On air radio personality Mike Claiborne recently wrote in the St. Louis American (a publication aimed at the black community) about Norm Stewart "(i)f you couldn't guard or be 6'10", get to the back of the bus and shut up. The issue of race only comes up by this crowd when it is to their advantage." Claiborne also pointed to Sundvold's one sentence comment regarding the hiring of Mike Anderson as evidence of his racism.

And so it continues in St. Louis. Ironically, Claiborne's words regarding race working for "their advantage" couldn't be more true, except the "they" is him, Demetrious Johnson, Onion Horton and the other usual suspects that make up St. Louis' Race Taliban.

Most folks have long gotten over the issue of race in sports. Claiborne's complete lack of support of his position makes it evident he's simply desperate to keep his industry alive and therefore protect his position in the sports community. And it's a good thing, Claiborne is one of the most sour, uninteresting on air personalities in St. Louis. His perpetual indifference makes me wonder why he's even in the business.

Those outside of St. Louis might remember Claiborne's name as the guy who called 86 year old hall of fame pitcher Bob Feller a racist during an interview in response to Heller commenting that "(a) lot of the players coming from the Caribbean, they don’t even know the rules.”

Which part of Feller's comments referred to race? The Caribbean isn't a race, it is a region that is inhabited by many nationalities and races. And yes, Mike, it is possible to speak generally about people without being a racist. It's called truth and if the words are true, then that is what matters. It sounded to me like Feller was indicting the Carribean baseball leagues as not doing a good job of teaching the rules rather than indicting Caribbean players because of their race. I'm not advocating Feller's position, I've never paid attention to this, but his comments are no more racist than speaking generally of the style of basketball play in Europe versus the United States or Canadian hockey versus U.S. hockey.

But back to Mizzou, we at Missouri have our favorite sons. Few have been as loved as Lamont Frazier, Melvin Booker, Brad Smith, Corby Jones, et al. In fact, the list would go on for pages. Being a minority myself (I'm Mexican), I take exception to the abuse of cries of racism because it detracts from legitimate racial issues. Nowhere in Claiborne's column does he support his charges of racism with facts. But then again, facts wouldn't serve him. The issue of race hasn't come up, Mike, except by people like you desperate to keep your industry alive and well.

Since I made a big deal about Norm Stewart's comments about Mike Alden below, I want to be fair and post this article in which he clarifies those comments.

No, this is not inside information, it is my opinion (as usual). Mike Alden is a smart career man. He will proactively move to protect his career and family by hunting down a new job immediately. If that process hasn't already happened, I would be shocked. With his position as university cheerleader/salesman, he cannot effectively perform when the BOC is trying to fire him and a large part of the fan base is calling for his head.

The furor has subsided mostly because people are losing their appetite for controversy, particularly after the announcement of Mike Anderson. That just means that Mike will go quietly into the night, not off the end of a plank.

Read the new notes here

Last week Missouri's favorite sons, Jon Sundvold and Norm Stewart, came out with some hefty words for Mike Alden. As of yesterday morning it looked like the Board of Curators was ready to act and give Alden the axe. Unfortunately the timing was wrong with the announcement of Mike Anderson and also there is speculation that the Board got mired down in some infighting about leaked information.

At any rate, what does that say if Sundvold and Stewart can draw a line in the sand and the BOC walks right over it? Will he and Norm lose their powers? Don't confuse this with me reading Harry Potter books. Sure, I flipped through four or five of them, but only for the pictures.

Since Friday, prognosticators have speculated that Missouri's Board of Curators met, fired Mike Alden, heard that he was negotiating with somebody, unfired him, reconvened in an emergency meeting concerning a "personnel matter" at 12:30 on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, then called a press conference for 3, finally had it at 4:30 and then...nothing.

Missouri's BOC creates fear, apprehension and skeptisism. Some believe it exists, others scoff and laugh. Those brave enough to throw out information about this shadow government are ridiculed and laughed at like they've just speculated about the purpose of Area 51.

"I heard the BOC is considering firing Mike Alden..."

Suuuure it is. And who's on the BOC, bigfoot?

Friday, Gary Link, Jon Sundvold and Norm Stewart all took their shots at Mike Alden. Norm Stewart took the most direct, devastating shot, indicating that Alden should be fired. Thus far the BOC's response has been to run off into a room, whisper, run out and say, "What? What's everyone looking at?" The actual BOC response went more along the lines of "stick it in your ear" followed by the usual "no comment".

Since nobody at Mizzou cares to comment, allow me to.

I don't have a personal issue with Alden and while I've been harsh with his professional performance, I have nothing ill to say about him whatsoever personally. That being said, Mike can no longer be an effective leader of Missouri's athletic department. As Norm Stewart said, this is a grassroots groundswell.

The University of Missouri is a public entity. The fan base, alumni and boosters are not to be ignored. This great university belongs to the people and the people want Mike Alden out as athletic director. We know that will eventually happen by virtue of reduced donations and other forms of pressure, but we don't want a slow process. You fire the people who need to be fired and move forward. That's true in any business.

The BOC is accountable to the people it serves. Not being able to handle this simple task just puts the spotlight on them, President Elson Floyd and Chancellor Deaton. When I think about the inaction I have seen from the BOC, President Floyd and Chancellor Deaton, I think about a quote from A Band of Brothers...

"He was not a bad leader because of the decisions he made. He was a bad leader because he did not make decisions"

The primary concern that I've heard about Mike Anderson is whether running 11 guys off the bench is a good idea. People are worried about the "40 minutes of hell". Let me translate 40 minutes of hell: give me 40 minutes of everything you have.

Hustle is the equalizer in sports. Hustle makes up for gaps in talent and where there are no gaps, it edges out the opposition. I love Mike Anderson's devotion to effort. I'm darn well infatuated with it.

At this point I know very little about him, but what I've heard from interviews of people in the know in Birmingham, we're lucky he's now a Missouri Tiger. Get on the A Train, Tiger Nation.

That's a huge relief. He's off to a good start.

Mike Anderson is a high quality hire. People looking for a sexy name are the same people who will only eat at chain restaurants due to a complete lack of vision and creativity. Anderson can and will get it done at Mizzou.

On a side note, I find it funny that people who make a living claiming to be sleuths didn't see this coming by a mile.

Now on to the next order of business...Mike Alden needs to be fired immediately. Hiring a coach hardly redeems his track record. Mike Anderson took this job because he believes it will advance his career, not so he can have occassional meetings with Mike Alden. Tiger Nation has spoken loud and clear from the minions to Norm Stewart.

Read the story in Sports Illustrated

Go Puff Normie!

I asked for Sundvold to do the deed below, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect Norm to step up to the plate. Alden is done. Thank you Norm.

This was found behind his desk...

Missourian article

Call the board of curators NOW. When you call, let them know you will not attend games and will not support the Tiger Scholarship Fund as long as Mike Alden is the athletic director. The time for a full frontal assault is today.

"I won’t surmise from that that we’ve been 100 percent dismissed from the committee, because as soon as I would surmise that, I would misinterpret what someone had said to me," said Link

St. Louis Post Dispatch

Mike Alden, who knows as much about basketball as I know about bus transmissions, will now pick our next basketball coach without the input of Gary Link or Jon Sundvold, the two basketball people on the search committee. As expected, this all came down through rumor, reports on ESPN, miscommunication, hard feelings, etc. Meanwhile, K-State hires a coach with absolutely no time wasted, no fanfare and no press. They needed a coach, they hired a coach.

My question is why is Mike Alden still the athletic director at the University of Missouri?

Call the Missouri Board of Curators and demand the return of Missouri athletics from the grips of Mike Alden. Mike, you're no longer needed here at Missouri.

BOARD OF CURATORS
Email address: boardofcurators@umsystem.edu
Fax: (573) 882-0010
Mailing address:
316 University Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
(573) 882-2388

Read the St. Louis Post article on Mike Alden's latest screw up right on the heels of his previous screw up.

Read my blog entry predicting this.

Yes, you find all of this self worship annoying. So do I, but it must be so.

Tiger Nation is perplexed, despondent, angry incensed, etc. that the greatest coach in the universe, Bob Huggins, will coach at K-State. That's right, the greatest coach in the universe is going to K-State during a year when many great jobs are open. This phenom of a coach is so dominating, so program-saving that he's going to Earth's version of purgatory.

Let me preface these comments by making it clear that I don't claim to be an insider. I don't reveal information, I reveal revelations.

With that being said, Mike Alden and possibly other higher ups are in a precarious position. He has fallen far out of favor with much of the fanbase, if not the vast majority of it. That has been intensified substantially by the apparent scratching off the list of Rick Majerus and Bob Huggins. Jon Sundvold, part of the search committee for the new basketball coach, even publicly expressed frustration over it.

"I respect Brady Deaton's opinion," Jon Sundvold told the Kansas City Star. "I wish they would have told us this four weeks ago. I went into this with an open mind and took a look at two guys that I might not have considered at first. But you look into the depths of two guys. I thought they would be two candidates that should be interviewed. That's not going to happen."

That's quite a development. Sundvold's comments were directed at Deaton and it was Deaton's call to not interview Majerus or Huggins, but it is Alden whose job hangs by a thread and it is Alden who could easily get pushed out...and Sundvold holds the final straw. Beyond Alden, Chancellor Brady Deaton and possibly even President Elson Floyd may also be on thin ice.

If Sundvold were so inclined, a public throwing up of the arms and a walking away from the search process would bring the fall of Alden and possibly more within the regime. The reason Sundvold was brought in was in large part to win back the masses of unhappy fans. Sundvold is simply a buffer. All Sundvold has to do to bring the entire thing down is to announce his departure and insinuate incompetence and Alden would be left fully exposed to the wrath of the fans.

If you think you've seen a storm within Tiger Nation, you've only seen a cool breeze if this were to occur.

Tigerboard has become a real hen house. It's about as bad as the American Idol message boards, not that I've ever been there. Now that Huggins is out of the picture (see below, I already told you this would happen), maybe Tiger fans can start acting a little more level-headed rather than flat-headed.

I've followed Missouri basketball for some time and I can't remember when there has been more hysterical anticipation than what is surrounding Bob Huggins right now. The only other time I remember this type of hype was when Quin Snyder was announced as our head coach. "Duke West", we were told. We know how that played out and we also know how mobs of crazed lunatics can sometimes get it wrong.

Let me break the news to you right now so you can start the mourning process...Bob Huggins will not be Missouri's next basketball coach. There is absolutely no way that a coach with his kind of baggage, real or perceived, will be put in place following Missouri's seven year crisis of reputation, particularly in light of the number of quality basketball coaches we can go after.

I know this hurts, but it hurts me more than it hurts you. No it doesn't.

For those in Tiger Nation insane enough to be pining for Bob Huggins after what we've been through the past seven years, here are some resources for you...

• Click here to watch Bob Huggins get arrested
  
  
• "Every year without fail the Bearcats trot out a police, er, starting lineup stocked with juco transfers and miscreants. Cin City ballers have been charged with every crime in the book -- and some that aren't: Donald Little was kicked off the team in April 2002 for taping his roommate to a lawn chair, throwing weights at his head, clubbing him with a whiskey bottle and burning him with a heated coat hanger. Only then did Little stab him. The warden of this outfit? Coach Bob Huggins. Yes, Huggy Bear has taken Cincy to 12 straight NCAA tournaments; the problem is that student-athlete is not the preferred term for describing the players who have gotten the Bearcats there. Huggins's 1996 comment "Our guys have done a good job educationally" rivals any of Baghdad Bob's assertions. The team's graduation rate, according to the latest NCAA figures, is 25%. But it was Coach Bob's performance during his DUI arrest in June that cemented his Most Vile status: When Huggins staggered from his Lexus, the officer spotted vomit on the inside of the car door. At least the puke matched Huggins's sweater." source
  
  
• "But don’t worry about him. Huggins will get another job because there is another president out there like Georgia’s Michael Adams. Remember how he ignored all the red flags about Jim Harrick at UCLA and Rhode Island and hired him anyway?
  
  Georgia’s basketball program ended up in ruins." source
  
  
• "University of Cincinnati head basketball coach Bob Huggins has been charged with DUI.
  
  9News has confirmed Huggins was cited after he was pulled over in the village of Fairfax late Tuesday night.
  
  He was not jailed.
  
  Fairfax Police said Huggins was in his Lexus SUV in the 6000 block of Wooster Pike at about 11:30 Tuesday night when he was stopped.
  
  Officers said Huggins had failed to keep his car inside marked lanes and remained at a light more than 10 seconds after it had turned green.
  
  The arrest report says Huggins had slurred speech, red watery eyes and had a strong alcohol odor.
  
  Huggins allegedly told officers, "Don't do this to me," but he also told them he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs." source
  
  
• "Bob Huggins. Ah, how fickle we are. We are brainwashed that Huggins should not have been fired, that the president was just out to get him. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
  
  Let me present the facts:
  
  Let's start off with the most blatant offense by "coach" Bob Huggins: the 1998 NCAA sanctions on the program because of eight violations and because it felt that there was no institutional control over the program. Huggins's program put itself on one-year probation and refused to recruit JUCO athletes. The NCAA doubled it and cut scholarships.
  
  Next, let's look at the GPA's of some of his players: 0.00.
  
  Yes, you read that right: 0.00.
  
  If you need me to count it out, I will. Ok, done. ZERO!
  
  That is failing/not attending EVERY SINGLE CLASS!" Source

This was a total of seven minutes on Google. If I have a spare five additional minutes, I'll add some more resources.

I have no doubt that Huggins can coach, but he's not the right fit for Missouri. There are too many quality coaches available that we can build a program around without going to the back alley. I've heard from multiple sources that some influential boosters are behind hiring Huggins. If this is true, ordinary fans like you and me need to create a stir.

Mizzou may be down, but we're not out and we're certainly not a high risk program for a coach looking to build his legacy. Every opportunity is here from facilities to the prestige of the league to the legacy left by Norm Stewart to a large fan base...all of which makes this job appealing at the highest level. Whoever the heck is in charge in Columbia (and that isn't very clear) needs to approach this gig in that light and look for a coach we will want to identify with the University of Missouri.

The curse is so powerful, it's not even that exciting jinxing KU. It's all too predictable. KU couldn't hit the side of a barn with a barn-seeking missile...as usual.

"I'm not talking to him. You tell Mike that I said..."

"Well you tell Quin that he's all..."

The report is out and it "it's clear", as the report often says, that the relationship between Mike Alden and Quin Snyder was dysfunctional, to say the least. There's plenty of blame to go around. Quin wouldn't talk to his boss for months. On the other hand, the boss allowed the situation to fester. If I'm Mike Alden, I don't need a meeting to talk to Quin Snyder. I hunt him down. I do sympathize with Alden, Quin is a teenager in a man's body. However, ultimately the program's well-being is Alden's responsibility.

This part of the report sums up the situation:

"With respect to the events beginning on February 8, it is clear that Alden did not direct or order Link to talk to Snyder. At the same time, it is also clear that Alden and Link both thought that would be a good procedure to follow and Alden approved of it."

Huh? In other words, Link was authorized to talk to Quin about resignation, but not directed to. This is also known as passive-aggressive management. Still, there really is no difference between the first and second sentences. They only co-exist through poor management.

Then it shouldn't be a surprise given the above that the report concludes that the athletic department is always "behind the story" when managing a crisis. It also shouldn't be a surprise that President Floyd and the Board of Curators are making a move to take control of the athletic department away from the Chancellor's office and make the AD report directly to them. That's the logical result of a department that has been poorly managed and allowed to be in perpetual crisis.

The problem is I have no more faith in Floyd and the BOC than I do in Chancellor Deaton or Mike Alden. Floyd issued a statement along with the release of the report declaring himself vindicated (he claims he did not authorize the ultimatum given to Quin), but the facts of the report indicate he was well-aware of Quin's performance requirements and whether he was behind this particular conversation between Link and Snyder is not really important. Floyd took the opportunity to cover his own tail rather than rally the University. Bottom line, we don't need a political animal like the BOC and an egghead like the system president micromanaging our athletic department. If the program needs better management, then hire better managers.

So we get back to my conclusion from some time ago, Missouri needs regime change. The same group will get you the same problems in the future. Save this post and mark my words.

Watch bad tv, that's what...

I am now squarely in the Beaker camp. I tried this last year and they lost to Bucknell. Honestly, I barely survived. It was like snuggling with kryptonite, but I'm willing to sacrifice for the good of Tiger Nation.

In an effort to make their school something it's not, Southwest Missouri State successfully lobbied to have their school name changed to 'Missouri State'. Their president commented about how the name change would make them big time. Those of us with a sense of history understood that school names mean something. Changing SMS to Missouri State was an attempt to artificially boost the school's prominence at the expense of the University of Missouri.

It didn't take long before ESPN, CBS and other national networks began referring to Missouri State as 'Mizzou State'. Mizzou is a trademarked name that is unique to the University of Missouri. It is not short for 'Missouri', it is associated only with the Columbia campus. Ironically, this is happening on Mike Alden's watch. He has made it a pet project to market 'Mizzou' everywhere, naming the arena 'Mizzou Arena', removing 'Missouri' from uniforms in favor of 'Mizzou', etc. If this isn't dealt with swiftly by the University of Missouri, it will work its way into the language and Mizzou will lose this distinguishing label. I'm not real fond of Alden's Mizzou campaign as noted below, but I don't want that college down south to take it, either. I'm not blaming them, but if they are silent on this matter, then they are parties to identity theft.

Some are little things, some are big, but here's what needs to happen...

1. Fire Mike Alden U.N. Mike is a politician, not a leader. He sold our soul to the highest bidder and dispensed of 32 year's worth of tradition in favor of his own personal resumé jihad. Hiring a consultant to advise on hiring a new coach is so Mike Alden. Mike, leave athletics and go into consulting, yourself. That's your world, trust me. You'll be able to fill your days with flow charts, non action and meaningless four paragraph sentences. In the end, it's about the smart glasses, right?

2. Hire an Adult Basketball Coach Quin wanted to be everybody's friend. Among his many coaching faults, the results were lack of intensity, poor player development, poor on-court execution, poor offensive scheme, terrible defensive execution as well as the off court nonsense. Quin was in way over his head. The sexy Duke connection was never going to translate into a sound basketball program. I'm leaning toward John Beilein, Rick Majerus and Mike Anderson, not necessarily in that order. We should not look at Bob Huggins. I repeat, no Bob Huggins. Am I making myself clear?

3. Clean House Today all eight remaining players announced they were considering transferring if things don't develop how they want them to. Really? Here's your bus ticket. I don't want to take personal shots at the kids, but their whining and demands are a disgrace. I want players who are scrappy, gracious and talented. Only a couple of these eight have even one of these qualities.

4. Lose the 'Mizzou' Campaign We're Missouri. We've been Missouri for many years and Mike Alden had to come in with his mustard uniforms and his Mizzou campaign and tinker with everything. Put Missouri back on the uniform and for pete's sake, bring back the gold.

I still mourn the Big 8. I miss Bill Tubbs and his microphone. I miss the rivalries that have been watered down by too many extra schools. What I really miss are the days when there was no Texas. So here are the top five things I hate about the Big XII.

5. Baylor

Baylor's football and men's basketball programs are horrible. I know, Mizzou can't talk much right now, but Baylor will never, ever amount to anything in the only two sports that matter. Having Baylor in the conference just waters it down and creates meaningless games.

4. No Annual Nebraska v. OU Thanksgiving Day Game

I realize that Nebraska's football program is in the dumper right now, but cutting one of college's best football rivalries in half is sacrilege. Instead of rivalries, we get a lot of games we don't care about, like Baylor v. Texas Tech. Great game.

3. Big XII Football Television Contract

The worst tv contract in college sports was recently renewed by the Big XII. This contract ensures that half of the teams in the conference on any given week will not be on tv. Compare that to the Big 10 which has nearly every school is on tv every single game.

2. Texas

Not just the school, the whole state. Since the Big XII was formed, the fat heads down south have plundered and pillaged our great conference, taking the conference headquarters from Kansas City to Texas, taking half of the basketball tournaments, half of the football championships and way more than their share of television exposure. Which leads me to #1...

1. The Basketball Tournament

The old Big 8 basketball tournament was a masterpiece...a showcase of intense basketball rivalries and a tradition decades old. Fans from all around the conference converged on Kansas City every year. Even the crappy games were filled to the rafters with screaming fans. Then along come the Texas schools. As I type this, I am watching Missouri play Nebraska. There are maybe 1,000 fans in the stands. Basketball belongs up north, not in football-crazed Texas. In their zeal for "equality", the Big XII believes it is best for half of the tournaments to be played in front of nobody. Kansas City is smack in the heart of basketball country, an easy drive for real basketball fans. Since Texas only has one basketball school anyway, they shouldn't mind keeping the tournament in Kansas City.

My sources tell me that when the new vendor made KU's trophy, the C.A.D. data that they used had slightly different numbers resulting in it being 5% smaller than Texas' trophy. If only KU's score was 95% of Texas'.

Apparently, KU's co-championship Big XII trophy is a centimeter shorter than that of Texas. There were no plans to have two trophies made and the original vendor couldn't make a second one in time. The Big XII went to a different vendor who recreated the trophy based on sketches, but made it just slightly smaller. They're saying it's not on purpose. No word yet from KU coach Bill Self.

KU sharing the Big XII title with Texas after the complete and painful beating they took in Austin is simply not credible. Texas made the Beaks look like a high school team. Head-to-head should be the tie breaker in the future.

Let's not mince words, I'm a prophet.

Here is my February 22, 2002 assessment of Mizzou's basketball team and here are my November 22, 2005 season predictions.

So when I say something is going to happen, it's going to happen.

Mizzou was great not that long ago and with the right leadership, can be great again. Move out the current regime, it's been a dismal failure. It is simply time to move on.

Meanwhile, enjoy Mizzou going 14-0 in the old Big 8

When I said it just gets dumber and dumber, I mean every day it gets dumber and dumber.

Mike Alden showed up for the independent investigation interview with Michael Glazier, a big shot Kansas City sports lawyer. Why? According to Mike, it was for moral support.

And so you see what I've been harping on. This is simply Mike's m.o. It will never end, it will never change. He's our very own Bill Clinton. As long as he has an answer...as long as words come out of his mouth, he will explain away any controversy and declare it closed.

Mike, we're not that stupid. Just have the guts to be candid. Just once, have the guts to tell it like it is.

The disconnect between Chancellor Deaton's investigation notes and his public statement is comical. However, the one thing that sums up the leadership void at Mizzou was his note that Gary Link passed on divulging the information that was the whole point of the investigation...what was his conversation with Quin Snyder? I didn't know he could do that. I assume if Deaton had offered Link a piece of apple pie, Link would have the latitude to say "No thanks, boss." But when asked a direct question about a key fact in the investigation, Link does not have that privilege. So what was Deaton's response to Link's insubordination? Deaton issued a public statement declaring the matter closed. It just gets dumber every day.

Putting Quin Snyder in control of Missouri's basketball program was like giving a 20 year old college dropout the keys to your Malibu beach house and saying "See ya in seven years. Here's a few million bucks!" When you get back, the house is a landfill of cigarette butts, empty beer cans, a bunch of people have moved in and out, the city inspector comes by on a regular basis, the homeowner's association has put you on probation, the paper does regular feature stories on the mess and no one will go near the house anymore.

Missouri is in a worse position than starting over. There are more red flags around this program than in the Chinese Calvary. Mizzou's national reputation is in ruins. That doesn't mean Mizzou can't come back, just that the new coach will truly need years to undo Quin's mess just to get back to ground level.

After posting the entry below, I actually got sent to me quite a bit of information that enlightened me to the situation. While I still find the relationship as described between a curator and the athletic director odd and questionable, the info I got did make me think it's probably not much of a story.