Mizzou in the '00s: Best Moments of the Decade, #1
by Bill C. on Jan 11, 2010 9:00 AM CST
in Mizzou History
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PrintHonorable Mention Moments
10. Basketball: Mizzou 78, Iowa 77 (2001)
9. Volleyball: 2005 Elite Eight
8. Football: 2008 Cotton Bowl
7. Football: 2005 Independence Bowl
6. Basketball: 2002 Elite Eight
5. Basketball: Mizzou 62, Kansas 60 (2009)
4. Wrestling: Ben Askren Wins Mizzou's First National Title (2006)
3. Football: Mizzou 41, Nebraska 24 (2003)
2. Basketball: March 2009
1. Football: Mizzou 36, Kansas 28 (2007)
Let's give this one the same treatment as moment #2. We've said all we can say about it, so let's go to the artwork (most of which comes from Sarah Becking and The Trib's archive ... if one game was Sarah's crowning achievement, this was it).
Why is this #1 over the 2009 Elite Eight run? First, because Mizzou got a step closer to the championship game than they did with the Elite Eight run (consider it a pseudo Final Four). Second, because in the end, Mizzou has made other Elite Eight runs, but there has only been one "biggest game in the history of both football programs," and Mizzou won it. And that will always be the case. And it was the greatest single moment of the decade.
We'll cap it off with something Atch wrote the next week:
Then, on Friday, already surrounded by a family of Tigers in town for Thanksgiving, I drove to the airport to meet my friends Scott (in from Denver) and T.J. (New York). In recent years, with the demands of careers and families, our gatherings had been limited to weddings and funerals. But with our alma mater’s football team set to play its arch-rival in the year’s biggest game, we ran out of excuses not to get together. As we caught up and remembered winter nights at the Hearnes Center and spring Saturdays at Simmons Field, I realized that the Missouri Tigers had blessed me with the chance to share time with these great friends.
And then, of course, came Saturday night. I’ve never seen a stadium so electric, or a Tiger team so self-assured. From my perch on the verge of 40, it’s easy to forget how young these guys are. Chase Daniel and Martin Rucker are barely old enough to remember the past’s great disappointments. They don’t believe in curses, they believe in each other. When Stryker Sulak and Lo Williams fell down like hard rain on Todd Reesing to secure a heart-stopping triumph, I looked to my right at my wife, who has shared the joy and despair of Tiger sports with me for nearly two decades, and I saw relief. I looked left at my father-in-law, who played on that star-crossed 1960 team, and I saw vindication. Then, as I thrust my hands in the air and looked up into the night sky, from which no calamity had fallen, my mind drifted to the elegant toast T.J. made at Scott’s wedding. Traditionally, he said, the guests bless the newly wedded couple. But when a bride and groom like this share their moment, they bless us.
Missouri Tigers, you bless us. The curse is dead.
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The picture with Chase talking to Fowler
My yellow press credential is at the far left of that shot.
It all seemed like such a blur. I remember walking out to the parking lot after I got all my post-game audio, and some very cold KC-Star employees were handing out sample front-pages of the next day’s paper with Mizzou #1 as the headline.
Unbelievable day.
The sleeper has awoken. . .awakened. . .he woke up.
I can't remember when I actually went to sleep that night
It may have been morning, and post re-watching the game twice.
Yep. The best.
Will Ebners Hit Parade, Pain TV; Channel 32; All the time! (PDT)
by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Jan 11, 2010 11:22 AM CST reply actions
I had to break into my house that night.
My (then) wife was still at her parents’ house in Augusta, ks. Through trading cars and figuring out semantics, I left the keys to the house with her. Wasn’t really a problem, I had the other car and had the garage door opener.
Well, going to the game that night my dad picked me up so I didn’t drive. I grabbed my car keys, as I always do, and went to the glory that was this game.
I got home and dad dropped me off, I went to the front door and pulled out my keys: house keys are not there. Garage door opener is in the car…in the garage. All doors are locked. Dad’s already on his way home and doesn’t have a cell phone.
It’s well after midnight at this point, and those of us that were there remember this was a VERY cold night. I didn’t really want to be be outside for very long.
Now, also keep in mind, I’d just been to a Mizzou game and was wearing black stocking cap, black gloves, black shirts, etc. And there I am, at nearly 1:00am, going around the house checking every door and window to see if anything is unlocked.
I tried breaking open the door going into my basement from my back yard. Kudos to that door and lockmaker, it took my best shots for a solid 5 minutes and didn’t budge.
Finally, I found a window in my living room that looked over my deck that was unlocked on the inside. The problem was the screen was in the way so I couldn’t get to the window. I found a gardening tool of some kind laying in the yard that had a sharp end and cut the screen out of the window, opened the window from the outside and crawled my fat ass through the open window and into the warmth of my house. My pets were terrified, as they should have been. Thank God the dog was with Andrea still, or she would have been barking like crazy.
It’s a wonder that no neighbors saw me and called the cops. I couldn’t have blamed them…some guy dressed in all black breaking into a home at 1am, why the hell would they think it was the owner of the house?
by ZouDave on Jan 11, 2010 3:04 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
This is maybe the best I've ever felt
as a sports fan, with the exception of the 2006 world series win. Best football game ever for me, no question. Love the pictures, and I plan to relive the warm fuzzy feelings by watching the videos when I get home tonight.
"I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all."
by sirensofsilence on Jan 12, 2010 10:09 AM CST reply actions
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