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Lester Gets A Ring
Published: 1/9/2008 12:39 PM
Last Modified: 1/9/2008 12:39 PM

Sports writers are supposed to be emotion-less blobs, like the pointy eared guy on "Star Trek" or the android who first appeared in Avengers No. 57. That's the way objectivity is maintained.
Now that Les Miles is gone from our coverage area, can I make a confession? I like Miles. Granted, a lot of OSU fans don't like him because of the circumstances surrounding his departure, but he did manage to elevate the program to a higher level, right?
I have liked what Miles was all about ever since I did a lengthy biographical feature on him prior to his first game at OSU.
I interviewed a bunch of his family members and friends and former coaches for the story. Of course they said good things about him because they are family members and friends. What, you thought they were going to throw him under the bus?
The lengthy bio piece is my favorite kind of story and I have learned in doing many of them that you can make a pretty good character assessment after interviewing a dozen or more people about someone. Sometimes I do that type of story and come away with a weird vibe.
Not so with Miles. Les used to hug his dad at school and didn't care what the other students thought. Nobody messed with Les' sister (or other gals in distress) because there was going to be heck to pay if they did. Coaches used to recruit someone to beat Les out of a starting position every year and he still managed to keep his job.
Call me a sucker, but I think Lester (as one of his former buddies still calls him) has character. I won't cheer, because there's no cheering in the press box, but it didn't hurt my feelings to see him win a national championship.




Reader Comments 4 Total
OSUNDN (5 years ago)
Now that Les Miles has a national championship under his belt, it's safe to say he is head and shoulders above spin doctor Bob StOOPS. Good for Coach Miles. StOOPS never beat him twice in a row.
OSUNDN (5 years ago)
Now that Les Miles has a national championship under his belt, it's safe to say he is head and shoulders above spin doctor Bob StOOPS. Good for Coach Miles. StOOPS never beat him twice in a row.
OSUFAN (5 years ago)
I keep reading in the press that OSU fans dislike Miles. Being an OSU fan myself, I loved Miles as our coach. Plus, I don't know any OSU fans that dislike Miles either. I know several that didn't like the way he left OSU but they still liked him as a coach. Can somebody point out a few OSU fans that dislikes Miles? I know I can't.
OSUFAN (5 years ago)
I keep reading in the press that OSU fans dislike Miles. Being an OSU fan myself, I loved Miles as our coach. Plus, I don't know any OSU fans that dislike Miles either. I know several that didn't like the way he left OSU but they still liked him as a coach. Can somebody point out a few OSU fans that dislikes Miles? I know I can't.
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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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