Sports: Two Big Wins; Poll Vaults; Life and Death in the Fast Lane

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZ)—Coach Drinkwitz wants to stay focused on the tasks ahead and not let himself or his players be distracted by transitory things such as rankings or past history.  He made it all clear in the press conference after the 25th (and hanging on by heir fingertips) Tigers crushed Florida Saturday in front of a delirious homecoming crowd.

The win brought him a national distinction: Coach of the Week.  We haven’t heard a comment from him about it but, based on his comments after the game, it’s no big deal in the larger picture for him and the team. It is his 50th win with the Tigers (50-30 now).

Drinkwitz already is the 4th winningest football coach in MU history (Pinkel 117, Faurot 101, Devine 93)

Fans can go a little nuts, however, by remembering that his Tigers had been 8-20 against top 25 teams before the big win. “This is about this game,” he said. “That’s just noise that people create on social media for no reason. Has nothing to do with anything…Nobody in our locker room could have cared less about that. I couldn’t have cared less about that. Again, that’s stuff for you all to tweet about and to make up stories about and try to create some sort of narrative about me or my program. I really couldn’t care less.”

We can’t basically disagree in terms of controlling the narrative you want to have your guys focus on in the locker room, the practice field, and the stadium turf. But the folks outside are kind of important too and they have to share those good things because they’re the ones who pack the stands and help buy the best players MU can buy and believe that a good major sports program represents the whole University—even the physics department—as a place to send your kids to.

“Every game has a life of its own. It’s people searching for crap to talk about, and it had nothing to do with this game. Each game has a life of its own, an opponent of its own, and we try to make up the best matchup that we can. And, you know, that’s the hot-take world right now. Try to find, what are things that you can poke holes in our program about? Great, that’s fine. Do what you want to do, but it doesn’t faze us any.”

No hole-poking here. Not after that game.  But the public is fickle and in one way or another has bought the right to poke holes when the promise seen in one game isn’t consistent.

Fans and players and coaches need a little time to luxuriate in what just happened—560 total yards against what was temporarily one of the ten best teams in the country while suffocating a Gators offense that was lighting up scoreboards by scoring at least 44 points in its games this year, holding the then-second leading running backs to 1.1 yards a carry. The coach for Florida, Jon Sumrall feeling “sick to my stomach with what we just did.”

(RANKINGS)—Florida still is above Missouri in two of the three big time rank outfits. ESPN has dopped Florida ten places to 15 and brought Missouri up seven slots to 18th. The Coaches poll shows Florida 15 and the Tigers 16th. The Associated Press ups Missour by eleven positions to 14 and drops Florda eight slots to 16th.

(TIGER BBALL)—The Missouri basketball team might not want to print Mark Mitchell’s jersey yet.  A Kentucky Appeals Court has dealt a setback to Mitchell and several other players who are hoping to get a fifth season on collegiate courts.

As of now, he’s out. He still can file a lawsuit in Missouri arguing he should be included in an NCAA rule adopted after the last season that players going forward will be allowed to have one. The policy excludes players who had played four seasons before the rule went into effect. Some of those involved in the Kentucky ruling already have seen some playing time for their college football team.

(CHIEFS)—The Chiefs remain undefeated after surviving Las Vegas and the Raiders 30-27 but they have some lineup juggling to do before their next game. Fortunately, they’ll have two weeks to get it done. That’s two weeks for Rashee Rice to get his tweaked hamstring back in playing shape and for the Chiefs to decide on a replacement for deep threat Tyquan Thorton, who could be out for the season with a badly broken ankle.

Rice and Thornton are the numbers one and three wide receivers on the squad.  Xavier Worthy is still healthy but behind him are Jalen Royals, Cyrus Allen, and Nicko Remigio. Royals has three catches for 17 yards and a touchdown this year. Allen is a rookie who has seen little action, and Remigio has a couple of receptions for ten years and a TD.

For weeks, maybe months, there’s been speculation the Chiefs might bring back Tyreek Hill, once Patrick Mahomes’ favorite “bombs away” target.  Hill has been stuck in the free agent market until somebody decides that his severe knee injury suffered last year while with the Dolphins is adequately healed.  Michael Silver with The Athletic has reported the Chiefs have contacted Hill’s agent. There are reports that the Chiefs have contacted Hill’s agent. Silver says Hill “remains well liked within the organization.”  Videos of Hill doing beach workouts have been posted on the internet.

Keneth Walker is running for his second straight player of the month award from the NFL.  He ran for 177 yards against the Raiders including a 7-yard bolt in the third quarter, the NFL’s longest run so far, that put the Chiefs in a lead that they didn’t give up. There already are some folks thinking he might set a new NFL rushing record, breaking the 2,105 run up by Eric Dickerson forty-two years ago. He has accumulated the most yards in the first four games since Arian Foster had 539 for the Texans sixteen years ago (Foster led the NFL  with 1,616 rushing yards in 2010).

One of Walker’s more amazing stats is the number of broken tackles he’s had. 43 so far, fifteen more than Jahmyr Gibbs of the Lions has. He’s had six runs of 20 or more yards—double the number the Chiefs had in all of last year.

(BASEBALL)—Free agency doesn’t kick off until the World Series ends and the present labor contract will terminate about a month later, December 1.  One member of the labor committee is Royals CEO and President John Sherman who says “Everybody is working hard to make sure” a lockout doesn’t happen.  He says fans want revenue parity, payroll parity and competitive balance.  Major League Baseball is the only one of the four major sports without a salary cap.

He calls the Royals season “disappointing” and says he top priority is to rebuild the bullpen and stabilize the pitching rotation.

Moving right along to the people who move right along—

(NASCAR)—Chase Briscoe’s dominating win at Las Vegas has moved him into the top six in the championship points standings but Kyle Larson’s finish 1.4 seconds behind him as built is lead.

Briscoe was in charge for 175 of the 267 laps and he held Larson at bay down the stretch—as Larson had done to him the previous week at the Kansas Speedway.

Regular season points leader Denny Hamlin continued to struggle in the ten race run off. He finished 16 and trails Larson by forty points with only four races remaining in the season.

The racing next weekend will be on the Charlotte oval for the first time since 2017. Since then the fall race has been on the roval—the road course that combines an infield track with part of the oval.

(INDYCAR)—One of the biggest open rides in the series has been filled with Christian Lundgaard stepping into the Chip Ganassi car that Scott Dixon had for 24 years.

The number 9 won six championships with Dixon driving and the number also has been used for championship runs by Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, and for Alex Palou’s first of five championships.

Arrow McLaren had dropped Lundgaard because of his mediocre oval track record. It’s gotten better in each of his five years in the series and Ganassi.

Dixon is moving to Arrow McLaren after years of being sponsored by PNG Bank. A Missouri financial company will be his sponsor with his new team—Edward D. Jones, based in St. Louis.

(JOHNCOCK)—Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Gordon Johncock has died at the age of 90. Johncock, a quiet buy with a lumber company in Michigan. He also won the series championship once.

Johncock won the race in 1973, a tragic year for the 500.  The race was stretched through three days by weather and a tragic accident. He was leading on the 133rd lap when the rain came again and the race was declared official (it becomes official with the 101st of 200 laps run).  During the race, one of his teammates—Swede Savage—was fatally injured in a violent crash at the head of the pits.  A pit crew member was hit and killed by an emergency vehicle speeding out to the crash scene. A second driver, Art Pollard, was killed in a crash on the first qualifying weekend.

On the day the race was scheduled to be run, the field dissolved into a  melee of crashes, one of which critically injured Salt Walther whose car wound up upside down with Walther’s feet hanging out of the front of the wreckage. Several spectators were injured. Rain washed out any competition that day and the next day, too, before the contest finally got underway on the third day. Johncock led 64 of the 133 laps on a day that saw only one-third of the 33-car field still running.

He got a win after the full 200 laps, fighting off Rick Mears in the last 40 laps and beating him to the checkered flag by 0.16 seconds, the closest 500 finish in history at that time.

When he left racing, he really left it.  He had his sawmill in Michigan, seldom returned to Indianapolis and once said racing was a previous life—“a job”—but he later said he had another job.

(Image credits:  Drinkwitz—Saturday Down South; Lundgaard—Bob Priddy at Indianapolis; Johncock—Instagram; Finish—IndyCar.com; Briscoe–Priddy, Indy25;  Walker—KC Chiefs)

The Reactions 

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The reactions to our junior senator’s monstrous gaffe last week as he thought he had skewered former special prosecutor Jack Smith have been creative, critical, mean, tough—

—and, frankly deserved.

There might not be a more popular way to express an opinion today and express it to everyone you see on the street, at eating places, at sporting events—you name it—than the t-shirt. Even in our smaller towns, there’s likely to be some one who makes t-shirts to order.  Our junior senator became instant t-shirt fodder last week when he became the “got” in “gotcha.”

I wonder if the company is going to sent one of these to the Senator.  He’s tall, about 6-7, and kind of husky. An XL, VL (very long) would probably cover the most territory although it won’t cover that part of his anatomy that was exposed at the hearing.

Social media has had a field day, of course. AI has added a new depth to the ridicule opportunities. Creative juices have become gushers on various platforms. This one showed up on our Facebook page.

These things get circulated around and I am afraid I don’t know who had the original thoughts so I can’t tell you the names of these creative people. These probably are just a small example of the images created in the wake of the implosion. Most of them also showed up on our Facebook page.

I wonder if the senator, to show that he has a sense of humor about himself, will fame a few of these and put them in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building near the Capitol. He hasn’t been able to admit he made a giant mistake that will haunt him for a long time. But if he won’t admit he did a lot of damage to his future political credibility, maybe he can regain some PR points by displaying how much fun he has allowed others to have at his expense.

Don’t you wish you could have been a mouse in the corner when he and his staff got back to the office and closed the door after that hearing?

Here is what happens when a bag of political dirt explodes in your face.  Your faithful observer knows from some non-political experience of dropping the bag while emptying the canister of our whole house vacuuming system. My dirt, however, washed off fairly quickly.  The Schmitt dirt will require a huge amount of scrubbing, and even then—–

Maybe someone was thinking a song from a Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music—

Isn’t it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground
You in mid-air
Send in the clowns

Isn’t it bliss?
Don’t you approve?
One who keeps tearing around
One who can’t move
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns

Just when I’d stopped opening doors
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours
Making my entrance again with my usual flair
Sure of my lines
No one is there

Don’t you love farce?
My fault, I fear
I thought that you’d want what I want

Sorry, my dear
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns
Don’t bother, they’re here

Isn’t it rich?
Isn’t it queer?
Losing my timing this late in my career
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns
Well, maybe next year

Our president might be able to straighten things out the way he straightens out a lot of things—by renaming them.

Chris Clark and Kyle Cheney headlined their story on Politico, “Eric Schmitt pins down Jack Smith — as a Caitlin Clark fan” and went on: “Sen. Eric Schmitt thought he caught Jack Smith in a lie. Instead, he outed him as a fan of former Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark.”

Perhaps we should lighten up on our junior senator a bit.  A long time ago I was in doing some research at the University of Iowa and during a lunch break I went past a t-shirt store that featured one kind of like this

Self deprecating humor can lower the temperature a bit.  I had a t-shirt that I bought in Columbia that read: “Missouri.  It’s not that bad.”  So far there has been no such humor from our junior senator, though.

Senator Schmitt isn’t the only prominent Missourian whose dreams of national importance went up in smoke in an instant because of an ill-timed word or an ill-timed action or something that wasn’t supposed to become public but did.  We’ve seen it happen several times on our political turf in Jefferson City.

However, as rocky as our political history is, we have not reached the level of my home state where I once saw a t-shirt such as this one.

About eighty percent of the license plates issued in this country are made by prison inmates. Missouri is one of the states that has that system. We understand our inmates could make license plates for other states, as some other states do. But we know of no public record indicating them do.

There are some states who get their plates made in Canada. So far, license plates have escaped Trump tariffs.

I think this is probably enough for a while about Senator Schmitt. Already, he’s old news.  And I imagine he hopes to stay that way for a while.

 

The Dirtbag

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The Eric Schmitt we saw a couple of days ago making a fool of himself in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing grilling former special counsel Jack Smith is not the Eric Schmitt I remember from my days covering the Missouri Senate.  That Eric Schmitt was intelligent, respectful of the rules and of other senators on both sides of the aisle and knew what he was talking about.

He was elected State Treasurer and when Attorney General Josh Hawley went to Washington, Schmitt was appointed to move across the street to replace him.  He caught whatever political virus Hawley left behind.  I’ve said before that he left the best part of himself in the Capitol.

He apparently now bathes in Trump Kool-Aid.  The day that a prominent Republican consulting firm tried to start a boomlet for him as J.D. Vance’s running mate in two years, Schmitt turned his inner attack dog loose and in a matter of minutes proved why we do not need to see him one breath away from the presidency, assuming fellow Kool-Air bather Vance is picked to head the ticket.

You’ve undoubtedly seen the video of his smug, misguided attack of Smith and his charge that Smith had gone to Atlanta to meet with Fulton County Prosecutor who had admitted she and one of her associates had been associating too closely, a relationship that eventually led to the dismissal of 13 co-conspiracy charges she had filed against Donald Trump.  He’d even gone to an Atlanta Hawks NBA game while he was there, said Schmitt.

Smith said he recalled going to a University of Maryland women’s basketball game to see Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes. And Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, whose staff rapidly learned there had, indeed, been a game in Maryland that night, quickly suggested that Schmitt didn’t know the difference between the Atlanta Hawks and the Iowa Hawkeyes.  It was one of the greatest political takedowns in memory, a “My Cousin Vinnie” moment for real.

Republicans on the committee wanted to get Smith to admit he had behaved unethically and illegally by meeting with Fani Willis on the day her affair was revealed.

When Schmitt found himself waist deep in it, he refused to back down. He slogged ahead and accused Smith of perjury and showed an incredible lack of maturity for a U. S. Senator by calling Smith “a total dirtbag.”

At the end day, Trumpist GOPers had failed to ruffle Smith enough to get him to make him admit what they wanted him to admit—that he had meddled in Willis’ affairs, more legal than personal, and had weaponized the Justice Department. And if anybody should know about weaponizing the Justice Department, it’s Republicans.

The Republican witch hunters spent the day beating up on Smith but in the end none of the hunters disputed his findings.  Their efforts to undermine his professionalism in securing indictments against the president were an embarrassing failure. It might be said they never laid a glove on him.

“The didn’t even talk about the report,” observed California Congressman Ted Lieu.  “They didn’t dispute that Donald Trump engaged in a conspiracy to try to get fake electors and fake documents to overturn this election.”  He called the stuff Republicans were saying, “idiotic.”

Did Schmitt, caught with his political pants entangling his ankles, apologize for his mistake.  Oh, no.  Later he told CNN he had not made a mistake. “Who knew Jack Smith was a Caitlin Clark fan?” he blithely deferred.

When another interviewer told him there was television footage showing Smith at the game in Maryland, he retorted, “Great. Well, then, he was at the Hawkeyes game.” But he wouldn’t admit he was wrong in the hearing.

On the “Charlie Kirk Show” later, host Andrew Kolvet praised Schmitt, who responded, “Here’s the thing — my job is to ask the questions. He’s already — and if that’s what his answer is — then that’s what his answer is….The purpose of today is just to get him to answer a bunch of questions.”

Bee  Ess.  His job, the committee’s job, was to get facts.

Smith had them and spoke them and he made our junior senator a fool. Schmitt claimed Smith perjured himself. He didn’t. His description of Smith as “a total dirtbag,” a startling act of discourtesy and juvenile behavior.  He shouldn’t stay up so late at night taking name-calling lessons from our president.

He’s going to be a star on Saturday Night Live this week.

Some might think the dirtbag was not the one at the witness table.

Columbia Missourian editorial cartoonist John Darkow—-the best of his kind in Missouri and among the best in the whole country jumped on Facebook with his commemoration of the great inquisition.

Don’t expect any apologies from Senator Eric Schmitt. There are plenty of sycophants who will pat him on the back for becoming the class clown at that hearing. It takes some doing to make Josh Hawley look like the grownup in our senatorial delegation.  But for that one day, Schmitt rose, or sank, to the occasion.

Even when Klobuchar proved  Schmitt didn’t know what he was talking about, he snarled, “I stand by that statement.”

We should all hope the rest of the people in our country don’t judge Missourians on the basis of our Senators. Really, we should assure them, we normally are intelligent beings.

I want to know who kidnapped the Eric Schmitt that I knew and replaced him with someone that I don’t recognize.

(Picture Credit—some clever person on the internet. It’s not the only one mocking Schmitt; Darkow on Facebook.)

Sunshine Patriots and Summer Soldiers

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There is only one way the average citizen can stand up to Donald Trump and his increasingly repressive acts:

Vote against any candidate who either supports his administration or who lacks the courage to speak against it.

We will lose some good Republican office holders in November not because they are incompetent but because they are silent.  As Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense in 1776:

Voters should evaluate their candidates with much greater thought and care this time, more than any time we have experienced. They and the state and the nation will be well-served by allowing their inner Independent to emerge and evaluate each candidate on both sides of the ballot with thought and concern.

We do not advocate wholesale rejection of the Republicans.  A Democrat might have less to offer to voters and should not be elected solely because that candidate has a D above their column. Likewise, individual Republicans should not be solely evaluated because of voter hostility toward the President. Think. Evaluate.

At the same time, this is no time to be a summer soldier and a sunshine patriot.  There must be a strong message from the citizens of this country that blind loyalty to Donald Trump carries a cost.

We have lived through the completely unnecessary election disaster that his demand for another Republican congressional district has caused with the Secretary of State turning himself into a pretzel trying to defend his actions and his party’s decisions supporting Trump’s wishes.

If I was a Republican candidate for the General Assembly, whether as a new person running for a House seat or a House member hoping move up to the Senate, I would look at the overwhelming rejection of two GOP amendments in August, the dropping survey figures for the President and for our Governor, the furor over congressional districts, and sense that approval of Republican proposals on the November ballot might not go well and I would carefully consider what kind of lawmaker I will promise to be—

—and then hope I get a chance to keep that promise, knowing that in just two years as a State Representative I will have a record no matter what I say I am for in this election.

This is a time for candidates on both sides of the aisle to honestly evaluate who they are. It is not enough for a Democrat to run on the concept that he or she is not a Republican.  It is not enough for a Republican to remain silent about current times and issues or to deny what they have done to contribute to them.

This is a time to start over for some, perhaps many, of our lawmakers to convincingly promise not to be who they have been and for others to be specific about what they want to do that will be better than what has been done.

It is not true that in politics a leopard cannot change his spots. Whether that leopard can be convincing in trying to do so is for voters to decide.

It is American to vote back and forth on the ballot.  We are living the danger of determining fitness of office only on the basis of an R or a D.  Do not be afraid to cross party lines. Your vote is secret. Only you will know. Voters must exercise their conscience when their party’s candidate will not exercise his.

Whether voters realize it or not, the future of our state is very much in their hands in November.

We voters should keep in mind the words of Lincoln in his address to a joint session of Congress in 1862:

“We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us.”  What was good  advice for Congress at the start of the Civil War is good advice for the electorate today. These are dangerous, historic, times and we must remember, as Lincoln also said 164 years ago, “We cannot escape history.”

For generations we have failed to recognize the value of what we have obtained too cheaply and esteemed too lightly.

A President who has no loyalty to this nation and its people but only to himself is an albatross around the necks of many candidates who have not or will not stand apart from him and in their silence sanction the evil that he is and that he does.

Our preachers tells us it is never to late to repent and it is never too late to respect the truly penitent. That’s a good point to think about in the voting booth.

History will measure us severely by the choices we make in November.

(Image credit: libquotes.com)

Sports: Chiefs Prevail; Mizzou Confronts Real SEC Life; The End of the Record-Setting Season

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(CHIEFS)—The Chiefs 24-10 win against the Dolphins Sunday was not a thing a beauty but it was good enough to give Kansas City a 3-0 start. Last year they won only six games all season long.

The Chiefs, who had given up 30 points last week, let the winless Dolphins get the first points Sunday, out gain the Chiefs by thirty yards and convert half of their 16 third-downs.. But the defense held Miami to only three more points.

Miami has the youngest starting squad in the NFL and most observers predicted the Chiefs would go 3-0 while the Dolphins are now 0-3, few thought the Dolphis defense would keep the game form being a runaway that some Chiefs fans expected.  Kansas City rolled up 334 yards in total offense but it was not until a late field goal that the Chiefs had any breathing room.

The win ties the NFL record for most wins in a quarterback’s first 15 games. The only other quarterback to go 115-35 is Tom Brady.

(MIZ)—Remember when the Missouri football team scored points in the first quarter?   It hasn’t been that long ago, only three games.  But as the Tigers get deeper into the SEC schedule and the Troys and Arkansas Pine Bluffs disappear, the specter of scoreless first quarters grows more stark—as the Tigers learned in Starkville, Mississippi Saturday evening.

Coach Drinkwitz summed things up afterward: “We’re in Week 4 of this team’s journey, and we battled on the road, had our opportunity, and didn’t get it done. So, everything in our program from the past to now is really this year’s team, this year’s journey. Battled our butt off, came up a third-and-4 and a fourth-and-four, short. So we’ll go back to work, and got a challenge this week coming up. So that’s just life in the SEC.”

Missouri lost the game because the defense couldn’t stop the other guys in the first quarter or in the last minutes and Missouri could not convert two fourth-downs.  Next up if Florida, rated as the eighth best team in the country.  Missouri is holding onto the top 25 by its fingernails.  (ZOU)

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Missouri State would have gotten a major upset if they had beaten SMU Saturday.  SMU went into the game ranked 22nd and, like the Missouri Tigers, started slowly. The Missouri State Bears scored the first ten points. SMU got the next 14 and won 34-24. The Bears are 1-3.

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Our other D-1 program, the Southeast Missouri Red Hawks,  finished with a fumble and an interception and a loss to West Florida 20-17.

(BASEBALL)—It’s done. It’s over for our Missouri teams.  It’s time to assess the 2026 seasons.  Both of our teams had poor to mediocre seasons. But both have shown some promising possibilities for next year.

The Cardinals were last at break even, 70-70, before winning only  seven of their next 22 games.

The Cardinals played 87 one-run games this year and went 43-44 in them. It’s been eleven years since they had anything like that many. Manager Oliver Marmol quipped last week, “Every game feels like the same game where it’s a one-run game. And if it’s a two-run game, the bases are loaded.”

But there were a lot of bright spots, a lot of indications some key guys have turned the corner, Victor Scott III notwithstanding.  He’s expected to be in a different suit next year.

It was a breakout year for Alec Burlison who led the major leagues with 116 RBIs, a performance putting him in elite company. His RBI total is the most for a left handed batter since Stan Musial drove in 126 in 1954.  He’s the first Cardinals player to lead the league since Albert Pujols had 118 in 2010 and the first Redbird to lead all of baseball since Joe Torre in 1971. His total is 11th all-time for a leftie in Redbird history.  He hit .280, played in all but two games and was a threat with men on base. He hit .358 in that situation with 19 extra base hits in 173 Abs with runners in scoring position.

You’ll recall he was talked up as trade bait before the trading deadline and talked openly about how relieved he was that he wasn’t moved. He wants to stay in St. Louis had has said he would be “all in” with a contract extension if one was offered.

One final footnote to the end of the season.  Jordan Walker has hit 56 home runs in his young career, all of them against different pitchers. He’s one away from the record set by Willy Adams, presently a shortstop for the Giants, who began his career in 2018. Baseball statistician Sarah Langs came up with that piece of trivia.

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The Royals won their last game, which the Cardinals did not do, but were never contenders and finished 69-93.  However, there were individuals whose performances make sure fans spend the winter thinking of what might be in 2027.

Carter Jensen’s rookie year for Kansas City that went into the record books.  His 27 home runs moved him ahead of Dodgers great Mike Piazza for most extra-base hits by a rookie catcher in Major League history.  33 doubles and two triples to go with his homers for the extra base record. He also set a major league record for most leadoff home runs by a catcher. And he set a Royals franchise rookie record for homers and extra base hits.

He finished hitting .239 with 81 RBIs and 80 runs scored.  His strikeout to walk ratio needs to improve next year from this year’s 170-65.

The Royals made some other history in the last week of the season. Salvatore Perez hit his 20th home run Thursday, setting a new team record with ten years of 20 homers or more. He broke George Brett’s career home run record earlier

But the White Sox, who won the game 9-1 became the first team to have consecutive 100-loss seasons and then make the playoffs. The Sox have reached the triple digit loss mark for three years in a row.

The Royals helped another player on another set a dubious record this year. White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery took an Anthony Gose 96-mph four seam fastball for a called third strike in the last game between the two teams this year. It tied the MLB record of 223 strikeouts. He finished the weekend with four more, breaking an 11-year old record held by Mark Reynolds, wh played for eight teams in his 13-year career.  In 2015, he hit 44 homers and drove in 102 runs for the Diamondbacks.

Montgomery didn’t appear to be particularly ashamed of he record. “It’s definitely something you don’t want your name to be a part of, But at the end of the day, you can’t be looking so much at the negative stuff. I’ve looked at a lot of the stuff we’ve all done this year and me personally, and I felt like it’s been a lot of positives. For me to really go into the dumps about what just happened and for me to be so upset about it and not try to get better in the position we’re at as a team right now, I feel would be selfish,” Although he hit only .197, finishing with only six hits in his last 77 at-bats, he hit 31 homers and had 87 runs batted in.

Michael Wacha had one of his best career years at age 35.  In his last start, Saturday, he gave u only two earned runs  in 6.1 innings in a game the Guardians eventually won 11-5. The performance gave him his first 200-inning year in his career.

—Grading the Seasons—

ESPN gave the Cardinals a grade of C for its season, saying they “weren’t a disaster in 2026, which is a good thing, considering this team could have easily gone sideways.”  Chaim Bloom’s first team as head of baseball operations had the second youngest squat of position players in MLB.

Jordan Walker finally broke out and Alec Burleson is leading the majors in RBIs, which no Cardinals player has done since Joe Torre in 1971. JJ Wetherholt showed he’s going to be a valuable player; he and Masyn Winn might both win Gold Gloves. There is more young talent on the way, too, with Leo Bernal and Joshua Baez getting a taste of the big leagues this season, and Rainiel Rodriguez, Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin next in line.

The best thing here is that the Cardinals were at least interesting for the first time in a long time. (Even some of their recent playoff teams weren’t all that exciting.) The payroll has been trimmed to the bare bones, so there’s room heading into 2027 to address the rotation and bullpen.

The Royals got a D from ESPN:

The path to nowhere for the Royals was set early when Bobby Witt Jr., somehow scored just one run in the team’s first 18 games. He then scored three runs in a game — but then went six more runless games and didn’t hit a home run until his 29th game. This isn’t on Witt, as he’s likely to get some first-place MVP votes since he leads AL position players in FanGraphs WAR, but it’s an example of how the Royals just never got in sync all season.

ESPN calls the season “a disappointing flop” after back to back wining years.

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Former Royals pitcher Aroldis Chapman became the first relief pitcher with 1,400 or more strikeouts. Chapman was with the Royals in 2013, one of the years the team lost 100 games. He was in 31 games before being traded to the Rangers. He was 4-7 with two saves. He was dealt to the Rangers midway through the season.

He’s the fourth pitcher in MLB hsitory to rack up ten 30-save seasons, the ninth to reach 400 saves. His 105.8 mph fast ball remains the fastest pitch ever thrown in a major league game.

Chapman started the season with the Royals in 2023 before going to the Rangers. He won four of 11 decisions with two saves in 31 games, 2.45 ERA.  Royals finished 56-96 that year.

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(FREE AGENTS)—The Cardinals have nine free players who will become free agents when the World Series ends: Burlison, Andre Pallante, Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore, Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages, Kyle Leahy, and Riley O’Brien.

The Royals list is: Carlos Estevez, Jonathan India, Matt Strahm, John Means, Craig Kimbrel, and Tony Gonsolin.

(HONORS)==Before wrapping up the season, the Cardinals inducted two former teammates and a standout pitcher from another era into the team Hall of Fame.  The credentials of Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols are widely recognized.  But Bill Scherdel is part of the distant past.

Scherdel, who died in 1968 at the age of 72 still is fifth in wins (153) and fourth in games pitched (465).  He ranks sixth in starts with 243 fifth with 2,450.2 innings pitched, and his 145 complete games rank him seventh.  He was 165-146 in 514 games in his 15-year career with the Cardinals and the Boston Braves. He was part of the Cardinals’ first World Series champion team, in 1926. He retired in 1932.

Earlier this year the Royals inducted John Wathan as the newest Royals Hall of Famer. He was with the organization for ten years as a player and 47 years overall with the team. He was the manager for five seasons, going 287-270 including the 92-win season of 1989. He ranks fifth in managerial wins and he’s fourth in winning percentage (.515). He spent several years in the broadcast booth before retiring in 2022.

Speaking of the Royals broadcast booth—Denny Matthews was in the booth with Buddy Blattner when the Royals played their first game in 1969. He became the number one broadcaster in 1975.  He’s still there. Last Friday, the Royals celebrated his 8,000th broadcast of one of their games. He’s one of four announcers in all of baseball history to have broadcast games for the same team for more than 50 years. He joined the Royals HOF in 2004, was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award that puts baseball broadcasters and writers in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, and is in both the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and the Missouri Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

(MAX)—Former Missouri Tiger pitcher Max Sherzer might or might not have thrown his last major league pitch Sunday. He maintains that he’ll decide whether to try another season between now and spring training.

He’s 43 and told reporters Saturday,  “I’ve gone through ups and downs throughout the season, I get it, but I’ve gotten to the point where I’m pretty healthy. I’ve talked to everybody in my inner circle and we all kind of feel the same way. We don’t need to make a decision today. Get to the offseason and see how things unfold.”

His record has not been much to talk about in the last couple of years with Toronto when he’s been sidelined with injuries, but Sunday he went seven full innings, gave up one run, six hits, struck out seven and walked only one on 114 pitches.  In his career he’s 225-126 with a 3.29 ERA., 3,557 strikeouts and only 814 walks.  He’s ninth on the all time strikeout list.

Will he show up in February?  “I have no idea how I’m going to feel here in six months. For me, right now it’s just about being healthy, pitching in this last game and having fun with it, then seeing what happens. I really don’t have any expectations of what happens. Pitching is so much fun. You never know. Really, I have no idea.”

Scherzer, a Chesterfield native, led the Big 12 confine in ERA  (1.86) and strikeouts when he was a sophomore at Mizzou in 2005. His 131 strikeouts broke a 14-year old school record. He was the conference’s Pitcher of the Year and was a semifinalist for the Clemens Award, the college baseball’s Heisman Trophy.

He was 7-2 with a 1.85 ERA in a junior year when he had some injuries and helped the Tigers win their first NCAA regioal tournament. The Diamondbacks made him the 11th overall pick in the 2006 draft, the first time a Mizzou baseball player had gone in the first round of the draft.

(HAWKS)—-St. Louis once was an NBA town and once its team beat the great Boston Celtics for the NBA Championship.  We note the death of the leader of that team a few days ago. Bob Petit was 93.

Petit joined the Hawks after an All-American career at LSU where he averaged 27.4 points and 14.4 rebounds a game his senior year.  He was the second pick in the 1954 draft by the then-Milwaukee Hawks, soon to move to St. Louis in 1955. He became the first NBA player to score 20,000 points, was an All-Star eleven times and was the first player to be named the Most Valuable Player in the NBA, an award he won three other times..

Petit was a 6-foot-9 power forward whose worst scoring year was his last when he averaged only 22 points per game. His career average was 26.4. He scored 50 six times with a high of 57. In the 1958 championship game with the Celtics, Petit hit for 50 points including 15 of the 21 points the Hawks scored in a one-point win over Bill Russell’s Celtics.

He went back to Louisiana when his career ended and was a financial consultant .

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

(RETURN?)—Robbie Avila, the popular 6-10 center for the St. Louis University Billikens last year, has filed a lawsuit seeking a fifth year as a Billiken. He’s also asking that a judge order an expansion of the roster beyond the NCAA 15-man limit.

His lawsuit claims he’s being unfairly kept from getting NIL payments to play college basketball

The Billikens made history last year by going 29-6 for their most victories ever. They won their first round game against Georgia in the NCAA tournament but were knocked out in round two by the eventual champion, Michigan.

Avila was the A-10 Player of the Year last year. He has enrolled at SLU this year and will work on a master’s degree in leadership and organizational development.

—-Speedy Stuff—

(NASCAR)—Kyle Larson grabbed the NASCAR championship run-off by the throat just across the state line from Kansas City Sunday. His dominating run that maxed out the number of points he could get has put him 26 points up on Denny Hamlin, the regular season champion.

Larson led  235 of the race’s 276 laps, a track record. Chase Briscsoe ran him down with about thirty laps to go but developed a handling problem and Larson reclaimed the lead with seven to go and stayed on the point the rest of the way.

Larson, driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, started on the outside of the front row and took the early lead Yahoo Sports. He held the top spot for most of the race, but Chase Briscoe caught and passed him with 30 laps to go Yahoo Sports+1. Briscoe’s car began to get loose late in the run, giving Larson the chance to reclaim the lead with seven laps remaining NASCAR. He held it to the checkered flag, completing the win.

The win his the 34th of his career, his second win in his last three races after a 51-race dry spell. With six races left, Hamlin is his closest challenger. Christopher Bell is third but is 50 points back. Last week’s winner, Joey Logano, suffered a late tire failure, finished 20th, and drped to fourth in the standings, 67 points back.

(INDYCAR)—The annual off-season ritual for the getting the face of the winner of the Indianapolis 500 on the Borg-Warner trophy is underway for Felix Rosenqvist.

Sculptor William Behrends, who has been the trophy’s sculptor since 1990, carved Rosenqvist’s face in clay at his studio in Tryon, North Carolina. The clay image will be produced in sterling silver and permanently attached to the big trophy.

Rosenqvist’s image is unique because he’s the first winner shown with a full beard, which was a challenge to Behrends who didn’t want the beard to be the first thing people noticed when the see in the silver image. The trophy shows six winners with moustaches, the most recent being Bobby Rahal, the 1986 winner and now a team owner.

Rosenqvist found the experience a little creepy though. “I think the details are what make it come alive bBecause that’s literally what makes you, you. I think the cool thing was because we’ve all seen pictures of ourselves, but to see like a 3D version of yourself and to be able to look around and walk behind him, look out behind the ears and all the kind of things you never could do, it’s a little bit of an eerie experience.”

Rosenqvist will defend his title next May 30, the 111th running of the Indianapolis 500.

(Picture credits: Jensen—Facebook; Cardinals HOF—X; Wathan—Instagram; Matthews–Json Hanna The Kansas City Royals; Petit—Facebook; Sherzer—University of Missouri and Youtube; Larson—Bob Priddy at Indianapolis; Rosenqvist—IndyCar)

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Snipers and Drones?

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Building a triumphal arch overlooking Arlington Cemetery is not enough of an abomination. Our President has not surprisingly found a way to make it worse.

Snipers???  It will house snipers????

Drones?????

Ammunition stockpiles???

What the Hell has prompted him to turn his arch celebrating military triumphs into a mini-fortress or, as he has put it, “a top grade Military Complex.”

He says it’s being done as a matter of national security (which is his excuse for a lot of stuff, isn’t it?) and after a “strong request” from the military.  Could we know who in the military made this strong request?

Will he have ICE snipers up there picking off suspected illegal immigrants as they cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge?  Will drones launched from his arch blend harmoniously into the routes of airliners on their final landing approach to Reagan International Airport?

We wonder when his demented mind will realize the arch would be a good checkpoint to make sure only American citizens of at least three generations are allowed in or out of Washington.  Additionally, officers could block anyone crossing the bridge into the city if there are signs in the back seat or trunk protesting his ongoing fevered dream of defiling the Kennedy Center by putting his name on it. That number might even be much larger these days than the number of dead legal or illegal immigrants.

If it also is to serve as Fortress Trump, perhaps it would be better located at Outpost Hegseth, the Pentagon, and where appropriately the new Hegseth Boulevard could pass through it.

The National Park Service, which one might suspect in normal times would object strongly to this idiocy, instead is equivocating.  It says the arch would affect several historic sites near Arlington National Cemetery including the cemetery’s historic district, the Washington and Lincoln monuments, the Jefferson Memorial the Capitol Mall, and others.

But NPS says it’s okay to go ahead with the arch as long as there are “mitigations,” such as an archaeological investigation before any digging is done. vibration monitoring near the bridge, and a plan so that funerals and wreath-laying ceremonies will not be disrupted—and some new interpretive web pages would help, including one that discusses “the history and significance of triumphal arches.”

We heard last week the digging had started. Forget any archaeological investigations.

There goes the idea of putting it at Outpost Hegseth.

The arch is to have three golden statutes on top of it. A big statue of Lady Liberty will be flanked by two gold eagles that are to represent national pride and strength.

At least the big statue is not of himself.

I really hope these entries are never read to him by anybody. I hate to think I would give him the idea.

The urge to suggest the eagles be replaced by Loons is something I am repressing.

Oops.

A Nation of Laws 

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The spotlight on our court system has been glaring in the last few weeks as the dispute about our congressional districts has intensified and, as we write this, might be in its final throes. Nationally we have a President and his supporters who have launched strong personal attacks against judges at all levels who disagree with their aims.

Our legal system requires attorneys to represent even the worst of us as well as the best and judges who must find justice from within the passionate arguments on behalf of each.

The annual meeting of the Missouri Bar and Judicial Conference held in Kansas City last week featured a luncheon address by Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice W. Brent Powell. We think his remarks alluding to our times and the judiciary that is immersed in the issues of our times are appropriate to pass along. They are being passed along in hopes we might better understand the role our court system must play, particularly in divisive and threatening times—and how we as those lay people might be better served if we lived by those principles, too.

Powell began by readministering the oath of admission attorneys take upon joining the Missouri Bar, allowing them to legally practice law. One of those in the audience with his right hand upraised was his father. We have done some very light editing for context.

Taking our solemn oath places us in a distinct position of honor and responsibility. Honor, because of the prestige our profession holds in our society – and responsibility, because as attorneys, we are entrusted to tend to the vast legal needs of our fellow citizens and community.

I find it especially fitting to reaffirm our oaths now, 250 years after our nation declared its independence from England. Lawyers played a vital role in that monumental event. Nearly half the colonists who signed the Declaration of Independence were lawyers; many lawyers were elected to serve in the Continental Congress; and lawyers were instrumental in drafting our constitution and shaping our nation’s government. For this reason, our profession is a living bridge, linking us to a time when our founders transformed revolutionary ideals of self-governance and democracy into a new government for a new nation. 

Our oath…carries forward the same promises our founding lawyers drafted into our Declaration of Independence and constitution. One of those lawyers was John Adams, who famously proclaimed our nation would be a “government of laws, not of men.” This simple proclamation defined who we are as a people: bound together – not by a monarch or politician – but by the laws enacted through our own self-government. We, as a people, agree to be governed and abide by this law because the law emanates from ourselves. This is our social contract enshrined in our federal and state constitutions, ensuring the rule of law – not autocrats or tyrants – govern our way of life. 

But we all must recognize what Adams and our legal predecessors understood: for our government to survive and thrive, the rule of law – this foundation on which we all coexist – must be guarded continuously and preserved purposefully. Recognizing the importance of this civic virtue, Benjamin Franklin famously remarked we have a republic, if we can keep it. This responsibility – the responsibility to preserve our republic – falls to us and all our brothers and sisters in our profession… 

One of the first and paramount obligations our oath places upon us is to support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Missouri. This dual allegiance protects the grand experiment of federalism and the balance of governmental power our founders envisioned. Together, those constitutions establish a system of governance balancing authority between federal and state sovereigns and among three branches of government. They also preserve for all citizens the right to self-governance and guarantee their individual rights. 

This balance of governmental authority rests on a precarious fulcrum. The power reserved for our citizens, and the rights guaranteed to them, can easily be overlooked and abused. The scales can also be tipped – improperly shifting power among government authorities. Our oath requires us to safeguard this delicate balance, ensuring neither the people’s rights nor the authority bestowed upon each of our three branches of government are trampled or ignored. This is our collective role in a constitutional republic built on checks and balances.

But today, we face threats – threats from those who seek to detract from the ideals of our republic and to undermine faith in our sacred institutions – including our legal profession and our courts. Unfortunately, some of these threats originate from within our own ranks. We must respond to these threats as our founders responded to the tyranny of an autocrat. It is incumbent on all of us as lawyers and judges to rise up and defend our constitutions and the rule of law. 

We must vigorously and emphatically advocate the values of our republic by educating our fellow citizens about how laws are passed, how courts work, how judges make decisions, and how we are bound by these laws and court decisions – even when we may legitimately disagree with them. We owe our allegiance to the constitution and the law, not to our personal or political preferences – even, and especially, when doing so conflicts with our own views and beliefs.

For this reason, the trust endowed in us is extraordinary. Individuals trust their doctors with their health and wellbeing. They trust their accountants and bankers with their money and financial security. And they trust architects and engineers with the soundness of the structures and products they design and build. But they trust lawyers and judges…with the systems and institutions to provide the just and fair society in which we all live. 

This trust is immense and carries with it an equally somber recognition – that we must continue to earn that trust every day, through every action we take and every word we speak, to prove to our fellow Missourians we lawyers can carry the weight of their trust.

How we prove we are worthy of this trust is demonstrated in the words of our oath. We promise to maintain the respect due to courts of justice, judicial officers and members of our profession. We promise to conduct ourselves with dignity. We promise never to mislead a judge or jury by any artifice of false statement of fact or law. And we promise to conduct ourselves in accordance with the rules of professional conduct.

Stated simply, our oath as lawyers instructs us to always act with the dignity and uprightness our profession demands. It applies not only inside conference rooms and courtrooms but in the community as well. Being a lawyer is not just a job; it must be who we are and what defines us as professionals. If we act dishonorably, we cannot expect anyone else to honor our legal institutions and the rule of law. If we act dishonestly, we cannot be surprised when others treat our laws and courtrooms with disrespect and disdain.

Never forget it was tyranny of a monarch an ocean away that led the colonists to declare our independence, but history is full of lessons of tyranny reemerging and thriving when citizens lose faith in justice and the rule of law. Citizens rely on us as lawyers and judges – as professionals sworn to uphold the law – to make justice happen every day in every community in our state. Every transaction and every trial conducted fairly and openly reinforces the foundation laid in 1776. In this way, our profession – and our professionalism – are critical to preserving public trust in government.

But professionalism does not require grandiose deeds or acts – and can be accomplished in quiet, effortless ways. We must seek to solve disputes, not create them. We must act with grace, honor, and a moral and just purpose. We cannot let zealous advocacy devolve into malice, acrimony, vitriol, meanness, or nastiness. And in a world in which it is increasingly difficult to tell fact from fiction, and hyperbole from downright lies, it is essential we – as lawyers bound by a common oath – never, ever forget we are bound to tell the truth. Your reputation as an individual lawyer – and the reputation of our entire profession – depends on never letting advocacy get in the way of truth.

I don’t need to tell you that we live in a divided nation and state. This is not a new phenomenon, but technology provides new ways to divide us. Spurred by misinformation, disinformation, and the echo-chamber traps our social media algorithms build, the discord and viciousness in our society has invaded our schools, our churches, and even our family living rooms and dinner tables, where divisiveness was ordinarily absent…

We don’t have to sacrifice our beliefs and values. But we must listen to one another … including those with whom we vehemently disagree. We must show empathy … especially when doing so is uncomfortable. And we must care for others … particularly those we may find distasteful or disdain. These are important lessons I learned from my dad. And it’s what our oath requires of us.

Another lesson I learned from my father is a shared commitment to service. Our oath commits all of us, as a profession, to serve others. Our oath requires us to practice law with consideration for the defenseless and oppressed. This ending to our oath is deeply rooted in our history, as both lawyers and as Americans. Our Declaration of Independence boldly proclaims all people are created equal. Throughout history, it has fallen on lawyers – and judges – to bridge the gap between this founding ideal and the realities in which we live. Because for too many, this promise remains unfulfilled.

The promises secured for us in the Declaration of Independence and our constitution are only as strong as our profession’s ability to deliver them. But today, some of those promises are beginning to collapse around us. Half of Americans think our legal system offers two systems of justice: one for those with money or connections, and one for everyone else. We struggle to provide quality legal services to people in every corner of our state at rates people can actually afford. More than three-quarters of our fellow citizens don’t know where to turn for legal help and they believe they must go to court, draft contracts, probate estates, or get divorced without a lawyer – because they can’t afford one.

With the rise of AI, we must be concerned about pricing ourselves out of our own profession. Everyone in this room understands the value of an attorney in shepherding clients through their legal issues, both inside and outside the courtroom. But a short hop online illustrates the folly of this belief. The internet offers any number of AI “solutions” to address legal needs. But the world-wide web is also full of cautionary tales of what happens when a lawyer or self-represented litigant relies too heavily on AI to “help” them with a case. An AI solution may look like help, it may sound like help, but the whole thing might just be a hallucination. And the types of legal issues people face in their everyday lives – contract disputes, family law issues, probate matters, and other civil disputes – are far too important to be left to hallucinations. People deserve human lawyers like you to assist them with their legal needs.

Make no mistake: AI is here to stay. Every year, every month, every day, and every second, AI continues to revolutionize how things are done, in ways we struggle to comprehend. But we cannot just stand idly by, because others will fill any gap we choose to ignore. Our rules of professional conduct require us to remain vigilant and do our homework – including learning about new technology that may scare us at times. 

We also need to do some soul-searching, as a profession. More than ever, the rise of technology requires us all to remember our oath to serve others for the benefit of those in need of affordable legal services. We owe it to our fellow Missourians to demonstrate our value; embrace technology tools appropriately to enhance the services we provide the public; and keep the crucial role of human lawyers intrinsically involved in providing legal services to those who need it…

Our duty is to our clients and the public at large, not our individual concerns. None of us should let personal success make us apathetic toward the needs of our fellow citizens. Instead, we should use our education and privilege to serve others. But giving of oneself – abiding by our oath as lawyers – is not easy. It means devoting our lives to others, overcoming our inherent desire to improve our own condition. I confess, I struggle with this. It’s hard to live up to such a high standard, and far easier to find comfort in serving my own needs and desires. 

Fortunately, I have been so very blessed to see my father modeling what being a lawyer is truly all about – diligent, ethical, and honorable service … to his clients, to his profession, and to his community. Throughout his decades of practice, he was a strong advocate, but he also knew how to disagree without being disagreeable, and how to build bridges through compassion and kindness rather than sowing seeds of dissention. In a nutshell, he fulfilled our solemn oath every single day. Let’s all strive to be a lawyer like my father.

If I can ask one thing of all of you – just one thing – endeavor every single day to fulfill the oath you reaffirmed this afternoon. By fulfilling our solemn oath, we can build upon the blueprint of the Declaration of Independence and our constitutions, ensuring the rule of law and our way of life endure for the next 250 years. If we do this one thing, then I have faith and hope the stability of our republic and civil society will be sustained. And you, I, and those who come after us will all be better off because of it.

We appreciate Chief Justice Powell’s remarks, not just in reference to what lawyers and judges should be and should do, but in the kind of citizens all of us should strive to be.

(Photo credit: The Missouri Bar and Google Images)

Sports: Getting the Job Done at Arrowhead; Work To Do at Mizzou; The Last Six Games

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(CHIEFS)—Statistically, the Chiefs were all over the Colts Sunday night.  But before the game was all over, the Chiefs had to keep Indianapolis from getting a touchdown in overtime—and did, holding them to a field goal, while the Chiefs got two kicks through the uprights for a 33-30 win.

Patrick Mahomes threw for 371 yards (more than 160 more than his Colts counterpart, Daniel Jones) and Kenneth Walker ran for 117 of Kansas City’s 119 rushing yards.  Total offense; Chiefs 352., Colts 329.  Travis Kelce ran on young legs for 101 receiving yards and a touchdown. But it was Harrison Butker’s 40-yard field goal as the clock hit zero that won the game.

The win was an NFL record eighth straight overtime victory.  The Chiefs are 2-0 with a game next weekend against 0-2 Miami. The Colts are 0-2.

(MIZ)—Troy State beat Missouri everywhere but on the scoreboard Saturday night, leaving Coach Eli Drinkwitz with a long list of things that have to be shaped up before Mizzou starts SEC play next weekend against Mississippi State—which had a big win Saturday.

Missouri dropped behind Troy 10-0 before running off 24 straight points before the half. A Tiger field goal late in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach for Troy, 27-17.  Troy had the ball fifteen minutes longer than Missouri did, outgained them 323-230 and had five more first downs than the Tigers had.

Drinkwitz ticked off a list of concerns—going only 2 for 11 on third downs, the inability to complete a pass when needed (“We weren’t great throwing and catching the football. There was receivers falling down, receivers running around too deep, quarterback throwing the ball too early, offensive holding, inefficient runs off first down, inability to use play action to create separation between the second level of the defense.”)

Both Missouri and Mississippi State are 3-0.  State rallied from a 13-0 deficit against South Carolina Saturday night to win 41-34.

The unimpressive win was good enough to advance MU’s position by one slot in the national polls. The AP poll puts them 19th. Coaches have them 21st.

(FORMERTIGERS)—Former Tiger Quarterback Drew Lock played like a starter instead of a sub for the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, filling in for injured starter Sam Darnold. On the second play of the game he hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for an 82-yard touchdown.  The two connected on two other TDs as the Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals 31-7.

Another Tiger QB, Brady Cook, was waived by the Jets in late August and was picked up by the Dolphins. He’s considered Miami’s emergency quarterback, to be activated if starter Malik Wilson and backup Kyle McCord can’t play.

Luther Burden III, who missed some training camp workouts with an injury, is  a Bears starters. In two games he had nine catches for 95 yards. No touchdowns yet.

(BASEBALL)—By the time we next write about baseball, the uniforms will be cleaned and put away, Busch and Kauffman Stadiums will be silent (I find few things more lonely than a baseball diamond in winter) until spring, and the playoffs will be underway involving other people’s teams.

But there’s always next year. That’s the never-ending story of the game.

The Cardinals are gone from St. Louis, their last home game something that will help fans get through the winter.  Their last six games will be on the road.  They have to win five of the six to finish at .500. Even if they don’t make it, they’ve given the Cardinals’ fans plenty to live for until the magical first day of spring training. The names of the last home game youngsters are likely to become quite familiar in 2027.

Quinn Matthews was solid on the mound against the Nationals.  The Cardinals got ahead in eht first inning with Ivan Herrera’s first homer since the All-Star break.  Jose Fermin led off the second with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by J. J. Wetherholt.

Matthews struggled in the 6th and gave up a two-run homer to give Washington a 3-2 lead. He lasted seven innings, gave up seven hits and three earned runs.

Herrera hit his second homer in the eighth to tie the game. After Jordan Walker was intentionally walked, Leo Bernal put one in the seats 424 feet away for the lead. Riley O’Brien shut the Nationals down to end it.

The Cardinals play the first half of the rest of their schedule starting tonight in Pittsburgh. They finished the year 41-42 at home.

The Royals will play their last six games at the K, hoping to end things on a high note after being swept by the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The bullpen was the culprit again. The Royals were up 3-2 in the eighth after a pinch-hit two-run homer by Vinnie Pasquantino. But a homer by Rafael Flores Jr., gave the Pirates a 4-3 win.

The bullpen wasted another good outing by Michael Wacha who threw 113 pitches in 5.2 innings, gave up only four hits and allowed two runs.

The Royals finished the year 28-53 on the road. They’re 39-36 at home with the White Sox and the Guardians coming to town to wrap up the season.

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Not everybody is done playing baseball this fall, though. The Arizona Fall League starts October 3 and ends on Nov. 11.  A few players who hope one day to be engulfed by the cheers of the crowd as they step onto the field They’re among the top prospects of each team going to the Arizona League for another month of work and learning.

Eight Cardinals wannabes will be there—Pitchers Tekoah Roby,  Michael Watson, Brandon Clarke, Nate Dohm, and Frank Elissalt, outfielder Tai Peete, third baseman Cade McGee, and catcher/outfielder Sammy Hernandez.

Peete, on Sunday, had five hits including a two-run homer, four RBIs, a stolen base and two runs scored as Springfield won the first game in its defense of the Texas League championship. Springfield beat the Amarillo (TX) Sod Poodles 7-2 in Amarillo and will play the second game of the series tonight at home.

Roby will play his first baseball game in almost a year after Tommy John surgery last year. He has a spot on the 40-man roster, the only one of the eight with one of those prized slots. He came over from the Rangers in 2023. Pete also has had injury problems. He was able to play only 66 games in the rookie league, High-A and Double-A ball this year. But when he was healthy he flashed the kind of promise it was hoped he’s show—.296 average in 312 times at the late.

Clark, who was a big part of the Sonny gray trade with Boston, came back from an arm injury to work 29.2 innings in four levels of minor league ball, struck out 44 and showed 100 mph plus on the gun a few times.

Ellisalt will be playing after missing all of the season with an injury.

Hernandez was solid in High-A this year—65 games, .279 with an OPS of .940. McGee was in 86 games with High-A Peoria this year after being a ninth round pick in the draft earlier this year.

Dohm came to the Cardinals in the Ryan Helsley trade with the Mets. He started 13 games, relieved in 11 and had a7.43 ERA.

Watson was an undrafted free agent who was at Springfield all year, striking out 71 in 52.32 innings.

One of the most-watched Royals hopefuls will be this year’s first-round draft pick, Zion Rose. He’ll be joined by eight others from the Royals system. Rose got into 19 games in High-A, hit .268 with a homer and 14 walks. He also stole 14 bases.

A .319 batting average in Low-A by catcher Brooks Bryan earned him a trip to Arizona. He went on the IL after 33 games and three home runs.

Injuries have dogged shortstop Austin Charles who had seven homers  and a .285 average in 45 games at Quad Cities. Teammate Josh Hansell has been hurt for parts of the last two seaosns but he had 41 Ks and 25 walks on 40.2 innings.

Justin Lamkin is considered the eighth best Royals prospect. He had a strong year in High-A and Double A. He made eight starts before he went on the injured list in mid-May, went 39.2 innings, had 53 strikeouts and a 2.04 ERA.

It’s been five years since Frank Mozzicato was Kansas City’s number one draft pick, coming out high school with a big curveball.  He’s had control problems in Double-A where he had 72 walks in 71.2 innings this year and an 8.04 ERA. But in the last month of his season he appears to have gotten it together, with 30 strikeouts in 18 innings with opposing batters hitting only .121 against him.

Hiro Wyatt, also drafted out of high school (2023) did well during his second time in Low-A. Seven starts, 28 innings, 24 strikeouts and a 3.21 ERA before he was shut down in May.

The Royals had enough faith in Steven Zobac that he was put on the 40-man roster last year although he had injury problems and wasn’t too effective.  This year he made 13 starts in Double-A totaling 42.2 innings. He fanned 41 and had a 4.85 ERA. He’s considered the 14th best player in the Royals system.

Now, a sport lasting into November—-

(NASCAR)—Bristol is a short track where tempers also get short when 35 or more drivers are turning laps every 15 seconds for 500 trips around the oval and trying to get past one another.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out and the disagreement over space on track continues in the pits after the race.

Joey Logano slipped past Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs as they fought for the lead with five laps to go and neither could catch him as he racked up his third win of the year and 40th of his career.

Ryan Blaney dominated the race, leading 120 until his car, running a high line, dipped low to block Hocevar’s pass.  Blaney’s left rear bumper touched the nose of Hocevar’s car, sending Blaney into the wall and out of the race.

Hocevar finished third behind Kyle Larson and found himself face to face in the pits after he race with a furious Blaney (right).  Some punches were thrown but neither of these guys is much of a pugilist and crew members pulled them apart—twice.  As we go to press

NASCAR will not penalize either driver. CEO Steve O’Donnell told Kevin Harvick on Harick’s podcast yesterday, “We’re not going to encourage fighting, but what we are going to encourage is passion, right? And those are two guys — Blaney’s showing his passion, showing his fire. So no, there’s nothing coming from us in terms of [penalties]. We’ll obviously watch what happens the rest of the way, but nothing in terms of post-race penalties.”

Larson’s second-place finish and Denny Hamlin’s finish in 8th gave Larson a one-point lead in the championship standings with seven races left in the season.

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(WWTR)—Driver complaints about the narrowness of the pit road at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis after last week’s Cup race there will take NASCAR officials there this week to talk about possible changes. A pit incident in a second-tier NASCAR race left some crewmen injured. Racing Insights says the track has the second-narrowest pit lane on the NASCAR circuit—25 feet wide, one foot wider than the pit lane at Indianapolis.

(Photo credit: Drinkwitz—larrybrownsports; Peete—Cardinals; Royals—newssportslogos.net; fight— Chris Graythen, Getty Images)

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The Ban Won’t Work

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(This entry has been updated by events today.)

I have walked under this arch more times than I can count. The words engraved on it are a derivation from the third verse of the 12th chapter of the Old Testament book of Daniel.  It’s the University of Missouri School of Journalism arch connecting the two buildings that have been the heart of the school for decades, the places where I learned the responsibilities of being a journalist.

William F. Woo, the then-editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote in 1996 that Walter Williams, the founder of the nation’s oldest journalism school, and Joseph Pulitzer, who joined two 19th century St. Louis newspapers together were partners in stating the journalism ideal.

Williams wrote The Journalist’s Creed that begins, “I believe in the profession of journalism.  I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust…I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible.”

Pulitzer’s platform, still published every day in his newspaper, says: “Never tolerate injustice or corruption; always fight demagogues of all parties; never belong to any party; always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers; never lack sympathy with the poor; always remain devoted to the public welfare: never be satisfied with merely printing news; always be drastically independent; never be afraid to attack wrong whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty.”

It is not easy to live those noble words.  Many professions have statements of standards and it’s no easier for practitioners of those professions to live up to those highest standards either. As Woo said, the challenge is “how to successfully work through the matters of our day that are pressing but in fact peripheral and concentrate, with clarity and determination, on the great public purpose that endures.”

Sometimes it’s hard to see those noble words in practice when they bring reporters into angry confrontations with their subjects. In our experience, the worst confrontations have been caused by a search for the truth from someone who is less than zealous about telling it or having it revealed.

Tolerating President Trump from this distance is relatively easy when compared with those who have to put up with him every day, especially when he spends so much time insulting reporters and news organizations that challenge him when he lies—which seems to be most of the time—or shows no interest in telling the truth.

Thus we have his banning of reporters from three organizations from the White House. Not just the White House but from the press area set aside on the west wing lawn.  Reporters for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico—a Capitol Hill political news organization—learned Saturday morning when checking through the security gate that Trump had cancelled their credentials.

We watched some of them report on the street side of the fence.

He also has hinted these three might not be the last news organizations banned from the White House, the press room, and the yard.

There’s a simple way to end what he thinks is constant hostile reporting.

He can quit constantly lying.

Washington Post fact checkers caught him in 30,573 lies in his first term. We haven’t been able to find a running total for the second term but the independent The Cap Times, the Madison, Wisconsin version of our Missouri Independent,  reported a week after his second inaugural, “Trump’s Lie Meter Runing Full Time.”

Comedian and social commentator John Stewart has suggested Trump might be doing an injustice to himself.  Huff Post quotes him saying, “I actually think he needs them more than they need him.”  He says the media might want to think about ignoring him instead of reporting everything he does or says. Press conferences, he says, are “designed for his personal performance” that “serves no purpose in terms of public value. It’s just another platform for him to spew.”  A press pool that ignores him, he says, “would deny him the thing that he craves the most,” being the center of attention.

He has a point.  But it isn’t realistic.  Donald Trump is the crash scene you have to look at as you slowly drive by, muttering about how slow the traffic is ahead of you because others are doing the same thing.

Unfortunately for Trump, it is journalistically impossible to ignore his rolling wreck.  There is an obligation to report on his tantrums, his prevarications, his lack of decency, his bullying, his complete lack of responsibility for what he is doing and has done to individuals, the nation, and the world..

“I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible,” said Williams 118 years ago.

The welfare of society is at risk when there is no one to hold someone like Donald Trump accountable.  And being held accountable is something he can’t tolerate which is why he bans reporters from Air Force One and from the White House and why he rants about news organizations and specific news reporters.

Banning some reporters never works.  Colleagues ask their questions for them. Colleagues demand their answers.  He can roar all that he wants. He will never escape the scrutiny of the press.  He can have his favorite network lap dogs but they won’t keep the public from knowing more of the truth than he would ever tell.

After announcing the ban on the three news agencies, Trump said he was tired of all of the negative reporting correspondents had been doing about him.  “They’re fake news,” he said.  “You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. You get sick of it.”

There’s an old saying that politicians should not get into a war of words with people who buy ink by the barrel.  He can throw out reporters but he can’t hide from the news.

Donald Trump IS the fake news and the polls indicate a lot of people are “sick of it.” Journalists are just exposing him to the public as he is. The public is seeing the light. And an increased percentage of the public also is “sick of it.”

Banning reporters is an act of cowardice by a man who resents the fact that the image he creates for himself is being truthfully reported.

One way or another, he—not the press—will be the loser.

(UPDATE)—Most of the major television news organizations announced today—Monday—that they would no longer provide their cameras for the White House TV pool. News divisions from ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, and NBC have taken steps that effectively cuts off coverage of the Trump White House.  The move was led by FOX News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton, the chair of the White House TV Pool.  The five networks put out a joint statement: “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”

Trump and his loyal followers are not reacting positively, as you might expect, to the press pool effectively agreeing with John Stewart.)  

Photo Credit: (Sheila Scarborough)

Our Bilingual Country

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My monthly opinion piece in the Jefferson City News Tribune this month focused on Canada’s recognition of its bilingual heritage—English and French—with our country’s failure to recognize our bilingual heritage of English and Spanish.

English is the mother tongue of 57% of Canadians. French is the mother tongue of 20%, most of whom live in Quebec where Canadian federal law protects the language and the culture.

About 78% of USA homes are English-speaking.  About 12% are Spanish speakers but some of our states are much heavier with Spanish speakers. Our nation, however, offers no Canada-like appreciations accorded Quebec, especially a region almost as large as that province. We’ll get to that later.

Our country language has not always been English-dominated. English was a just a minor language when our pious Pilgrim Protestant forbears landed in the late 1500s and early 1600s. There were many Native American Languages but in terms of competing European languages, Catholic Spanish predominated.

I couldn’t put this map in the newspaper, but it shows that English was very much THE OTHER language.

It is too easy for us to get all sniffy about the superiority of our Christian English ancestors (and for those who go for the “Christian nation” myth, we will only suggest that most would not have wanted to live in such a place where the religious freedom concept applied only to THEIR religious freedom, dissenters such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson being exiled for questioning some Puritan tenets. There are, however, more than enough today who want no questions about their version.).

We are becoming more bilingual or even multi-lingual but we show no signs of being like Canada in respecting the original language of others. American Community Survey data from 2024 shows 43-45% of the population of California is non-English home speakers. Texas is about 36%. New Mexico is 34%. Various estimates put Arizona at 30-30%.

Quebec, by the way, is about the same size as Texas. California, and New Mexico combined.  Texas and New Mexico do not have English official laws. President Trump has taken care of that with an executive order declaring English the official language in all of our states.

We’ll have more in a later entry about the languages of our states.  You might be as surprised as I am about what the second and third languages of Missouri are.

In the newspaper article I cited Walt Whitman’s letter refusing to write a poem for Santa Fe’s 333rd anniversary:

We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents, and sort them, to unify them. They will be found ampler than has been supposed and in widely different sources. Thus far, impressed by New England writers and schoolmasters, we tacitly abandon ourselves to the notion that our United States have been fashioned from the British Islands only, and essentially form a second England only—which is a great mistake. Many leading traits for our future national personality, and some of the best ones, will certainly prove to have originated from other than British stock. As it is, the British and German, valuable as they are in the concrete, already threaten excess. Or rather, I should say, they have certainly reach’d​ that excess. To-day, something outside of them, and to counterbalance them, is seriously needed.

Thus seething materialistic and business vortices of the United States, in their present devouring relations, controlling and belittling everything else, are, in my opinion, but a vast and indispensable stage in the new world’s development, and are certainly to be follow’d​ by something entirely different—at least by immense modifications. Character, literature, a society worthy the name, are yet to be establish’d​ , through a nationality of noblest spiritual, heroic and democratic attributes—not one of which at present definitely exists—entirely different from the past, though unerringly founded on it, and to justify it.

To that composite American identity of the future, Spanish character will supply some of the most needed parts. No stock shows a grander historic retrospect—grander in religiousness and loyalty, or for patriotism, courage, decorum, gravity and honor. (It is time to dismiss utterly the illusion-compound, half raw-head-and-bloody-bones and half Mysteries-of-Udolpho, inherited from the English writers of the past 200 years. It is time to realize—for it is certainly true—that there will not be found any more cruelty, tryanny, superstition, &c., in the résumé of past Spanish history than in the corresponding résumé of Anglo-Norman history. Nay, I think there will not be found so much.)

Then another point, relating to American ethnology, past and to come, I will here touch upon at a venture. As to our aboriginal or Indian population—the Aztec in the South, and many a tribe in the North and West—I know it seems to be agreed that they must gradually dwindle as time rolls on, and in a few generations more leave only a reminiscence, a blank. But I am not at all clear about that. As America, from its many far-back sources and current supplies, develops, adapts, entwines, faithfully identifies its own—are we to see it cheerfully accepting and using all the contributions of foreign lands from the whole outside globe—and then rejecting the only ones distinctively its own—the autochthonic ones?

As to the Spanish stock of our Southwest, it is certain to me that we do not begin to appreciate the splendor and sterling value of its race element. Who knows but that element, like the course of some subterranean river, dipping invisibly for a hundred or two years, is now to emerge in broadest flow and permanent action?

We are living in a time when diversity in language and in so many parts of life is a living presence among us but an official target of disrespect from a president who has never lived outside his small cultural bubble.

I concluded in the article, “Language might separate us culturally one from another, but we should learn from better-taught history not to allow it to divide us as Americans.  We are one out of many. This is a time to understand and honor that sentiment, not ignore it.

Canada can teach us an important lesson about tolerance and respect.”

(map from appswm.com)