EUGENE — Oregon splattered Oklahoma State, 69-3, on Saturday at Autzen Stadium.
I wrote a column about the foolishness of Mike Gundy’s comments before the game and how locked in Oregon appears after the first two games of the season.
A reader of this publication, Brian, reached out to tell me he observed something interesting at the stadium. Oregon honors a veteran of the armed services during each game. As the “Veteran of the Game” was being recognized during a timeout, Gundy stopped what he was doing on the sideline.
“Gundy ran down to the end zone and shook his hand and very clearly mouthed, ‘Thank you for your service,’” Brian wrote. “Gundy definitely deserved the spanking they got, but it was a classy gesture that was appreciated by those who saw it. We sat in Section 23 and watched it right in front of us.”
Photographer Tim Healy was on the scene, working for JohnCanzano.com. His photo gallery is worth your time
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As an observant fan noted, "Gundy definitely deserved the spanking they got, but it was a classy gesture that was appreciated by those who saw it". All members of our military deserve to be thanked and that was just what Gundy did. That was gracious of him to do that.
Really appreciate the Gundy vignette. We unfortunately live in an age where some in politics seek to create "us" and "them" and we have to hate "them." Most of us aren't all good or all bad, and the snapshot we had this week of Mike Gundy made him easy to "hate." Good on him for showing us the "Oregon is rich" comment isn't all he is. And thanks for the reminder about the pitfalls of being reflexively judgmental.