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Every week, PowerMizzou.com publisher Gabe DeArmond answers questions from Tiger fans in the mailbag. This format allows for a more expansive answer than a message board post. Keep your eye out each week to submit your question for the mailbag or send them to powermizzou@gmail.com. On to this week's inquiries.
JAGsports asks: outside of the Border war renewal when was the last time you were fired up about something Mizzou? I ask this knowing that you have journalistic integrity and you try not to be bias but the announcement of the Border war got you fired up. I saw the passion that came out. I have not seen that fire from anything dealing with football and I believe the MPJ era, I saw some intrigue at first.
GD: What it takes to get me "fired up" is something where it doesn't feel like work. When you've been doing this for 16 years, most of the games just kind of run together unless there's something special about them. The MPJ debut against Iowa State had me pretty excited, just to see the arena full again and the passion back around the program. That lasted about three minutes and then, honestly, that was one of the least enjoyable non-Kim Anderson seasons I've covered. There was some excitement about the NCAA Tournament because I hadn't covered one in a few years, but that was dampened by a 9 p.m. start and a game that was over about eight minutes in.
Going to Tuscaloosa last year was cool, but I wouldn't say I was fired up because I wasn't expecting to see a good game. The last football game I was really excited for was probably the 2013 SEC Championship Game against Auburn. That was a really fun one to cover and just had that big-time event feel around it.
Like I said last week, the longer you do this, the more it seems like work and you kind of tend to let that get in the way of the fact that you're getting paid to go to do some pretty cool things. I'm not going to pretend a Friday night opener against Incarnate Word or a football game against Troy gets my blood boiling. But you cover all of those because every now and again you get something like College Game Day in 2010 or Mizzou/Kansas in 2007 or the 2011-12 basketball season that you wake up every day excited to write about. Let's hope something else like that comes along in the near future. My stories are better when I'm more excited about them and they get read more when you're more excited about them. Then we all win.
jmhw9b asks: Barry Odom has been the head coach for four years. My question is not should he be fired; my question is in your opinion, has he coached them in his four years well?
GD: I know this probably isn't going to be the answer you're looking for, but it's how I feel. At times, yes. At times, obviously no. The hard thing about Odom's tenure so far is every time you think you've made up your mind how you feel about it, the script flips. I almost don't even count 2016 because I knew that team was going to be bad and it was. They start 2017 so poorly I honestly thought midway through I might have to cover another coaching search. Then they reel off a bunch of wins in a row. You go into 2018 and they start decently and you think this is going to be a good team and then they lose four out of five and look bad in a bowl game and you kind of feel like they wasted an opportunity. They get Kelly Bryant, have some offseason momentum, you think things are going well then the program gets slammed with sanctions and loses an opener at Wyoming. You think the season is going to be awful, then they win five straight. You think they've figured it out and have momentum then they no-show against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. It's one step forward, one step back. I think the program is better off than it was three years ago...but I also don't think it's really being reflected in the results on the field.
I think Odom is good at a lot of the things we never see: Building the culture, getting a cohesive locker room, standing behind his guys when a lot of us wouldn't, inspiring them when we've all quit on them. But that's been counterbalanced by every time he gets momentum immediately ripping it away.
By the end of year four, I'd like to have a better idea what I think than I do. Because I understand the people that have made up their minds he's never going to get it done here and Missouri should move on. But I also understand the people who have seen some positives and think he's pretty close but just needs a breakthrough. Gary Pinkel was close a couple times, took a couple steps back and got his breakthrough in 2007. I'm not predicting that kind of breakthrough is on the horizon for Odom. I have no idea. And, again, I understand the people who believe they know it isn't and don't want to wait.
How's that for a non-answer answer? I promise I'm not trying to dodge the question. But when I really am conflicted on how I feel, it's the only way I know how to answer.
