You may have heard about a controversy this week in Oklahoma when a college football coach went on a tirade against a local reporter who had written a column critical of a student player. The reporter stands by her column.
One of Gundy's assertions is that the news media should stop treating college athletes like they're professionals when they're just kids. Do you agree? Should sports reporters aggressively cover college athletes? Give them a break based on youth? And why do you say that?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Covering College Athletes
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
I don't think it is so much an issue of age, but rather the reason why college athletes play the game.
I feel that these athletes are mentally able to deal with criticism that may be dealt (and there is always plenty), but they by no means should be treated the same as professional athletes.
Pros play the game for a living. They are paid to play, and will obviously be criticized if they don't do their job. Student athletes are just that: students first, and then athletes. Sports is not the only pressure going on in their lives, and I think they deserve a break.
I wish I could have read the original article...
I can understand why the coach reacted like he did. I think it's clear that he really cares about his player. Still, if there really were untruths in the article, he should have said what they were.
I don't know about covering college athletes... I get the whole "they're just kids" thing, but on the other hand, they know what they are getting into. Again, I didn't see the article, but it seems like the reporter was just doing her job.
Here's the article:
http://newsok.com/article/3131543/1190474803
I really don't know why Jenni Carlson wrote this column. While I believe that college athletes should not be "let off the hook" by the media, I don't think they should be attacked either.
Sorry if the last link doesn't work...somehow it let me read once, but now it's blocking me.
I don't think there is anything wrong with journalists criticizing college athletes because they are adults are most of them are getting money to play ball. I do, however, think it is important to get the facts straight before writing an article that cuts down a player...if the facts are incorrect, that player could be embarrassed for all the wrong reasons...that is like spreading gossip, only to a very large audience.
I wish I could have seen exactly what the columnist originally wrote that make Coach Mike Gundy so upset. If the columnist was wrong and actually did "make fun of a player", than that is unprofessional on her part. If Gundy is exaggerating, then he needs to calm down and realize that college athletes will get criticized. In this case, then Gundy is wrong for yelling at a reporter when she was just trying to do her job...
I don't think its necessarily wrong to criticize a collegiate athlete. But, I do think they should be more careful about how and when they do it.
If PJ Hill or Tyler Donovan had a poor game I think it would be perfectly acceptable to criticize their performance.
But, I think the reason Gundy was so upset was that this writer was criticizing this player's charachter, calling him a momma's boy
We need to read the original article in order to form a well-rounded opinion on the issue. If it is indeed the case that a collegiate athlete was criticized, and only his athletics were criticized, I believe that comes with the jersey. But if the journalist demeaned the athlete's character, that is just unprofessional and the information is irrelevant.
Not to mention, that journalist did a crappy rebuttal article. I'm not convinced at all. Where's the emotion?
The student did go a little over the top by attacking the player's character. This provided a great opportunity though, for the coach to defend his players and let his entire team know that he has their back. He probably earned a lot of respect from the players.
As a coach of a Division I football team, Mike Gundy has to stick up for his players publicly, especially when they are criticized publicly. That being said, Gundy also needs to realize that he is the coach at a high profile football school, and that things like this are going to happen. Carlson has every right to say what she does; its her opinion. Gundy has every right to say what he does; its his opinion. Instead, the audience should take from this the credibility of each source: Carlson, an "outsider" and member of the media, or Gundy, someone who has recruited and known this player personally. You decide who is right.
I think that because college athletics namely football, basketball, baseball, and hockey on the D-1 level are so popular and so much of a revenue generator, there are some misconceptions.
I feel that because of the exposure these athletes get, people/fans sometimes forget that they really are college students, they go to class, do homework, and on top of that practice a huge amount of time. (Not to mention all of the travel time that is included in these sports). Having said that, I think it is a very sore subject to call a college player out like Carlson did. It is one thing to go after a unit, the offense struggled, the defense gave up too many big plays, but in college sports you are really taking a chance if you single out a player and call him/her out.
At the same time, I don't think coach Gundy accomplished anything with that rant. Maybe, in the short term he gained the respect of the OK State fans and players, but when the team starts to lose 4 or 5 games in a row, they could just as easily turn on him and label his as the crazy guy who went off on the reporter. I think he unwilling and unknowingly, at the time, gave himself that taboo.
I feel in a way that both parties involved are wrong.
What must be realized is that the student-athletes ARE being paid to play college athletics. Their tuition is paid, their room and board is paid, and they get a monthly stipend for food and other necessities.
I feel that it is ok to criticize these players for their lack of performance. Do they think it will get any better if they go pro? These kids need to learn to ignore the media and concentrate on what they need to do to make their game better.
Also, I do not feel that it is necessary for the coach to have gone off like that. He wasted his whole post-game press conference on berating the journalist. Now, not only does he look bad, but he said nothing to improve the image of the player.
I think it's entirely appropriate to criticize college athletes. However, the article is pretty useless. Is this really the best product that writer can put out there? It's a sad testament to journalism and to society that both sides are interested in printing something that attacks the personal life of a college athlete. This isn't Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan here (even though it's sad that we follow them, too). He's a college athlete. He can be written about, but what sort of good is being done?
As for Gundy's reaction... interesting, to say the least. He can react however he wants just like the journalist can focus on whatever she wants.
Post a Comment