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I realize you probably don't think so, Mizzou fans. Not right now. But there are some things to be thankful for in your little black and gold corner of the athletics world. In a somewhat annual tradition (I used to do this all the time, but have recently taken a few years off I think), let's take a look at ten things that Tiger fans should give thanks for on this 2016 holiday.

This is the first full year since 2000 that neither of those gentlemen was in one of the top two positions in the Missouri Athletic Department. Both took their share of heat during their careers. As time goes by, perhaps the job both did will be a little bit more appreciated than it was while they were leading the way.

Hey, it's been a bad season for Mizzou. And it's been a bad week for Crockett. But where would this team be without the freshman from Arkansas? Crockett was a Boise State commit until Odom and staff picked him off late in the process. All he's done is set school freshman records for yards in a game, yards in a season, touchdowns and yards per carry. And the Tigers have him for three more years. He's the guy you center a rebuild around.

Frankie Hughes and Willie Jackson were teammates at this Cleveland school and chose to continue to be teammates in college for the Tigers. They've both shown signs of being pretty darn good players in their first few games. It's not going to be immediate, but these are the types of guys that you can see a program being rebuilt around.

I don't know if Odom is going to be a successful football coach at Missouri. If he isn't, I do know it won't be for lack of effort or caring. Every chance he gets, he talks about the honor and humility and responsibility of leading the state of Missouri's football team. His players carry the state flag on to the field. Twice this year in post-game press conferences he's come close to breaking down. The man cares. He'll either succeed or pour every ounce of himself into it trying.

Schweizer won the national championship in cross country last week, coming from fourth place in the final 400 meters. This is beyond impressive (outside of the video quality).

Agree or disagree with the premise and the execution, the whole football boycott thing was the dominant story of 2015. And while it's still sitting way too close to the front burner for the tastes of many, at least it happened over a year ago and all the football team made national news for this year was not being very good at football.

Following the months-long "will he return or won't he?" fiasco, the first time Earleywine did an interview, he was asked if he thought he was treated fairly. He paused for nine seconds (I know because I counted) and then said "I don't think I should answer that." You just did, coach. Never change. Oh, by the way, his teams are real good most of the time too.

J'Den Cox is the poster boy for what we want our amateur athletes to be. A great person, a great interview, a great representative for his school, his state and his country. And he's pretty good at the whole wrestling thing too. Oh, and he said he wants to play football next year.

I don't know if he's going to be any good at his job or not. But he's not Mack Rhoades. I know that's a cheap shot. And, honestly, I liked Mack just fine personally. He was always pretty good to me. I even think he can be a good athletic director somewhere. He was not here, though. Good God, not here.

I feel like I said this last year, but next year almost has to be better. Right? I mean, Missouri was pretty bad at baseball (they finished tied for last in the SEC East). And they're pretty bad at football (they're last in the SEC with one game to go). And they were pretty bad at basketball (they finished, you guessed it, last in the SEC and didn't even get to play in the league tournament). I mean, there's only really one direction to go, right?

I will finish this the way I always do: With my personal thanks. I'm thankful, even in a bad year, that I get paid to watch kids play games. I get to go to places like Knoxville and Columbia, SC and I get a front row seat to see players like Ben Simmons and Derek Barnett. I get to tell stories for a living. For that, I thank those of you reading this. Because without your passion for Mizzou sports, without your willingness to drop a few of your dollars here every month, I couldn't do that. I'd have to go find a real job. Seems like it would be awful.

So even in the dark days that were 2016, I'm thankful for all of those things. I'll keep watching the games and telling the stories and holding out hope that maybe--just maybe--that light I see off in the distance isn't an oncoming train. Thanks for 2016. Now get the hell out of the way and please make 2017 better.