Loaded Gundy

I was hoping to stay out of the Mike Gundy analysis this week, but now that it's Saturday and talk of his meltdown has returned to the forefront, here are a few points to consider.

1) There's definitely some gray area when writing about college athletes because they're only 18-22 years old.

2) When I first started covering preps many years ago, one of the tips I was given was something like, "Instead of saying, 'Johnny fumbled at his own 2-yard line,' say, 'The Wildcats recovered a fumble at the Tigers' 2-yard line.' Focus on the hero, not the goat.

3) But the minute an 18-year-old kid signs his name on a piece of paper that asks him to be a quarterback in the Big 12 Conference for the next few years, I think most, maybe all, of those rules of sensitivity can get thrown out the window. When you're that good, you're known as "The Man," so start acting like one. Aren't you probably the same coddled athlete who's had lots handed to him, who slept with all the pretty girls in your high school, the kid who probably got out of trouble a time or two with the local cops because you were Mr. Big Time on Friday nights? And now that you're on campus, aren't you getting lots of free beer and adulation and offers from more beautiful women? And, oh yeah, a free college education with plenty of other perks? You can be a man then, so why not when it comes to a few sticks and stones thrown by a mediocre columnist?

4) If you're currently being recruited by Gundy, you probably liked what you've watched on YouTube eight or 10 times by now, right? You know that he's got your back, so maybe you're now more than likely to sign with Oklahoma State in February. Was this a PR stunt?

5) Athletes and coaches need to mean it when they say they don't read the papers.

6) Writers don't like becoming the story after they've written one. There's a reason why no one knows what most sportswriters look like. We like it that way because we're not an attractive lot. Has anyone seen Tony Kornheiser? Jenni Carlson did not overstep the line, but her sarcasm or her punch line just fell flat and now we're making this bigger than it needs to be.

So here's the verdict:

Columnist: I have no problems with her basically questioning the player's manhood, regardless of his youth.

Coach: I admire his passion, but he was way out of line by dressing her down in front of the rest of the postgame media. He turned this into a circus, not her.