The other day I was listening to sports talk radio like I always do and flipping back and forth between a few channels, when I came across a sports talk show talking about ESPN's College Gameday coming to Columbia, MO. There is quite the buzz going around town with Gameday coming in, along with the possibility of Missouri knocking off the #1 Oklahoma Sooners.
As someone who has grown up in Columbia and has seen some of the best and worst of Tiger athletics over the years, I truly believe right now is no better time to be a Mizzou fan. Mike Alden has done a tremendous job in bringing in great coaches and improving many of the athletic programs, however Mizzou has still yet to really hit the big stage in football.
Which brings me back to what I heard on the radio yesterday. As I listened in the DJ was ranting about how Missouri fans are already talking doom and gloom, and here we go again, another huge stage set for a big disappointment by the Missouri Tigers. Making his point that Mizzou has already hit the big stage by getting to this point(6-0) and having College Gameday come to Mid-Missouri. His point was basically, if Mizzou loses 55-0 we should still be proud and know that we have "arrived"...
As I said previously, right now is a great time to be a proud Tiger fan and an exciting time for Mizzou athletics, but I couldn't have disagreed with this DJ more than when he was making this point on the air yesterday. Mizzou has proved to be a pretty good team so far this year, but what makes good teams great is winning the BIG games, which is something Gary Pinkel and the tigers have not been able to do since his tenure as the the Tiger's coach. Sure, we have one some pretty big exciting games, but no BIG XXII titles, and definitely no big bowl games have been won so far...My point is, this game has HUGE implications for Mizzou, by winning it could change the face of the program from good to great. You don't play athletics to win the mediocre games or the somewhat challenging games, you play to win the biggest game on the biggest stage, and until Mizzou does that I feel like there will always be the, "Oh here we go again feeling coming from the dejected townies who walk out of Faurot field after a disappointing big game." But, for this hometown kid, I hope they finally get the BIG W' and reach that big stage!! MIZ
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