I used to write a weekly column here on my little corner of the Internet. Every week I'd come up with something to opine about and let you all tell me how wrong and stupid I was.
I haven't done as much of it the last couple of years because what I've found is if you're going to write something that is opinion-based, it's important to feel strongly about it. Nobody at First Take has trained me how to stand and scream and pound the table and pretend to have strong opinions about something which I don't have a strong opinion.
But I figured it was time to bring back the weekly commentaries. I'm not going to promise it's going to be fire-and-brimstone from the soul every week, but I'll try to make it at least worth the four minutes it will take you to read it.
First rule of writing a commentary: Get a reaction. What better way to get a reaction to a column than to give it a name with the three dirtiest words in Mizzou sports for the last year? Welcome to Read & React.
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This isn't exactly an introductory column. I mean, I started on this site when my youngest son was one and he got his learner's permit a couple of weeks ago. So you know who I am and I know who you are. But for this first installment of version 2.0 of my PowerMizzou.com opinions, I'm leaning on a timeless thought:
God, I admire the passion of sports fans. The only thing I can compare to what you guys go through with your teams every week is when the Royals were in the playoffs for the first time in my adult life three years ago. I'd watched a lot of games. And I wanted them to win them. But, you know, there are a lot of baseball games and a lot of plays in every one of those games and you just can't get too amped for any individual one. But then the postseason started and every pitch I'm holding my breath and thinking "Please don't let this be the one that beats them." Every pitch. For like three-and-a-half weeks. It was freaking exhausting. That's you guys every week. I don't know how you do it.
You're probably taking that as an insult. Don't. I don't mean it that way. That passion is amazing. It's what makes sports great. It's why I get a paycheck. It's why you're reading this.
That passion, it's kind of bubbled up again this week. Missouri lost to South Carolina 31-13 last Saturday. This, in and of itself, should not have been shocking to anyone. This was the definition of a toss-up. If the teams played ten times, I think each would win at least four. They're relatively evenly matched. Missouri was favored by a field goal, which is about the amount you get for playing the game on your home field. Now, it's not hard to argue--especially after we know the result--that the wrong team was favored. But my point is, South Carolina winning that game was hardly a monstrous upset. It wasn't even a mild upset.
"But," you say "It's not that they lost. It's HOW they lost."
And that's the rub, isn't it? Missouri didn't just lose. They kicked the game away. Few who watched that game would say, other than Deebo Samuel, that South Carolina has vastly superior players. They're better at some spots, worse at others. They certainly played better on that night, but nobody could watch that game and think Missouri simply lost to a team that is unquestionably more talented.
So that leads us to the message I've read hundreds of times this week: They were outcoached.
Which leads me to the message I might have read thousands of times this week: Fire the coach!!!!!!
First of all, I'm going to tell you what I told you for weeks near the start of each of the last two basketball seasons: You're gonna have to wait a while. I'm not saying Barry Odom's going to be here forever and be great. At this point in time, I won't even offer you a rock solid guarantee he's here for next season. But, barring an arrest or an NCAA investigation, he's not getting fired for the next 12 weeks.
So we'll have to wait a second for a verdict.
I know many have reached that verdict. Or at least the message boards and Twitter tell me they have. And I'm not here to preach to those in that crowd that they are idiots. I mean, I get why you're angry. Odom has been the coach for 14 games. He has won five. Three have come against Delaware State, Eastern Michigan and Missouri State. He's 2-7 in the SEC. Throw in the loss to West Virginia in last year's season opener and his eight losses to Power Five teams have been by an average of 18.1 points. Missouri isn't just getting beat. It's getting whipped.
The more concerning thing? They aren't getting better. At least not noticeably. Drew Lock is still making bad decisions against good teams. They're still coming up empty in the red zone. The receivers still treat the football like a hot iron too often. The defense? Who knows what you'll get week to week. They dangle a good game in front of you just often enough to give you hope and then yank it away with a clunker.
When these things happen, fans scream for the coach's job. I get it. Missouri fans are not unique here.
But the staying power has impressed me this week. This is the 15th football season I've covered. In that time, Missouri has lost 68 football games. The vast majority of them follow this pattern:
Game Day and day after: FIRE SOMEBODY NOW!
Two days after: Man, that sucked. I haven't brought myself to be able to watch it again.
Three days after: Who do we play this week?
Four days after: I'm feeling better. The problems are all fixable.
Five days after: I don't know, you guys, I'm starting to get a feeling.
Six days after:
Ten minutes before kickoff: What channel's the game on?
There are exceptions to this rule. Troy, New Mexico, Navy, Auburn. Some losses have staying power. Some still remain mad about those today. This one feels like that.
But really, I don't think it should. Again, I get why you're mad. I get why you think Missouri's not going to be good and the season is gonna be painful. It might be. The evidence we've got so far says it probably will be.
But, to me, they lost a swing game. That happens. Sometimes you don't play well. The other team has players too. But this weekend? This isn't a swing game.
Purdue is playing pretty well. Jeff Brohm has the Boilermakers looking much improved over the teams that have won nine games in four years. But this can't be a swing game. Most of us predicted Missouri to be a six or seven-win team. But all of us predicted the Tigers to beat Purdue. Even the people that picked Missouri to go winless in the SEC picked them to beat Purdue. If you lose this one--at home to a recent perennial Big Ten bottom dweller--not even the most creative math can get you to six wins this season.
A must-win game? In September? Against Purdue? You're damn right.
Maybe the angry mob will be right. Maybe Missouri is as bad as it looked. Maybe Odom is in over his head. Maybe this season is going to be the third straight full of mostly misery. I just don't think you should decide that quite yet. I'm here to exude patience and tell you to wait. For two whole days.
