Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010

Mike Gundy Hits Back

In the world of sports, there's no shortage of angry moments, especially from coaches after disappointing games. That was what made Mike Gundy's tirade so surprising. In September 2007, the Oklahoma State football coach walked into the postgame press conference after his team narrowly upset Texas Tech. Rather than talk about the victory or the season's outlook, Gundy screamed about a newspaper column given to him "by a mother — of children" (as opposed to the other kind). Jenni Carlson, a sportswriter for the Oklahoman, had written a column suggesting that Gundy had swapped out his quarterbacks because the starter wasn't tough enough. "Here's all that kid did. He goes to class. He's respectful to the media! He's respectful to the public! And he's a good kid!" Gundy bellowed, defending his player. And then came the line of the night: "Come after me! I'm a man! I'm 40!" YouTube obliged, and the clip went viral. More than 1.7 million people have watched the rant online. When some enterprising folks make a spoof Coors Light commercial with the clip, it went viral too. It was certainly the most free publicity Oklahoma State had seen in years.