for playing over and over again. At a post-game press conference Saturday, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy blew his top and it was all caught on camera.
The object of his three-minute long screamfest? A newspaper columnist who wrote a column questioning the attitude and desire of one of his players - the one-time starting quarterback he had just benched for Saturday's game.
Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman wrote the change had been a while in coming - that it was more about attitude than desire, that he didn't gut out what appeared to be minor injuries, and that the quarterback got so nervous - something he admits - that it put the team in an early hole.
That was all the spark Coach Gundy needed to fire off after - get this - a win. Holding up the paper, Gundy went after the writer and the paper.
"Here's all that kid did: He goes to class, he's respectful to the media, he's respectful to the public and he's a good kid. And he's not a professional athlete, and he doesn't deserve to be kicked when he's down," Gundy said.
For her part, Carlson fired back with a column and and in an interview with a television station. Her basic point - tell me what facts in the story were wrong, and I'll change them.
So where do you draw the line? Should college athletes, getting a free education and playing in front of thousands of people be off-limits? Or do the rewards they're getting justify tougher scrutiny.
Or could the problem be, gulp, technology itself as some other Big 12 coaches think?
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Comments
A big-time college quarterback, playing in a prime time environment a short jump from the NFL, is well aware that he's subject to the same perks--all but the money--and the same scrutiny as the pros.
Moreover, these are big boys. The QB in question is 21, same as some veteran major league baseball players, and no older than many of the soldiers on the firing line in Iraq. He ought to be able to take some flack in print without having his coach throw a baby-like tantrum. I don't blame the writer for demanding something more fact-based than this Bob Knight-without-the-track record rant.
But the columnist deserves some bricks, too. That was pretty ham-handed. Making fun of his Mom feeding him chicken is a low blow. Even grizzled vets in the NFL are proud of being close to their mothers. And her syntax needs serious coaching. I give her, as a writer, a C-.
Posted by: B. Calm | September 25, 2007 4:32 PM