Random Thoughts in Late September

It's been seven and a half weeks since I last posted to this blog. It's not I don't have anything to say, it's just that as I continue to get my life back, I have less time to write than while I was recovering from the kidney transplant.  As an update, my doctors have lifted all of my dietary and fluid restrictions and I am able to eat and drink pretty much whatever I like. I don't see any of my transplant team until mid December and my lab work is down to every other Monday morning.  So, life is good and I am keeping busy working a part time job and looking after my 97 year old mother.

I have spent the last four weekends in my old stomping grounds, Columbia, Mo. watching my beloved Missouri Tigers play football. Mizzou is 4-0 and really hasn't played anyone tough. They were rated as high as number six, but then beat 24 ranked Boston College and slipped to 8. A win last week over Vanderbilt dropped the Tigers to #11. My guess is the voters in the A-P poll don't think the Tigers schedule is as tough as the rest of the SEC teams ahead of them.  That is a logical assumption but keep  in mind Missouri has beaten ranked Power 4 opponent and the conference schedule was set by the SEC conference.  You know what's strange?  Today Mizzou climbed back into the ninth spot in the Associated Press poll despite having a bye yesterday. They've also moved up to number 9 in the coaches poll. I guess the writers and coaches think not playing anyone is better than winning.  Go figure.

As far as the NFL I haven't watched a game all season and have a lot of other things I can do on fall Sunday afternoons.  I might watch a game once it gets cold in December, but I have better things to do than waste my time on a league that has twice crapped on St. Louis football fans.

The 2024 MLB regular season came to a conclusion today with my beloved St. Louis Cardinals finishing eleven games back of the Brewers in the NL Central and missing the playoffs, again.  I haven't watched the team in over a month because they had mediocre starting pitching, a crappy bullpen outside of their closer and an offense that never came close to it's potential.  Still the birds ended up four games over .500 in a lame Central division.  If I owned the organization (the DeWitt Family does) I would give someone else beside John Mozielak a chance to be the general manager.  And, while he appears to be a nice guy, I would fire manager Ollie Marmol too.  He hasn't won in two years. It's not entirely his fault because Mozielak hasn't given him much of a team to work with.  But, as the saying goes, you can't fire the whole team.

Have people in the United States gone insane?  I can't believe millions and millions of voters say they will vote for Donald Trump.  The man is a pathological lawyer, somewhat senile and apparently thinks the voters are dumber than he is. Kamala Harris is more liberal than I care for but I will vote for her to save our democracy in the United States of America.  Now, having written that, I don't think anyone has ever said "I think I'll go look at a random blog to decide whom to vote for as president."

Does anyone know why Google no longer has a workable system for posting images on a Blogger? I've tried reading the instructions and even that doesn't work.

Have a great rest of September!

Thoughts from a Mizzou Fan on the 2015 Football Season

I have never seen anything like this in the 50 plus years I've been watching Mizzou play football. From a season in which the Quarterback was suspended and then kicked off the team to the team boycotting practice and demanding the resignation of the University President...to the Head Coach saying he was resigning because of his health, it certainly made for a unique year.

I am sorry QB Maty Mauk has been through such a pressure filled time in his life.  His father is battling cancer and I personally know that is a major mental challenge.  Maty Mauk also felt the pressure of a huge fan base dis-satisfied with his offense's inability to the move the ball.  Some of it was Mauk's fault but a large portion of the failure rested squarely on the shoulders of the offensive line.  This is more pressure than most 21 year old kids can handle and ultimately Mauk succumbed to it.  Apparently he also made a poor decision by placing himself in a position where he would get into trouble.  You know the result.  Head coach Gary Pinkel removed him from the team permanently.  I certainly wish Maty Mauk well and hope he can get some help and land on his feet somewhere he can contribute.  Mauk is a gifted athlete.

I have mixed emotions about the President of the University retiring.  I understand the frustration with the way minorities have been treated at times in Columbia.  I am white but I get it.  Keep in mind though that Columbia is probably the most liberal city in the state of Missouri.  But, it is in a region known as "LittleDixie".  I was not there to witness any of the insults but my belief is the insults and epithets were hurled by non-University of Missouri students in an effort to create racial disharmony.  The motivation is difficult to comprehend but the world is full of stupid ignorant people.  As far as TimWolfe resigning I believe it should not have happened.  As one much wiser than me put it..."how is one man supposed to stop racism in an entire state".  Wolfe could have been more transparent when approached by African American students but he should not have been terminated.  The Chancellor of the Columbia campus also resigned under fire.  R. Bowen Loftin had been the object of African American wrath for several months until the day of the University's Homecoming parade.  At that time an incident involving Wolfe and his car in the parade turned the wrath to him.  I do believe Loftin's resignation should have happened sooner.

This post is getting long so I will cut to the chase.  I am sorry that Gary Pinkel is resigning after restoring pride to a program that had been a laughing stock of the nation until this millennium.  Pinkel never got to a BCS game or won a Conference Title but he took Mizzou to the next level when he won divisional titles on four occasions in the Big 12 and SEC Conferences.  While I am sad to see Coach Pinkel go, I applaud his looking after his health and spending time with his family. Gary Pinkel you will be missed.

And finally while the Tigers could have played in a bowl game with a mediocre 5-7 record, I am glad they chose not to seek the NCAA's approval to play in one as did Minnesota and Nebraska. Missouri stated its reason as focusing on a new head coach and staff and recruiting for the future.  I am pleased with the selection of Barry Odom as the new head coach.  Odom is a former Tiger player and has distinguished himself as a top level Defensive Coordinator.  His players are glad he is going to be the boss. I'm pleased with him bringing in new staff for the 2016 season.  I hope the changes will take the Tigers to the next level.  But I know as a season ticket holder, alum and Tiger fan Odom will have his hands full in 2016 when he has road games at West Virginia, LSU, Florida, SouthCarolina, and Tennessee.  I am optimistic about the 2016 season.  But to wrap this up I hope I never see events at my beloved Alma Mater as I lived through this past season.  M-I-Z!