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On the 18th day of December, the Mizzou Tigers gave to me— Braggin’ Rights anticipation and Early Signing Day!

Mizzou News for Wednesday, December 18

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On the 18th day of December, the Mizzou Tigers gave to me— Braggin’ Rights anticipation and Early Signing Day!

Excitement is in the air for Braggin’ Rights, y’all! It’s time for my most favorite game of the year, the one I remember most throughout my years as a Mizzou fan. When I was a kid all the way up through college, my family was in attendance, no matter what. It was always quite the trip— we’d go to Union Station and walk around, visiting the Fudgery and a shop where we’d buy our yearly Christmas ornament. Then we’d head over to Houlihan’s for dinner and go to the game, whether it was at the arena, Kiel, or Savvis. I saw some great games back in the day, including the greatest one ever played. I’m talking about the 3-overtime game in 1993, of course. A game in which we almost left before it was over. A game in which my father wanted to leave, but my mom and I said no, absolutely not. We were staying. To this day, he will never live that down.

It was such a memorable game that in 2014, The Godfather of Rock M, Bill Connelly, wrote about it in a countdown of Mizzou’s Greatest, a series looking at teams, games, and players in Mizzou’s past worthy of the highest regard. From the post:

You want a huge game in the present tense? Mizzou was 5-1 and had yet to look even remotely impressive -- the Tigers had beaten Central Missouri, Jackson State, Coppin State, and SMU by a combined 13 points and lost to Arkansas by 52. They desperately needed a win. Illinois, meanwhile, was 6-1 and 19th in the country, a young team with grand ambition in a super-tough league.You want an incredible game? Try three overtimes, multiple comebacks, insane late drama, unlikely heroes, and two fate-changing missed free throws.

You want implications? Illinois went 11-9 the rest of the way, barely made the NCAA Tournament, and lost in the first round. Mizzou, meanwhile, won 18 of its next 19 games, went undefeated in Big 8 play, and reached the Elite Eight.

You can read Bill’s piece in all its glory here.

Nowadays, I still attend the game, but with one of my dear college friends, fellow Rock M writer, Ryan Faller (my fam lives in FL now), and I hope it will get back to those days when the game would sell out so quickly — I once waited in line at Hearnes through my first two classes just to make sure we’d get tickets. I anxiously await the day when Enterprise Center is so full of black & gold (and orange & blue) and so loud you can’t hear yourself think. Will that be this year? Doubtful.

Regardless of how many people are in attendance, I am PUMPED for Saturday, even if the game is at noon. Braggin’ Rights deserves more than a damn 12pm start time, y’all. But I’ll be there. And I can’t wait.

Today marks an important day for Mizzou’s future— Early Signing Day!

And just in time, Pete Thamel reports that Mizzou is retaining Ryan Walters as Defensive Coordinator! I know he’s been out recruiting, so this shouldn’t come as a shock, but it’s nice to see anyways.

Coach Drinkwitz shared this super cool graphic on his twitter late Tuesday morning. Love it. That pen is really sharp looking.

Peter Baugh from The Athletic had a great primer piece on where Missouri’s 2020 class stands on Signing Day Eve. There’s a really nice quote from JJ Hester’s mom in the story regarding their official visit. When asked about Coach Drinkwitz, she said, “I just feel like he’s going to take care of my son on and off the field. I believed that when he said that.” If you’re a subscriber, I suggest you check it out. Non-subscribers! Yeah, I’m talking to YOU! Follow this link to get 40% off right now!

Additionally, it looks like Coach Drink was able to get Elijah Young back on board, and he’s coming to campus early! Welcome, Elijah!

Onto the links!


Yesterday at Rock M


More Links:

Football

Hoops

  • Men’s hoops is also doing some great work in the community, delivering the teddy bears from Sunday’s ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ to Rainbow House! You can also check out pics on their twitter here.

Other Mizzou Sports

  • The Mizzou Network sat down with Jim Sterk for their monthly interview on Inside the Huddle.

Former Mizzou Player News (AKA- Denver sports beat)

  • There are only two days left to vote for the WNBA’s kicks contest. #2 seed Soph’s Nike LeBron 16 ‘Heritage’ is facing off against #8 seed Elena Delle Donne’s Nike KD 12 Custom Lion King, and is currently winning! Go vote! You can see the whole bracket on WNBA.com.
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