For those who remember the last time Missouri won at Nebraska before Saturday’s win, the AARP card is in the mail. The Tigers made believers out of skeptics.
When Mizzou defeats someone who is deserving of a thumping, Coach Gary Pinkel is quick to point out that “this one” was for another generation of Tiger players who were unable to accomplish a mission. Pinkel understands the anguish Mizzou players and fans had gone through in Lincoln. I am happy to report those days are over.
The last quarterback who was on a team that won at Nebraska, Phil Bradley, reminded me that back in the day Mizzou would play Nebraska tough. They won there in 1978 in what could have been the greatest game in Mizzou football.
Pinkel’s teams show a side of toughness that you do not see enough of these days. From being called out by the Nebraska coach to the spitting incident involving Chase Daniel and the last hits, Missouri didn’t get mad and take the bait, they just got even. Folks, that is coaching, nothing else.
The class this program is showing on and off the field should not be considered a fluke. This has been the plan all along. Pinkel and his staff have built character and pride in Mizzou that has not been seen in some time. Even the bad apples shape up or find a new address. Mizzou even graduates players.
While everyone who plays there will not make a living in the NFL, they will have a chance to make a good living, should they apply themselves in the manner they have in making the University of Missouri the place to be, on the field and in the classroom.
Run the Rams!
This Sunday the Rams will hit the field at the Dome with a new head coach in Jim Haslett. Haslett intimated last week that his team would not fall apart late in ball games due to conditioning.
That tells me that he and I have been watching the same thing. I have never seen star players take themselves out of games so much after a play or two as I see with the Rams. If you are a star player, shouldn’t you want to be in the game when the game is on the line? I thought Kevin Carter was the only one who took himself out of a game with 30 seconds left and the game was on the line. The problem was then, it was the Super Bowl in Atlanta.
Advice to Coach Haslett: Run them. Run them before, during and after practice. While players will grouse that it wears their legs down for Sunday, lets face it, many of them are already playing like they have been worn down.
While you want to have a cordial and professional relationship with players, you have to remind yourself and the players that this is not the Cub Scouts and no one is out there to win merit badges. It’s about winning games. What does Haslett have to lose?
Prospects or suspects?
Tomorrow night starts another season for the St. Louis Blues. It also starts another season of no Stanley Cup for St. Louis.
The Blues have some built-in excuses: youth, the loss of one of their promising young players to an off-ice mishap and the fact that there are at least eight teams better than them right now. In case you are wondering, they only take eight for the playoffs.
Here is a suggestion. Just go out and play. Play hard. Play tough and let the chips fall where they may. Anything less and they will not be worthy of the support that Blues fan have given for over 40 years with nothing to show for it.
This Blues outfit for the most part is an honest organization that truly tries to do the right thing. They have worked hard off the ice to get fans on board and even harder to keep the ones they have. Now is the time when improvement must come. We have heard so much about these prospects, it’s time to make sure they are not suspects.
