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KOSTYA KENNEDY

October 01, 2007

OKLAHOMA STATE coach Mike Gundy could have discussed several topics in his postgame press conference last Saturday in Stillwater—his team's dogged effort in a 49--45 win over Texas Tech, perhaps, or the stellar play of his quarterback, sophomore Zac Robinson, who threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Instead, Gundy blew a gasket and berated one of the reporters who covers his team. The target of Gundy's tirade (the full 3 1/2-minute rant, unleashed from a podium before a roomful of media members, can be seen at SI.com/clickthis) was the Daily Oklahoman's Jenni Carlson, whose column that morning was critical of ex--Cowboys starter Bobby Reid (left), who lost his job to Robinson earlier this month. (Carlson questioned Reid's toughness and ridiculed his admission that he gets nervous before games.) Gundy responded by holding up a copy of that day's paper (below), pronouncing it "garbage" and saying that the "article embarrasses me to be involved with athletics." Then he got angry, shouting at Carlson, "I hope someday you have a child and someday somebody ... belittles them and you have to look them in the eye and say it's O.K., they're supposed to be mature adults." Gundy had a point—Carlson's story did feel mean-spirited—but the tantrum raised this question: How would Gundy have reacted if the Cowboys had lost?