jras92

If I was an African American player at Mizzou and this bill passed my response would be simple. I would transfer immediately. Why play for a sate where your not respected? Good luck trying to field a competitive football team without minority players...

Spare me, We both know this has nothing to do with good governance at all, but rather is an attempt by a state rep to get his name in the paper by exploiting the situation at Mizzou. All it serves to do is throw matches into a magazine of gunpowder. Your wrong to say that players live off "taxpayers money." The players live off scholarships that are funded independently through athletic general revenue and donations. In essence the players are paid by money the schools makes of selling the games they play in. Additionally the marketing and exposure the school gets from Football and Basketball helps attract more students and leads to more revenue form tuition dollars. Bottom line the players are marketing the school millions of dollars because we live in a sports crazed age. This bill would have bad consequences that would fall more on Mizzou and the State then it would the players. I think that it sends the message to the minority community that Missouri and Mizzou don't care about their concerns. The reality of it is you can't field a team without minority players this day in age. It will be disastrous to recruiting and to retaining players long term. I also think that it could lead to civil action against Mizzou and the Sate that could take years to settle while giving a black eye to the school and the sate. It's also a clear case of government overreach. What is more Wolfman, the reality of it is fans like us have created all of this. We're the ones who go to the games, watch the on TV, buy all the jerseys and clothes, etc. We're the ones ho have built these football programs up and have given these student athlete enough power to force a University president to resign. If you believe that student athletes shouldn't have that much power is society then I would suggest you stop watching college and pro sports. The reality of it is you can't have your cake and eat it to. You can't spend money and time and thus give power to college athletes and then be shocked and appalled when they use that power to support something you don't like. If hate what the players are doing then stop watching.

Ive had some problems with the slant SDS has taken towards Mizzou in their coverage recently, but this story takes the cake. The reason Pinkel is not telling us the reasons behind the suspention of Mauk is not because he blindly loyal to his players or his QBs. He's not telling us because its morally and ethically the right thing to do. These guys are not professional athletes. They are student athletes first. A college coaches first responsibility is not to the fans or the media or wining but it is to look out for the wellbeing of their players. That being the case, how would it help Mauk or any of the other players to make the reason for the suspension public? All it would do would be to feed media speculation an harassment of a 21 year old college kid who has made mistakes that many other 21 year old colleges kids have made. Additionally, it could being more media scrutiny and speculation about other players that could further divide the team. Bottom line Gary Pinkel is doing the right thing.

The Athletic department at Mizzou is entirely self sufficient. In the past the athletic department has received money from student tuition, but not tax dollars. Your tax dollars go into facilities, research, etc. Also in many cases federal privacy prevent coaches from telling the public why a student was suspended. By law, universities have to keep Grades, Disciplinary proceeding, and other stuff (like often times reasons for player suspensions) private unless there is an overriding public concern (and no Mizzou loosing a football game is not one).

MIZZOU FANS STEP AWAY FROM THE LEDGE, AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T JUMP! I know we've been bad and it seems a 3rd strength SEC east title is out of reach, but don't panic! We need to look at the bigger picture here. For me this season went down the tubes when we lost to Kentucky. I knew then that this year would not be about going for a national or SEC title or even winning the east. Personally, i'm at the point with Mizzou where wining another SEC east title and being the Easts sacrificial lame to the likes of bama dose not mean much to me anyways. Here is what i've taken away from this year so far: 1. The main reason Mizzou is losing when you come down to it is not coaching, or schemes, or whatever. The main reason is lack of leadership. One of the things that has made Pinkel so successful at Mizzou is the way he leads his team. Unlike many programs Pinkel really relies on his players to police themselves. He puts allot of faith in his Seniors (and upper-class leaders) to teach the underclassman the ropes and to keep them motivated. This is one of the things that has made Mizzou so great and allowed the team to be successful despite not always having blue chip players. The flip side is when the Upperclass leadership falters, it can cause a poisonous attitude in the locker room and players don't practices as hard, play as hard, or work together. I think this year we've seen the flip side of upper-class leadership. We've all heard to roomers i'm sure about why Mauk was suspended and the drama that has ensued in the locker room. Now were in a situation where we have a Freshman QB, trying to lead a young inexperienced receiving corps, with an inexperience or injured HB, and an o-line full of seniors that have never played with this QB. Ive heard Boehm talk about how players (and especially seniors) haven't been taking practices as seriously. Similar stuff was going on in 2012 on and off the field and its a recipe for disaster every time. 2. The players that Mizzou are recruiting EXPECT to win. This problem is part of why #1 is happening. Mizzou has gotten good enough to where players don't really know anything, but wining. Coach Pinkel said in an interview this earlier this year that there are not many players left on this team that where on the team in 2012. That means that there are not many players who have experienced what a bad season is like; all that they have experienced at Mizzou is wining teams. Good college football teams sometimes fall into this problem (Kstate comes to mind) and in ways its a good or at least complementary problem to have. Underclassman come to a school and see there teams win allot at the with older leadership and they think this is the way it naturally goes at a program like Mizzou, but they don't see all the hard work and time that upperclassmen leaders have to put in to get and keep a team wining... They think it just happens. Again this same problem happened in 2012. Before that year Mizzou hadn't missed a bowl game since 2004. Players had become used to wining because thats the way its always been. Its a dangerous trap to get into, but it can also have some long term positive results (See 2013 tigers). 3. Unless your name is Alabama, your team, good or bad, will go through this. Wining at a high level year in year out is incredibly hard. There are simply to many good teams (especially in the SEC) and to much turnover to be good every year. Even the best teams have down and sometimes awful years (see 2012 Auburn tigers, or countless other teams). The key to remember is that it's one year, and ultimately it dose not mean much until it becomes more then one year. This is especially true at Missouri with a proven winner like Gary Pinkel. 4. Perhaps Mizzou needs to take a step back to take a step back before it can take 3 steps forward. I don't know about you, but I could care less about the SEC east. Yes its a trip to Atlanta and a chance to play for a title, but really what where the chances of Mizzou wining that game (or any SEC east school for that mater). What I really want at Mizzou is a national title and I know I want it because i've seen Mizzou come within a game of getting to the game of games twice. Getting into that game should be every Mizzou fans goal and not wining the SEC east, or wining 10 games or whatever. To get to that game, we need to realize that their might need to be some sacrifices for the greater good. As i've said losing seasons aren't always bad and they often bring out the character and birth leaders that understand how hard it is to win at this level. Thats what happened in 2012. Bottom line, if I have to accept losing this year, in order to gain a chance to at the game of games then so be it! Im willing to take a step back to take 3 forward. 5. TRUST IN THE PROCESS If Mizzou fans should have learned anything over the past 3 years its just how good Pinkel is. He is one of the best at developing talent anywhere in the country and gets the most out of almost every position. He has almost single handily turned Mizzou from a irrelevant team to a national power. In 2012 we thought we may have gone as far as he we could go with him and many people wanted him gone. But what happened??? He put together one of the greatest Mizzou teams to ever play (the 2013 Tigers) and got us within a game of a national title again (note he's the only Mizzou coach to get us that close twice). And for icing he won as another SEC east title. I think no one knows more then Pinkel himself that the thing that would make his career complete at Mizzou would be a national title. I think he will have another opportunity soon, and I think (if the cards are played right) that he will have the most complete team he has ever had when he gets that opportunity. I think Lock, long term, is the real deal and I think allot of these young players will grow fall into line a be just as good as all the great Mizzou classes before them (and maybe better). I know optimism is not a popular among Mizzou fans, but have some faith in Pinkel and the process! Now i'm done! There is still a lot to look forward to Mizzou. And remember not to think anything is impossible in sports. You know how I know? This week ill be cheering on my Royals as they attempt to make their second World Series in as many years. In the words of Chuck Berry "It goes to show you never can tell."