Ramblings From the Airport: Festivus + Sports’ Impact on your Well-being

It is Thursday afternoon, the beginning of Festivus, and my flight is delayed. I found out right after Faller dropped me off at the airport — “WAIT, DON’T GO,” I should have yelled — and so I’m sitting in a comfy chair at Starbucks annoyed and trying to do this whole Links thing early so when I finally get to Florida, I won’t have to do more work and can actually interact with my parents, who I haven’t seen in two years and one day. So obviously, my Airing of Grievances revolves around airport travel at the moment, and the fact that I’m not actually traveling.

Moving on.

The Rock M staff had an interesting conversation on the ol’ Slack channel on Thursday night after not one, but TWO heartbreakers, on whether or not it is worth it to be so invested in your team that you allow it to impact your happiness, even temporarily. Kortay was writing the football gamer, and was distraught about how many times he’d have to re-live highlights of the game to get through his well-written piece about that untimely L. Aaron compared it to Charlie Brown trying to kick a football, mixed in with some more “colorful” analogies that are better left unsaid.

Sam’s advice was this, as he enjoyed some Four Roses and watched Trevon Brazile play:

I don’t recommend tying your happiness to sports if you’re a Mizzou fan. If you’re thinking, Did they win? No = I’m mad, generally you’re going to live with a lot of disappointment that way.”

Nate also chimed in:

Certainly don’t tie happiness to Ws and Ls. Process brings me happiness.

Kortay agreed this was good advice from Sam, and I also agree, but countered with:

Is this good advice? Probably. Am I going to take it? Zero chance. Fully prepared for more and more heartbreak.

Aaron, who was more tuned in for the football game, and is also a die-hard Browns fan, said:

I’m not upset with the loss, but watching a team drive down and beat you after you just went ahead is just tough to absorb. Plenty to be happy about, plenty of effort, but the excruciating losses are what’s killing me.

Levi, an avid fan of Mizzou, the Chiefs, and the Royals:

Lots of heartbreak in there. But I wouldn’t say I tie it to my happiness. It is just the outcome of a fun game that the team I like didn’t win. It sucks and is upsetting, especially some of those Ls, but it does not impact my life one bit so there’s nothing to be mad about.”

Here’s where I come from with this, y’all, and as I was explaining this to Faller Thursday night, I had a hard time keeping emotion out of my voice. I don’t really allow myself to get too angry about any sports these days— I don’t have the mental bandwidth when there is so much more to worry about in the world, and even so much more to enjoy. I will NEVER be one to call for the immediate dismissals of a coach or tell a player to transfer or that they suck. It’s not helpful for anyone’s mental health to be #madonline, or angry in general because really, what good is it actually going to do? However, I do allow myself to get invested enough to be sad about a result (if warranted) or what it all means for short periods of time. I mean, I guess Sam’s point is— what good does it do to be sad, but WHATEVER, SAM. Let me feel this.

Y’all know my thoughts on Mizzou Basketball and Cuonzo Martin, both of whom I love dearly. I want the team to win and make some notable progress, like they did against Utah just last week. And I want Zo to succeed SO BADLY because he truly seems like a great human, the BEST human, and I want him here. I want nothing more for his many haters— there are SO MANY who have called for his scalp since the beginning — to shut their mouths and for this team to turn a corner and be good (better?). I want Zo here, and while I agree it’s not going well currently and things don’t seem to be headed in that good of a direction for anyone — which then makes me worried about his future — reading the vitriol spewed during games and after losses really does make me sad and impacts my mood. I don’t want to write about it, I don’t want to read about it, I don’t want to go online at all. It makes me mad at the “fans” who say these things, but sad personally that the team and Zo aren’t performing in a way to change that “fire him” narrative.

Bizarrely enough, and it really feels so unbelievable to type this— it seems there were also people calling for Drink’s head online after the bowl game loss? I’m sorry, but WHAT?!?! I wasn’t on the twitter too much Thursday night since I was enjoying my time at Braggin Rights (yes, I said enjoying, despite the lopsided result), but really, WHAT?

Anyway, back to basketball.

Was I actually that sad Mizzou lost to Illinois on Thursday night? Or got blown out by kansas a few weeks ago? No. I honestly didn’t expect them to win either of those games— those teams are far superior to our little ragtag bunch of misfits — but man… portions of this “fanbase” are ready to light this team on fire. What kind of way is that to live? So while people were mad that Mizzou got demolished by kansas or Illinois, for instance, I was so happy these games had returned that I didn’t even care what the end result was, as long as the team showed fight and tried to keep it close-ish. That’s the way I choose to live.

Anyhow, I know this is long and it’s Christmas Eve when you’re going to read this, so many of you probably won’t even see it, but I’d love to know your thoughts on this matter.

On to the Links! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

---

Yesterday at Rock M

• Josh covered the news of Baze’s transfer.
• Sam wrote a sad Study Hall, but you guys… TREVON IS GONNA BE GOOD!
• Lauren published their takeaways from Mizzou WBB’s big win over Illinois.
• COMING UP: A podcast— BK is back! And I honestly have no idea what else…

---

More Links:

Football

• Connor Bazelak transfer news: Eric Blum (Columbia Tribune). Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Wilson Moore (Columbia Missourian). Lila Bromberg (Kansas City Star).

• The Columbia Tribune’s Eric Blum wrote about Brady Cook, who dazzled in Armed Forces Bowl, sets up possible 2022 preview.
• KC Star: Nick Smith shared a slideshow from the Armed Forces Bowl. There are some great photos in here. Lila Bromberg said Brady Cook showed he could be Mizzou Tigers quarterback of future in Armed Forces Bowl.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Jeff Gordon wrote, Despite the loss to Army, Drinkwitz has Mizzou moving forward, while Matter said Brady Cook and the Tigers’ depleted defense stand out in bowl loss.
• Saturday Down South: Adam Spencer took a way-too-early look at the 2022 Mizzou season.
• In need of something to tug at your heartstrings? Check out players’ social media posts after the game and in response to the Baze news: Realus George, Ennis Rakestraw, Luther Burden, JaMori Maclin, Michael Maietti, Charles Hicks, Niko Hea
• This photo is unbelievable.

Hoops

• I love Vahe Gregorian’s writing, and I highly recommend his newest piece on the Tigers troubles, despite how depressing it is:

“Stay the course; stay the course,” he said. “We’ll continue to get better. We’ll continue to grow. I like who we are as a team. I like where we’re going.” Trouble is, he’s seeing a direction beyond what’s visible to others.

Much as we want to see it, too, especially when it comes to an awe-inspiring man and leader, the Show-Me State needs to have his vision of this team come into focus from the horizon. It needs to at least get back to a place where losses like this would be greeted with outrage instead of resignation or a shrug.

• On the heels of some truly weird announcements from other conferences regarding Covid-related game issues, the SEC announced new COVID-19 protocols for men’s and women’s basketball. According to the Missourian’s Anthony Kristensen, as long as teams have seven players and one coach available, the game must go on.
• The Tribune’s Chris Kwiecinski wrote a sobering piece: Cuonzo Martin sees growth in Mizzou basketball, but he’s running out of chances to show it. [sad face]
• The Missourian’s Anthony Kristensen provided some takeaways from Mizzou’s Braggin Rights loss.
• In a new Ten Hochman video, Ben shared some data of how shockingly bad the men’s basketball team is shooting the three-ball.
• Coach P! WE LOVE YOU

Mizzou in the Pros/Former Mizzou Player News

• TILLY was back in action on Wednesday with the G-League Magic, in the starting lineup and KILLIN IT. In his 29 minutes, he had 20 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting (5-5 on FT), with 5 rebounds, an assist, a block, a TO, and 4 fouls.
• DRUUUUU continues to be M.I.A. with the G-League SkyForce, and missed his second straight game. Hoping he’s okay.
• JC had an off night shooting-wise in the Jazz’s win over the T-Wolves on Thursday. While he played 24 minutes, he only scored 5 points on 2-9 shooting 1-6 from three, with 3 rebounds, 7 assists, a block, a turnover, and a foul.
• Reminder: SOPHIE and LINDSAY CUNNINGHAM will be holding a charity event before the South Carolina game!

— — — — — — — — — — — — —

If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now!

If you’re looking to sign up for a new streaming service, you can try FuboTV: click HERE for FuboTV access — FuboTV now has ESPN, CBS, FS1 and more sports channels.

(** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earncommissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)