When it comes to double standards, we’ve all got em…
So while there’s been no shortage of bellyaching about Missouri leaving the Big 12, why the vilification? All that hocus pocus about it being shameful for Mizzou to turn its back on family and friends in the Midwest. How dare they perform such a tasteless act of conjugal sports infidelity.
Is nothing sacred?
In a word, no. It’s been a lifetime since sports fans shed what few illusions remain as to professional sports teams true loyalties. Not since Babe Ruth left Boston to play for dreaded rival the New York Yankees. Who doesn’t recognize that today’s Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs are merely mercenaries. We root for them with a suspension of disbelief, just like when we pretend what we see at the movies is real.
Rarely do players on pro sports teams have much more than fleeting affiliations with the cities and fans that root for them.
Just like most of the hired gun journalists who cover those teams, Jason Whitlock, Joe Posnanski and Sam Mellinger to name three.
Case in point: For months Mellinger fretted and fussed in the Kansas City Star about how sinful and stupid Missouri’s leaving the Big 12 would be. It was the worst thing imaginable for Kansas City and local sports fans. Then Sam woke up and realized he’d be getting all-expense-paid free rides and courtside and press box seats to all those glam games. What’s not to like about that?
Naturally, Mellinger couched his epiphany differently.
Focusing instead on the joys a thimble full of locals might experience after dragging 120 miles east to Columbia to catch a MU-Kentucky basketball game. Yippie!
Just one problem…
Sam left out the part about unless you’re part of the one percent (or the media), the chances of your getting tickets close enough to the action to even recognize Mellinger in his freebie courtside seats without binoculars are slim and none.
Occupy Mizzou? Fat chance.
Now let’s get down to the business at hand. And that’s to address the hypocrisy of Kansas City and Big 12 fans for getting completely bent out of shape over MU’s faithlessness. Its having the audacity to jeopardize a 100-year sports rivalry with Kansas and place the future of the entire Big 12 at risk.
For a fistful of dollars.
How could they stoop so low?
Almost as low as the Big 12, Kansas and Kansas State for doing the exact same thing to not one, but two other conferences. Breaking and entering the Mountain West (TCU) and Big East (West Virginia) and burglarizing their crown jewels.
The Big East wants West Virginia to hang for a couple years and leave in an orderly fashion. Screw them, the Big 12 wants ’em yesterday. And maybe Louisville, too.
So keeping it real, the Big 12 and KC’s sports media crybabies need to put it back in their pants.
Because the bottom line today is that nothing is sacred, not even in college athletics. Money talks, everything else walks and Missouri isn’t doing anything Kansas, Kansas State or UMKC even wouldn’t do if they had half a chance.
And that’s the name of that tune…
I WAS RIGHT OVER A YEAR AGO…MIZZOU LEAVES!
My sources at the university and from the chancellors office told me that a move by MU was inevitable. For several years
Mizzou had felt slighted by the Big 12 offices concerning everything from the potential Orange Bowl bid that was
“bought” and paid for by Lew Perkins to many other slights that were not publicized to the general public.
It was about money but MU did a research project about their national branding much like what Texas A and M
did to determine where they were going and where they wanted to position the university.
Yes, there was a huge dislike for the attitude of the Texans but it went further than that.
And yes, when the big ten went with Nebraska and looked over MU I was the only one to say..”it will eventually
happen” they are leaving…its just a matter of time and again I was correct.
But MU is on a roll. I know this hurts ku fans to no end. But after getting their football program to heights they
had never seen before…seeing their 3 and 2 star recruits become first round nfl draft choices…and more importantly
seeing one of the largest endowment campaigns and the flood of both students from around the nation to MU
made the adminstration believe that there was more to be accomplished by moving out of the big 12 and into
a much more visible and profitable league.
MU enrollment is over the top. They are gathering steam for their national recruiting of students..many coming from
out of state (including chicago/texas and large population segments of the east coast).
Football obviosly contributed to this dramatic increase in branding nationwide but the MU people felt that by leaving the big
12 they could brand the university not only for its academic and research and developement rankings but also for their
branding as a top athletic school. And as we all found out (to the chagrin of KU people) it was all about football. No matter
what we here in kc thought, the truth was that football was the cash cow and the sport that “made” a university great.
So with the problems with texas…the snubs that MU felt was caused by the big 12 office…the determination after their
market research report that showed the identical results that a and m received that there were greener pastures
anbd more financial success to be attained by moving. That plus knowing that the big 12 will eventually disinegrate..
that the big 12 lacks stability and that their future was better served in another conference.
MU yearns to be a dominant university in the midwest. Its the goal of the university and their alumni to move beyond what
a “midwest” school offers to become the top in the nation. Will they achieve this…I say its very possible especially
regarding the 40 billion dollars in potential wal mart cash that now sits in Columbia. If they were going to make the move..
the time was now. Of course the big 10 offered vsome serious advantages over the sec but this move nonetheless is
huge.
The university is starting to make some serious moves in the research area as the trend moves toward bio sciences..
agriculture (we’ve just reached 7 billion people on this earth) and they need to be fed…a j school that has made some
changes…and medicine. Being stuck in the midwest area was just not in their plans.
Demographically this is a smart move. Population is moving south. To the sun belt. This offers MU the chance to
draw in corporate dollars and enrollments from the fastest growing states. Yes…they may lose some glamour to the
texas recruits and markets…but the florida..georgia…and other sunny states offer them an opportunity they wuld never
get staying with the mid west/rust belt attitude of the people in this area. Population centers in the mid west are
dying. This offers MU a great chance to further their reacvh…give them an avenue to millions of additional dollars
and puts them on a national stage that the big 12 could never do.
So with all this happening it was imperative that MU make this move. Financially its a gold mine. Another 20 million dollar
or so in additional income from TV rights..the ability to tap into sun belt money and potential students…and the
super chance to move onto a national scale in the eyes of the media would all add up to one hell of a chance for this school.
As far as sports…there’s good and bad. I watched several sec televised games this weekend and was amazed at the
buzz..the excitement around those games. I realize that MU will have to step up their game but I think that big 12 schools
like OU/tExas/OSU/tech/ if they were to come to the sec would do well against sec teams . Why? The offenses.
SEC teams have slow methodical offesnes and it will be interesting to see what MU and franklin and that wide open
offense can do against sec teams. will they win the league. Probably not…but I can only dream of watching lsu/
bama/georgia or anoterh secteam in columbia in the fall. The exctiement and the thrill of new teams and a new
fresh approach are so exciting for us MU fans…we can’t wait. I found out SEC has no wrestling programs which for
mu will be something new. Basektball..well they’ve had some national champs out of the sec and this should be
interesting. But in this arena…change is exciting and brings a whole new lift to the university and its alumni.
Yes…we will miss the tournaments and the media coverage…but we all know that would happen and we know
it will be harder to follow our team…but as a lifelong mu fan we understand that change happens…sometimes it
works …sometime it doesn’t. But wow…thinking about a new league is so thrilling to me and al l the mu alumni
in this market.
But the big elephant in the room is one that noone has mentioned. That universities are facing one of the biggest challenges
ever that could adversely affect the entire higher educational system in this nation…and it couldbe disastrous.
If you’ve read the recent articles student loans now surpass 1 trillion dollars and adding about 200 billion a year.
Deliquencies are approaching 15%. For profit schools are higher. Schools like MU/KU and K state rely and depnend
on that flow of guaranteed funding. But the news here is not good. With a tough economy, those loans are not being
repaid and many in d.c. are saying this is the next “bubble” to hit our economy. I was at a seminar one month ago and this
was shown to be a serious problem. So universities could get hit with reduced government funding for grants and loans
that would have horrible effects on them. So every university must be looking out for additional revenue NOW. They cna’t
wait for the shoe to drop and if and when it does every school will be scrambling. As tax receipts have slow down…state fudning
of universities has dropped. Its getting very tough. So every university will be looking and begging for money. And having a
major football program helps. But they will be needing these funds and I know this is affecting the run for dollars that athletic
departments and adminstrtions are now looking des[erately looking for.
I will miss the border war. But for KU fans this is a blessing because there’s no way KU will field a team at
arrowhead that can be mu. So this is a blessing in disguise for all you ku fans…no more having to walk out of
arrowhead with tears in your eyes after taking a beating at the hands of the tigers.
It’s been a long run. I hope my friends who are ku grads and fans luck. They will need it. They’ve lost their
key opponent. But change is good and I think this will work out fantastic for MU and the university.
and again…i was right…again I said it after the first debacle and the start of the end of thebig 12.
Gecko said “greed is good”…but it doesn’t help those with the short end of the stick. It’s time to move
on and MU into a newer brighter future.
Good luck KU! You’re gonna need it. Because those Texan low lifes won’t stop til they bleed every last
dollar from you.
MIZ ZOU….
p.s. I sincerly hope ku followers don’t doubt the motives of mu to better themselves. This was a huge decision and
hopefully things will work out for all the schools…MU/KU and Kstate (especially my favorite guy bill snyder!)
The root of all evil
Mizzou will regret selling its birthright for a bowl of SEC porridge.
Wow, Harley. I can’t believe I read your entire post. Nice job.
blah blah blah harley
Could not make it half way through harley’s typical drivel novel. yawn… anyway…. he is dreaming, typical harley drivel.
mu has been an embarrassed little girl ever since it was…. promsed to…. deflowered….. and then jilted the next morning… poor embarrassed mu has been in shame ever since……. mu has been so sad and disappointed at being played like a country cousin in order to get Nebraska to switch….. mu was never wanted….. and mu has been acting pissy ever since…. and ever since they have just wanted to leave, to runaway…..to hide their shame…. mu just wants to be feel wanted…. by anyone… mu would have go anywhere as opposed to being reminded that they were playd like a drum and then dumped.
poor poor mu…. going from jrBIG12 to jrSEC… LMAO…. mu is so pathetic….. mu will NEVER get respect from any SEC schools or fans… have you been reading the message boards?… the SEC school are laugfhing at poor mu……. mu is a redheaded stepbitch who will be paying the BIG 12 $20,000,000 20 MILLION DOLLARS for being allowed to leave.
The moral?
The devil you know is better than the devil you dont.
Hey little johnny…i’d stop posting on here buddy.
you got the glaze pissed. I’d be hiding out if i was you. You damaged the glaze. He knows all about you.
I’d be nervous and not posting any more so glaze can see who you are.
Glaze and his possee are on the hunt!
Oh and by the way…MIZ ZOU goes to SEC…briliant move by MU and tell me little johnny where you’re sitting
at arrowhead for the mu/ku game…i’ll bring you a paper bag so you can wear it walking out of the stadium after
the ass kicking so noone will recognize you…expecially glaze!
LMBO
As if I give one shit what you think about anything harley, you are king idiot here.
Compared to your chicken shit crap going back 2 years??…..and you are advising
others how to post ??? BWWWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA….dang you misery morons….too much
as far as shitty mu? good riddance to bad news…..
Delighted to not have mu’s continual problems reflecting baddly on the BIG 12.