After prefacing with a “He is such a stand-up guy that I feel lousy writing this column,” The Trib’s Joe Walljasper laid out the case for why firing Kim Anderson now might be the most humane option. There are no shocking, new revelations here, but Joe is a very good writer, therefore it’s a very good read.
If you haven’t been to games at Mizzou Arena lately — and you probably haven’t — they have become almost surreal, played in eerie quiet in front of the least-judgmental portion of the fan base. Those prone to agitation stopped coming a while back. On Wednesday, the student section consisted of the band and three Antlers.
This is what the absence of hope looks, sounds and feels like.
I know Anderson says he wants to keep fighting and win enough games to save his job. I would love to see that, too. It would be an incredible story. But it isn’t realistic.
Meanwhile, to make the lousy feelings that much stronger, Austin Peay’s head coach Dave Loos — father of Mizzou assistant Brad Loos, whose daughter Rhyan has been battling cancer — has taken a leave of absence to focus on chemotherapy and fighting cancer as well.
Best wishes to Coach Dave Loos and @AustinPeayMBB as he takes a leave of absence to focus on his health. Keep fighting strong, coach!
— Jared Stillman (@JaredStillman) January 5, 2017
Best wishes and speedy recovery to APSU coach Dave Loos. Great coach. Greater person.
— Kim Anderson (@CoachAndersonMU) January 6, 2017
(That the first response to that Anderson tweet was someone heckling him was ... predictable. And quite pathetic.)
If you have a shred of humanity, there’s no way to feel good about calling for Anderson’s firing. There’s no way to build up a good, righteous lather for more than a few minutes at a time. There is no fun in this. In a couple of months, this tenure will probably be over, and we’ll be talking about replacement candidates. But for now, there is only the miserable present.
Happy Friday, everybody!
Other Links
Lots of odds and ends today.
- PowerMizzou posted a list of Mizzou’s top 10 most wanted remaining recruits for 2017. Spoiler: lots of DTs near the top.
- Mizzou Women’s Hoops trailed No. 24 Kentucky by 13 heading into the fourth quarter last night in Lexington, then made a late charge to get to within two before falling. Here’s The Trib’s recap, and here are some highlights:
- MIDNIGHT MADNESS! FOR SOFTBALL!
- Your No. 19 Mizzou Gymnastics team opens the season on Friday night at home against Ball State and No. 24 Illinois.
- Mizzou Soccer’s star sophomore-to-be Sarah Luebbert made the camp roster for the US’ U-23 team.
- The Mizzou Diving teams managed 11 top-11 finishes at the big Tennessee Diving Invite this week.
- New PAPN! We talk about the national title game ... after about half an hour of talking about 2017, Minnesota winters, Popeye’s, etc.