1. Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk covers all topics

Whew. Where to even start in this comprehensive, wide-ranging question-and-answer session that Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk conducted with reporters on Monday? The transcription from Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou.com is thorough, to say the least. Aaron Reiss of the Kansas City Star had his own version of the Q&A, too. Also, here is Columbia Daily Tribune writer Cameron Teague-Robinson’s write-up.

I’m not going to take too much from what’s been written, so please make sure you read the full stories from the writers who conducted the interview with Sterk.

• The revenue issue seems convoluted but troublesome. I’m not going to even act like I’m an expert on major college athletic department budgets, but Sterk told reporters the budget deficit has grown over what’s been reported. Sterk did go on to say that he’s “hopeful” they can balance it this year.
• There are over 1,000 NEW season ticket holders for football, but that doesn’t mean season tickets are up. In fact, Sterk said, season ticket numbers are down “at this point.” Meanwhile, Sterk said they’re being more aggressive in basketball season ticket renewals and believes they can approach the numbers from 2017-2018, even with one fewer Porter on the roster.
• Sterk continues to be supportive of Barry Odom and his staff, but he didn’t answer any pointed questions directly. I’m not going to guess whether it’s “athletic director”-speak or deflection, but the questions on necessary improvement are interesting.

Again, this is about as wide-ranging a Q&A as you can get, so I’d recommend you’d read the whole transcription at PowerMizzou.com, plus the articles from the Kansas City Star and Columbia Daily Tribune.

2. Who is Missouri’s biggest rival, and who do you WANT to be Missouri’s biggest rival?

There’s a part in the Sterk interview where he addresses the Jeff Long-to-Kansas move, and Missouri’s on-going rivalries. I’m sure this has been discussed here a ton, but I’m interested in what you think.

Two questions. The first — who is Missouri’s current biggest rival across all sports? This means they actively play each other.

And the second — who do you WANT Missouri’s biggest rival to be?

If you selected “other” for either poll, let me here your thoughts in the comments.

3. Frank the Tank gets a start and a win in the CFL

I missed this in the links from Monday, but my personal favorite former Missouri quarterback, James Franklin, led the Toronto Argonauts to a 20-17 win against his former team, the Edmonton Eskimos, over the weekend.

Franklin’s stat line wasn’t gaudy (16-24 passing, 217 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 6 carries, 31 yards, 1 TD rushing), but he worked with Toronto running back James Wilder, Jr. (Hey, that name sounds familiar!) in the win.

Check out Franklin’s highlights below, courtesy of CFL Insider.

And here’s the post-game interview with Franklin, from the Toronto Argonauts’ YouTube channel. Franklin sounds exactly the same, and man, it looks like he hasn’t aged at all. Great to see him doing well in America’s Hat.

Yesterday at Rock M

• Drew Lock’s Heisman campaign gets off to “shaky” start

More Links:

• Here’s a look at the Kentucky-Missouri football game from the Wildcats’ POV, courtesy of the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Jon Hale.
• New pictures of dirt and cranes! It’s your latest South Endzone Project photo gallery, courtesy of Mizzou Athletics.