I don’t know about you, but when I watch Mike Gundy’s post-game press conference I feel like I can detect that he is a little upset with Jenni Carlson.
What is the deal with OSU football coaches and post-game press conferences? First Les Miles responds to a Bedlam loss by challenging any “sucker” in the country, and now Mike Gundy decides a victory over Texas Tech is the best place to try out his Bobby Knight impression?
Frankly, I am of two minds about this. On one hand, Gundy is largely correct on the merits. I’ve defended Jenni Carlson’s feature writing occasionally here in the comments — and I do think she’s an easy target for unfair criticism — but she really struggles, for whatever reason, as a columnist.
The article in question struck me as really bad when I read it this morning, mainly for the wild speculation. What we’ve seen this past week has been the local media spending hours and column inches interpreting a five-second clip of a laughing Bobby Reid, and all sorts of pundits extrapolating what that really means and what kind of person Bobby Reid is. That’s sad, and frankly, pathetic, and indicative of the sort of thing that happens all too often in our local media. You’ll notice Carlson’s story isn’t sourced at all, instead the entire premise is based on “rumors and rumblings.” To be fair, it wasn’t just her that went overboard with the Bobby Reid stuff this week, but for whatever reason she got the brunt of Gundy’s criticism.
So I can understand where Mike Gundy is coming from. But wow, was this the wrong way to express his feelings. At one point he screams “I’m a man! I’m forty!” Which is, I suppose, true on the facts, but the last time I checked not many mature 40-year-old men accost other adults in public the way Gundy did. In many ways, I really do sympathize with him, but ten years from now no one will remember whether or not he was making a good point; they’ll remember him ranting in a press conference like Jim Traber on the radio.
After weighing all of my feelings, the one thing I can say for certain is that I’m glad this happened. If nothing else, it should provide some good fodder until next week’s games. The only disappointment is that no one has shown video of Carlson’s reaction during the tirade. Surely, with all the cameras in the room someone got a clip of that.
Anyway, what was your favorite part of the incident? I’m torn between Gundy saying he hopes that Jenni Carlson will someday have kids that other people belittle and the weird applause at the end of his speech. Who was that? My money’s on Greg Swaim and Robert Allen…
I still think its funny how all oklahomans seem to think that the DOK sucks, but when someone calls them on it, OU fans seem quick to say that its uncalled for…Was the gaylord money “hush money”?
Jenni once wrote an article on Josh Heupel and breathlessly shared that Josh didn’t want any butter on his beans because he was trying to get leaner for the upcoming season.
If Jenni can spread rumors about a college player and make fun of him for losing his job then Gundy should be able to call her out. It’s okay for her to embarass Bobby, but not okay for Gundy to embarass her? Fuck her!
Damn her for spreading rumors that he is a nugget eating, ball dropping, overrated fatty.
Jenni Carlson would not know objectivity, integrity, truth or honesty if it walked up and slapped her in the face. I wish it could. She would never last at any paper in Colorado.
Jenni Carlson has sunk to a new low and what she wrote is an example of shoddy yellow journalism. What she wrote is entirely indefensible.
I am a part-time resident of OK and CO so I follow w/ avid interest both OSU and OU. In CO we have three great football schools within close proximity of each other (CU, CSU, and AFA) and three front range newspapers that write fairly and honestly about each of them (Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Colorado Springs Gazette). Many of us are even willing to “adopt” Wyoming because of its close proximity to CO. These newspapers do not ignore any of these schools and furthermore, these newspapers treat each school equally and fairly and above all with respect.
These papers write their sports columns and opinion pieces based on fact and truth, whether it hurts or not. It’s still the truth and its still factual. These papers are equally proud of all of Colorado schools and bias is never detected by the reader.
The trouble with the Oklahoman is this: The bias against OSU and towards OU is obvious and palpable. I guess that is because the Colorado newspapers do not have any money tied up in its schools and teams. It does not take a genious to know where the Gaylord’s money goes. And it doesn’t take a genious to know how the Gaylord’s expect their employees to write about OSU znd OU.
Guess what: the sun does not set and rise and the world does not begin and end with OU or the Oklahoman or its writers.
Sray
But Gundy, it’s your football players that are picking on my child! And I should know because I’m a FATHER! Of CHILDREN!
You consider those three as great football schools? Hmmmm.
If you have a final take on this subject, hurry up and give it. I think we may close this thread down at around noon.
Remember, the guilty dog always barks the loudest, Mike Gundy is very certainly Illiterate in the usage of the English language, used double negatives throught his rant, and numerous aints, what a pathetic student he must have of been, a leader of men,hardly.IMO
But he is a man. And he is 40.
Gundy, the coach; Gundy the father; Gundy, the defender. I want Gundy on my side any day, emotion and all.
It’s about time someone stood up to Carlson and that rag she “writes” for. Carlson, Ed Kelley and the Gaylords need to be put in their place, and its not at the top of the hill because they are sure as hell not the cream of the crop.
Any person who stoops to the gutter in order to create and spread falsehoods and any orgainzation that stands by and supports such garbage needs to be put in their place. That would be the gutter they crawled out of.
One more thing. We all know the Gaylord family has interests and money tied up in the Oklahoman and in OU. They need to either divest the Oklahoman or take control of it and turn that paper around into a class act. Their inaction in this regard is seen as encouraging the bad behavior and shoody, yellow journalism of the Oklahoman. One would think they would care too much about their name to allow this to go on.
I would like the Gaylords use some of their money to turn that paper around and take it to best of class. That would mean assuring the best professors staff thier school of journalism at OU. It means hiring good journalists who write with honesty, truthfulness, and integrity. It means taking a stand for common decency. It will take a lot of hard work and money to do that. But hey, money buys anything, right? Yeah, right. This will take more than money. This will take courage and integrity. What a concept.
Until then, ignoring the problems at the Oklahoman is merely encouraging those problems to fester and it makes them just as common as the likes of Jenni Carlson and Ed Kelley.
Funny site, I am a Razorback fan and this is baby stuff compared to the problems over this way. I love this tirade I wish the media over this way would have some stones. Oh by the way fire Nutt! war Gundy and you guy’s site here great stuff!
Thanks for all the comments on this post. We know Gundygate is a hot topic, and it seems that everyone has an opinion.