the oklahoman

If Mike Cameron takes a free-agent ticket out of the way-southern California, San Diego might offer a one-year deal to Jones that would be more than the Braves are paying him.

Fly's spies on the ground in N'awlins say Deuce McAllister is more than a little dinged up. His season is in jeopardy after a knee injury in the first half against the Titans. Guess it's time for Reggie Bush to get more touches.

Well, The Oklahoman certainly is making the most out of its five minutes of fame. Jenni Carlson stands by her story. The coach says he has no regrets. Thank you, ESPN, Mike Gundy and the Oklahoman -- thank you all -- for creating drama out of nothing at all ... except a lame season by the Cowboys. Coach, you lost to Troy; shaddup and go read up on some potential recruits. Carlson, you wrote a fairly weak column -- the chicken thing was an unfair jab; shaddup and go write about something else. Hey, at least our Oklahoma student blogger has a fair and reasoned take on the explosion of Mount Gundy.

And now a lesson on who the jackals are in the world. Yeah, Fly's callin' out all y'all who paint the media as evil yet rush to every train wreck -- yeah, all of you who type furiously to comment on Mike Vick stories and the like but have jack to say when journalists actually bring you the good news you claim to crave. Nike is going to help New Orleans rebuild. The Swoosh is giving both LSU and Tulane new Nike unis to wear for their game Saturday at the Superdome. After the game, the jerseys will be auctioned off. Cash from the auction and from sales of special replica jerseys and other LSU and Tulane gear will go to the "Let Me Play New Orleans" fund. Fans also are being asked to bring old sneakers to the game so they can be recycled into surfaces for sports facilities at four New Orleans rec centers. Now that's some good news.

And for your fun news of the day, Yankees rookies dressed up in "Wizard of Oz" costumes as part of a traditional rookie hazing. Fly's only beef is with the casting: Joba Chamberlain as the Cowardly Lion? No
An e-card Web site has been created called MikeGundyIsMadAtYou.com, which allows visitors to choose an e-card of Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy with a specific thematic message taken from his now infamous post-game rant on Saturday.

Messages include "You need to have a child!" and "3/4ths of what you say is inaccurate."

Gundy went ballistic after his team's 49-45 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday. His anger stemmed from a Daily Oklahoman column in which the female writer suggested that OSU junior quarterback Bobby Reid was demoted because he lacked toughness.

The 40-year-old Gundy berated the entire media contingent, asking ''Where are we at in society today?''

But he also made it personal against writer Jenni Carlson.

Thus, his off-the-wall rant has become fodder across the airwaves and Internet.

And yet another reason to ignore the blather of college football coaches as moral arbiters.

When it comes to science and love, old aunties and great writers decidedly disagree about a certain convergence, says Shirley Hoover Biggers of Cordova:

Aug. 24, 1958

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.

-- Rudyard Kipling

With all due respect, Mr. Kipling, I believe you're mistaken. Here's why.

A native Oklahoman, I began teaching at Lawton (Okla.) High School in 1957. Only 21, I had to adjust to being "Miss Hoover." Very soon at a Sunday night church fellowship, I met Charles Biggers, a tall young North Carolinian. I'd never been east of the Mississippi River, nor he west of it before he was ordered to Fort Sill.

Impressed by his accent and manner, I quickly agreed to go bowling Friday night. Then I remembered: I must sponsor the pep club at Friday's game. I found Charlie in the crowd and explained. Misunderstanding, he thought I'd changed my mind and found an excuse. It was three months before he asked again.
Here's a follow to Stephen Brunt's Great Moments in Sports Journalism … Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy going off on a column he didn't like in The Oklahoman.

You may have seen all or parts of the 3 ?-minute Gundy rant. It's been everywhere � on the Internet, on Youtube, on television and radio.

To quickly set the scene: Gundy brought a copy of The Oklahoman to his Saturday post-game news conference and said it was everything from inaccurate to garbage. He even dubbed the editor who ran the story as garbage.

Trust me when I say editors don't like to be called garbage.

While Gundy may have had a point or two about the column, or even the tone of it, he lost his credibility by saying he never reads the newspaper.

Okay, so maybe someone read it to him. Doesn't matter. He knew what is in the article and he chose to go wild in front of television cameras and other recording devices.

The article was about why OSU quarterback Bobby Reid had lost his starting job. Gundy said three-quarters of the columnist's jottings on why Reid had been benched were wrong.

Asked two days later by the offending columnist to point out the factual errors, Gundy lost what was left of his credibility when he said: "I don't have to. I'd rather just let it go."

Gundy then added, "I certainly didn't do it to receive recognition and I certainly don't want to take away from this upcoming game (against Sam Houston State) like it unfortunately took away from the last game for the team."

Wait a second. The coach purposely brings a newspaper to his post-game newser and starts yelling and screaming about an article he didn't read. Then he refuses to discuss the errors because he doesn't want it to be a distraction.

Can't have it both ways, coach.

You want to stick up for one of your players, fine. There are better ways to do it instead of becoming one of the biggest draws on Youtube.


So come Christmastime, I accepted with reluctance another's invitation to the holiday banquet. When Charlie arrived with another girl, I knew it was time for action! That next Monday evening we were caroling with a group whose last stop was for hot chocolate at one caroler's apartment. I watched him find a chair, then walked over, sat at his feet and leaned against his knee. That did it! When I left, he walked behind me down the stairs. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he steered me aside and asked me to the movies Thursday night.

We saw "The Three Faces of Eve," and afterward he told me he'd leave the next day for Christmas in North Carolina. As we kissed good-bye we knew the 1,200 miles separating our homes didn't matter a bit.

That Easter, I visited North Carolina, where Charlie's parents welcomed me warmly. When I met Aunt Odessa, a biologist, she declared the gene pool improves when two individuals from diverse sections of the country reproduce.

I knew Charlie was a Wake Forest graduate, but his Carolina kinfolks told me about his family's long connections with that college founded in 1834. My mother was born in Indian Territory shortly before Oklahoma's 1907 statehood, and my paternal grandfather homesteaded in Oklahoma's 1893 land run. I was proud of my pioneer stock, but Charlie's forebears had come to the Carolinas in the 1700s.

The high school classes I taught in Lawton ended in May, and I returned to my parents' home. Charlie, then discharged from the Army, came to Edmond to meet them, and they hit it off. I still proudly wear the diamond engagement ring he gave me during that visit.

In August, his parents traveled to Oklahoma for our wedding -- the only time the two sets would ever meet. On Aug. 24, 1958, at 4 p.m. we were married at my home church, Hopewell Baptist. ....

I taught school in three states as Charlie went on to earn graduate degrees in the Carolinas and to teach at a Florida college. In 1968 he joined the biology faculty at then-Memphis State University. Memphis, midway between our beloved childhood homes, was ideal for our putting down roots.

Memphis is our East-West border. Our children (Lisa, Amy and Emily) grew up visiting the East and West often and benefiting greatly from both. In Memphis, I earned a master's and after many years of teaching English, retired from City Schools. Charlie is still a full-time University of Memphis professor. ...

Charlie and I are a partnership, based on abiding love and Christian commitment. We are blessed and, Lord willing, we will reaffirm our vows next Aug. 24 at Second Baptist Church. ...

Charlie's Aunt Odessa was right: It's just good genetics to draw from gene pools in different regions -- east and west in our case. Now do you see my point, Mr. Kipling?

-- Shirley Hoover Biggers, Cordova

Newlyweds, contact Anita Houk with your How We Met story, photos and marriage certificate: how.we.met@hotmail.com; 896-8235; or write to Anita c/o The Commercial Appeal, 495 Union Ave., Memphis, TN 38103, ATTN: Peggy McKenzie. Married longer? Send Anita your how-you-met vignette, photo and marriage certificate for Love Stories.