New Beginnings

Life is all about evolution: survive and advance. If you don't evolve, you'll get passed by those who do. In life we're always learning, adapting, and moving along. Others around us might move faster or might move slower, but what is certain is that in this ever-changing world of ours life is always about movement.

This evolution can dart us off in some pretty interesting directions. In January of 2011 I darted off to a new job which left me, at first, with a good deal of free time during my transition. As I was evolving, so were people who lived under oppressive regimes in the Middle East. Instant analysis of the events of the Arab Spring said that it was a "Twitter Revolution." That analysis, in my opinion, was rather short sighted simple. The seeds of revolution had been planted and nurtured for decades and sprouted at a time when new forms of social media were there to capture what was happening.

It was fascinating to watch it unfold. Twitter was an endless rabbit hole of information--you could follow journalists who reported news but you could also follow the informants that the journalists got their information from. Essentially, you could bypass the middle-man and get raw unfiltered data straight from the source. You could then use this data to form your own opinions, right or wrong; properly informed or misinformed.

While people were risking their life for the opportunity to live in a free society, Mizzou's basketball coach bolted for Arkansas. I then discovered that, with much lower stakes, one could apply the same lessons in getting first-hand reports from the Middle East into getting first hand reports from the Middle-West about who was headed to BoCoMo to guide the Tigers. It took some judgement in shifting through the information, but it also took a shit-ton of time which I had on my hands and, it seemed, none of my Mizzou friends had on theirs. So I started drafting e-mails to a group of four alums updating them on the twists and turns of the search. The list got larger as time wore on and then the stakes seemed to get a bit higher when Big 12 seemed at the edge of collapse once again earlier this summer. I kept sifting through the info and people kept asking to be included on the e-mail list.

All this evolution brings us to where we are now: the end of the Big 12. Others around it moved and evolved, some slowly, some quickly but all kept moving and the once Grand Dame was left in the dust.

In an attempt--probably failed--to do the same, I'm evolving as well. Gone is the e-mail and in its stead is a blog, something I never thought I would have the desire--or time--to do. I don't know how long this will last or in what, if any, interesting directions it will take us. In other words, here goes nothing.

[Editor's Note: For archive purposes I'm going to throw up some long form reactions to games and whatnot first, followed by the spring and summer 2011 e-mails, and...finally...new posts.]