count me as another in the minority, Gundy made a fool of himself and the tantrum was wrong.

If OSU wants to be a winning program like OU, TX, USC, etc. then the columns and the stories will get a lot worse.

I don't think there is as big a minority as some people think, but maybe a rush to jump on the "bash Carlson" bandwagon. I happened to watch the OSU/Tech game and was amazed to notice how many empty seats were in the stadium. Where are all the outraged OSU folks about that?

I don't think there is as big a minority as some people think, but maybe a rush to jump on the "bash Carlson" bandwagon. I happened to watch the OSU/Tech game and was amazed to notice how many empty seats were in the stadium. Where are all the outraged OSU folks about that?

I couldn't agree more about the "Jenni bashing." People love an excuse to kick another when they've already been kicked. Folks on other boards (the Oklahoman's own forum) have been very vicious in their attacks against her, digging into her personal appearance, which is way below the belt, IMO.

I really wanted to give Gundy an opportunity to come out and refute Ms. Carlson's claims, but when he refused to do so, it made me believe there may be more "truth" in what Jenni was writing about than Gundy would really like revealed. Regardless, his passion should be saved for the sidelines. It will be interesting to see what happens when Bomar comes to town.

One thing is for certain, the Oklahoman has never gotten this level of attention. In fact, I think their site has crashed on several occasions because their message boards are so clogged up.

I don't think there is as big a minority as some people think, but maybe a rush to jump on the "bash Carlson" bandwagon. I happened to watch the OSU/Tech game and was amazed to notice how many empty seats were in the stadium. Where are all the outraged OSU folks about that?

Well of course theres going to be empty seats, its hard to get fired up about your team when the"worlds greatest offense" got shellacked by a former D-1 AA team the week before. Maybe the rant will motivate Poke fans to go see the games. After all they are ADDING more seats to a stadium they can't fill now. Typical OSU logic.

I have to admit through his entire tirade his hair looked absolutely FAAAAABULOUS!!! Somebody get that man some more hair gel!!

http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/25/255571.jpg

I don't think there is as big a minority as some people think, but maybe a rush to jump on the "bash Carlson" bandwagon. I happened to watch the OSU/Tech game and was amazed to notice how many empty seats were in the stadium. Where are all the outraged OSU folks about that?


The empty seats you were seeing are under construction. If you paid attention, you would have seen the orange construction fence blocking the area of those seats.

I think we have beat a stable full of dead horses into the ground on this issue. They both royally screwed up. Carlson is not a victim neither is Gundy or Reid. They both need to take their licks and move on. This should have something that was addressed behind closed doors or in on the editorial page.

For those of you who are embarrassed about the situation get over yourselves. I swear Tony Robbins needs to come to town and give lessons on self esteem to everyone in this city. Stop worry about what other people think and worry about the things that truly matter.

The only reason these national writers covered this story is because it gave them the chance to make themselves and their readers superior over OSU and Oklahoma.

At least our cities are not rampant with professional athletes breaking the law and buy thier way out of trouble.

Well of course theres going to be empty seats, its hard to get fired up about your team when the"worlds greatest offense" got shellacked by a former D-1 AA team the week before. Maybe the rant will motivate Poke fans to go see the games. After all they are ADDING more seats to a stadium they can't fill now. Typical OSU logic.

I have to admit through his entire tirade his hair looked absolutely FAAAAABULOUS!!! Somebody get that man some more hair gel!!

http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/25/255571.jpg

OSU would do better if they had a Big Orange Sports and Imports up there in Stillwater to help finance more talented players.

the empty seats I saw were scattered throughout the stadium - is that how they do construction at T-Boone University? It was an observation that O-State fans don't seem to support their team by getting their butts into the seats where it counts. I don't think you do construction on individual seats . . .

Updated KOCO poll ... I'm guessing they have never had so many take a poll there!

You may need to click your refresh button to load the current graphic ...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/misc/kocogundypoll.jpg

They both royally screwed up.

How exactly did Carlson "royally screw up"??

the empty seats I saw were scattered throughout the stadium - is that how they do construction at T-Boone University? It was an observation that O-State fans don't seem to support their team by getting their butts into the seats where it counts. I don't think you do construction on individual seats . . .

Doubling ticket prices over three years doesn't help much either.

This story is now on the Yahoo! front page.

Boxing gloves on chickens, watermelon as the state vegetable, Mike Gundy screaming "I'm a man!!!"

All embarrassments to the state of Oklahoma. I wish this story would die.

I'm not sure I see how it's embarassing to the state.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/misc/kocogundypoll.jpg

Now THAT'S an embarrassment to the state of Oklahoma.

^ I wonder if that poll doesn't pull a complete 180 if they left it up long enough??

Weighing in from Fox sports (and this came from MSN with the special caption "Makes me want to puke" from Gundy's rant)

Gundy picked strange time for rant
Randy Hill / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 39 minutes ago

For a coach whose football team had just been tagged with 45 points, Mike Gundy picked an interesting time to get defensive.
It actually was beyond interesting because Gundy's Oklahoma State team had just scored 49 points. This enabled the Cowboys to record an important Big 12 Conference victory over the gunslingers from Texas Tech. But few people are talking about that now.

Instead of recognizing OSU's triumph, a nation of football fans and casual observers is reacting to a puerile rant delivered by Gundy immediately after the game. Did Mike use any of his postgame press conference time to praise the effort of his starting quarterback, running back or receivers? No. Did he spend a few moments explaining how the previously struggling Cowboys were able to outscore one of the most explosive offenses in the country?

Not a chance.

Gundy was busy launching his verbal attack on Jenni Carlson, a respected sports columnist for The Oklahoman who had written a piece on Cowboy football that Mike found objectionable.

Before last Saturday's date with Texas Tech, Carlson focused on a situation involving Bobby Reid, the OSU quarterback who wasn't going to play against the Red Raiders. Her theme was Reid's apparent inability to demonstrate a level of toughness that could satisfy Gundy and his coaching staff.

You make the call:
Watch: Gundy's rant

Schrager: Gundy's OK by me

Carlson defends column

Vote: Whose side are you on?


Previous comments by Reid to her co-workers were integrated into the piece by Carlson, who attempted to kick start this case by reporting that the demoted QB's mother had fed her son chicken before he boarded the team bus. The chicken-feeding incident was chronicled in vague terms and seemed like quite a reach as a demonstration of her upcoming point.

While many coaches and fans haven't bothered to acknowledge the difference between a straight story and an opinion piece, I was less than overwhelmed by the execution of Carlson's column. It seemed to be a clumsy attempt at harpooning Gundy's handling of a talented-but-presumably-soft quarterback.

But while falling a bit short of award-winning sports commentary, Carlson's piece has — among other things — become a referendum on how much criticism can or should be levied against an amateur athlete. The fine line we walk can become a tightrope.

It should be noted that Reid will be a tender 22 years old in December. The subsequent hullabaloo generated by Carlson's column has inspired her supporters to remind us that young men can go to war when they're much younger. While that's a heavy-handed appropriation of battlefield parallels to make a point, we also should reject Gundy's reference to Reid as "a kid."

We also barge into another gray area when the value of Reid's athletic scholarship is used as evidence that he's not exactly an amateur. It's true that — despite its level of defense — Oklahoma State is participating in big-time, big-money college athletics. That doesn't make it easier for Reid to be blasted by a sports columnist, but it hardly makes him immune from scrutiny.

Ironically, without Gundy's outburst, Reid's alleged lack of first-string-level grit only would be known by those who read Carlson's column before it was upgraded from state to national notoriety. And by reaching an exaggerated level of support for his player, Gundy may have validated at least a portion of Carlson's case.

It's also ironic to note that the level of criticism served up against football players by reporters usually is no match for what they hear from their own coaches. The verbal abuse from the sideline can be withering.

Since Gundy's tirade appeared on national highlight shows, it's been reported that the coach didn't read Carlson's column until after the Tech game. This suggests that somewhere between the field and the press-conference venue, a winning coach decided it was more important to ingest something negative written about his program than prepare to salute the players who participated in a victory.

When Carlson offered the coach an opportunity to refute the facts he so vigorously challenged, Gundy passed. Perhaps he was more interested in demonstrating that he'll risk looking and sounding like a maniac to protect the interests of his players. Maybe this circus act was a clever method of recruiting. While that theory has been posited, it seems terrifying that a parent could watch Gundy's behavior and decide to send his or her son to Oklahoma State.

Does a coach have the latitude to rip a reporter in a public forum? He certainly does. The questioning of Reid's toughness was made in a public forum and Carlson probably was prepared for some level of negative feedback from Oklahoma State. She probably wasn't anticipating a cartoon-caliber diatribe, but the blog reactions have been even worse.

Gundy isn't the first coach to be provoked to anger by a column. But he may qualify for the team picture when over-the-top reactions are discussed. If he had it to do over again, the Oklahoma State coach would be wise to pull Carlson aside and issue his objections in relative privacy.

That would send a far better message to the same player he was attempting to protect.

All that poll does is justify to Gundy that screaming, shouting, yelling and throwing a temper tantrum is appropriate and acceptable.

Honestly, that's not how I picture Oklahomans at all!

I'm always so impressed with their manners, chilvary, respect for women (and others).

In the years I've lived here, I've been amazed at how nice Oklahomans are. Always opening doors, letting me go in traffic, please, thank you, yes ma'am. Polite, respectful people.

This guy is a complete opposite of how I expect Oklahomans to react to situations, especially to a woman.

He was a bully, deserved or not, no one should be treated like that.

He was out of control.. and I'm so surprised that those taking the poll are putting their love of college football over common courtesy and respect for others.

I would like to ask all those who voted - What if that was someone you loved or knew ie a spouse or child, your wife? Would you want them to be screamed at like that?

It's great he defends "his" athlete however he could could have set the better example and executed the defense in a more acceptable manner. With performances like this and we wonder why some players go on to more questionable behavior? Kindergarten children do this on the playground, not adults.

The poll on foxsports.com is 95-5% in favor of Gundy.

I can't believe that.

This story appears on ESPN.com's front page. The article below appears in the site's "The Dash" feature by Pat Forde:

ESPN - Forde: Dashing through September - Columnist (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3035258)


Coaches Losing It

Congratulations to Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy (16), who showed he can be Bob Knight without the titles after his tantrum in response to a column by the Oklahoman's Jenni Carlson. In the Saturday paper, she questioned the toughness of quarterback Bobby Reid, who'd been benched by Gundy the previous week. Gundy responded by losing his mind after one of the few big victories in his 28-game career as a head coach, a shootout upset of Texas Tech.

On Monday, a completely unapologetic Gundy said it was "unfortunate" that his 3-minute, 20-second tirade took away from his team's victory. Of course, that was his fault, since he deemed trashing a reporter more important than acknowledging the Cowboys' performance.

Coaches have the right to take issue with journalists, and to do it in public. That's part of the job for a columnist to take what he/she dishes out. But this was such a shrill overreaction that the message was lost amid the screaming.

One of Gundy's big complaints was negative treatment of a "kid" who is not being paid to play the game. But coaches never object to the tens of thousands of fans fawning over that kid, the tutors arranged to help him maintain minimum eligibility standards, the training table meals he eats, the tricked-up locker room he changes in -- or the positive press most players receive most of the time. Hero worship is expected and encouraged; criticism is child abuse. It's quite the double standard.

(For the record, Reid is 21 years old. He was old enough to vote in the 2004 presidential election or to die in Iraq. But few people are afforded the means to grow up more slowly than major-college athletes.)

"Come after me!" Gundy bellowed directly at Carlson. "I'm a man! I'm 40!"

OK, if you insist. The Dash will go after Gundy.

The great orator said that the column in question was shown to him, "by a mother. A mother of children."

As opposed to a mother of walruses, presumably.

Gundy went on to say that 75 percent of the column was fabricated. He took issue with two points in the column. So maybe math isn't his specialty.

Anyway, The Dash hopes Gundy felt like a big man when it was over. Next time an ounce of professional decorum would be appreciated. Until then, try to worry more about improving that 13-15 career record that includes seven victories over Sun Belt and I-AA opposition.

(By the way: Gundy says he doesn't read the newspapers. It's The Dash's experience that the majority of coaches who say they don't read the newspapers are lying.)

that's why I will take reading recognized sportswriters' opinions over worthless polls any day. Great points regarding the fawning over athletes - gotta take the bad with the good.

What makes this all the more surprising to me is how even-keeled Coach Gundy is on the field. He rarely displays any kind of emotion at all. I remember watching his reaction after the last play of the game and thinking he showed no emotion at all. You really could not have told from his face that his team just won a very exciting game. It was the same reaction he had after his team lost the previous game. Now he is being portrayed as a Bobby Knight type in the national media which I don't think is his MO from what I have seen. I don't defend his bashing of Jenni Carlson, he did go way too far in his rant and could have been handled privately and more professionally.

Nothing surprises me about Gundy. He was a pompous ass when I knew him in college and not much has changed since.

It's surprising all the horrible comments on OKNews about women and women writers.

She supposedly wrote an article filled with inaccuracies and he screamed his head off ...


Two wrongs make a right I suppose.

What is interesting is that many Oklahomans' are supporting the coach but nationally, not so much.

He stood up for a player because he thought the player was being attacked on a personal level. Big deal. Poll his players. See what they think.

Honestly, i don't think he would have reacted quite like this had he not just replaced Reid as quarterback. I bet he felt like he let the kid down even if he was being lazy. This article just came at the absolute worst time for Reid, and Gundy was not only defending him of the article itself, but also trying to show Reid he still gave a damn about him. Be it right or wrong, the man just had a tantrum.

Nothing surprises me about Gundy. He was a pompous ass when I knew him in college and not much has changed since.
Whatever you say, Godfather! :)

The only reason these sportswriters are on her side is because a coach went after one of their own.

Reporters stick together regardless if they are right or wrong just like people from every other profession.

When Gundy screamed at her it set off the alarm to engage the brother/sister rule. I can pick on my little brother/sister all day everyday because they are my sibling; however, if I catch you doing it watch out. I am going to come after you because you have no right.

If every sportswriter supported Gundy, you can guarantee every coach from coast to coast would have been firing back at the media over a story they did not like.

Overall I think it is sad to see our love a good football game has been overshadowed for our love of seeing people fail and rubbing their nose in it.

The next time you read, listen or view dirt on someone else ask your self this question. How would I feel if this was about me, my family, my employer, my organization or team? It seems like everything we read these days is designed to takes someone down a peg. It’s one thing to do that to someone who is clearly out there harming others for personal gain. It is another when it’s just another Joe or Jane just trying to get by the best way they know how.

I keep my asking myself, why does everyone like it when OSU fails? OU is the winner not OSU. Why can’t all state teams succeed and be winners? Would it not be great to have two or three successful teams in this state? I think most people are afraid to be associated with failure in this state. It is just like in real life, when you’re a success everyone wants be near you and claim to know you. When you fail nobody wants to be near you. I think in life you have to have a nice mixture of both to live a full live. A life without a moderate amount of failures is a life unlived. How can you can fully appreciate a win without knowing what is like to fail, recover and win.

It's surprising all the horrible comments on OKNews about women and women writers.

She supposedly wrote an article filled with inaccuracies and he screamed his head off ...


Two wrongs make a right I suppose.

What is interesting is that many Oklahomans' are supporting the coach but nationally, not so much.

Yes, so now that "chivalry" thinly veiled as sexism finally comes out. I posted a few times on the NewsOK site, but was in the obvious "anti" Gundy minority.

Nothing surprises me about Gundy. He was a pompous ass when I knew him in college and not much has changed since.

I had several classes at OU with Cale and got that same impression.

Now for some humor . . . check out this website - it's pretty darn funny!

Mike Gundy is Mad at you (http://www.mikegundyismadatyou.com/)

BOB-FM has put together "The Gundy Blues" :D
KQOB - 96.9 BOB FM (http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1156034512?bclid=1155106833&bctid=1200170817)

Here's something from The Sports Animal. Pretty funny stuff!

WWLS - Home Page (http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1126119384/bclid1125972053/bctid1200296594)

Here we go...

I heard on the radio today that the mom is planning on suing the Daily Oklahoman.

I haven't heard anything else about it though.

I heard on the radio today that the mom is planning on suing the Daily Oklahoman.
She's just proving Jenni Carlson right... He is a momma's boy.

Here we go...

AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!