Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/porter-a-few-thoughts-on-this-week/
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Kyle, I appreciate the video and you addressing this stuff. Iâm being very critical of Kyle Boone right now, but please neither him nor you hesitate to call me on it if I cross the line into being nasty.
I feel that you strive to be a good leader and stand up for your team, but alsoâŚwhat about the extreme reactions and things that are being said about Chuba (idiots calling him out for âcomplaining about a t-shirtâ), Gundy (pretty much a 100% guaranteed white supremacist for life), Oklahoma (people making an assumption that, oh mike gundy is from OklahomaâŚno duh heâs racist). A power imbalance, I can see that, but do you personally think Gundy is deserving of the extreme negative reactions and assumptions being made about him? I donât think him or Chuba (obviously) are
And itâs not just your readers, do you not think Desirae Fordâs and Tre Sterlingâs reactions are indicative of this stuff appearing to try to divide people?
I truly believe Chuba Hubbardâs only goal in this is to make a positive impact in the world and at OSU. I also believe this situation legitimately opened Gundyâs eyes and has humbled him. So there is a lot of potential good coming out of this.
But my problem is the continued piling on (on any which side of any argument) from people who do not know Mike Gundy or Chuba Hubbard personally. The majority of the people seem to either want Mike Gundy to come out and say âIâll wear whatever I â â â â well feel like!â Or they want him exiled into being an evil figure in history, they donât want him to learn and listen and be better. Thatâs extremely damaging, because do you think any ignorant person is going to want to listen/learn from someone whoâs treating them like that, or is beyond educating and only deserves belittlement? Like THEREâS IN BETWEEN GROUND THERE. If Mike Gundy was fired and apologized 1000x, I do not believe it would change the minds that are already made up.
It doesnât even feel completely like Chuba vs. Gundy. It seems like Chuba and Gundy working through problems together vs. the media.
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Iâm not here to necessarily criticize but I do want to point out a few things. In your video you were discussing unchecked power at oSu, and systemic problems at oSu. I havenât read any articles on this. Is this speculation on your part? I couldnât give a ratâs Butt about Kyle Boone although I do believe you might consider getting someone to proof read his articles and comments to maybe keep the embarrassing factor down.
You have a pattern at Pistols firing blog of trying to run Gundy down whether you want to admit it or not. There are plenty of articles out there doing just that. Pretty sure there are a lot of readers that will agree.
The vicious fans out there are usually unreasonable people anyway, and there isnât much you can do with them. This world has turned into âIâm right youâre wrongâ. Not going to change anytime soon. Do I feel there is a real problem at oSu? No!
In my personal opinion this is something that has happened in the time when there really isnât any real sports going on, and itâs something that has been really blown out of proportion. Just like the article about the ESecPN documentary, there isnât much going on with their viewership and they are trying to make money. It doesnât matter if itâs negative attention, itâs attention they can make money off of.
Itâs the same pattern you have embraced. I hope the truth doesnât hurt too much.
Please let us readers know what the systemic problems are when you find out.
Good work here @kyleporterCBS . I firmly believe that for an organization to be great, itâs leadership must be great. We have all wished we could have done things differently in retrospect, but I believe @kyleboone was doing his job In this regard. It is telling that a portion of the fan base why they see no wrong in a t-shirt of a potentially harmful news outlet. I am an OSU alum, all of my family are OSU alums. As an extended OSU family we must acknowledge the blemishes of our history (Johnny Bright incident, potential use of racial slurs, etc) and strive toward a future to educate and fix a corrupt society. Gundy, PFB, Chuba, etc has a platform to help create that change in a very public light. If they do not then that opportunity is wasted and potentially harmful to a positive change. All this to say thank you PFB for using your platform in a way that brings up topics/issues that need to be discussed (even if it is uncomfortable for others).
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Hang it up Porter. From what I can see you have no control or accountability over your writers. Boone did something asinine and selfish at the expense of the University and department that allow this site to be pertinent and all you have to say is âthat was stupidâ. If he wants to write like Thomas Friedman he has to be able to take the criticism. Reporters report the news. They donât create it.
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I think itâs very fair to be critical and aware of Mike Gundyâs insensitivity and past behaviors, while also being critical of Kyle Boone and the way this all transpired.
Not trying to say youâre saying itâs not fair. I think people criticizing Kyle Boone while not criticizing Mike Gundyâs part in this as well are being hypocritical.
I agree with you. When I work with students (I work in Higher Education) I always frame it as this, âLife is all about learning opportunities. A mistake is when you do not use that opportunity to learn.â
So all Iâm saying is letâs sit back and see if Gundy, Kyle, etc. let this sit as a mistake or Chalk this up as an opportunity to learn.
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Good on you for not letting your emotions cloud your judgement. Iâve definitely let mine do that in my criticism of Kyle a bit (and i need to be held accountable if so) but I stand by my posts. But i do wanna hear opposing perspectives so I donât become blinded by my own biases.
I added a little more to my post above.
Thatâs good that you are open to debate and possible positive criticism. Sometimes it gets super heated and nasty on these forums since people believe they are anonymous.
I do love what Gundy has done for this program and for OSU in general. It is concerning though that repeat behavior has happened that has gone unchecked. Letâs see if this most recent occurrence allows him to learn and use his platform for something that is bigger than his flowing locks.
I really really hope so. What I really want to see out of this is for Chuba to help Gundy to become a better man and for them to repair their relationship. I donât understand why anyone would want any other result than that.
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I think everyone needs some grace and empathy right now. Itâs been a crazy and emotional year. People are getting sick, people are losing their jobs, people are being hurt. We have less outlets. Emotions are high and everyone is hurt in some way or another. Basically everything kinda sucks right now. Honestly, if people would just start being nice things could improve.
We all need to realize these are young men, and we need to bring unity and not division, everyone needs to ask themselves; is the Cowboys best interest our motives!!!
I am certainly a Mike fan. My thought is that the posting of the pic was probably a good thing. Yep, I am an optimist. I think Mike has gotten a little too big for his britches. Celebrity does that to people. I would like to believe that he was going fishing and he didnât want to get blood and fish guts on a fresh OSU tee shirt and he chose to wear a gimme, throw away shirt, he received in the mail. He said he was a dumbass and certainly he was and is, but I hope we donât fire him like he fired the dumbass who came to his home for a job in a Boomer Sooner tee shirt. Mike, you have a lot of work to do. You need to heal things at home and you need to be more humble.
As some have already said in previous posts thank you for the video I am sure that there are a lot of folks, including me, who appreciate the effort. However Iâd like to be clear on a couple of things just in case you missed them. I donât know anything about Mike Gundyâs âunchecked powerâ but I hope you understand what transpired over the last few days is not the way to address the MG âissueâ assuming you didnât want him removed as the head coach. The actions that took place, first KB lighting the match by posting and commenting on the picture followed by the statement from CH plus comments from other members of the football team was a very good strategy toward getting Mike Gundy fired. I have a hard time believing KB who is a grown man didnât know that could be the possible outcome. Now I would give CH a pass as I doubt he knows better but I think that KB owes MG a big apology for what he did. Please donât get me wrong here I am not trying to defend MG. As with all people everyone has room for improvement and I hope that everyone involved in this situation has learned that there are better ways to effect change in a person. If you want to get someone to change then go talk to them privately. If you donât care if they change but instead just want them out of the picture then post crap on twitter. And finally please excuse my rambling, I am a terrible writer and have a hard time forming a coherent thought but in any case I hope you can get the gist of the message. Thanks!
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Kyle Boone clearly had an agenda. He took offense at Mike Gundyâs attitudes, demeanor, and lack of sensitivity to the young men he has promised to lead. Fair enough. However, Kyle B chose to express his concerns over these issues by sharing them with the world via CBS sports social media. He did not choose to call attention to his concerns with a thoughtfully constructed post questioning Gundyâs shirt and awareness on CBS Sports or, even more directly, with a post on Pistols Firing. Instead he posted a disdainful picture and chose to goad a young man with much to lose into taking the issue to his coach, the man who has power over his future. Kyle Boone tried to further goad Chuba Hubbard by questioning him after the first video until Chuba and Amen shut him down. Kyle B has subjected the young man to the spite and ridicule of people who do not know him or his motives. Mike Gundy has been the subject of public humiliation, ridicule, and will forever be labeled a racist, again by people who donât know if he has evolved since 1989 or in the last week of turmoil. There is no going back for either of these individuals or for our university, home to rednecks and bigots if one goes by comments from others like Kyle Boone who post without remembering words do have power. How can someone who fancies himself a journalist not know that?
Kyle Porter, you ask us to remember that we all have words we wish we could un-say and actions we wish we could undo. That is true, but unfortunately all we can do is apologize. When will Kyle Boone publicly apologize to Mr Hubbard and Coach Gundy for his immature, letâs-toss-out-a-hand-grenade-to-get-clicks method of determining if his thoughts and feelings about the status of OSUâs football program were accurate?
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Lot going on here, but this made me chuckle. Mike Gundy has no power over Chuba Hubbardâs future.
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Kyle, thank you for sharing. Ever since college I have consistently thought of you as a good man and appreciate your coverage of Oklahoma State. Itâs been really hard for us out of state cowboy fans to get any news.
To the people criticizing Kyle, this was a blog that has become a media organization. That is a tough transition. It is fair to criticize and expect him to work to be better. But it is BS to come after him as a man.
Kyle Boone on non recruiting matters has annoyed me of late. I feel he has jumped to conclusions and let his passion take over. All of that being said I do not think he is a bad person or horrible for OSU. Personal preference and opinions should not lead to hate. Kyle Boone I do not know you, but thank you for covering OSU and caring enough to write about it.
Hereâs to hoping we all improve in the future. Myself, OSU, and PFB!
You are correct Kyle. We each control our own future, Chuba Hubbard more so than most at this point with his tremendous football talent and desire to do good. And I truly believe that about him. I
am old and my heroes are always young people with optimism.
In a perfect world, I am sure all NFL owners will look at this past week activities and view his interaction with his current head coach and not a one of them will think anything other than what a great young man he is, because Coach Gundy does keep saying that. They will not silently label him a potential boat-rocker at all.
Kyle B should have asked his own questions and given the players and coach a chance to answer them consciously and not emotionally while under fire.
I thank you for the video today, but Kyle B should thank you more.
Keep fighting the good fight Kyle and PFBâŚshedding alight, addressing issues is why we have the pressâŚyou guys have provided a great service and Iâm glad to see youâll continue to do so. As you said you have no incentive to âburnâ the place downâŚitâs amazing how many people are college educated but donât understand logicâŚyou want the best for OSUâŚbut the best is not for a coach to be out of touch, ego driven and potentially divisive. Bravo, Kyle!
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Ok man calm down. We know you are just trying to get a job being Sports journalist but you got to stop the white shaming brother. Donât use WE when you talk about whites because believe it or not people âWEâ are not all racist and if you referring to generations ago then itâs still not we. You have to stop putting all white people in one boat buddy. Before you send your next comment you need to think it out alittle more. Itâs insensitive to others that are not and have not been apart of ugly acts. Thank you maple syrup! I do like maple syrup tho.