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timothy1997

Oklahoma State football coach blows up at press conference

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Guest jaytan

Now that I've actually heard the rant and heard the supposedly offensive parts of the article read on the radio.... This guy's an idiot. I used to be a sports reporter, and one thing I hated about that gig was getting all these insane e-mails and phone calls from overprotective, psychotic, soccer moms who'd freak out if you wrote that their kid threw five interceptions in a frickin' high school football game (that I didn't want to be at anyway).

What was even worse was when a mother of some girl field hockey player would get angry if the paper ran a profile of a highly-recruited boys basketball standout because her precious little daughter had a 4.0 GPA and volunteers at the old folks' home.

For a mom to pull the same crap about a grown man (with a full athletic scholarship, no less) who plays for a Big 12 college football team, and for the coach to take up her cause in this manner is just pathetic. I'm sure the columnist will have plenty of fun at the team's expense now.

Edited by jaytan

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I wish they would have showed the guy he was pointing at...I'm sure that was the editor of the paper. Too bad Carr or Dantonio couldn't do that to Sharp!

He was pointing at Carlson, the writer of the column that pissed him off.

And I'm with Blak 100% - the first coach that calls out Rob "The Hater" Parker like that gets my eternal gratitude.

All this episode has done is to highlight the astronomical arrogance and overall douchebaggery of the media in general. Consider Dennis Dodd of CBS:

This is what is never going to change, Mike: We're going to write our opinions because this is America. Free press and all that. You might not agree, but when you don't, for your career's sake, keep it to yourself.

Are you friggin' serious, Dodd? What an arrogant piece of s***. "We're going to write our opinions. You shut the f*** up because you're not a journalist and free press doesn't apply to you."

And this little gem from Mike Griffith of the Football Writer's Association of America.

I consider Coach Gundy's behavior completely inappropriate. It shows a lack of respect for the media and doesn't speak well for the university and the fans that he represents. Coach Gundy's actions have brought national attention and further scrutiny to the situation that could have been handled in a more private and appropriate matter.

A more private and appropriate manner? Like a newspaper column?? That private enough for you? How dare Gundy make his side of the argument public. If Gundy had taken Jenni Carlson aside and politely discussed the issue, it would never have seen the light of day. Now we all know how Carlson feels, and we know how Gundy feels. Sorry the fragile media's feelings have been trampled on.

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Guest jaytan

Since when have big time college football players been immune to media criticism? I'm sure he hears way worse from people in the stands every week. After all, we're talking about a guy who plays in the same state where some guy got his sack ripped off in a bar just because he was wearing the wrong school's T-shirt.

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He was pointing at Carlson, the writer of the column that pissed him off.

And I'm with Blak 100% - the first coach that calls out Rob "The Hater" Parker like that gets my eternal gratitude.

Yeah Parker is as stupid as they come. I was so pissed when I saw Parker on that new ESPN show...I don't know what the show is called because I turned it off so quickly, but it's like Cold Pizza with a new name.

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Guest jaytan

Enough said. There's no way I can see anyone taking the coach (or the guy's mom)'s side on this one. From what I can tell, everything in this article was probably true (I doubt she'd just make this stuff up, she's no Mitch Albom). I don't even see what's so offensive about it. Maybe down in Oklahoma, it reads differently due to the culture. Either way, this is no cause for an enraged outburst.

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Enough said. There's no way I can see anyone taking the coach (or the guy's mom)'s side on this one. From what I can tell, everything in this article was probably true (I doubt she'd just make this stuff up, she's no Mitch Albom). I don't even see what's so offensive about it. Maybe down in Oklahoma, it reads differently due to the culture. Either way, this is no cause for an enraged outburst.

What's offensive is the way she twisted the kid's words ("I get nervous before games"....who doesn't?) and used it as an excuse to call him scared. She took an isolated episode of him laughing on the sidelines and claimed he doesn't have the right attitude. She takes her own isolated observations and writes a slam piece.

What's even more offensive is the snooty, we're-the-media-and-we-can-write-anything-we-like approach taken up by the myriad writers that defend her.

Carlson isn't some dips*** calling into a sports talk station or a drunk frat boy on the sidelines. She's a reporter, and she needs to understand the responsibilities that come with print media. I don't think it even matters that Reid is a college kid. If he were a multi-zillionaire quarterback in the NFL I'd take his and Gundy's side on this too.

And I really don't see what's so inappropriate about Gundy's reaction. He lost his temper. Big deal! Jenni Carlson stated her opinion in an everlasting medium, and now the media condemns Gundy for doing the same. Should Carlson be allowed to speak her piece immune from criticism and Gundy be forced to keep his opinion under wraps? Besides, as you say, Reid probably hears worse every Saturday from the fans. And yet he continues to play when called upon. Now Carlson gets the equivalent of a little heckling and suddenly she's a victim. I wonder who really has the problem of running scared?

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Guest DetroitIan

I applaud everything he had to say. :clap: These assholes need to be put in their place sometimes.

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Guest jaytan

The columnist did not twist the guy's words to slam him. She was given information from a source close to or within the team itself. When she asked this coach to point out specific errors in her story, he was unable to respond with anything. I don't think her column embarassed the player any more than his conduct or play did, and the coach's outburst hurts his reputation more than anything anybody could print.

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The columnist did not twist the guy's words to slam him. She was given information from a source close to or within the team itself. When she asked this coach to point out specific errors in her story, he was unable to respond with anything. I don't think her column embarassed the player any more than his conduct or play did, and the coach's outburst hurts his reputation more than anything anybody could print.

I'm very firm in my belief that Carlson twisted Reid's words like a Twizzler:

"I get sweaty palms. I get the butterflies in my stomach. I sweat lot,†he said then. "I've been playing this game for 15 years. And I can honestly say every game I've played in, I've been nervous. It's not so much me being scared; I just get to a point where I start worrying about a lot of things I can't control.â€Â

Reid said that to one of Carlson's cohorts at the paper, not a "source within the team." Carlson decides that means that "Reid's nerves have always been an issue," and "How you handle the nerves is important, though, and Reid hasn't always managed them well."

Here's another quote from Reid, regarding being benched:

"The coaches made a decision,†Reid told our Mike Baldwin after the Troy game. "I just have to go with it, get better and get back on the field.â€Â

Sounds like innocuous sportspeak to me. Straight from the cliche toolbox, on the shelf next to "take it one game at a time." Carlson seems to think that means "...you can almost see Reid shrugging his shoulders as he says those words. Does he have the fire in his belly?" What does Carlson want? Should Reid stab his competition in the leg like that punter? Should he scream at the coach? Complain to the paper? Reid did everything right here with regards to the media's asinine question of, "How does it feel getting benched?" and he still can't win.

I don't see many "inside sources" being quoted in her article. I see a lot of "Word is..." and "If you believe the rumors and the rumblings..." In fact, those phrases are repeated throughout the article. You know what that means? Message boards. Fan talk. Using "the rumors and the rumblings" to slam a guy is piss-poor journalism. Coach Gundy's reputation is only suffering with the media. It would seem his estimation in the eyes of the fans has gone up a few notches. And I'll bet it went up even further with those from whom it really counts the most: His team.

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Guest jaytan

Come on, what do you think is fair game in sportswriting? From what I can tell, if you're not dumping praise on a guy, all you can do is report what anybody can already find out from reading the box score. By the time most people read the paper, they've already watched the game, listened to the game, seen all the clips on Sportscenter or at least seen the final score. If you're going to have a couple of reporters and a columnist all filing articles the next day, they better take advantage of their access to the players and the locker rooms and give you something of interest.

If that guy can't take the criticism he received in this so-called slam piece, he better give up being a quarterback and go back home to live with his Momma. What, did the player break down and cry when he saw the article? He knows it's true, and he knows a real man would have brushed the words aside or spoken to the writer himself rather than letting his coach go out and "defend" him.

I think they were just irked that a woman, of all people, went out and questioned his toughness. The best response to that is to play better and to grow some stones.

As far as looking for the inside sources in the article, they weren't needed. This only became an issue the day after the coach's rant when the writer challenged him to prove that there was anything inaccurate in the original column.... He didn't even try.

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Come on, what do you think is fair game in sportswriting? From what I can tell, if you're not dumping praise on a guy, all you can do is report what anybody can already find out from reading the box score. By the time most people read the paper, they've already watched the game, listened to the game, seen all the clips on Sportscenter or at least seen the final score. If you're going to have a couple of reporters and a columnist all filing articles the next day, they better take advantage of their access to the players and the locker rooms and give you something of interest.

If that guy can't take the criticism he received in this so-called slam piece, he better give up being a quarterback and go back home to live with his Momma. What, did the player break down and cry when he saw the article? He knows it's true, and he knows a real man would have brushed the words aside or spoken to the writer himself rather than letting his coach go out and "defend" him.

I think they were just irked that a woman, of all people, went out and questioned his toughness. The best response to that is to play better and to grow some stones.

As far as looking for the inside sources in the article, they weren't needed. This only became an issue the day after the coach's rant when the writer challenged him to prove that there was anything inaccurate in the original column.... He didn't even try.

Fair game in sportswriting, if you're gonna slam someone, is to base it on something other than "rumors and rumblings" and a few little anecdotes. If a sportswriter has an opinion but only that much to back it up on, she should keep it to herself. I see no evidence whatsoever in that article that backs up the bad attitude claim - only some stories that Jenni Carlson thinks corroborate her opinion.

As far as Reid defending himself, he didn't have a chance to. The piece came out on Saturday - game day - and the press conference was directly after the game. Sometime in between, Coach Gundy was shown the article. Reid, no doubt, was too busy pouting about being benched - wait, either that or preparing for the game, because I promise you, players' routines on game day start very early in the morning and they don't have time to pick up a paper.

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The columnist did not twist the guy's words to slam him. She was given information from a source close to or within the team itself. When she asked this coach to point out specific errors in her story, he was unable to respond with anything. I don't think her column embarassed the player any more than his conduct or play did, and the coach's outburst hurts his reputation more than anything anybody could print.

I have either been the subject of or been a witness to more than a few news articles, both sports related and non, and its always amazing to me how incredibly inacurrate they are. ALWAYS! I think its the business of writing and the pressures to "get something out" that creates this story that comes from this loose interpretation of whatever it was the writer was writing about.

Whats the big suprise?

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