With yesterday's 34-24 victory over Iowa State, Mizzou football accomplished a great many things. Their 7th win guarantees them a bowl appearance, while 6-6 is no sure thing (ask the 2006 Jayhawks). The 2009 Seniors are now tied with those of 2008 for the most wins by a class in school history, and will get two more chances to surpass them. The program finally put together two solid efforts in a row - for the first time this season, no less - and one has to think they have all the momentum heading into their annual season-ending showdown with the hated Jayhawks.
And it is due to the drama unfolding in Lawrence that I believe the above picture is the most telling of all those from an understandably emotional senior day. It hasn't been easy for Danario or Coach Pinkel. Until he finally got his chance to shine this season (and oh, how he has shined), Alexander's career at Mizzou had been riddled with injury and bad luck. Now, in his one last season in the old gold and black, Alexander is on his way to an All Big 12, perhaps All American, season. He's almost certain to be drafted come next April. And we know it hasn't been the best of years for Pinkel: home loss to Baylor, an 0-4 start to conference play - including an absolute embarrassment for the 2nd consecutive year against Texas - and a veritable supertanker full of "what if Blaine Gabbert's ankle isn't injured against Nebraska?"
At KU, Mark Mangino's regime (for lack of a better term) seems to be falling apart. Players old and new seem quite eager to throw dirt on the fat man's grave. Now, I don't know Mark Mangino, and I have no place to comment on what he may or may not have done. If the things that have been said are true, he's a terrible person, and may deserve firing. But we know if they hadn't lost 5 in a row, this is a non-starter.
I can surmise a few things:
1. His athletic director, Lew Perkins, wants him out. Perkins is good at his job. He's also slimy, ruthless, and slick. As I said, he's good at his job. And he, pretty clearly, would like to hire his own football coach. While Mangino isn't out yet, it would seem to be on the way.
2. In contrast to what Perkins may believe, I think getting rid of Mangino would be a negative for the KU football program. From that standpoint, I very much want it to happen.
Comparatively, Coach Pinkel's program over at Missouri looks to be the standard of consistency and achievement. This will be their fifth consecutive bowl appearance, and a chance to win their fourth of five* Recruiting is on the upswing, with the best in-state players at least considering the Tigers (they've landed the top MO recruit in the 2008, 2009, and 2010 classes) while they've found little-coveted guys in Texas and elsewhere that have emerged as stars (Sean Weatherspoon, Danario Alexander, both 2 star kids from TX).
I think we can surmise that Coach Pinkel is pretty secure in Columbia, and here finally, is where the "perspective" of the title comes in. I'll admit, I've had my crisis of confidence this season. The Baylor loss was inexcusable. Playing a clearly injured and ineffective Blaine Gabbert against Oklahoma State and Texas was head-scratching. The way Mizzou played in the non-conference had me convinced that this team could actually contend for the Big 12 North title. And then they lost their first four conference games, three of them at home. And my one longstanding beef with Coach Pinkel remained: he never beats more talented teams, especially waaaaayyyyyy more talented teams (aka the OU's and Texas').
But now, here they are at 7-4 with a legitimate shot of picking up win #8 on Saturday. Admittedly, even if they hit 8 wins, they might not get a great bowl: Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Nebraska will all be in line before them. And it's very possible, should OU finish with but 6 wins and barely eligible, that a bowl will still find their stars and their tradition more desirable than Mizzou. Best case appears to be the Alamo Bowl. Worst case? Presumably the Independence down in Shreveport (shudder).
My first instinct is disappointment, especially if they land lower than the Alamo. This team won 12 games in '07, and 10 games in '08, I say to myself. These are the ideas that lead my mind to wander: perhaps CGP needs replaced - has he taken them as far as they can go?
And then I smack myself in the face. This is Mizzou football, the team victimized by the fifth down and the flea kicker. The team that was ranked in the top 25 in the country and were blown out by Troy State on a Thursday night. A team that was for decades routinely blown out by Nebraska and later by Bill Snyder's Kansas State teams. In short, Mizzou is coming off of 2 of the best football seasons in the school's history (especially 07, when they were #1 in the country and one game away from the MNC game), and I'm expecting that as the bare minimum nowadays?
I'm not making excuses when I say that's it's unrealistic to expect Mizzou to win 10 games or compete for a BCS game every season. I think even the schools in love with their own history (Notre Dame, Michigan, Nebraska) need to realize that it just doesn't happen. The right combination of coach + tradition + players + money is rare indeed. We can see it working now at Florida, Bama, and Texas - but we can also see USC and OU stuck the trough of the wave. As for Missouri, it doesn't sit on a treasure trove of talent like the schools in Florida, Texas, or California, and it's not the dream school for kids like UT, USC, or UF. They don't have the history, the cache, the stadium, or the boosters of these schools. And no, I'm not saying anyone should ever feel sorry for one BCS conference school over another, but facts are facts. And it's why I respect the Stanford's, the Vanderbilt's, and the Northwestern's so greatly. Not Baylor though. Baylor's only in the Big 12 because Ann Richards was a shameless whore for her alma mater.
Mizzou isn't a football power. It's as simple as looking at yesterday's game. On senior day, with the final hurrah for many of the school's greatest ever players taking place on the field, the crowd was poor. So poor in fact that the radio broadcast mentioned it several times. A conference game. A rivalry game. A a game that your team would likely win - but against a team that is no longer a doormat - and many students decided to head home for Thanksgiving. No, I didn't go to the game. But I don't live in Columbia. I don't get discounted student tickets. But I did have a ticket opportunity, and had I known of it earlier, I most definitely would have been there.
I think it's possible that decades down the line the Pinkel era is thought of as the golden age of Mizzou football. Who knows, when Gabbert finally graduates/heads to the NFL, Pinkel could have presided over the 3 greatest QB's in school history, the 2 (perhaps more) best wide receivers, the greatest linebacker and so forth. Lord knows there are more Mizzou players in the NFL now than ever before. He could end with the longest consecutive bowl streak, maybe the most consecutive winning season streak. He came into a program that was laughed at in high schools in its own state. In just the past 2 years he's snatched the highest rated player in Iowa, landed a 4 star qb from Texas, stole a blue-chip in state QB from mighty Nebraska, and made significant inroads into the talent hot beds of Texas and Oklahoma, and that's in addition to the aforementioned discovery of hidden recruiting gems passed over by other BCS schools.
Anyway, in a year with few (but admittedly, very impactful) seniors, a lackluster running game, a true sophomore quarterback and no backup that they trust whatsoever, a veritable crush of sophomores starting or playing lots of snaps, and 2 new coordinators for the first time in FOREVER, Mizzou football has a chance to win 8 games in the regular season and is guaranteed a bowl game and bowl money. And the future, well the future looks pretty bright. Rarely do I agree with (or read) Bryan Burwell, but I do in this case. This year Gabbert, when healthy, is one of the best QB's in the conference and unquestionably the best in the North. He should have a good, young cast around him, with more quality talent coming in.
Danario, Spoon, Baston, Coulter, Ricks, and the notorious Jake Harry IV will move on, some to the pros, others likely to a profession outside of football, and will take with them the most wins by a class in school history. But whose to say how long that distinction will last?
*christ almighty they should have won the 2006 Sun Bowl against Oregon State. I remember, I watched it. Every minute.
No comments:
Post a Comment