In lieu of a Mizzou Thanksgiving column, a quick post before the rest of my family wakes up and I put myself in a food coma
It's been a damn fun year to follow Mizzou. And a long time coming. From the ride Dennis Gates took us on in year one driven by Kobe Brown to Keegan O'Toole winning a national championship to Eli Drinkwitz sitting ninth in the country, there have been a whole lot more ups than downs. Even Nick Bolton and Michael Porter Jr. and Max Scherzer winning world championships in their respective sports. Along the way, Mizzou picked up a commitment from arguably the best high school football prospect in the country and five top 150 basketball players. Not a bad year to say you're a Mizzou Tiger.
It's been a while since you guys have had very much good stuff. Every step forward was met with an immediate step (or two or three) back. The positives were short-lived and the negatives seemed virtually constant. That's changed in the last 12 months. It's tough to remember a time that it felt like both major programs were on more solid footing than they are right now (yes, I know the basketball team is struggling right now and looks like it will take a step back from last year, but with the No. 3 recruiting class on the way and the freshmen playing well, there's still a lot to like). I've quoted this line quite a few times, but Mizzou fans are Andy Dufresne: "Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile."
Some of you have been here through all 500 yards, some of you jumped in somewhere along the way and crawled through the rest. But you all choose to spend some of your time and money here to follow along and that's not lost on those of us who get to watch sports for a living. We get paid to do a lot of things most of you all pay to do. The only reason that's true is because of the passion you all have for Mizzou sports. We appreciate you making it all possible.
We've had a front row seat this year to three of the best stories I can remember covering: The revival of Mizzou basketball, the redemption of Brady Cook and the emergence of a star in Cody Schrader. They're stories that are going to be remembered for years to come by everybody on this board.
Thanks as well to all of the contributors here who make my life pretty easy. @Sean_Williams continues to keep you guys up to date on all things recruiting. A year ago, I hired @JHamilton23 and @drewking0222 to replace Mitchell Forde, hoping that having a dedicated person on each sport would improve our coverage of both. Neither had any previous connection to Mizzou, but they've worked hard to become experts on the teams they cover and earn your trust. The job they've both done deserves public recognition probably more often than I give it to them. Thanks as well to Connor McLain for giving us video coverage of Mizzou football this season (he'll be in Arkansas as well) and Megan Fox for great work as our photographer again this year.
Hope you all have a great day watching bad football, eating and drinking too much and getting just the right level of time with your family, whatever that level might be. Here's to hoping no high school kids think Thanksgiving would be a really cool time to announce their commitment to Mizzou. Enjoy the day.
It's been a damn fun year to follow Mizzou. And a long time coming. From the ride Dennis Gates took us on in year one driven by Kobe Brown to Keegan O'Toole winning a national championship to Eli Drinkwitz sitting ninth in the country, there have been a whole lot more ups than downs. Even Nick Bolton and Michael Porter Jr. and Max Scherzer winning world championships in their respective sports. Along the way, Mizzou picked up a commitment from arguably the best high school football prospect in the country and five top 150 basketball players. Not a bad year to say you're a Mizzou Tiger.
It's been a while since you guys have had very much good stuff. Every step forward was met with an immediate step (or two or three) back. The positives were short-lived and the negatives seemed virtually constant. That's changed in the last 12 months. It's tough to remember a time that it felt like both major programs were on more solid footing than they are right now (yes, I know the basketball team is struggling right now and looks like it will take a step back from last year, but with the No. 3 recruiting class on the way and the freshmen playing well, there's still a lot to like). I've quoted this line quite a few times, but Mizzou fans are Andy Dufresne: "Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile."
Some of you have been here through all 500 yards, some of you jumped in somewhere along the way and crawled through the rest. But you all choose to spend some of your time and money here to follow along and that's not lost on those of us who get to watch sports for a living. We get paid to do a lot of things most of you all pay to do. The only reason that's true is because of the passion you all have for Mizzou sports. We appreciate you making it all possible.
We've had a front row seat this year to three of the best stories I can remember covering: The revival of Mizzou basketball, the redemption of Brady Cook and the emergence of a star in Cody Schrader. They're stories that are going to be remembered for years to come by everybody on this board.
Thanks as well to all of the contributors here who make my life pretty easy. @Sean_Williams continues to keep you guys up to date on all things recruiting. A year ago, I hired @JHamilton23 and @drewking0222 to replace Mitchell Forde, hoping that having a dedicated person on each sport would improve our coverage of both. Neither had any previous connection to Mizzou, but they've worked hard to become experts on the teams they cover and earn your trust. The job they've both done deserves public recognition probably more often than I give it to them. Thanks as well to Connor McLain for giving us video coverage of Mizzou football this season (he'll be in Arkansas as well) and Megan Fox for great work as our photographer again this year.
Hope you all have a great day watching bad football, eating and drinking too much and getting just the right level of time with your family, whatever that level might be. Here's to hoping no high school kids think Thanksgiving would be a really cool time to announce their commitment to Mizzou. Enjoy the day.
