Eli Drinkwitz asks Paul Finebaum about 'Mike Gundy moment' on plane

At Big 12 Media Days last week, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy generated some buzz when he discussed Ollie Gordon’s recent arrest for DUI. The coach recalled his response to it and how he has “done that 1,000 times” – comments he later clarified.

But when Paul Finebaum discussed an experience on a plane to Los Angeles for the Rose Bowl, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz saw an opportunity to make a joke. And he took it.

Finebaum recalled where he was when Missouri defeated Ohio State 14-3 in that game. He was sitting behind some Michigan fans who, for obvious reasons, were enjoying the Tigers’ performance. Finebaum said they had a few drinks and he decided to watch the game as well.

Drinkwitz didn’t miss a beat. That’s when he jumped in to ask if Finebaum had a “Mike Gundy moment.”

“I watched the Cotton Bowl on a plane to L.A. for the Rose Bowl, and I sat behind two drunk Michigan fans – who I don’t know if they’ve ever had more fun watching that game,” Finebaum said. “And I decided to do the same thing.”

“You decide to get drunk?” Drinkwitz chimed in. “Are you having a Mike Gundy moment right now?”

“I think I was, yeah,” Finebaum responded in joking fashion. “But they were having so much fun, and [you] just beat these guys to a pulp. I mean, it was just a pounding. And I was there for it, even with two despicable Michigan fans.”

Gundy’s comments quickly went viral during Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas. He discussed his initial reaction to Gordon’s DUI arrest and the decision to open him up to reporters as a result. In those discussions, Gundy told his star running back he got lucky the situation wasn’t worse.

Then, he recalled his research into how many beers it would take to hit the 0.08 legal limit. Those comments – reportedly “met with a collective cringe” around the Big 12 – were what Eli Drinkwitz was referencing in his “Mike Gundy moment” quip.

“I looked it up on my phone, what would be the legal limit?” Gundy said. “In Oklahoma, it’s 0.08, and Ollie was 0.1. So I looked it up, and it was based on body weight – not to get into the legal side of it. But I thought, really, two or three beers, or four – I’m not justifying what Ollie did. I’m telling you what decision I made. I thought, I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life. Which is fine. So I got lucky. People get lucky. Ollie made a decision that he wished he could’ve done better.

“But when I talked to Ollie, I told him, you’re lucky. You got out light because you make a lot of money to play football. Back in the day, being able to cover the cost of what he’s gonna go through would be difficult for a college player. It’s not for him. I’m not speaking for him, but I’m just saying that’s not an issue for him. Nobody got hurt. I said, we see people doing this and people losing their lives across the country – not just football players, but everybody. So you got out lucky.”