Thursday, September 27, 2007

And The Winner Is...

Everyone has been talking about the Mike Gundy/Jenni Carlson fiasco of the past weekend. Now it's my turn.

This morning, there is a post on ESPN.com claiming that there is no winner from what happened. I highly disagree.

Mike Gundy's antics at his press conference this past weekend got our attention. Attention that probably wouldn't have been caused even if Oklahoma State beat their instate arch rivals. What does the attention do? Because let me tell you, Mike Gundy doesn't care what you think about him. He cares about what his players think about him. When his players, most notably Bobby Reid, found out about the incident, they couldn't be more proud to have a coach that is going to go to bat for them. Who doesn't want a coach like that?

We will see how Mike Gundy has done in about March when he has all of his new commits in. This was a recruiting tool for him. An 18 year old kid is going to see this guy and as a player think, "This coach has my back. I want to play for a guy like that." Interest is going to generate around players about Gundy's program. With that, we will see the reaction.

But the most important thing you can do as a coach or any leader for that matter, is have the people you lead believe in you. Today, those players believe in their coach and will play inspired for the rest of the season. If that gets them anywhere, we will see.

Jenni Carlson couldn't be happier. People in the media and entertainment world have one job...make people talk. As long as people are talking about something that the media is putting out there, the public is going to read/watch whatever they can about the subject. I would like to see the sales of the Daily Oklahoman since Gundy's tirade the other day. I bet they're up. Presently, if you Google Jenni Carlson, you get over nineteen pages of material about her, bio information as well as past articles she's written. Today, she is the most famous columnist in America. That's a pretty good title to have.

People in the media don't care about your emotions as long as they spark them in some way. I was the campaign manager for a student government campaign in college with a very good friend of my running for President. He didn't win, and when he lost, there was a picture of him on the front page of The Daily Beacon making a pose that wasn't the most flattering. I walked down to their office on campus the following day and asked the receptionist, "Can I please speak with the person who is in charge of putting the pictures on the front page?"

Two people came out, one of which was notorious on campus as being a relatively difficult person to deal with, especially given my political affiliation. As politely as I could, I told them how disrespectful the picture was and how my buddy didn't deserve it, all he wanted was the best for UT, blah blah. Then it hit me..."You're not going to say anything, are you." They didn't respond. "You don't care what I think, you're just glad that you made someone want to come down here, for whatever reason it was." That girl gave a little grin, I nodded my head and walked out.

Good or bad, people in the media want to be noticed. As long as they're being noticed, they're doing their job. They are drawing attention to their paper/show/magazine etc. Jenni spells her name with an "i" opposed to the usual "y" meaning she wants to stand out somehow. I gave in and learned the hard way. That day against me, they won.

So who wins? I'd call it a draw if Oklahoma State has a good season and gets quality play out of their players while bringing in solid freshman. Other than that, Jenni Carlson is getting the exposure of a lifetime. She better ride it while she can. I read her article; trust me, it won't last forever.

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