Temper, temper: final chapter
Well, based on the replies to the post yesterday about Mike "I'm a man! I'm 40!'' Gundy, it appears there's overwhelming support across the board for a person charged with being a responsible, mature leader of men (not boys, men, as in college juniors and seniors) throwing a completely juvenile temper tantrum, as long as it's directed at those mean media people. What a relief. I thought for a second that bullying, tyranny and rampant entitlement was being eased out of coaching by men like Tony Dungy. Nah.
Anyway, enough of this challenging conventional thinking and poking holes in the bloated self-importance of the college football machine and holding officials responsible for their public actions. Time to make things easy on myself, and you. So ...
* Here's an item on O.J.
* And one on Barry Bonds.
* And on Michael Vick.
* And, finally, on Isiah Thomas.
Call me cynical, but I'm guessing that there won't be too many complaints about how "the media'' covers these stories.
In all seriousness, though, check out these wildly differing views on the societal rifts caused by the Vick case, from ESPN.com columnist Howard Bryant and Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Jeff Schultz.
Finally, on Gundy: It is somewhat commendable that so many readers believe that college athletes deserve some protection by their programs from media intrusion because they are not professionals and because they are still growing into adulthood and all its challenges.
But where were all these advocates 25 years ago when Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson was preventing his freshman players (Patrick Ewing, Reggie Williams, etc.) from doing interviews -- when he was being called overbearing, obnoxious, controlling and coddling, and the program was stuck with the label "Hoya Paranoia?''
From the looks of the responses to Gundy, Thompson apparently wasn't paranoid after all.
Comments
Well circle the wagons sports writers who never played the sport they comment on.
He is setting an example of being selfless and defending those who can't defend themselves.
Posted by: eric | September 26, 2007 12:27 PM
I didn't have a problem with Thompson shielding his players and I don't have a problem with Gundy standing up for his player. He was over the top, but I think in principle what he did was fine.
Posted by: FirstCoastTerp | September 26, 2007 1:15 PM
Stick to your guns, David, stick to your guns. One week ago Mike Gundy was another nameless, faceless sub-.500 schmo whose team had just been embarrassed by Troy State on national television and who had just benched his quarterback. Now he's a Profile in Courage for sticking it to the media and putting that sports chick in her place. After all, she never had children -- did he mention that, by the way? -- what's SHE doing in the press box, anyway? And the poor, beset-upon "kid" we're talking about here isn't some CYO basketball player or U-12 soccer player in a Saturday morning pickup league. He's TWENTY-ONE, old enough to drink a beer, old enough to be blown up by an IED on the streets of Baghdad, and he's playing quarterback for a big-time major conference college football program whose every interception and touchdown pass could mean millions of dollars for his school. And before his shoddy play got him BENCHED by sudden No. 1 fan Mike Gundy, he had probably heard far worse from OSU boosters, fans and students at the stadium, on talk radio and in OSU chat rooms and message boards. Memo to Mike Gundy AND Bobby Reid: "Cowboy up, gentlemen." (Pun intended.)
Posted by: Sammy Maudlin | September 26, 2007 1:23 PM