OUFAN29
1/8/2007, 08:29 PM
Not sure if this is on anywhere else but saw this on Sooner Sports.
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&ATCLID=289732
Mossman Prophecies for Monday
Courtesy: SoonerSports.com
Release: 01/08/2007
Jason Matheson, our director of internet services, relayed to me a story this week that merits a lot of attention in this space.
Shortly after the Fiesta Bowl loss, Matheson was among the OU personnel and players that were exiting the playing field through an opening surrounded mostly by Boise State fans.
You can imagine the taunting.
Taunting is one part of sports that will forever elude me. It’s not enough for us to simply win. No, the victory must be sweetened by also heaping shame on the opponent. Sure, we can exalt our own team, but by all means let’s make sure we twist the knife in the other. Let’s trash talk.
There is a vilification in sports that is unhealthy. Just because someone wears a different color jersey does not somehow mean they are any less a human being. Heck, we all know that. Seriously, we do.
Even the most ardent of shame-heapers would, in a solitary moment like this, agree with all of the wholesome aspects of competition and shun the negative actions of those caught up in emotion and revelry.
But I digress.
As the OU team left field, one moron in particular (and let’s be clear, every school has a moron fan or two; this is no indictment of Boise State) was apparently laying it on pretty thick. Among the Sooner players in the line of fire was running back Jacob Gutierrez, a young man long known for his classy behavior and concern for others.
In the heat of the moment, Gutierrez could have been forgiven for reacting outside the bounds of his normal decorum. Few would have blamed him for shaking his fist or offering a one-finger salute.
And to be sure, “Gute” did raise his arm ... to shake the hand of the fan that was pouring down ridicule.
“This one guy was yelling at us every time we went through the tunnel and he was there at the end of the game too,” Gutierrez recounted. “I just went over and shook his hand and congratulated him.
“(Boise State) played a great game and I wanted to show him what Oklahoma was all about. He was pretty quiet after that.”
But that’s not the end of the story. Other Boise State fans witnessed Gutierrez’s gesture and began reaching down to slap hands and pat backs, the hands and backs of an opposing team.
One person and one simple gesture lit the fuse on combustible sportsmanship and brought a small group of people back to the center of human decency.
That’s typical of Jacob Gutierrez. How cool would it be, whether on the playing field or the freeway, if it became typical of all of us?
Very classy Gute.
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&ATCLID=289732
Mossman Prophecies for Monday
Courtesy: SoonerSports.com
Release: 01/08/2007
Jason Matheson, our director of internet services, relayed to me a story this week that merits a lot of attention in this space.
Shortly after the Fiesta Bowl loss, Matheson was among the OU personnel and players that were exiting the playing field through an opening surrounded mostly by Boise State fans.
You can imagine the taunting.
Taunting is one part of sports that will forever elude me. It’s not enough for us to simply win. No, the victory must be sweetened by also heaping shame on the opponent. Sure, we can exalt our own team, but by all means let’s make sure we twist the knife in the other. Let’s trash talk.
There is a vilification in sports that is unhealthy. Just because someone wears a different color jersey does not somehow mean they are any less a human being. Heck, we all know that. Seriously, we do.
Even the most ardent of shame-heapers would, in a solitary moment like this, agree with all of the wholesome aspects of competition and shun the negative actions of those caught up in emotion and revelry.
But I digress.
As the OU team left field, one moron in particular (and let’s be clear, every school has a moron fan or two; this is no indictment of Boise State) was apparently laying it on pretty thick. Among the Sooner players in the line of fire was running back Jacob Gutierrez, a young man long known for his classy behavior and concern for others.
In the heat of the moment, Gutierrez could have been forgiven for reacting outside the bounds of his normal decorum. Few would have blamed him for shaking his fist or offering a one-finger salute.
And to be sure, “Gute” did raise his arm ... to shake the hand of the fan that was pouring down ridicule.
“This one guy was yelling at us every time we went through the tunnel and he was there at the end of the game too,” Gutierrez recounted. “I just went over and shook his hand and congratulated him.
“(Boise State) played a great game and I wanted to show him what Oklahoma was all about. He was pretty quiet after that.”
But that’s not the end of the story. Other Boise State fans witnessed Gutierrez’s gesture and began reaching down to slap hands and pat backs, the hands and backs of an opposing team.
One person and one simple gesture lit the fuse on combustible sportsmanship and brought a small group of people back to the center of human decency.
That’s typical of Jacob Gutierrez. How cool would it be, whether on the playing field or the freeway, if it became typical of all of us?
Very classy Gute.