No Freakin’ Curse
Sarah & I had the good fortune of going to El Paso with the athletic department for Mizzou’s appearance in the Sun Bowl against Oregon State University. On Saturday, we also watched the Tigers’ basketball game against Iowa State.
Both games we had big leads in the last few minutes. Both games we lost on last second ‘shots’. Both times, too many Mizzou fans telling me afterwards that “We’re cursed.” or “Only to Mizzou.”
Only thing consistent (or true) about the sentiment is that too many Mizzou fans think that way. Neither game was the result of a curse. Failure to make plays in both games was a huge problem as were a few referees’ decisions.
For whatever reason, Mizzou fans seem to take much more delight in remembering the bad (I had listed the games here, but realized that was adding to the problem). We’ve beaten KU in basketball when all they had to do was make one of two free throws at the end of the period to win (and beat Illinois similarly a few years ago). We beat SIU in the NCAA tournament recently on a very questionable call at the end in our favor. Dang near every thing we tried offensively against Oregon State worked. We beat Nebraska with a bevy of trick plays in 2003. We beat South Carolina in the Independence Bowl despite being down by seemingly 50 points in the first quarter.
I remember feeling kicked in the gut after the unlucky or tragic losses. I’m not saying they don’t suck. What I am saying, is that it sometimes just comes down to luck. Or making a play. Or the crowd being loud and influencing the action (see Moody free throws) or the referees. I just simply and firmly believe that if MU fans were quicker to look for ways to help their team, instead of looking for ways to point out how we’re going to lose or how this loss is similar to other losses, we could actually help those competing. When it comes down to one play, or one call, or both, the fans’ help might be enough to make the difference.