I have a large magnetic helmet that I slap on the side of my car door during football season.   The helmet has a block “M” on it.  Periodically, someone will ask me when I went to Michigan.  What idiots.  There is probably no helmet more distinctive that Michigan’s and it certainly doesn’t have a block “M”.

It’s tough being a Mizzou fan out here on the East coast.  The Washington Post thinks any game played West of the Mississippi is a late start and they don’t post the score.

The NCAA tournament is getting ready to start and you can bet that the TV announcers will be showing the UCLA victory over Mizzou in 1995.  We are always the backdrop for some sensational or outrageous play.

In the UCLA game, we were ahead by one point and there were 4.8 seconds left in the game.  UCLA’s Tyus Edney got the ball under his own basket and raced down the court dodging Mizzou players.  He threw the ball up and scored just before the buzzer.  UCLA 75, Mizzou 74.  I’ll get to see that play at least five time in the next few weeks.  Hey, it was 14 years ago.  Give it a rest.

Did I mention that UCLA went on to win the NCAA championship that year.  Always the backdrop.  I got to thinking.  I’ll bet that damn thing is on You Tube.  Once you start thinking like that it’s kind of hard not to look.  Yep, it’s there.

In 1990, the Colorado Buffaloes were declared the college football national champions.  Would you like to hazard a guess as to whom they beat on the last play of the game, which happened to be their fifth down?  You are right.  It was Mizzou.  We got stuck with officials who couldn’t court past four.

After Colorado completed a pass and got a first down, the quarterback raced up and spiked the ball (down one).  They then ran a play and failed to score (down two).  Colorado called its last time out.  An official on the sideline failed to flip the down marker.  Colorado ran the ball again and Mizzou held (down three).  Then the QB spiked the ball again (down four!).  And, on the fifth down, Colorado scored to win the game.

My son, Paul, was at the game and he and many of the fans in the student section knew it was fifth down.  But who is going to listen to the screams of the student section?  It would have been nice if one of the Mizzou coaches would have known what down it was.  I refuse to look on You Tube.  It’s too depressing.

I’ve got to get this over fast.  Reliving these moments is not healthy.  In 1997, Mizzou is beating Nebraska and Big Red is down to its last play.  A pass is thrown to Nebraska’s Wiggins in the end zone.  Mizzou’s Julien Jones slaps the ball free from Wiggins’ hands.  Just before the ball hits the ground, Wiggins kicks the ball up in the air (you can’t to that) and another Nebraska player dives and catches the ball.  I thought it touched the ground, but there was no instant replay in 1997 and some official who was concentrating on getting the downs right called it a touchdown.  That tied the game and Nebraska prevailed in overtime.

In recent years, things have gotten better.  Our football teams have been winning (and beating up on Nebraska).  Mizzou’s basketball team is having a great year.  We are seeded third in the NCAA tournament with a 28-6 record.  We just won the Big 12 Tournament so I flipped open the Washington Post to see what it had to say about our beating Baylor for the championship.  The headline said, “Baylor’s Big 12 Run is Halted in Title Game.”  Well that’s the Washington Post.

I decided to go on line and see what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had to say.  I needed something warm and fuzzy.  So, how does the Post-Dispatch headline read?  I couldn’t make this up.  It says, “It’s back to Boise for No. 3 seed Mizzou.  Tigers return to site of their heartbreaking loss to UCLA in 1995.”  Enough already!  Enough!