Let’s not bury the lede: Monday will be PowerMizzou’s final day on the Rivals network. The site was one of the first on board when Rivals was initially formed well before I even joined. For the last 21 years and a couple months I’ve had the privilege to be a part of this site on this network. What comes next will not be a secret and will be revealed in due time, but this post is about what is soon to be the past.
In 2003, I was going on six months of unemployment after having been fired from my job as a TV sports anchor in Rapid City, SD. I had two kids, a mortgage and no job. Fun times. While doing some freelancing for another outlet covering recruiting (Tony Severino was the first person I remember interviewing to talk about a young running back named Tony Temple), I got a call from Jon Kirby. He asked if I’d be interested in moving to Columbia to cover Mizzou because the website he ran was trying to expand its coverage. At that time I’d have moved anywhere to cover anything if someone was willing to pay me to do it. That it was my alma mater two hours from where I grew up was a bonus.
In more than two decades since then, I’ve gone from the No. 2 man at a fledgling website to running a small business with former staffers working across the country. I’ve had the chance to cover legendary players, historic seasons, conference realignment and more crazy stories than anyone should have to. I’ve watched people—including my dad—come and go on this beat, outlasted just about every person in the athletic department and seen the entire media and college sports industries change completely. If you’d told me in August of 2003 what this site would be in September of 2024, I’d have laughed at you—and the idea that I’d still be writing here.
The list of people to thank and friends I’ve made because of this job is long. I can’t list them all and you guys don’t want to read them all. But Kirby, Shannon Terry and Bobby Burton stand out for taking a chance on an out-of-work 26-year-old who didn’t know PowerMizzou existed and didn’t know people really cared about recruiting. Eric Winter, John Talman and Josh Helmholdt have led Rivals at times over the last 15 years and have offered me counsel and support. Some of my best friends are colleagues in this business, some who are still with Rivals and others who have moved on to different endeavors both in and out of media. A special shout out to Dave Matter, who made me have to work incredibly hard to keep up with him for nearly 20 years on this beat. Before he left for the dark side, Dave made me better at my job and this site better for all of you because of it. I’ll last a little longer in this business because I no longer have to try to keep up with him. Another to Neal McCready, who has become one of my closest friends and a sounding board for all the good and bad days doing this job.
Brian Freeman, Brian Austin, Pete Scantlebury, Mitchell Forde, Alex Schiffer, Colton Pouncy and Joel Lorenzi are among the many who have helped improve the coverage and grow the site over the 18 years since I took over as the publisher. I am grateful for everything they did while here and continue to follow their careers and keep in touch with many of them. I hope they remember their time here fondly and view it as a valuable step on their journeys. They paved the way for Sean Williams, Drew King and Jarod Hamilton, who have taken our coverage to new levels since joining me here.
But the most important thank you is the last one. This site is only what it is because of those of you reading this. You have chosen to spend some (probably way too much) of your time and money here over the last few months or years or decades. A few of you were here even before I was. Without you, PowerMizzou does not exist. I’ve laughed with you, cried with you, yelled at you and been yelled at by you. Because you’ve decided this little endeavor was worth some of your time and money, I’ve had a front row seat to some of the most incredible stories, had the chance to chronicle things we’ll all remember forever and most importantly, at least to me, raise two kids and provide a life for my family in my college town. As Jim Halpert once said, “everything I have, I owe to this job…this stupid, wonderful, boring, amazing job.”
It’s been a blessing and will continue to be. This is goodbye to this particular platform, but it is not goodbye. We’ll be easy to find. Until the next time.
In 2003, I was going on six months of unemployment after having been fired from my job as a TV sports anchor in Rapid City, SD. I had two kids, a mortgage and no job. Fun times. While doing some freelancing for another outlet covering recruiting (Tony Severino was the first person I remember interviewing to talk about a young running back named Tony Temple), I got a call from Jon Kirby. He asked if I’d be interested in moving to Columbia to cover Mizzou because the website he ran was trying to expand its coverage. At that time I’d have moved anywhere to cover anything if someone was willing to pay me to do it. That it was my alma mater two hours from where I grew up was a bonus.
In more than two decades since then, I’ve gone from the No. 2 man at a fledgling website to running a small business with former staffers working across the country. I’ve had the chance to cover legendary players, historic seasons, conference realignment and more crazy stories than anyone should have to. I’ve watched people—including my dad—come and go on this beat, outlasted just about every person in the athletic department and seen the entire media and college sports industries change completely. If you’d told me in August of 2003 what this site would be in September of 2024, I’d have laughed at you—and the idea that I’d still be writing here.
The list of people to thank and friends I’ve made because of this job is long. I can’t list them all and you guys don’t want to read them all. But Kirby, Shannon Terry and Bobby Burton stand out for taking a chance on an out-of-work 26-year-old who didn’t know PowerMizzou existed and didn’t know people really cared about recruiting. Eric Winter, John Talman and Josh Helmholdt have led Rivals at times over the last 15 years and have offered me counsel and support. Some of my best friends are colleagues in this business, some who are still with Rivals and others who have moved on to different endeavors both in and out of media. A special shout out to Dave Matter, who made me have to work incredibly hard to keep up with him for nearly 20 years on this beat. Before he left for the dark side, Dave made me better at my job and this site better for all of you because of it. I’ll last a little longer in this business because I no longer have to try to keep up with him. Another to Neal McCready, who has become one of my closest friends and a sounding board for all the good and bad days doing this job.
Brian Freeman, Brian Austin, Pete Scantlebury, Mitchell Forde, Alex Schiffer, Colton Pouncy and Joel Lorenzi are among the many who have helped improve the coverage and grow the site over the 18 years since I took over as the publisher. I am grateful for everything they did while here and continue to follow their careers and keep in touch with many of them. I hope they remember their time here fondly and view it as a valuable step on their journeys. They paved the way for Sean Williams, Drew King and Jarod Hamilton, who have taken our coverage to new levels since joining me here.
But the most important thank you is the last one. This site is only what it is because of those of you reading this. You have chosen to spend some (probably way too much) of your time and money here over the last few months or years or decades. A few of you were here even before I was. Without you, PowerMizzou does not exist. I’ve laughed with you, cried with you, yelled at you and been yelled at by you. Because you’ve decided this little endeavor was worth some of your time and money, I’ve had a front row seat to some of the most incredible stories, had the chance to chronicle things we’ll all remember forever and most importantly, at least to me, raise two kids and provide a life for my family in my college town. As Jim Halpert once said, “everything I have, I owe to this job…this stupid, wonderful, boring, amazing job.”
It’s been a blessing and will continue to be. This is goodbye to this particular platform, but it is not goodbye. We’ll be easy to find. Until the next time.
