This is going to ramble some. Back and forth with some Mizzou, some Chiefs and some online therapy
1. I gained some appreciation for what you guys go through all the time in the last few weeks. I was all in on this Chiefs team. I really thought for a lot of the fourth quarter they were going to the Super Bowl. For the five seconds between Charvarius Ward picking off Tom Brady and finding out Dee Ford didn't know where to stand, I thought my team was in the Super Bowl for the first time in my life. Then they weren't. And it was devastating. Being a sports fan isn't logical. It isn't rational. It's purely emotional. And when things don't go your way, you say things and do things that don't make sense and aren't based in rational thought. We all do it. I don't really do it with Mizzou anymore, but I've done some of it in the last 13 hours for sure.
My son texted me this morning saying he won't spend as much time watching football anymore. I told him he would. It's what we do. Every year, every week, every day. The difference in being 21 like he is and 42 like I am is it doesn't wreck my day and I still have responsibilities and a life to live. But next September, we'll both be back in front of the TV watching. Because it's what you do. You can't just stop being a fan. It's part of all of us.
Sam Mellinger wrote in a column before the playoffs that sports are designed to break your heart. It's the truest thing I've ever read. Unless you're from Boston, you spend almost every offseason grieving. This too shall pass. And I'll watch next year and I'll hope it will be different until the second that becomes impossible.
2. Speaking of that quarterback, I think what he did last night will be underappreciated in the aftermath of the loss. He put up 24 points in the fourth quarter, took the lead twice and led them to a game tying field goal in 30 seconds. Against the best defensive coach in the history of football. Without a single completion to his all pro receiver or his all pro tight end on the most important drive. There are no guarantees. Dolphins fans woke up the day after the Super Bowl in 1984 100% convinced they were going to get back multiple times. They never did. Maybe Patrick Mahomes won't ever get there. But I'll take my chances. He went toe to toe with the best quarterback in the history of the league last night and the only reason he lost was because he was on the sideline on the most important drive of the game. I'll ride with that kid any day.
3. Speaking of that last drive (and I promise this is the last Chiefs thought), football has to do something about the overtime rules. The college rule is better, but I still don't like it. I firmly believe if the Chiefs had won the toss, they'd have won the game and Tom Brady would never have gotten a chance. I've seen a lot of "The Chiefs defense could have gotten a stop." And of course it could have. At the most basic level, the coin toss didn't decide the game. But realistically it did. Football is the only sport that fundamentally changes the game when you get to overtime. Everything about the way both teams approach every snap changes based on a coin toss. It's crazy. If you give up three runs in the top of the 10th, you still get to bat and try to score. Basketball doesn't go to a three point shooting contest in OT. Why does football change the game? My solution: You play a regular game, guaranteeing both teams one possession regardless of the outcome of the first possession. If you give up a TD, you get the ball back with a chance to tie. If you don't, the game is over. If you do, you play on sudden death style. There's no logical argument not to do it this way. But for some reason, they don't.
4. On to Mizzou, the Tigers got a nice win at Texas A&M on Saturday. But I'm going to be the wet blanket here. Don't put TOO much stock in it. When you're winless in league play, every win is important. And winning on the road isn't easy. But Texas A&M is bad and it was at its worst on Saturday. This team is still behind the 8 ball and still looks like it's going to be playing on the first day of the SEC Tournament to me. We let them fool us with a winning streak in December, but I'm not falling into that trap again. They play at Arkansas on Wednesday. Arkansas isn't very good, but that's a tough place to play and I'd project a loss. LSU is here on Saturday. The Tigers might be the second best team in the league. I'd project a loss in that game. If you lose both, Saturday was a blip on the radar more than a game that actually meant anything. KenPom projects Mizzou to lose its next three and end up 6-12 in the SEC. That still seems about right to me.
5. That said, I'm seeing some things that give me hope for the future. Torrence Watson is getting more and more aggressive. Javon Pickett is a better player right now as a freshman than I expected him to be as a junior. Jeremiah Tilmon played a solid second half against Alabama and then played well in College Station. Mark Smith has become one of the best shooters in college basketball. Dru Smith will be eligible next year. There are definitely things to like about where this team is going.
6. On the Xavier Pinson "drama" (I use quotes because I don't think there is that much drama, especially as evidenced by his own tweets after the game), I don't think it's worth a bunch of discussion. He didn't play in the game. Cuonzo Martin said he was available. Ronnie Suggs played quite a bit. That may not change in the near future to be honest. Over all else, Martin values two things: Defense and toughness. He's shown over the course of his career, he'll play guys who have those two things over guys who might have more sheer talent. I can't say for sure that Pinson doesn't play good defense or isn't tough. But something's obviously missing from him right now in the eyes of the head coach. He's got plenty of time to figure it out. He's contributed more as a true freshman so far than I thought he would. I think he can be a starting SEC point guard in time, which I wasn't sold on when they signed him. His time will come, but it doesn't appear to be here just yet.
7. The women play at South Carolina tonight and I'm actually looking forward to this game. The Gamecocks hate Sophie Cunningham and the entire Mizzou program with a burning passion. I'm going to be disappointed if there are not technicals in this game and maybe even an ejection or two. SC is a really good team and very well may win the game, but I'm tuning in for the fireworks more than the game itself. Sophie is one of the most competitive people you've ever seen. I'd expect her to come out jacked for this one. I don't know if she's going to play well, but I guarantee she's going to play hard and it's going to be worth watching. Give me some shenanigans tonight on ESPN2 please. If it's just a regular women's college basketball game, I probably won't watch the whole thing. But if we can get some conflict in it, I'm here for that. But maybe we should stop short of the AD getting sued again.
8. Back to football for the last thought, I probably won't watch the Super Bowl. I'm kind of childish that way. I don't care about it because my team was good enough to be playing and isn't. So I won't watch. I want the Rams to win. I only want them to win for one reason: I'd root for anyone the NFC sends to beat the Patriots. Literally any NFC team would be the team I'd root for. It's not spite, I'm not trying to start an argument, none of that. I just don't want the Patriots to win again. I'm sure they will. But I won't be watching.
9. What to watch and listen to:
My wife and I watched a series called "You" on Netflix last week. It's pretty good. It's an online stalker story. Oddly, through the first eight episodes or so, you actually find yourself kind of liking the bad guy (not so much in the last couple). Easy binge watch over a couple of days until the temperatures get back above freezing.
The next two podcasts I have in my queue are "The Good Guy," a series about the Larry Nassar hideousness and "Happy Face," a series about a woman whose father was a serial killer. Uplifting stuff for sure.
10. What to read:
Kent Babb on Andy Reid
Terez Paylor on the Chiefs not wasting Patrick Mahomes
Dan Wetzel on Tom Brady seeking out Mahomes after the game
Jeff Jacobs in the New Haven Register on his son playing against Jim Calhoun
The Atlantic: What People say before they die
1. I gained some appreciation for what you guys go through all the time in the last few weeks. I was all in on this Chiefs team. I really thought for a lot of the fourth quarter they were going to the Super Bowl. For the five seconds between Charvarius Ward picking off Tom Brady and finding out Dee Ford didn't know where to stand, I thought my team was in the Super Bowl for the first time in my life. Then they weren't. And it was devastating. Being a sports fan isn't logical. It isn't rational. It's purely emotional. And when things don't go your way, you say things and do things that don't make sense and aren't based in rational thought. We all do it. I don't really do it with Mizzou anymore, but I've done some of it in the last 13 hours for sure.
My son texted me this morning saying he won't spend as much time watching football anymore. I told him he would. It's what we do. Every year, every week, every day. The difference in being 21 like he is and 42 like I am is it doesn't wreck my day and I still have responsibilities and a life to live. But next September, we'll both be back in front of the TV watching. Because it's what you do. You can't just stop being a fan. It's part of all of us.
Sam Mellinger wrote in a column before the playoffs that sports are designed to break your heart. It's the truest thing I've ever read. Unless you're from Boston, you spend almost every offseason grieving. This too shall pass. And I'll watch next year and I'll hope it will be different until the second that becomes impossible.
2. Speaking of that quarterback, I think what he did last night will be underappreciated in the aftermath of the loss. He put up 24 points in the fourth quarter, took the lead twice and led them to a game tying field goal in 30 seconds. Against the best defensive coach in the history of football. Without a single completion to his all pro receiver or his all pro tight end on the most important drive. There are no guarantees. Dolphins fans woke up the day after the Super Bowl in 1984 100% convinced they were going to get back multiple times. They never did. Maybe Patrick Mahomes won't ever get there. But I'll take my chances. He went toe to toe with the best quarterback in the history of the league last night and the only reason he lost was because he was on the sideline on the most important drive of the game. I'll ride with that kid any day.
3. Speaking of that last drive (and I promise this is the last Chiefs thought), football has to do something about the overtime rules. The college rule is better, but I still don't like it. I firmly believe if the Chiefs had won the toss, they'd have won the game and Tom Brady would never have gotten a chance. I've seen a lot of "The Chiefs defense could have gotten a stop." And of course it could have. At the most basic level, the coin toss didn't decide the game. But realistically it did. Football is the only sport that fundamentally changes the game when you get to overtime. Everything about the way both teams approach every snap changes based on a coin toss. It's crazy. If you give up three runs in the top of the 10th, you still get to bat and try to score. Basketball doesn't go to a three point shooting contest in OT. Why does football change the game? My solution: You play a regular game, guaranteeing both teams one possession regardless of the outcome of the first possession. If you give up a TD, you get the ball back with a chance to tie. If you don't, the game is over. If you do, you play on sudden death style. There's no logical argument not to do it this way. But for some reason, they don't.
4. On to Mizzou, the Tigers got a nice win at Texas A&M on Saturday. But I'm going to be the wet blanket here. Don't put TOO much stock in it. When you're winless in league play, every win is important. And winning on the road isn't easy. But Texas A&M is bad and it was at its worst on Saturday. This team is still behind the 8 ball and still looks like it's going to be playing on the first day of the SEC Tournament to me. We let them fool us with a winning streak in December, but I'm not falling into that trap again. They play at Arkansas on Wednesday. Arkansas isn't very good, but that's a tough place to play and I'd project a loss. LSU is here on Saturday. The Tigers might be the second best team in the league. I'd project a loss in that game. If you lose both, Saturday was a blip on the radar more than a game that actually meant anything. KenPom projects Mizzou to lose its next three and end up 6-12 in the SEC. That still seems about right to me.
5. That said, I'm seeing some things that give me hope for the future. Torrence Watson is getting more and more aggressive. Javon Pickett is a better player right now as a freshman than I expected him to be as a junior. Jeremiah Tilmon played a solid second half against Alabama and then played well in College Station. Mark Smith has become one of the best shooters in college basketball. Dru Smith will be eligible next year. There are definitely things to like about where this team is going.
6. On the Xavier Pinson "drama" (I use quotes because I don't think there is that much drama, especially as evidenced by his own tweets after the game), I don't think it's worth a bunch of discussion. He didn't play in the game. Cuonzo Martin said he was available. Ronnie Suggs played quite a bit. That may not change in the near future to be honest. Over all else, Martin values two things: Defense and toughness. He's shown over the course of his career, he'll play guys who have those two things over guys who might have more sheer talent. I can't say for sure that Pinson doesn't play good defense or isn't tough. But something's obviously missing from him right now in the eyes of the head coach. He's got plenty of time to figure it out. He's contributed more as a true freshman so far than I thought he would. I think he can be a starting SEC point guard in time, which I wasn't sold on when they signed him. His time will come, but it doesn't appear to be here just yet.
7. The women play at South Carolina tonight and I'm actually looking forward to this game. The Gamecocks hate Sophie Cunningham and the entire Mizzou program with a burning passion. I'm going to be disappointed if there are not technicals in this game and maybe even an ejection or two. SC is a really good team and very well may win the game, but I'm tuning in for the fireworks more than the game itself. Sophie is one of the most competitive people you've ever seen. I'd expect her to come out jacked for this one. I don't know if she's going to play well, but I guarantee she's going to play hard and it's going to be worth watching. Give me some shenanigans tonight on ESPN2 please. If it's just a regular women's college basketball game, I probably won't watch the whole thing. But if we can get some conflict in it, I'm here for that. But maybe we should stop short of the AD getting sued again.
8. Back to football for the last thought, I probably won't watch the Super Bowl. I'm kind of childish that way. I don't care about it because my team was good enough to be playing and isn't. So I won't watch. I want the Rams to win. I only want them to win for one reason: I'd root for anyone the NFC sends to beat the Patriots. Literally any NFC team would be the team I'd root for. It's not spite, I'm not trying to start an argument, none of that. I just don't want the Patriots to win again. I'm sure they will. But I won't be watching.
9. What to watch and listen to:
My wife and I watched a series called "You" on Netflix last week. It's pretty good. It's an online stalker story. Oddly, through the first eight episodes or so, you actually find yourself kind of liking the bad guy (not so much in the last couple). Easy binge watch over a couple of days until the temperatures get back above freezing.
The next two podcasts I have in my queue are "The Good Guy," a series about the Larry Nassar hideousness and "Happy Face," a series about a woman whose father was a serial killer. Uplifting stuff for sure.
10. What to read:
Kent Babb on Andy Reid
Terez Paylor on the Chiefs not wasting Patrick Mahomes
Dan Wetzel on Tom Brady seeking out Mahomes after the game
Jeff Jacobs in the New Haven Register on his son playing against Jim Calhoun
The Atlantic: What People say before they die
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