Had an interesting conversation this past weekend at Hollywood Casino with a woman that I noticed was cheering hard against ku as they were playing UCONN. I asked her if she was a Mizzou fan and she said she and her family were die-hards (she was probably early to mid 50's) and before I could even ask she said she was a huge Kim Anderson fan and that he was a great coach and that it's just going to take a few more years to win again after the mess Haith left.
I told her that I agreed that Haith did us no favors but mentioned the lack of recruiting, 19 wins in 2 years and frequent transfers from the program and how the fan base has turned apathetic. I asked if she still went to games and she said she and her family don't go to games or watch on tv but know that Kim is a great guy and he's a tie to Norm so that was good enough for her.
Even though this woman seemed like a really nice lady, I was horrified by this conversation and it made me realize that a HUGE segment of our fan base is fine with what's happening because they are so far removed from the excitement of having a winning team and making NCAA tournaments and attending games on a regular basis that they are fine blindly supporting our nice guy as head coach. These people are not on internet message boars, following the recruiting (or lack thereof) or even watching the terrible product on the court.
After analyzing the current state of Missouri athletics with regards to money spent on basketball and looking around the nation and seeing big time coaches being brought in to places like Mississippi State, Auburn, (possibly) TCU and watching these mid-majors have success in the tournament, it concerns me that, over time, the apathy towards basketball might become unrecoverable if we continue to be content with status quo.
I told her that I agreed that Haith did us no favors but mentioned the lack of recruiting, 19 wins in 2 years and frequent transfers from the program and how the fan base has turned apathetic. I asked if she still went to games and she said she and her family don't go to games or watch on tv but know that Kim is a great guy and he's a tie to Norm so that was good enough for her.
Even though this woman seemed like a really nice lady, I was horrified by this conversation and it made me realize that a HUGE segment of our fan base is fine with what's happening because they are so far removed from the excitement of having a winning team and making NCAA tournaments and attending games on a regular basis that they are fine blindly supporting our nice guy as head coach. These people are not on internet message boars, following the recruiting (or lack thereof) or even watching the terrible product on the court.
After analyzing the current state of Missouri athletics with regards to money spent on basketball and looking around the nation and seeing big time coaches being brought in to places like Mississippi State, Auburn, (possibly) TCU and watching these mid-majors have success in the tournament, it concerns me that, over time, the apathy towards basketball might become unrecoverable if we continue to be content with status quo.
