Information, please

Mike Gundy, head football coach at Oklahoma State University has just elevated himself to my top 10 list. Last week end following a victory over conference rival Texas Tech, Gundy let loose a tirade against a reporter at the post game news conference. Sports news, and any other news for that matter, is information, not fiction.

It should be that and nothing more.

The basis for his outburst was an article written by a woman who claimed that she had information about one of his players. The reporter said that quarterback Mike Reid was the most talented signal caller on the team, but that Gundy was not playing him because of some personal reasons. Gundy was enraged and looking directly at the sports newswoman, he called her article trash, and the editor who let it be published trash. He flatly stated that her comments were total fabrications. His angry outburst lasted for more than 3 minutes, after which he refused to answer any more questions.

He was quite passionate in his reaction to this reporter writing something so personal about a young athlete. Since this news conference he has received thousands of e-mails in support of his comments.

Other coaches, fans, and sports reporters have lined up in support of him as well.

I don't know what the truth of the facts are, but I don't really care. The problem for me is the fact that we are so interested these days in sensationalism that we don't seem to have time for just plain old sports reporting.

As I stated in a previous article, I got really sick of seeing Barry Bonds on ESPN and all the other sports media day after day this spring and early summer.

Then the Michael Vick episode followed and it took over top billing. I am walking a fine line with this position. There is nothing in the world I hold in higher regard than the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. To me they are the last method free people have to take on anyone or anything that is trying to destroy or take away their freedom. One writer who gets a lot of controversy stirred up on a regular basis is Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star. Many mornings at coffee, some of my fellow sports fans are arguing over something Jason has written. He is controversial, but that is what they hired him to be. I support him as a writer even when I don't agree with him.

That is not what happened here. This reporter wrote about the personal attitude and character of a young man still a teenager. Even if the facts were true, which Gundy says they are not, there has to be some limits as to what we write about.

Here are a couple of examples from a different time and era. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy were both known to have had mistresses. Most of the White House Press Corps new about these indiscretions, but did not write about them.

Many famous athletes over the years had various off field problems well known to reporters, which they chose to disregard. Why didn't they write about these people is the real question. I think it was their respect for personal privacy and the love of the sport itself.

It isn't just a national problem either. Last year we had some articles written about coaches and players here at our high school. I did not like it then and I still don't. Parents and fans have become so upset and demanding of our sports programs, that I wonder why anyone would even want to get involved in such a vocation.

The so called "Information Age" has some tremendous advantages. It also has some dangerous drawbacks.

Many young people today don't even read newspapers or watch news and sports on television. They get most of their information online on computers or cell phones.

There are no editors checking the validity of these modern day "bloggers." Many online writers put anything they feel like on the net without checking to see if it is truth or not. Everyone is so anxious to get the "scoop" or "dirt" on someone, that they will sacrifice accuracy for speed.

My old high school football coach, Chuck Shelton, gave me some good advice when I got my first coaching job years ago. When talking to the media about a game, he always gave credit for the victories to the kids.

When he lost, he said you had to man up and take the blame on yourself. You could never say it was because of the kids themselves.

I have carried that idea with me into any sports reporting I do now. Kelly Bradham always wrote the same way all the years he covered Nevada sports, too.

It is all of our responsibilities as fans of the game to make sure we take care of the kids first. There is more than enough to write about just covering all the activities and sports at NHS and the other local schools to fill a sports page.

We need to leave the coaches and the kids alone and tell the story of what happened on the field. If you want the other kind of news read the "Enquirer," don't expect that from me.