Football Coach Teaches Lessons about Life, the Media, and Unrestrained Rage: "I'm a Man—I'm 40!"

Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy has already captured the 2007 season's award for best "post-game hissy fit." After Saturday's victory over Texas Tech, Gundy went on an unintentionally hilarious rant inspired by a Daily Oklahoman column about his benched quarterback, screaming at an audience that society today is sick, that the news media makes him want to puke, that no one dast criticize amateur athletes, and that if sportswriters want to go after somebody, they should go after him because, he averred, among other things, "I'm a man--I'm 40!"

All told, it's the most mesmerizing video since Britney Spear's catatonic shimmy-shake at the Video Music Awards. Watch it and take the rest of the day off, because you'll be laughing too much to get much work done[*]:

More from Gundy here.

[*] Note to reason staff: This obviously doesn't apply to you.

Comments

[mike]

I think he was right. The newspaper article was sophomoric at best. It read like something on Slate, and I'm surprised nobody has made more of the "she's a racist who talks about black guys eating chicken" angle.

If a coach in college or the pros of any sport wants to defend a team member to an overly harsh and petty MSM, that's the team I would want to be on.

[ed]

Funny stuff. Has anyone noticed that it's not so much government surveillance cameras but private hand-helds and the internet that has put us all in glass houses?

[Bubba Zanetti]

Gillespie's standard smug, ironic assessment doesn't cut it. The article was in fact bullshit and Gundy called the writer out, bravo.

[Michael Pack]

Now the media picks apart kids.They treat them like pro's,maybe they should be paid for their play.

[Episiarch]

Nick, I told my boss you said I could take the rest of the day off and now I can't get his foot out of my ass. Any suggestions?

[Hugh Akston]

ed,

There is a difference between people who use new media to make spectacles of themselves, and those of us who refrain from such activities.

People who pursue careers that will put them under media scrutiny, or post videos of themselves getting cockpunched on Youtube deserve everything thats coming to them.

Those who merely wish to live peaceful lives of relative obscurity rightly resent being surveilled by people in authority.

[Randolph Carter]

yeah, I say way to go to the coach. Fuck those guys in the media who screw with collegiate athletes. Something like this happened while I was playing football in college - local media is composed almost entirely of dickitude.

[The Artist Formerly Known as T]

I'm am maaaaaannnnnn, I am maaaannnn, yes I am, I a man !

[Dan T]

Gillespie's standard smug, ironic assessment doesn't cut it. The article was in fact bullshit and Gundy called the writer out, bravo.

Yes, and what's most ironic is Nick's choice of the schoolyard term "hissy fit" considering the 24/7 whining that goes on here.

[Taktix?]

Dan T and Bubba Zanetti,

Lighten up!

[John-David]

Love ya, Nick, but you're 100% wrong here. The coach might not be the most eloquent, but he's defending a kid from some asshole reporter who deserved every word of that rant.

[Reinmoose]

I was watching football last weekend and it really saddened me to see these kids being exploited like they are. Many of them are not mature enough to handle the kind of press that the pros get, and the press seems to resent that.

[Bronwyn]

Dan T., the Daily Herald's Lindsey Willhite, not Nick, termed it a hissy fit.

That said, I can read the DH's column, but it looks as though the offending column has been farked. Can anyone help with the text?

[Legate Damar]

As with so many issues, I see dickitude on every side.

First, that writer wasn't going far enough. I always write an op-ed in my local rag about that fat kid that bats cleanup on the local t-ball team but is only batting like .650. What a waste of talent!

Secondly, the player (who clearly really is a pussy) should have, instead of tanking at Oklahoma State, should have sucked and thrown the season at a more nurturing, wholistic football program where failure is more easily tolerated like Notre Dame or Michigan.

Finally, the coach needs to address this issue not just this week, but after every win. He needs to make sure that his players' successes are ALWAYS overshadowed by his angry rants. Only after blowout losses should he actually refer to the action on the field. THAT is how you build team unity.

[jimmydageek]

Reinmoose,

Was that a sarcastic comment? You do realize these are the same type of "kids" we send to wars, right?

IMO, once you get out of high school you're fair game to any criticism of anything. If you don't like it, too bad. Welcome to the real world...

[ed]

Those who merely wish to live peaceful lives of relative obscurity rightly resent being surveilled by people in authority.

Better not go outside then, as those "people in authority" include your bank, your grocer, your shoe store, and yes, your municipality. My point was that one can barely take a crap without seeing it on YouTube a couple hours later, and it's being uploaded by private citizens, not your government.

[Warren]

I'm am maaaaaannnnnn

Of constant sorrow?

[Pro Libertate]

Wait a second. The Reason staff is not allowed to laugh?

Speaking of not laughing at Reason, I just heard that former editor-in-chief Virginia Postrel has breast cancer. Hoping for the best for her, of course.

[Reinmoose]

jdgeek -
no, that was not sarcastic. I DO realize that these are the same "kids" that we send to war, and I disagree with the reckless use of them in that regard as well.
Let me rephrase my objection and see if it comes across clearer.

Many of the kids on major collegiate football teams have no business being in college in the first place (or at the very least not the college they're attending). They are used by administrators to generate alumni donations and all sorts of other revenue (merchandising, etc.).

[VM]

a pussy?

spoken like a true JV athlete.

*filters Damar

[JasonL]

Like Mike Wilbon suggested last night on PTI, I am sympathetic to the idea that people writing about college sports can go too far. This kid wasn't going to be a top draft pick or anything, he's just some guy who likes to play football.

That said, it occurs to me that if I were interested in countering the suggestion that my kid were "soft", I wouldn't do it by going on national television saying "pick on someone your own size."

[jimmydageek]

Reinmoose,

I understand why you might object to it, but these "kids" chose to go this route. Decisions have consequences...and being "used" by colleges in hopes of making it big is a sacrifice that most are willing to make.

[Urkobold?]

VIKING MINION, WRONG AGAIN, YOU FOOL! JV PLAYERS DON'T GET PUSSY.

[Tom]

As a newspaper editor and a father of sons, I found myself agreeing with much of what Gundy said.

On the print side of the media biz, the vast majority of female jockstrap sniffers I know are former high school hags who finally have a chance to get back at the jocks who ridiculed their A-cups at the homecoming dance.

[Rhywun]

these "kids" chose to go this route

Yup. College sports is, for some reason completely unfathomable to me, an obsession in some parts of the country. You'll have about as much luck treating these kids with kid gloves as you will Hollywood celebrities.

[BakedPenguin]

Mike Gundy? I bet what he's really angry about is being married to the Olive-Oyl like teacher in the Archie comics.

[Legate Damar]

Here I had hoped that my over-the-toppitude would negate any need for sarcasm indicators, but alas, I appear to have failed.

[Stephen the Goldberger]

I kind of agree with him, but then i think back to how much action jocks got while in college/high school and i lose a lot of my sympathy for the kid. That kid IS an OSU celebrity what some columnist wrote won't really have much impact I think. In any case he's a football coach and he's doing his job.

[Pirate Queen]

The thing that I though was the most hysterically funny about the coach's rant was his declarations that "only people with children" could EVER POSSIBLY understand what it's like to be humiliated and shamed.

C'mon, you media meanies: keep your opinions to yourself - it's for the children.

[J sub D]

"I'm a man--I'm 40!"

College students (generally 18-23 yr olds) are Physically, legally adults. IMHO ~25% of them are emotionally adults. The rest need to GROW THE HELL UP. A little criticism, even public humiliation, is probably a positive thing. Maybe even a "social benifit" rather than "social cost". What is the social cost/benefit analysis of criticizing public figures, anyway?

Oh yeah, try callin one of those football players a child, then duck.

[dhex]

On the print side of the media biz, the vast majority of female jockstrap sniffers I know are former high school hags who finally have a chance to get back at the jocks who ridiculed their A-cups at the homecoming dance.

lolz tiny boobs.

[Dan T]

College students (generally 18-23 yr olds) are Physically, legally adults. IMHO ~25% of them are emotionally adults.

I agree that it's very patronizing that college athletes are so commonly referred to as "kids".

But I suspect that's done in part so we can continue to treat them like kids - you know, we're doing them a favor by allowing them to entertain us and earn millions for others without being allowed to accept a paycheck themselves.

[GILMORE]

call me crazy, but i thought that guy was on the money

[AC]

call me crazy, but i thought that guy was on the money

You're crazy!

[ellipsis]

Defending your player in public is what coaches are supposed to do. Good ones, anyway.

This thread seems to indicate that Nick doesn't know much about sports. I don't think there's coach or manager in existence that hasn't had a terse exchange with a reporter.

[B.P.]

The press conference would've been more effective if Gundy had ripped his shirt open.

[susie robinson]

newspapers number one priority is to sell newspapers...not report news...so they make stuff up and focus on stuff that sells. You hardly ever read about the positive tings football payers are doing, usually you only read about the players who get into trouble etc. This reporter looks to e to ba an over weight, non-athlete, pretending she knows anything about what it takes to be a QB at a big time school.
As a mother of a football player, I applaud the coach and think more coaches should defend their players. He Rocks, and the reporter needs to apologise to the kid, and his family...and start working out!

[Cactus]

That is some kind of comedy.

Oh and kids? Was this high school of Jr. High? No they are 18 and are adults. Stop calling them kids. They're adults and they should be treated and act like it.

And if I would have went home crying because someone said something mean to me or called me names I would have had the shit slapped out of me by my mother let alone my father.

[Jim Bob]

No Kool-Aid for me, thanks. Coach was a little melodramatic but hey, he stuck up for one of his guys. Good on him.

[Frank]

The coach is a moron. He can barely speak English. He sounds like Bush.

[Tom]

"Oh and kids? Was this high school of Jr. High? No they are 18 and are adults. Stop calling them kids. They're adults and they should be treated and act like it. "

Let them be able to buy beer, and I'll agree that they're adults.

[John MacLean]

If the kid was fair game for the writer, the writer was fair game for the coach. This is the guy I want at Michigan when Lloyd Carr steps down.

[Shaw]

As a parent, I am sincerely grateful that Grundy acted like the adult he is. With the "woosification" of the American Man in full bloom these days, it's damn refreshing to know that there is at least male left in this country that will protect the "kids" and yes, these are kids, in his charge. God Bless him and his example of fatherhood, protection and loving concern shown in attempting to right an unfortunate wrong against one of his players.

Unfortunately the article seemed pointlessly ridiculous...aberrations of an otherwise immature reporter with limited insight into the dynamics of the game. Regrettable!

"Grundy For President!"

[Seer]

If the kid was fair game for the writer, the writer was fair game for the coach. This is the guy I want at Michigan when Lloyd Carr steps down.

I'd rather trade in that old Carr for one that has Les Miles on it. I'm not looking to the head coach of Oklahoma State for a winner.

Go Blue!

[Kerry]

I think the coach is right.

[JoeCa]

Seer,

FYI, Les Miles was the head coach at Oklahoma State before he ran from the NCAA cops and landed at LSU. Grundy is having to clean up his mess at OSU.

Here's an idea from a PSU alum: maybe Michigan can hire Jay Paterno -- please -- pretty please --- preaty please with sugar on top...

[Seer]

Joe Paterno? I thought that guy was dead.

[HateClinton]

If a woman had pulled a fit like that her career would be over.

And if the average kid that age is a tiny whimpering child, the college athletes i know are big swinging dicks who take pride in having as much of anything they can get. So backpedaling the veracity the article on the vulnerability basis of his age is a joke.

This man sounded more defensive about his own rep cracking from the article than anything else. And maybe those of us without children can see the forest for the trees instead of a Brady Bunch mimetic hell others have forced upon themselves.