A few things on my mind after tonight's game: First, I was gong to write a FB note "On Losing Bowl Games" but decided that this spectacle was so pathetic it didn't warrant it. I was just going to write a series of status updates. But then Facebook made me do a note. So it's now a note.
Second if any fan or player from the flat wasteland that occupies the space above the State of Missouri thinks that they did something to win the game tonight I suggest they stop kissing their sister and review some film in order to clearly see what happened--we, Mizzou, lost the game.
Third, around 5-8 years ago in ESPN the Mag a brilliant article was written about Derrick Jeter. Even then he was being called clutch. Long story short: the article went on to point out that despite labels (being clutch) or rankings that at the end of the day it all came down to the law of averages. At that time Jeter had played a regular season's worth of postseason's game. If you looked at those stats you saw what you would expect to see: his performance in the post season was exactly as good (or dare I say average) as his performance in the regular season. I could go on a Jeter rant here (like when it was written he hadn't driven in or scored a winning run after the 7th inning of any game in his career) but that's not the point. The point is that we can ascribe rankings, traits, adjectives, etc. to people or teams but data often times tell a different story. If you have enough data points and all of the outliers even out you see what people--or teams--are really made of.
Cut to tonight. I won't go over the history of Missouri football in painstaking detail but let's just say this is what happened on December 28, 2010: a lot of type and hope and then questionable officiating, a bone-headed play by a star player, and questionable game management by the coaching staff. The end result: heartbreak. Tonight didn't just happen. Tonight has been happening for the hundreds of years we've been playing football. Its just that tonight it was all crystal clear on display all wrapped up into one game.
On to the future...
Fourth, Pinkel haters will hate on Pinkel for not calling timeout at the end of the game. First, ESPN had our number of time outs wrong. Second, well, you know what happened on the next play from scrimmage. Hate on him if you want, but look at the numbers. I'm sure people had beef with Dan Devine and Don Faurot back in the day and I'm sure they feel pretty stupid now. Actually, I don't think they feel anything now because they are probably all dead.
Fifth, I suspect it must be tough times around the Gabbert house tonight. As I posted about during the game, going into the season there was hope Gabbert would go pro, turn the keys over to little Gabbert (with Franklin in wildcat) and all would be well. Throughout the season that just didn't feel like reality until tonight when it felt like reality a lot...then comes the INT. Good luck making that decision but I don't see how someone leaves a place like Mizzou after a play like that on a night like tonight.
Finally, College Football, its been a good run. In high school I attended a Mizzou game and got to watch Norm Stewart drink a beer at the half in the parking lot with my friend's dad. In college I got to sit through some miserably cold and miserably hot games. After I left Columbia I got to usher in some friends to the Mizzou fold. Its a fascinating sport that is unpredictable and gives us all quite a bit to look forward to and talk about every weekend in the fall. We follow teams and players so close that you think you know them and you live and you die on every single word and action they take. But, as I have talked about all year, College Football, your hold on my life is over after tonight. I'll still occasionally watch but I won't be as invested as I once was. See, I'm a "dance with who brung ya" type of guy and I don't see myself rooting for any other team than Mizzou. I'm also not rooting for Mizzou as long as they play in the "Texas State Championship Football Conference" that is run by a bunch of lying, back-stabbing, low-life ingrates. Since I know your skull is pretty thick, Dan Beebe, I'm referring you and your cronies.
As Gabbert said tonight: "Watch out for us next year, we're going to be dangerous." I hope everyone does and I hope the Tigers are. I'm sure I will be getting updates from my friends and casually looking at some scores. But in terms of my obsession with the sport, it ended tonight, just like it began, and just like the bowl game ended: with a lot hope, hype, excitement, and despair.
Second if any fan or player from the flat wasteland that occupies the space above the State of Missouri thinks that they did something to win the game tonight I suggest they stop kissing their sister and review some film in order to clearly see what happened--we, Mizzou, lost the game.
Third, around 5-8 years ago in ESPN the Mag a brilliant article was written about Derrick Jeter. Even then he was being called clutch. Long story short: the article went on to point out that despite labels (being clutch) or rankings that at the end of the day it all came down to the law of averages. At that time Jeter had played a regular season's worth of postseason's game. If you looked at those stats you saw what you would expect to see: his performance in the post season was exactly as good (or dare I say average) as his performance in the regular season. I could go on a Jeter rant here (like when it was written he hadn't driven in or scored a winning run after the 7th inning of any game in his career) but that's not the point. The point is that we can ascribe rankings, traits, adjectives, etc. to people or teams but data often times tell a different story. If you have enough data points and all of the outliers even out you see what people--or teams--are really made of.
Cut to tonight. I won't go over the history of Missouri football in painstaking detail but let's just say this is what happened on December 28, 2010: a lot of type and hope and then questionable officiating, a bone-headed play by a star player, and questionable game management by the coaching staff. The end result: heartbreak. Tonight didn't just happen. Tonight has been happening for the hundreds of years we've been playing football. Its just that tonight it was all crystal clear on display all wrapped up into one game.
On to the future...
Fourth, Pinkel haters will hate on Pinkel for not calling timeout at the end of the game. First, ESPN had our number of time outs wrong. Second, well, you know what happened on the next play from scrimmage. Hate on him if you want, but look at the numbers. I'm sure people had beef with Dan Devine and Don Faurot back in the day and I'm sure they feel pretty stupid now. Actually, I don't think they feel anything now because they are probably all dead.
Fifth, I suspect it must be tough times around the Gabbert house tonight. As I posted about during the game, going into the season there was hope Gabbert would go pro, turn the keys over to little Gabbert (with Franklin in wildcat) and all would be well. Throughout the season that just didn't feel like reality until tonight when it felt like reality a lot...then comes the INT. Good luck making that decision but I don't see how someone leaves a place like Mizzou after a play like that on a night like tonight.
Finally, College Football, its been a good run. In high school I attended a Mizzou game and got to watch Norm Stewart drink a beer at the half in the parking lot with my friend's dad. In college I got to sit through some miserably cold and miserably hot games. After I left Columbia I got to usher in some friends to the Mizzou fold. Its a fascinating sport that is unpredictable and gives us all quite a bit to look forward to and talk about every weekend in the fall. We follow teams and players so close that you think you know them and you live and you die on every single word and action they take. But, as I have talked about all year, College Football, your hold on my life is over after tonight. I'll still occasionally watch but I won't be as invested as I once was. See, I'm a "dance with who brung ya" type of guy and I don't see myself rooting for any other team than Mizzou. I'm also not rooting for Mizzou as long as they play in the "Texas State Championship Football Conference" that is run by a bunch of lying, back-stabbing, low-life ingrates. Since I know your skull is pretty thick, Dan Beebe, I'm referring you and your cronies.
As Gabbert said tonight: "Watch out for us next year, we're going to be dangerous." I hope everyone does and I hope the Tigers are. I'm sure I will be getting updates from my friends and casually looking at some scores. But in terms of my obsession with the sport, it ended tonight, just like it began, and just like the bowl game ended: with a lot hope, hype, excitement, and despair.
