Things Have Gotten Awkward Between Mike Gundy and T. Boone Pickens

Last week, Okahoma State booster T. Boone Pickens told the Austin American-Statesman, among other things, that he doesn’t have much of a relationship with football coach Mike Gundy because Gundy “doesn’t handle people relationships very well.”

This made things weird for Gundy, who got cornered by The Oklahoman after Saturday’s win over Texas, and wound up explaining that, yeah, it kinda bothers him to be taking shots in the press from an Oklahoma State booster.

"“It bothers me when people — anybody (does),” Gundy said. “If you really care about OSU, then I want you do things to help OSU. I don’t care who it is. That’s the way I see it. You know what I’m saying? If you’re doing something that’s hurting us in the big picture, well then I don’t like that. Because that means it makes it worse on these guys who bust their ass. You know? So the way I look at it is, if there’s things I really care about — like you, things you care about, you’re doing whatever you can to make it better. Right? “It’s just like with your family. If somebody’s doing something to harm your family, you’re probably not gonna like it. Right? That’s really what it comes down to.”"

Pickens and Gundy have long had a strange relationship, prone to periods of talking and not talking. Pickens says he hasn’t spoken to Gundy in almost a year, and in an attempt to clear the air he put out a statement of sorts on Twitter.

Pickens have given half a billion dollars to Oklahoma State, and in return he’d like to see the Cowboys beat Oklahoma more than twice out of every eleven games. Gundy, presumably, would also like that.

It’s hard to say if this is of any real consequence for Gundy or Oklahoma State. A man in Gundy’s position would do well not to get crossways with his school’s biggest booster, but then again the only thing that ever really matters in sports is wins and losses.

The Cowboys are 3-2 this season.