For only the third time in over 40 years, it appears Missouri will be looking for a new men's basketball coach. SportsByBrooks has about the most official information you could ask for in the matter: his name has been removed from his parking space. (UPDATE: Chad Moller says it was stolen a couple of days ago. Disregard. And apparently the players haven't been told yet. Maybe this ISN'T official. Maybe it will NEVER be official. Maybe the plan is to have Anderson coach both teams next year. Sigh.) (UPDATE II: It's officially official.) This is the first time over half a century that Missouri has lost a major coach to another college program -- Frank Broyles left after the 1957 football season to take over, strangely enough, Arkansas. (About 40 years later, even more strangely, he would fire Nolan Richardson, Mike Anderson's mentor.)
There are a lot of ways to feel betrayed by the events of the last week, and there will be more reaction later, but for now, I'll just say this: five years ago, this program was in shambles. Because of the hire that Mike Alden made, and the job Mike Anderson did, the job is infinitely more attractive now than it was then. Combine that with the fact that Mike Alden hasn't made a bad hire since 1999 (Quin Snyder, who looked like a decent hire himself until Ricky Clemons came to town), and there are infinite reasons to be optimistic about the direction this program will likely take.
Like most, I would have preferred to retain Anderson's services, but it hasn't worked out that way, and now we move on.
As I prepare further analysis ... look, everybody, a roundtable! Consider this your Mike Anderson overflow thread.
1 - Name something else in this universe as powerful as Jimmy Sexton.
2 - Big East: Overrated or unfortunate?
3 - To combine two user questions ... best movie: Good Burger, A Goofy Movie, The Departed or Good Fellas? I'm confident in saying this is the first time this question has ever been asked.
4 - I'm going to be late for work today because I have to take the dog to get groomed. What's the lamest thing you do on a semi-regular basis?
7:00 AM
The Beef: #1 – The sucking powers of a hooker on pay day….I guess I am a little punchy this morning
#2 – While this will probably come as no surprise, I think they were just a hair more unfortunate than overrated. The injury to Wright of G’Town certainly hurt, as well as whatever his name was from St. John’s. 2 teams got knocked out by 2 other teams (and I realize it goes both ways on that one). Pitt…well…am beginning to think Dixon is starting to perform like Norm used to a bit back in the day. ‘Nova was just so strong at the start of the year, but they really did tank and were probably overrated a bit. L’ville really did get straight-up upset, while ND just got a bad matchup (and certainly got upset as well).
#3 – Not seen either of the first two. Seen both of the last two, and I have to give it to Good Fellas by a bit over The Departed. Great casts in both though.
#4 - These Roundtables….HEEEEEEEEY OH!!!!
8:00 AM
Doug: 1 - Mike Alden's wallet whip-out, apparently. Seriously, shouldn't someone on the MU Board of Regents say, "Enough?" They just gave Mike Anderson an extension and pay raise within the last two seasons, and he's angling for yet another one? That would make three, right? I'm sure Anderson is a nice guy and all, but besides the lone Elite Eight run, I'm not really sure I understand why Mike Alden is so keen to pay him to stay.
2 - I think it's fair to say Pitt, Syracuse, and Notre Dame were all overrated. Pitt especially since they still pulled the number one seed, despite getting bounced in their first game at the Garden. I do think the committee placed too much emphasis on how "tough" rather than "good" the conference is as a whole. Sure, Marquette as the 11 seed made the Sweet 16, but they probably don't if they're not facing a Syracuse squad they had already beaten once before. I do think getting through the Big East conference season is a very tough road, but that doesn't necessarily make you more tournament ready than any other team out there.
3 - I thought The Departed was very good, until the last 20 minutes, when it was like Scorsese decided he didn't want the movie to last for five hours, but he didn't know how to end it at three, so he went the everybody-dies route.
4 - Following the Mike Anderson Watch (Part III).
Bill C.: Well then...I see Beefy raised (lowered?) the bar pretty high (low?) right out of the gates with Question 1.
1. My ability to make references to either music, food or boxing, no matter the topic. That, and Ashton Kutcher.
2. Two straight years of pretty significant under-achieving in the tournament suggests that they're overrated, but there was certainly some context involved (injuries, etc.). That said, while I think all 11 Big East teams in the field deserved to make it, I'd like to believe that the over-seeding will be a little bit more under control this year. It won't, but for now I'll pretend that it will.
3. Departed was very good, but Good Fellas was amazing. The point of view in that movie was incredibly unique and innovative, while Departed was just good in a "standard movie" kind of way.
But the answer still has to be Good Burger. Duh. There is great, and then there is transcendent.
4. Either taking the dog to the groomer or, you know, being in bed by 9:30 more often than not.
The Beef: So now do we sit around and wait for ZD to get out of his morning staff meeting and drop F-bombs about Eastern European goaltenders?
Bill C.: Pretty much. That, or wait to see what Sleepy is able to type through a Nyquil-induced coma...
9:00 AM
ZouDave: 1 - Chipotle Burritos and their ability to "pave the road" so to speak.
2 - OVER-RATED. I won't doubt that their season is a grind and that it's tough to get through it with a good record, but that's going to be true of the Big XII starting next season. We will get the same love? Magic 8-Ball laughs at your question.
3 - I'm going to buck the trend here and say The Departed. I absolutely love that movie, I love every character in the movie and don't feel that the movie could have been improved at all by replacing anyone in the main cast. Not to take away from Goodfellas at all, which is also one of my favorites, but I'm giving it to The Departed.
4 - Beef stole my answer here! I don't know...in fitting with this question vs the responses already given and the responses expected I don't know which way to go. I'm probably lame for still liking games like MLB The Show as much as I do, but I do.
And f*** you if you don't like Pepe Reina, the Spanish keeper for Liverpool. He's one of the Top 10-15 keepers in the world but he'll never get to feature it for his national team because Iker Casillas is ahead of him and he's Top 3. And with only a year separating their ages, Reina can do nothing about it. Then there's Victor Valdes, same age as Reina, that has allowed the fewest goals 2 seasons in a row in Spain's top league. Embarrassment of riches, like Mizzou at WR only a lot better.
The Beef: Cant they just move to another Spanish speaking country and play for them? They don’t have that sort of reciprocity set up?
Bill C.: RECIPROCITY!!!!
The Beef: ANSAR….GET THE CAR!!!
/inside joke about T. Harv
Bill C.: I think you mean T$. Harv.
The Beef: Whose hot tub is he in these days? How has his name not come up in the pending coaching search?
ZouDave: I have a new answer to #4:
Whenever anyone uses even moderately big words, like Reciprocity, I can't help but think of movie lines that also include those words.
In this case, I'm taken to "Chicago" when Mama Morton begins singing her song "When You're Good to Mama..." and she says:
Because the system works,
The system called....
RE-CI-PRO-CI-TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Bill C.: WOOHOO! I'm off the hook. Quoting Chicago is so much worse than getting your dog groomed.
Says me.
The Beef: My goodness….yeah it is…that was just terrible
ZouDave: suck it
Michael Atchison: Sorry, guys, I absolutely can’t do this today. Mr. Sexton has a million things for me to do.
The Beef: LEAKER!!
SleepyFloyd7: no type, just pics
Answer 1
Answer 2 (11/4=2.75 - so maybe a little underwhelming, but they had 2 BE vs. BE in the round of 32)
Answer 3
Answer 4 (Dubbing in barter commercials at the radio station. Mind-Numbingly Boring.)
Snot is powerful. Discuss.
10:00 AM
ZouDave: The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of a basketball coach's agent.
ghtd36: Alright, let's do this.
1- The ability of the Missouri fan base to turn on a guy over unsubstantiated reports despite the fact that the only -- ONLY -- thing coming directly from the man in question is his commitment to the school. As I just Twittered at Spencer's esteemed co-host, it's important to separate the dancer from the dance, to drop a modestly obscure WB Yeats reference. Mike Anderson has done nothing wrong. You can hate Jimmy Sexton, but he's just doing his job really well. In all, it's a crappy situation for John Q. Mizzou Fan, but in the words of the philosopher Ron Washington, that's the way baseball go.
2- I'm going to go with slightly overrated. Everyone was getting their proverbial panties in a wad over the 11 bids, but A) college basketball is down across the board this year, and B) the Big East, it is now apparent, is a collection of good-not-great evenly matched teams. St. John's is not a great team. Georgetown is not a great team. Heck, I'm not even convinced that UCONN is a great team (they have a great player, no doubt about it).
3- Gimme Goodfellas, though don't sleep on A Goofy Movie. In the end, aren't we all just trying to get to the Powerline concert? Isn't the Powerline concert just a metaphor for happiness? I'm feeling particularly philosophical this morning, if you couldn't tell?
4- Light candles in my apartment. Yeah.
ZouDave: The Zen philosopher Basha once wrote, "A flute with no holes, is not a flute. And a donut with no holes is a danish."
SleepyFloyd7: Tepper is Yankee Candle Kid??!!??!
Mmmmm, Sandalwood.
ghtd36: Well, now everyone has sources. Some dude in Oklahoma City says it's a done deal of Anderson to Arkansas, and Andy Katz is saying it's likely. But ESPN is also reporting that Anderson is likely to stay.
Jimmy Sexton is a super evil genius.
1:00 PM
SleepyFloyd7: OK, I'm rallying from the cold-med vision quest I've been on.
I'll ask a serious question - In this hyper-speed media age, is there anything any of the various parties involved (CMA, Alden, BOC, Sexton, ARK AD, etc.) be doing differently? Is it incumbent upon the Mizzou Athletic Department to "take control" as some have suggested? Does Mike Anderson have some responsibility to make some kind of statement to douse the fire of rampant speculation?
OR
Is this just a case where the NEED TO KNOW NOW has overgrown any practical place in reality?
The Beef: I don’t really think there was anything else for Alden and the BOC to do, except maybe to try to have done this thing sooner since everyone had been talking extension long before Ark came around. But, I think they went through the process as they would have, and ended up fleshing out a man who does not seem as committed to the school as they were willing to be to him.
ghtd36: First of all, I'd like to point out that Mike Anderson has been at a funeral, and there's nothing certain.
That said, to once again quote a philosopher, the game is the game. I think this is a case where rumblings became rumors, rumors became reports, reports became facts and facts became Gospel. The only thing someone could do would be to be open and honest about what's going on, but that would ruin any kind of levereage, so to answer your question, no.
ZouDave: All I really would want differently in this situation is a faster resolution. I'm basically indifferent as to what resolution we'll get, I just wish it was over so it can stop being so belabored a point. I do NOT thing Anderson should be required to respond to every rumor in the media, and the same goes for Alden or anyone else involved. If they do that, they'll never get their jobs done. As with most media circuses, I blame the media far more than the people they're covering. There's so many outlets trying to be heard that they're just trying to one-up each other while simultaneously not making any truly definitive statements and everyone sees through it. I think Gabe DeArmond is a perfect example of how this should be covered. He's put nothing out there he hasn't heard for himself, he's been very clear about stating what is rumor, what appears to be facts, when he's guessing, etc., and he's trying to keep his readers informed without becoming a spectacle himself. But many others aren't doing that, and it's leading to people hating Anderson for things he's never said or even done. It's much like the Tebow effect. People hate on Tim Tebow because of everything the media has said about him or how much coverage he got. He couldn't help any of that, he just is who he is. He'd still be the same person whether ESPN slept outside his home or not. So if you're annoyed with the coverage, hate those covering it not what's being covered.
I just want this done so we can move on. I'm confident Missouri will have a basketball team next year, and I'm confident that we'll win more games than we lose, and I'm confident we'll have a coach. The rest are just details.
ghtd36: Report from Chris Bahn at Arkansas360.com is that Arkansas has approved an offer of 7-years, $2.2 million for Mike.
The reports coming out said that Alden was/is offering $2 million.
If CMA leaves for $200,000 a year, I'm going to be a little perturbed.
The Beef: That will be the smallest gap between what we have been paying him and what has reportedly been offered by UGA/Oregon/Ark. In the end, it may just prove that he was missing a small part at the end of sentences regarding Mizzou.
"I am committed to bringing a National Championship here…..as long as Arkansas does not come calling."
ZouDave: Well if he leaves when the difference per year is $200,000 then it should be obvious this wasn't a move about money. It would be because Arkansas is where Mike Anderson wants to be.
I can't begrudge him that, but I do wish he had done better with his time here in this last 12 months.
ghtd36: I'll be very interested to see how he is perceived by the Missouri fan base if he leaves for such a small increase.
The Beef: I don’t imagine very well since he is the first coach of a major sport in some time to leave for somewhere else on his own accord.
ghtd36: That's absolutely true, but then I'd like someone to challenge him to explain his "I want to retire at Missouri" comment.
ghtd36: Jinx.
ZouDave: Was the last one Dan Devine?
ghtd36: Matter thinks it would be the first time since Dan Devine; anyone care to confirm/rebuke?
The Beef: I'd assume so.
ZouDave: That's actually pretty remarkable when you think about it. Even kansas can't say that, since both Larry Brown and Roy Williams voluntarily left for what they considered greener pastures. kansas fans will obviously argue, rightfully so, that they didn't suffer with either departure and they're right I'm just saying it's crazy to think the last time a coach left us for something better was freaking Dan Devine. That's, what 40 years ago?
SleepyFloyd7: Tepper - he said that The Plan was to retire here. Plans change.
The Beef: My plan is to retire here….. as long as Arkansas does not come calling
ZouDave: ZouDave > Dave Matter
therefore
Zou > Matter
SleepyFloyd7: That's saying something!
ZouDave: To stick with philosophy, and also an awesome reach of a tie-in:
Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
ZouDave: and I just got an email from my mom, linking to an ESPN article saying Anderson likely to leave Mizzou. Her question:
Have you heard about this yet?
No, mom. First it's ever been mentioned. But thanks for the heads up.
Bill C.: Oh, moms.
Bill C.: And the answer, via The Beef, is clear: Anderson would be the first coach to leave for another college job since ... Frank Broyles. And it all ... comes ... full circle.
ZouDave:
3:00 PM
ZouDave: Good lord, the comments in the post from Bill about Gabe's tweet is going to make our round table look like the kid's table.
The Beef: Busy day on the ol’ Interwebs. Think we can start a live-game thread for the MU/kU softball game and get the same turnout?
ZouDave:
Bill C.: Man oh man, I'm almost embarrassed to post this now.
ZouDave: You need to put in some time markers of some kind so people know when shit changed and why we stopped talking amongst ourselves.
The Beef: And besides…you are going to need an overflow thread pretty soon as it is
ZouDave: Yeah, seriousry
