Oklahoma State University – rumor mill is churning

The rumor mill is churning up quite a mess in Stillwater, Oklahoma - making me absolutely sick to my stomach.

The first round of rumors started over the weekend, with news of the arrest of senior defensive back, Perrish Cox.  Not only is he one of the few stalwarts in the defensive corps, he is also the primary kickoff returner in a special teams that led the Big 12 in returning stats and was ranked 3rd nationally in 2008.  This ‘rumor’ has been proven true – Cox was stopped on Friday evening for speeding, and later arrested for driving with a suspended license.  According to reports, this will be handled as an internal issue and Cox is still expected to play in Saturday’s contest against Georgia, but it’s still a distraction nonetheless. To read the ESPN.com story, click here.

The next rumor that was indeed factual to surface in Stillwater involves tight end Jamal Mosley.  It was announced on Tuesday morning that Mosley was leaving the team for personal reasons.  Mosley was served with a protective order last Thursday (as reported by NewsOK), but it has also been reported by the same news oulet today that his order has since been dropped.  There has been no word if this was a contributing factor to Mosley leaving the team.  But – no matter the reason, the fact remains that the departure of the starting tight end on a team that already had to fill a void left by NFL rookie Brandon Pettigrew could be quite a blow to the Oklahoma State offense. 

Another hit was dealt to the Cowboys on Tuesday when it was reported that senior linebacker Orie Lemon tore his ACL in Monday’s practice sessions and will be lost for the season.  This fact has been broadcast on gopokes.com and also on the NewsOK website, but there has been no confirmation from the Oklahoma State athletic department at this time.

And just within the last hours, Twitter and Rotowire is abuzz with news of injuries to star quarterback Zac Robinson and Andre Sexton.  These are yet unconfimed – and for my sake and the sake of my alma mater – I hope stay that way. 

And if it does turn out to be false information, websites such as Rotowire – a fantasy-based website – and the others who have been reporting this information should be challenged with their newsworthiness.  Another reason to be concerned about these rumors and the fact that they are spreading like wildfire, is now credible news sources – KTUL in Tulsa, OK and WWLS in Oklahoma City, OK – are also using this Rotowire information as a story source.  Here is the link to the said KTUL story on Zac Robinson’s injury: http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0909/655652.html 

If this latest round of rumors with perhaps the most implications on Saturday’s football game against Georgia proves to be true, then the question remains as to why they are being leaked in such a sensational manner by an out-of-state fantasy publication rather than by the local news agencies that are but a couple hours down the road from Stillwater.