Yeah, what he said. At least Alabama Sooner was considerate, though.It seems that only Sooner fans are saying this...
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Yeah, what he said. At least Alabama Sooner was considerate, though.It seems that only Sooner fans are saying this...
Yep, and the media are herding sheep all across the nation on this one. On the surface Gundy looks like a great guy, but if your close enough to see a little deeper you start to see what kind of guy he really is.A season when he and his whole athletic dept. had run their mouths about for months. Did you guys see the label they gave themselves, "The World's Most Explosive Offense"? But did he have the stones to say so publicly? No, he just said Robinson was the starter and would be for the forseeable future. Hey, I dislike yellow journalism as much as anybody, but Gundy had seen many, many columns about his team, not many were flattering. But he chose a woman to attack. No doubt in my mind that if that article had been written by a male journalist, he wouldn't have had the guts to attack him in similar fashion. You can praise this guy if you want, but if you know the whole story, it looks a lot different.
One more thing, Gundy was confronted by Jenni Carlson at his Monday News conference. She asked him specifically what parts of her column were inaccurate, to his face. Gundy replied " I don't have to answer that". Yeah, a real stand up guy that Gundy.
Actually, I doubt she will be. As of today, OSU/Gundy still had not called the editor of the paper to lodge any kind of official complaint, which in most cases is done when a reporter or columnist gets something egregiously wrong.There's no doubt she will most likely be fired
What Gundy did, he is allowed by law to do, but as a public figure, if you can't take heat from the press then you need to find something else to do.
He's complaining about the "treatment" of his player because it exposes his own decisions in handling the situation regarding who starts and who doesn't.But he's not complaining about getting heat. In fact, he very clearly told the press to go after him if they are going to go after someone. He was complaining about the treatment of his player, not himself.
He's complaining about the "treatment" of his player because it exposes his own decisions in handling the situation regarding who starts and who doesn't.
I have a feeling she had more than a passing knowledge of this situation before she wrote about it. I would bet she could prove everything she wrote if forced to, and the way her editor has responded makes me even more sure of it. Most editors at publications that large are in that position because they have a very good grasp of libel laws and don't let outright falsehoods go out. That's just my take on it from 1,000 miles away, but judging from the paper's conduct I think Gundy doth protests too much because she was hitting really close to the heartwood if not directly on it.Well, that would be another opinion. Again, if she wants to state an opinion then she should state an opinion instead of asserting rumors as facts. Even if what you say is true, it was very poorly handled by the writer. She can question the coach's decisions without bringing rumors about the players into it.
And the hammer meets the head of the nailActually, I doubt she will be. As of today, OSU/Gundy still had not called the editor of the paper to lodge any kind of official complaint, which in most cases is done when a reporter or columnist gets something egregiously wrong.
The question needs to be asked whether the facts of the column are true or not. If they're not, the reporter is at fault. If they're true, Gundy has no expectation for anyone to ignore facts, even when writing a scathing opinion.
People don't like the press when they're opinionated, but that's a columnist's job. It's my job to be opinionated in certain articles that are published here on TideFans. Most of you guys like what I write. When I write something that's critical of Auburn or Tennessee, I get a bunch of "attaboy" emails. It's all about the content, I guess.
The public often has the wrong, or at least an incomplete idea of what the roles of the press are and what the roles within a newspaper are. A columnist's job is to incite reaction, positive and negative.
As for Gundy's conduct, he did what most coaches have wanted to do at one time or another, but have wisely decided not to do. The repercussions from his actions will go a little something like this:
* The paper he criticized will now get twice as much up in his business, and his program's business, than before.
* He will now be scrutinized twice as closely regarding moves made at the QB position. As wishbonesooner alludes to, now he'll have to specify why this guy lost the job to begin with, and he won't be allowed any wiggle room because of his earlier statements about injuries and losing jobs.
* He has apparently kowtowed to the whims of a player's mother, and in doing so has opened himself up to this thing in the future, which will be divisive to team unity if it isn't already.
* He has gotten the last break he'll ever get from the media when it comes time to evaluate his career.
Like Finebaum or not, he and those like him move opinions and cause people to apply heat to decision makers. This is not a new happening in journalism. Go back and read newspapers dating well back into the last century and you'll see what I mean. I can remember a newspaper I worked for in the past that had old copies framed and hanging in the front lobby, and you won't believe how blurry the lines were between fact and opinion.
What Gundy did, he is allowed by law to do, but as a public figure, if you can't take heat from the press then you need to find something else to do. A newspaper that has no opinion is not a newspaper. It may make people uncomfortable when someone deigns to challenge or expose rough spots, but that comes with the territory.
There's a saying: Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel. The press is far more powerful than a lot of people (especially fans) want to believe, and Gundy is about to find that out.
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