When Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy arrived at his press conference on Saturday, after his Cowboys prevailed in a wild 49-45 shootout over Texas Tech, the media expected him to praise the effort of his student-athletes. What they got, instead, was a highly-charged meltdown directed towards the newspapermen gathered at the conference.

Gundy, seething about a Daily Oklahoman columnist's scathing and cowardly attack on one of his players regarding last week's blowout loss to Troy State, delivers an impassioned speech defending the character and integrity of his kids. Yes, his "kids." During his meltdown, Coach Gundy reminds us all that when we scrutinize the level of play and the quality of character of college football players, we are skewering nineteen and twenty-year-olds. We are damaging kids, most of whom did little to deserve such malice from the local community aside from drop a pass or two on Saturday afternoon.

As a nation, we obsess about sports and often ignore the "college" in college football. It's become such a financial juggernaut that we can hardly distinguish amateur from professional. We assume every player suiting up on the gridiron on Saturday is built and custom-made to eventually suit up on Sundays. We get carried away. And in the heat of the moment, we sacrifice our decency when we maliciously attack a recent high school graduate for throwing an incomplete pass. College athletes, while high profile in some cases, are not paid (allegedly). They, by and large, are not professionals expected to deal with the personal attacks that come with intense media scrutiny. This is what Coach Mike Gundy reminds us of when he courageously and correctly slays the local paper in Stillwater, Oklahoma for its highly inaccurate and cowardly "reporting" -- a term that Coach Gundy might suggest is being used loosely in this instance.

It should surprise no one that Mike Gundy, after saying nothing of his Oklahoma State team's win that day, left the room to applause. I would not be surprised to see an increase in interest in Oklahoma State University football from parents of soon-to-be high school graduates, either.

Jennifer Lopez's live performance of her new single "Do It Well," on the British talk show Parkinson, is a perfect antidote to the Britney Spears VMA Music Awards disaster. Lopez looks great, she works the stage and the crowd with cheery abandon -- and it actually sounds like she's singing live. Sure, this video clip does lack the David Lachappelle human-sized-Habitrail touch, but when Lopez keeps the beat pumping even a cappella, we're willing to forgive that oversight.

Is Amy Winehouse pulling a Britney Spears? The "Rehab" singer's performance at the MOBO awards may not have been quite the trainwreck that Spears's VMA debacle was, but it was certainly enough to raise some eyebrows.

Winehouse wasn't exactly helped any by the tacky she's-a-fuckup-but-we-love-her-anyway intro, but her glassy-eyed confusion during "Tears Dry on Their Own" and her mumble-mouthed incoherence on "Me and Mr. Jones" were what really sealed the deal. Also not helping subdue the chatter were the leaked reports of her backstage rider demands: two bottles each of Jack Daniels, Rioja, and Champagne, a large bottle of vodka, and two 24 bottle cases of Heineken.

Here's the thing, though: I'm all for spotting a celeb meltdown in the making, but, well, that's how Amy Winehouse always looks when she performs. I, personally, have never seen her clear-eyed or witnessed a performance where I could understand a damn word she was singing. She was already, at best, a bleary-eyed mushmouth, and at worst a woman in a steady drug-addled holding pattern. So I honestly don't know if she's really doing any worse than before.

Which begs the question: How do you know if someone's in a downward spiral if their normal standard of behavior is so far off from, well, normal?

Behind the scenes at the Daily Reel...

LIZ: Oh, hey. Alicia Silverstone is naked in this new ad.

SPENCER: Really? Batgirl? Link, please.

...three minutes later...

SPENCER: Ohhhh.

LIZ: What?

SPENCER (disappointed): It's for PETA.

LIZ: Yeah. Sorry.

SPENCER: Yeah.

You may already know of Jake Byrd. The goofy gatecrasher and Jimmy Kimmel Live regular has been spotted everywhere from Motley Crue's Hollywood Star Ceremony to Paris Hilton's release. But those who didn't already know him got a big dose this week at a press conference by Yale Galanter, OJ Simpson's attorney.

Wearing an "OJ 07" T-Shirt and an "I *Heart* Famous People" hat, Byrd interrupts Gelanter to congratulate him and offer him a high five. He continues to chime in with words of support, stopping only to resort to theatrical facial expressions in the background or -- once -- take a call on his cell phone.

Who is this guy?

Jake Byrd is the alter ego of comedian Anthony Barbieri. He first started fooling fans and major news outlets when he popped up as a "super-fan" during the Michael Jackson trial, managing to convince both the New York Times and Court TV of his legitimacy. His Kimmel segments are titled "Jake Byrd: Celebrity Avenger."

I don't know if all the celebrities Byrd avenges are grateful, but Galanter, at least, seems to appreciate the support. So when's Galanter gonna thank TDR for our High Five?