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Ten Thoughts for Monday Morning

1) Some days sports seem really unimportant. Yesterday was one of them. I didn't know or cover Kobe Bryant, wasn't really a fan of the NBA or him in particular. But there's no questioning how well known and impactful he was worldwide. I'm not going to write a eulogy for Bryant or his daughter Gigi or any of the other seven people who were aboard that helicopter. But what I'm going to do is link to a whole bunch of people that are more qualified to do so and did a far better job than I'd do:

Michael Rosenberg on The Athletic

The Athletic: How Southern California grieved

Bill Plaschke in the Los Angeles Times

Kent Babb in the Washington Post

The Athletic: Remembering Gigi Bryant

A few other Kobe related things to watch/see are included inside.

2) Sorry to continue on tragic notes, but it kind of follows here. Today is the 19th anniversary of the plane crash that gutted the Oklahoma State basketball team on January 27, 2001.

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I was working at a TV station in Rapid City, South Dakota then. I remember the story coming across the wire (this was pre-Twitter and when we didn't know a million things instantly--yesterday proved there are a lot of positives to those days). It was shocking and sickening. I know plenty of people who knew people on that plane.

The next game Oklahoma State played was a home game against Missouri on February 5th. It was an unbelievable atmosphere and even though the final score was only 69-66 it never seemed like Mizzou had any chance in that game. And even though I was just a fan watching from afar that night, it seemed right that Missouri should lose that game. I've been to the memorial they have in Gallagher-Iba for the ten who died that night leaving Colorado and it is harrowing and inspiring. It's a thing college sports fans should try to see some time if you can.

3) In the last non-Mizzou note here, I think this is going to be the longest week of my life. Some of you may know the Kansas City Chiefs play in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Last week was pretty easy to get through quickly because you knew it was going to be a long week and there wasn't all that much talk about the game. But media day is tonight and it's going to be wall to wall Super Bowl coverage for the next six days and WHY CAN'T THEY JUST PLAY TONIGHT? I'm sure I'll have some thoughts on the whole thing next Monday morning, but since this is the last time I'll probably write about it until then, my pick is Chiefs 33, 49ers 31 and of course Patrick Mahomes is going to be the MVP.

4) I guess we'll start the Mizzou portion of this talking basketball.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS WEEK'S TEN THOUGHTS

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