Ok, this one is tough to get out …

I get tired of hearing coaches blast the media for being unethical while those same coaches allow little-to-no access; I get tired of hearing coaches telling media members what they can and cannot write but would never dream of allowing a journalist to come close to telling them what is wrong and right; I get tired of hearing coaches preaching holier than thou just before they leave a bunch of 20-year old kids under scholarship for big bucks and a bigger school.

That said, and it pains me to say this, I agree with Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy’s rant after Saturday’s 49-45 win against Texas Tech.

Just not the way he may think.

Gundy’s point has major flaws: He told the media “I don’t read (the newspaper)”, then said “three quarters of (the article) is inaccurate, it’s fiction”. He claimed the article, written by The Oklahoman columnist Jenni Carlson about the change from junior quarterback Bobby Reid to sophomore Zac Robinson, “had to be written by someone who doesn’t have a child”, but never made mention if he knows a thing about Carlson. And it smacks of the arrogance on how the media can never criticize a college athlete.

The last is a ridiculous point, but one strengthened by the weakness of Carlson’s article.

And it’s her carelessness that leads me to believe Gundy has a point.

At least three times Carlson makes specious points about Reid’s lack of effort and it’s role in his benching, using the phrases “If you believe …”, “Word is …”, “… and the rumors”, yet she never says whether these come from unnamed sources inside the team, coaching staff, athletic department, university, the general public, or just her opinion. Yes, it’s a column, but the line gets very blurry here: Unnamed sources are sometimes needed (See: Watergate) but you need to attribute in some fashion if you keep using variations of the word rumor.

Carlson includes a weird reference to Reid’s mother feeding him chicken outside a team bus, one used to show the quarterback is some sort of Mama’s boy, and immediately Carlson says that’s a metaphor for the quarterback change.

“Don’t see the connection?,” Carlson writes. “Let me explain”.

But she never shows any link, and a couple sentences late in the column saying “Does he have the fire in his belly? Or does he want to coddled, babied, perhaps even fed chicken?”. This becomes less of a point and more of a potshot.

Am I missing something here?

Carlson plays a dangerous game questioning Reid’s toughness: “Other times, though, Reid has been nicked in games and sat it out instead of gutting it out”. This is clearly her opinion: She never indicates this comes from any source, but doubting the severity of any injury - collegiate or professional athlete - is difficult because sometimes not even the athlete realizes how hurt he is. Carlson points out Reid’s injury taking himself out of the Florida Atlantic game (though she never says what the injury was), and said while it appeared minor it “might have been the thing that pushed Cowboy coaches over the edge”. Again, clearly the opinion, but at least say “Coaches aren’t admitting it, but …”.

No, as media members we should not treat amateur athletes with kid gloves, ignoring every mistake because “Hey, they’re kids - didn’t we do the same?”. These players on a major, national stage, and in towns like Stillwater, Norman, even big cities like Oklahoma City, Louisville and Albuquerque where the college is the only game in town, that school BECOMES the city’s pro sports team, and thus gains more media exposure, and criticism. If a Cowboy commits a crime, he should be called out.

That said, we do need to be more judicious in what print. There’s nothing wrong with saying Bobby Reid deserves to be bench. But the chicken reference? And the terrible sourcing? Inexcusable.

Unfortunately, in this case, the childishness runs both ways.

To her credit, Carlson stands by her column, and at Tuesday’s press conference Carlson called Gundy out, asking what parts of the column were inaccurate. Gundy’s response?

“I don’t have to”.

Ah, Mike, just as I was almost fully on your side.