Typical Missouri

Throughout my four-and-a-half years at the University of Missouri, Tiger fans grew accustomed to dealing with athletic grief.

Mizzou athletics weren’t necessarily bad, in fact, most teams had a winning record and qualified for their sports version of a postseason. But, if I had a nickel for the amount of times that fans were left disappointed, upset or felt like knocking their head against a wall until a state of unconsciousness set in, I’d be able to buy a tank of gas.

My inner circle of friends and I dealt with the heartbreak and constant anxiety by putting on a sly grin, shaking our heads and uttering the following phrase: “Typical Missouri.”



Pathetic? Maybe. But, it was merely a product of buying into the enormous expectations placed on the programs by local media and the Missouri athletic department—easily the best hype machine in the country.

No team left a worse feeling in our mouths than the 2003-04 Missouri basketball team. With preseason All-Americans Arthur Johnson and Ricky Paulding, the Tigers were ranked among the top-5 teams in the country and a near-unanimous pick by “experts” to make a trip to the program’s first Final Four.

I entered the season thinking championship, and after defeating Indiana in Bloomington to improve to 6-0, I had no doubt that team was the best in the country. Then allegations of cheating haunted the team off the court and their play began to slide on it. A series of disappointing losses—including one to Belmont—left the team stumbling to 16-14 and a 1st round loss in the tournament…NIT, that is.

Now, thanks to consecutive losses to Oklahoma State and Texas the 2008 Missouri football team may surpass the aforementioned disaster (not taking into account the embarrassment that came with the NCAA investigation).

The Tigers entered the season with hopes of a national championship. A trip to my alma mater’s first BCS bowl was almost an afterthought. No doubt, winning the Big XII North for the second straight season was never even a question.

Suddenly, not even a rematch with the Longhorns in Kansas City for the Big XII championship is a lock anymore. What’s worse is that after looking totally unstoppable against opponents like Buffalo, Nevada and Illinois—a middling team in the horrendous Big Ten—Mizzou has more closely resembled Syracuse than Florida in losses to powerhouses in the mighty south division of the conference.

Last season, Mizzou’s success came as a great surprise to the fans. They were expected to be ranked and win a majority of their games. Nobody expected a week at No. 1 with only one win standing in the way of a shot at the crystal ball. Even a loss to Oklahoma in the conference championship couldn’t upset Tiger nation.

What’s taken place in the last nine excruciating days has left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth. Hopes of a national title are gone, but thanks to a terribly flawed system a BCS bowl is still reachable by winning the Big XII. Of course, nothing suggests this Mizzou squad is capable of upsetting Texas or OU.

The offensive and defensive lines have been manhandled and Chase Daniel will be lucky to make his way back to New York as a Heisman finalist. Clearly there’s a reason the Longhorns didn’t originally offer him a scholarship—or half of Missouri’s roster for that matter. Daniel is clearly a system quarterback and any future of playing on Sunday’s is probably gone.

Mizzou is currently at a crossroads. With their ultimate dreams squashed, they can either rally to give themselves one last chance at the BCS at the end of the season; or mail it in from here on out. For Gary Pinkel’s sake, it had better be the first option or Missouri should roll a red carpet out for him to walk from Columbia to Washington.

Missouri has taught their faithful fans an important lesson through all this—instead of buying into the hype; wait until a team accomplishes something. Then, the success is so much sweeter.

At least a lot of fans will maintain a healthy budget by hanging onto the money they had earmarked for whichever BCS bowl proved to be the ultimate destination during the first week of January.

Now, a late-December trip to the Holiday Bowl is a realistic possibility…

San Diego’s weather is great in December.

8 miles never seemed so far away

Maybe a minute had gone by after Ken Griffey Jr. struck out to officially end the White Sox season before my phone buzzed. The text message must have been sent before the last out—either that, or I had better contact Comcast and complain about a bad delay.

The message, from a friend whose allegiance lies with the Chicago Cubs, read: “Hahahaha, you guys managed to last a whole 48 hours longer and now we’re both in the same place.”

My response: “If that’s what you need to tell yourself in order to snap out of your undoubted state of depression…go right ahead.”

The core of his statement is obviously true. The 2008 World Series will not be a “Crosstown Classic.” It won’t even feature one Chicago team. But the set of circumstances that surrounded each team’s ultimate demise are as different as a filet mignon and a Big Mac.

After failing to land one of the prizes on the free agent market, Ken Williams’ club was picked by most experts—including myself—to finish third in a tough AL Central division.



Meanwhile, the Cubs were heavy favorites to repeat as NL Central champions—even that preseason prediction I couldn’t be wrong about.

The White Sox were a maddeningly inconsistent team, never giving their fans the same feeling they had in 2005. One week they looked like the best team in baseball, the next they looked like the Washington Nationals were capable of sweeping them. Trying to figure them out was like trying to make sense of one of Sarah Palin’s run-on sentences.

Meanwhile, the Cubs were on cruise control all season. They held first place since the third game of the season and after sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park--or “Wrigley North” as Cubs fans like to call it—shortly after the All-Star break, the division title and a playoff berth were never in doubt.

Not to make excuses, but injuries eventually took their toll on the Sox. Their only All-Star representatives—MVP candidate Carlos Quentin and third baseman Joe Crede—couldn’t play the final month of the season. Jose Contreras—having a nice season after an atrocious 2007 campaign—came off the DL for 1.2 innings in August only to suffer a season-ending injury.

Injuries are a part of the game, but take Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Ted Lilly away from the Cubs and where does it put them? Well, I guess it puts them in basically the same place they’re in now.

After being swept by the Minnesota Twins in the Metrodome—or “that Hellhole,” as Sox fans affectionately refer to it—the Sox were left gasping for air. But, the Twins committed a baseball no-no. They let the Sox get up and continue to fight.
You don’t put a mass murderer on the electric chair and just before flipping the switch let him off on parole. So, the Sox did what anyone would do with a new lease on life. They battled and survived, doing something MLB had never seen by beating three different teams in three days—Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and the aforementioned Twins—to make the playoffs. The team looked relieved just to get in, their pitchers running on fumes after each going on three days rest multiple times over the last two weeks of the season.

Meanwhile, the Cubs clinched the division with about 10 games left. They were able to get some nice R&R, set their playoff rotation and give the Tribune Company ample opportunity to promote its new book celebrating the inevitable championship season of the 2008 Chicago Cubs.

The White Sox won a game in their divisional series with the far superior Tampa Bay Rays, improving Ozzie Guillen’s playoff record to 13-4.



Despite a dugout blessed with Holy Water (by a Greek Orthodox priest), the Cubs watched their postseason losing streak reach nine games after getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were outscored 20-6 in the series and never led after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in game one. They got embarrassed and crumbled under the pressure that comes along with a century of futility.

Sox fans embraced the “Blackout” at the Cell and—with a World Series to fall back on—just went along for the ride. After a 90-loss season in 2007 left faithful Sox fans feeling ill, there are many reasons to look forward to 2009. Among them: the maturation of promising young hurlers Gavin Floyd and John Danks and the emergence of Quentin and “the Cuban Missile” Alexei Ramirez.

Following James Loney’s grand slam in game one, Cubs fans put their tails right between their legs. Their dreams had died right there and then. In the “Do or die” game two (thanks Mark DeRosa, no pressure at all), the tears began to flow ala 2003-post Steve Bartman. Way to have faith in the NL’s best team.

Most of the Cubs roster will return and they will be favorites to win the division yet again. Only how can fans get excited like they did in 2008? To borrow a song lyric by Green Day, all Cubs fans should do is say “Wake me up when September ends.”

In August, my father begged me to be fair and blog about the greatness of the 2008 Cubs. He explained that they do everything well and that there wasn’t a team in baseball that was capable of beating them in a short series. I promised that when they accomplished something, I would meet his request.

But, for the 100th consecutive season, the “Loveable losers” have nothing to be proud of. Their loyal fans continue to be let down in the most unimaginable ways.

White Sox fans have set the bar higher after 2005, but ultimately will look back on 2008 and realize it was a great success. Veterans regained their swagger and the youngsters provided terrific excitement. The team’s perseverance and fun-loving attitude made its fans proud.

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So, now it’s officially football season and somehow, someway the Chicago Bears find themselves in first place. Every touchdown Kyle Orton throws and big run by Matt Forte leaves me in shock. My expectations were so low; the Bears would have to lose every remaining game to match my preseason prediction. The NFC North may be bad enough to allow the Bears come out on top.



My other football team, the Missouri Tigers, possess the best offense in the country. Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin are legitimate Heisman Trophy contenders and a 52-17 drubbing of Nebraska—in Lincoln for the first time in 30 years—was a definite statement.

Mizzou helped provide the stat of the week: Through 5 games, in drives started by Daniel, the offense has yet to go 3-and-out.


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