A Friday like no other for Sunny Golloway
Published: 4/22/2011 11:41 PM
Last Modified: 4/22/2011 11:41 PM
After absorbing Sunny Golloway's 10 minutes of radio lava Friday morning, the first thing I thought was, Did I really hear that?
Did I really hear the Oklahoma baseball coach tell WWLS co-hosts Bob Barry Jr. and Carey Murdock, "We're not a unified team going in the same direction. And we've got to get that fixed. I've got to get that fixed. It's been a very difficult season because of that, because of entitlement, selfishness and individualism?"
Did I hear him say, "We've got some really dysfunctional family members?"
And: "We have a player, in my mind, that is so blessed to be a part of our program. Blessed. Would not, could not start for any really good program in the country. And this person has created negative havoc because he should be starting, because we've failed so poorly at second base. That is a shame. It's disappointing. If you feel that way, fine, keep your mouth shut and pull for your teammates. But to go in the clubhouse and poor-mouth the coaching staff and say he should be playing, it's horrible character. It's a flaw. And it brings down a lot of guys. It's not just one, but we've got one who's really vocal. It's unbelievable, and it's leaked into the rest of our club?"
The second thing I thought was, I wonder if Golloway regrets what he just did, stepping so far beyond coachspeak it was almost surreal.
Before coming on, the station played a clip of OU catcher Tyler Ogle from the night before, in which Ogle aired a potential chemistry problem that was affecting his struggling team. (Once 16-0 and ranked No. 2, the Sooners entered this weekend 28-11 and 7-7 in a Big 12 they were supposed to win.)
Maybe Golloway was caught a bit off guard, and then couldn't apply the brakes once he got started.
So Friday night, minutes after OU's 9-2 victory over Nebraska, I asked Golloway if he regretted what he'd said after hanging up with the Sports Animal.
Answer: "No, no, no, no."
"I'll be honest, when I got on the line and I heard a captain, the national player of the week, talk about some chemistry and some things that we've seen and things that we've talked about... It's my job. It's not Tyler's job," Golloway continued. "He shouldn't have to carry that. I'm not going to ask Tyler to be one of the best catchers in the country and carry other burdens. I wasn't going to do that.
He paused, smiled and said: "You know what, when we play the game of baseball, we try to be strategic in everything we do. In everything we do."
Golloway uncorked a purpose pitch, then. A 95 miles per hour heater right under the chin of a team that needed an attention-grabber.
And if the message came to light Friday morning at 9:30 on a radio network, it continued Friday afternoon at 1:30 inside the Sooners' clubhouse.
"We had a nice little team meeting," Ogle said. "The message was clear: Stop losing and go out and win some ballgames."
That wasn't all.
"Everyone's got to get on the same page," Ogle said. "Everyone has to pull for this team and not worry so much about individual stuff."
I asked Golloway if it was coach talks/players listen, or if players were allowed to vent any frustrations they had.
"There was no venting done in the clubhouse," he answered. "It was just a talk, a matter of fact of where we're at and what we need to do. Honestly, everything about it was positive. Everything about Sooner baseball today was positive. It was a direction. It was a stop sign, and then a green light."
Whether charged up by the meeting or simply sick of underachieving, the team that showed up at L. Dale Mitchell Park Friday wasn't the same that blew two Bedlam games last weekend.
"We finished our pregame practice and I looked at a couple coaches in the cage working with hitters and I said, 'We have an energy about us we haven't had,'" Golloway said. "And they were all like, 'Do we ever.' I mean, we did. It was fun. Baseball was fun tonight. We came out with a lot of energy, and I think it showed in our performance…
"Today was the first day we played with a passion that we haven't had. And it felt a lot like last year (when OU reached the College World Series). Regardless of where you were or what you were asked to do, I think everybody was all in. Everybody was ready to go. "
So the message Golloway sent Friday morning, the one he harped on again Friday afternoon... It go through Friday night?
"It got through today," Ogle said. "We'll see if it continues to get through the rest of the season."
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
