Missouri will host public tribute and press conference for Gary Pinkel at 10:30 a.m. CT

What's On

This is like the 19th time we've posted or tweeted this. Don't care.

So this is a pretty cool thing the athletic department is doing.

MUtigers.com: Mizzou Fans Invited to Celebrate Career of Gary Pinkel

Mizzou fans are invited to celebrate the career of Head Football Coach Gary Pinkel at a press conference Monday morning where he will discuss his recent decision to retire from coaching at the end of this season.  The event is open to the public, and will begin at 10:30 a.m. on the main floor of Mizzou Arena.

Doors will open at 9:30 a.m., and fans are encouraged to park on the south side of Mizzou Arena (Lot P), and enter through the Athletic Department south entrance.  Public can sit in sections 105, 106, and 107 to observe, and refreshments will be available.

For those unable to attend, the event will be televised live on the SEC Network.

The tributes and career retrospectives have only begun to roll in (I haven't even done mine yet!), but here are a few good ones from the weekend.

The Trib: Pinkel was right man, right time for Missouri

Actually, to call Pinkel loyal to his players and coaches doesn’t quite do him justice. He never fired an assistant in 15 years. He would rather extend the lifespan of a negative story by weeks rather than simply reveal why a player was being disciplined.

"Never once did I hear him throw any of his coaches under the bus or any of his players. Even with his personal friends, he just won’t do it," said Richard Miller, who usually eats lunch with the routine-obsessed Pinkel twice a week — Tuesdays at G&D Steakhouse and Thursdays at Bangkok Gardens — and is one of the athletic department’s biggest donors. "You have to weigh into what he says or almost trick him with a question to be able to get a feel for a particular player or so forth. That’s something he learned from Don James."

PowerMizzou: The Missouri Years

Now Missouri has at least three games remaining to say goodbye to a coach that rebuilt a program after decades of dormancy. A coach that is already the program's all-time winningest, with a current 117-73 mark in Columbia. A coach that, for whatever missteps, is known as a player's coach, who has graduated 97-percent of his seniors in the last five years.

Pinkel's tenure was marked by ups and downs, by a dramatic athletic shift from the Big 12 to the SEC, by key cultural moments off the field. But, make no mistake - for all those moments, he's left Missouri a better program than it was before.

New York Times: For Gary Pinkel at Missouri, an Evolution Followed by a Revolution

Mr. Pinkel has, throughout his tenure, managed to turn his face to the world. In 1957, Norris Stevenson became the first black scholarship football player at Missouri. The university marching band played "Dixie" and a fraternity waved a Confederate flag after every touchdown. Mr. Stevenson’s daughter said that her father’s wounds never entirely healed.

In 2001, Mr. Pinkel asked him to talk to the players of his experiences.

"They wanted to start bridging the gap with the African-American community, and it meant a lot to Dad," his daughter, Janet M. Stevenson, told me. "There were a lot of black athletes who were disgruntled with Mizzou."

Post-Dispatch: Tributes to Pinkel: 'He resurrected Missouri football'

Former Mizzou offensive lineman Max Copeland: "Coach Pinkel is such an apt personification of the term "toughness." Not just in his demeanor or speech, but in the success of our brothers and those who came before us. True leadership reflects itself in those who are led. Thus every fourth quarter victory, every converted 4th and 1, and even the marred, stoic faces of the young men fighting for old Mizzou are vivid exemplifications of a man founded on toughness and drive. I’ll forever remember being called into his office, on the assumption of impending lashes for the heavy metal volume in the locker room, and instead hearing the word "scholarship" (and thereafter trying to calm the ringing in my ears from adrenaline). The legacy Coach Pinkel will be leaving is beyond question, as is the toughness he will take with him to his next battle. As I felt in the autumn of 2013, so I do now: I fear for anything that dare test his will."

Requiem for a one-of-a-kind week

At least, last week had better be one of a kind.

The Trib: Telling players of his illness was 'the most emotional 15 minutes' of Pinkel's life

PowerMizzou: Catharsis in Kansas City
PowerMizzou: Tumultuous week gives way to emotional win

Post-Dispatch: What a week, what a night for Mizzou

In women's hoops...

Now that there's at least a little time to breathe, I will have a Study Hall post in the works soon, and we'll talk about basketball there. The women's basketball team is also undefeated so far...

MUtigers.com: @MizzouWBB Opens Season With 71-55 Victory at Missouri State

The Trib: Sophie Cunningham, Frericks record double-doubles as MU women win season opener

Next up:
MUtigers.com: @MizzouWBB Hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff Monday Evening

A hell of a volleyball weekend

Mizzou was down 13-7 in the fifth set against Kentucky yesterday ... and won. I don't know of any win probability calculators out there for women's volleyball, but let's just say that being six down, with your opponent needing two points to win, puts you wellll under 10%. Mizzou called timeout, then went on a 9-1 run to end the match. Hot damn.

Mizzou 3, Georgia 0
MUtigers.com: @MizzouVB Posts 3-0 Sweep Over Georgia

Mizzou 3, No. 18 Kentucky 2
MUtigers.com: Thunderous Comeback In Fifth Set Powers @MizzouVB To 3-2 Win At No. 18 Kentucky

You wish, Vols

Word within athletics staff here at UT is that the University of Missouri may move this week's game from Mizzou to Knoxville #pending #Vols

— Blake Roller (@BlakeRoller) November 15, 2015

Hey, Patrick Crawford of the MU athletic department, anything to this?

@BlakeRoller I can confirm that there is absolutely zero validity to this rumor.

— Patrick Crawford (@p_crawf) November 16, 2015

Okay, glad we covered all that.

To whoever started the idiotic rumor about #Mizzou moving this weekend’s game to Knoxville, the Mizzou media would like its 10 minutes back.

— Gabe DeArmond (@GabeDeArmond) November 16, 2015