On Saturday, Mike Gundy, Head Coach at Oklahoma State, “went off” in the post-game press conference. His team had just beaten Texas Tech in a wild shootout 49-45. So what is there to be upset about?

Apparently, Coach Gundy had plenty to be upset about – and very little of it had to do with football. His anger revolved around an article by columnist Jenni Carlson of the Oklahoma City Daily Oklahoman and her belittling Bobby Reid, an OSU quarterback. Rather than discuss his team's victory over visiting Texas Tech, Gundy used the entire post-game new conference to criticize Carlson and the article. He left without addressing questions from the media. Take a look.

It would be easy to say he was out of line and just another football coach with too much testosterone. It would be easy to defend the right of the press to say what they want about athletes. But there is much more to this story.

I know I was intrigued by the teaser ESPN used last night on SportsCenter - “I am a man, I’m 40.” I stuck around to see what else he had to say expecting profanity and a coach out of control - just more bad boy behavior.

However, all this screaming and yelling was to defend a back-up quarterback that has not met OSU football expectations and recently was replaced as the starter.  Gundy’s defense for Reid was clear and had nothing to do with his ability to play football. Gundy said that Reid is a good kid and a student athlete who “does things right” but recently lost his starting job and you (Jenni Carlson) belittle him – about things that have no bearing on football.

He knows players and coaches can be criticized for their mistakes on and off the field. But this story by Carlson was critical of Reid, the recently demoted second string OSU QB, for being a person that what – likes chicken? Carlson made an observation after a game (Reid eating chicken with his Mom) and turned it into a sensationalist story about why Reid was failing as a quarterback. The story begins

“Bobby Reid stood near the team charters last Friday night, using his cell phone, eating his boxed meal. It would've been normal post-game activity but for one thing. His mother was feeding him chicken. Which brings us to the quarterback switch-a-roo at Oklahoma State. Don't see the connection?”

No, no one sees the connection and Carlson’s weak effort to explain the connection is not good sports reporting but rather tabloidesque.  Her connection to Reid losing his starting job is based on

• “His mother was feeding him chicken”
• “rumors and the rumblings”
• “Reid has been pushing coaches that way for quite some time”
• “stories told on the sly”
• “Reid has considered transferring a couple different times”
• “Reid's nerves – ‘I get sweaty palms. I get the butterflies in my stomach. I sweat lot’”
• “Then, there have been the injuries … the thing that pushed Cowboy coaches over the edge”

All this while discounting what the coaches said directly,

“Even though Mike Gundy said last week that Robinson got the nod because he had the better week of practice”

What? Choose a quarterback based on practice? Ridiculous! Perhaps Carlson thought, "No, there must be a deeper, juicier story here - if I could just catch Reid eating chicken, I could get the scoop on the OSU QB switcheroo."

Carlson postured, based on insiders, “The bottom line: The switch is less about Robinson's play and more about Reid's attitude.”

What is Reid’s attitude? Who knows it better than his coach who just spent 10 minutes screaming about what a good kid he is? In a day of whining athletes with attitudes and egos, Reid’s response to losing the starting QB spot was admirable. 

"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.”

Reid’s response seems pretty mature and shows a sign of character doesn’t it? Rather than whine, Reid respectfully commits to accept the coaches decision and plans to improve and win back his position. Carlson, who must have desperately needed a story, interprets the comment as a sign of weakness.

“There's something to be said for not being a malcontent, but you can almost see Reid shrugging his shoulders as he says those words. Does he have the fire in his belly? Or does he want to be coddled, babied, perhaps even fed chicken?”

Okay, now I am yelling, “I am a man, I’m 40.”

Props to Gundy for his leadership and willingness to demand more from the media.

Jenni's defends her story and the facts (although her story it is largely an editorial) on Good Morning America. 

By the way, the word from the citizenry is not in Carlson’s favor.

In Jenni’s blog, I could not find a comment that supported her as a reporter on this story and if you watched the video you heard some of the other journalists in the room applaud Coach Gundy as he walked away.

From a comment made from Gabrielle on the online version of this story

“What a shame. I was hoping in a male dominated industry such as sports journalism a female would push through here in Oklahoma. This is not what I had in mind. You made Bobby Reid out to be a demanding, wimpy momma's boy. Why? Who cares if his mother was feeding him chicken. He's is doing everything asked of him. Going to college and making good grades with the added pressure of being an athlete. Let his mom feed him some chicken. And who are you to question his pain? When was the last time you played college football? I'm not so sure you would jump up and walk it off. I find it disturbing with all of the sports to write about, you go after Reid. I was hoping for something more from a women. Maybe you should try writing about who is wearing what and who is dating who.”

From BruinsNation blog

“This lady set female sports journalists back decades with that crap.  There are classier ways to get your point across.  You don't need to write like a tabloid writer to make your point.”