Because it was such a large endeavor and has really been almost my entire focus since the bye week, wanted to just kind of put some wrap up thoughts on here.
First of all, absolutely blown away by the response, not only on here but from so many people across the country. I've heard from people I haven't talked to in a long time--or in some cases don't even know--who said they had multiple people send the article to them. Many fans from many schools, along with many of my colleagues who cover other programs, said something about the story (many of them were even nice things). So for everyone here that read it, shared it and commented on it, thanks for that. I was truly surprised and humbled at the attention the story received yesterday and the reaction it seemed to cause.
More importantly than that, thanks go to Brady Deaton, Mike Alden, Gary Pinkel, R. Bowen Loftin, Jay Nixon, Bernie Machen, Doug Gottlieb and Clay Travis. Good stories are only good because of the quotes. And that's especially true of an oral history format. I mean, it was a 12,000 word story and maybe 1,000 of those words were mine. I didn't do much writing at all. Just organizing of their thoughts. When I came up with this idea, my pitch to them was "We all know the surface level story. I want to know what really happened. I want to tell the story nobody could tell five years ago." All of them obliged. I learned something new from every single interview...and often times was reminded of things that I'd forgotten. For example, I talked to Clay Travis for 25 minutes and when we got done he said, "You didn't even ask me about the SEC putting out the premature release." Honestly I'd totally forgotten it. Greatly indebted to all of those people who took the time to talk to me for that story. Each of their interviews lasted at least 20 minutes and some as long as an hour plus follow ups. First, they didn't have to take the time. Second they didn't have to be as open as they were. That story's not good if those people choose to hold back. They didn't.
Other thanks to @MGodich @ShawnReid @PTScantlebury, @mackelroy, Neal McCready from our Ole Miss site and my boss, @John Talman, for editing and formatting help and advice along the way and for giving the story a larger platform and audience than just PowerMizzou. The entirety of their reward was getting to see the story a few days before you guys did. Thanks also to Mizzou SID @mollerc for adding to the story by providing me pictures and some fact-checking of my timeline along the way.
That story was the most fun I've had writing in a long time...maybe ever, to be honest. First of all, I loved conference realignment. It was a three-year adrenaline rush every single day and those of us that cover Mizzou were on that ride longer than anyone in America. It was like covering recruiting where you're guaranteed to have a commitment to chase down every single day...and often things happen and change by the end of the day. I knew even when we were in the middle of it that I would never cover anything else with such broad appeal and far-reaching implications. So it was kind of fun to relive it all knowing the outcome already. It's been, to be honest, a terrible year to cover Mizzou. I'm not looking for sympathy, I get that my job is still better than 99% of them, but there haven't been a lot of enjoyable days for those of us that are on this beat over the last 12 months (or those of you who read what we write on a regular basis). So that story was not only a nice reprieve from some of that, but it truly reminded me why I got into this business and why there's really nothing else I can see myself doing.
On the actual content of the story, you all probably know I've always felt Missouri belonged in the Big 12. The Big 12 was the right place for Mizzou (and Nebraska and probably for A&M). Not the way it was though. While a lot of me wishes they'd never had to leave, I've always understood that they did have to. And as I said on the radio this morning, any school with that option would have done the same. Texas didn't leave because no other league was ever going to let them come in and piss all over everyone else and do whatever it wanted. The other seven schools that stayed in the Big 12 didn't leave because they didn't have anywhere to go (and, yes, that includes Oklahoma). There are some things I miss about the Big 12 and always will, but I've enjoyed seeing the new places, having new experiences and getting to know new people in the SEC. Two things really stand out:
1. As Jeremy Foley told Mike Alden, other than a national title game, nothing is going to compare to the SEC Championship. That first one against Auburn was the most awestruck I've been covering a sporting event since I was a 19-year old interviewing Marcus Allen in the Chiefs locker room. It was just such a spectacle. One of those times you look around and think "I better remember this. Because this is freaking cool." As you all know by now, it's easy to have the fan taken out of you when you do what I do for a living. But that day was different. It wasn't about whether Missouri won or lost for me, because I had a job to do either way. It was about being there and just looking around and thinking "This is the biggest event in the country today and somebody's paying me to be here." I covered Big 12 title games. It was cool...but it wasn't like that. Honestly, I'm not even sure Armageddon at Arrowhead was quite like that. It was close. Those are definitely 1-2 for me.
2. As Clay Travis said in the story "If you get married and instantly become a hundred millionaire, it's hard to think you made a bad decision." It's 2016. Five years after Mizzou joined the SEC. And you look at the Big 12 and the same petty juvenile crap is still going on. Is there ANYBODY who could rationally say Missouri made the wrong choice? Of course not. And it's not about money or prestige or any of that. It's about one simple thing: Never again is Missouri going to have to wonder where it will go. Never again will a Mizzou fan be scared his school might be one of the "Orphan Five" or end up in the Mountain West or the Big East. Now, I don't think there was much of a chance of that happening. But there was SOME chance. And now there isn't. No matter what happens, Mizzou has a seat at the table. And that's something that can't be measured.
So, with that, I promise, I'm done shoving that story and that storyline in your faces. It's time to get back to football, and then to basketball. 22 hours till Homecoming kickoff and we'll be there. A week to the Black and Gold hoops game and we'll be there too. Onward we go, hopefully to more stories that will be more fun to write than most of the ones I've written and you've read in the last year. Thanks for indulging me and thanks for all the kind words and such since we posted the story yesterday.
First of all, absolutely blown away by the response, not only on here but from so many people across the country. I've heard from people I haven't talked to in a long time--or in some cases don't even know--who said they had multiple people send the article to them. Many fans from many schools, along with many of my colleagues who cover other programs, said something about the story (many of them were even nice things). So for everyone here that read it, shared it and commented on it, thanks for that. I was truly surprised and humbled at the attention the story received yesterday and the reaction it seemed to cause.
More importantly than that, thanks go to Brady Deaton, Mike Alden, Gary Pinkel, R. Bowen Loftin, Jay Nixon, Bernie Machen, Doug Gottlieb and Clay Travis. Good stories are only good because of the quotes. And that's especially true of an oral history format. I mean, it was a 12,000 word story and maybe 1,000 of those words were mine. I didn't do much writing at all. Just organizing of their thoughts. When I came up with this idea, my pitch to them was "We all know the surface level story. I want to know what really happened. I want to tell the story nobody could tell five years ago." All of them obliged. I learned something new from every single interview...and often times was reminded of things that I'd forgotten. For example, I talked to Clay Travis for 25 minutes and when we got done he said, "You didn't even ask me about the SEC putting out the premature release." Honestly I'd totally forgotten it. Greatly indebted to all of those people who took the time to talk to me for that story. Each of their interviews lasted at least 20 minutes and some as long as an hour plus follow ups. First, they didn't have to take the time. Second they didn't have to be as open as they were. That story's not good if those people choose to hold back. They didn't.
Other thanks to @MGodich @ShawnReid @PTScantlebury, @mackelroy, Neal McCready from our Ole Miss site and my boss, @John Talman, for editing and formatting help and advice along the way and for giving the story a larger platform and audience than just PowerMizzou. The entirety of their reward was getting to see the story a few days before you guys did. Thanks also to Mizzou SID @mollerc for adding to the story by providing me pictures and some fact-checking of my timeline along the way.
That story was the most fun I've had writing in a long time...maybe ever, to be honest. First of all, I loved conference realignment. It was a three-year adrenaline rush every single day and those of us that cover Mizzou were on that ride longer than anyone in America. It was like covering recruiting where you're guaranteed to have a commitment to chase down every single day...and often things happen and change by the end of the day. I knew even when we were in the middle of it that I would never cover anything else with such broad appeal and far-reaching implications. So it was kind of fun to relive it all knowing the outcome already. It's been, to be honest, a terrible year to cover Mizzou. I'm not looking for sympathy, I get that my job is still better than 99% of them, but there haven't been a lot of enjoyable days for those of us that are on this beat over the last 12 months (or those of you who read what we write on a regular basis). So that story was not only a nice reprieve from some of that, but it truly reminded me why I got into this business and why there's really nothing else I can see myself doing.
On the actual content of the story, you all probably know I've always felt Missouri belonged in the Big 12. The Big 12 was the right place for Mizzou (and Nebraska and probably for A&M). Not the way it was though. While a lot of me wishes they'd never had to leave, I've always understood that they did have to. And as I said on the radio this morning, any school with that option would have done the same. Texas didn't leave because no other league was ever going to let them come in and piss all over everyone else and do whatever it wanted. The other seven schools that stayed in the Big 12 didn't leave because they didn't have anywhere to go (and, yes, that includes Oklahoma). There are some things I miss about the Big 12 and always will, but I've enjoyed seeing the new places, having new experiences and getting to know new people in the SEC. Two things really stand out:
1. As Jeremy Foley told Mike Alden, other than a national title game, nothing is going to compare to the SEC Championship. That first one against Auburn was the most awestruck I've been covering a sporting event since I was a 19-year old interviewing Marcus Allen in the Chiefs locker room. It was just such a spectacle. One of those times you look around and think "I better remember this. Because this is freaking cool." As you all know by now, it's easy to have the fan taken out of you when you do what I do for a living. But that day was different. It wasn't about whether Missouri won or lost for me, because I had a job to do either way. It was about being there and just looking around and thinking "This is the biggest event in the country today and somebody's paying me to be here." I covered Big 12 title games. It was cool...but it wasn't like that. Honestly, I'm not even sure Armageddon at Arrowhead was quite like that. It was close. Those are definitely 1-2 for me.
2. As Clay Travis said in the story "If you get married and instantly become a hundred millionaire, it's hard to think you made a bad decision." It's 2016. Five years after Mizzou joined the SEC. And you look at the Big 12 and the same petty juvenile crap is still going on. Is there ANYBODY who could rationally say Missouri made the wrong choice? Of course not. And it's not about money or prestige or any of that. It's about one simple thing: Never again is Missouri going to have to wonder where it will go. Never again will a Mizzou fan be scared his school might be one of the "Orphan Five" or end up in the Mountain West or the Big East. Now, I don't think there was much of a chance of that happening. But there was SOME chance. And now there isn't. No matter what happens, Mizzou has a seat at the table. And that's something that can't be measured.
So, with that, I promise, I'm done shoving that story and that storyline in your faces. It's time to get back to football, and then to basketball. 22 hours till Homecoming kickoff and we'll be there. A week to the Black and Gold hoops game and we'll be there too. Onward we go, hopefully to more stories that will be more fun to write than most of the ones I've written and you've read in the last year. Thanks for indulging me and thanks for all the kind words and such since we posted the story yesterday.
