Here's the DAve matter chat from yesterday LINK

Lots of basketball and football questions and this extra stuff on John Kadlec...

Hello, chatters. Before we get started today, Let me indulge in a few more thoughts about the passing of John Kadlec, who in the 24 hours since news broke of his death has been called everything from a Mizzou ambassador to a Mizzou icon and legend. He is all of that and more. More than anything, he was a great friend to countless people whose lives intersected with his during a 60-year association with Mizzou, this guy included.

Some thoughts …

* Whenever someone asks me what I like most about being a sportswriter I usually say something about getting to know so many people I’d otherwise never meet in person. In doing this job for 16 years, there’s no one I’m happier to have met and gotten to know than Coach Kadlec. He was a treasure, an endless collection of stories and memories. His stories were often hilarious and usually informative. He was a tremendous source of history and perspective.

No one else can can say they were part of eight different decades (1940s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s and ‘10s) of Mizzou football history. Only Coach Kadlec could recall stories and players from the Faurot and Devine eras and connect them to the Pinkel years. I once asked Kadlec where Sean Weatherspoon ranked among Mizzou’s greatest linebackers. He placed him at the top — then proceeded to break down Weatherspoon’s strengths compared to that of 1960s stars Andy Russell and Gus Otto.

* Over the years, Kadlec was the go-to quote when a former player or coach died. I’d feel bad having to call Kadlec every time a former peer passed away, but he always delivered a helpful story or insight. “Man, Dave, they’re dropping like flies,” he said one time. But not Kadlec. He’d outlive them all, I always thought.

* No one could hold court around a table of food and drink like Coach Kadlec. In 2012, two years after he left the radio booth, he made the trip to Knoxville for Mizzou’s first game against Tennessee. It was an early kickoff. A handful of writers were huddled around a table eating and swapping stories. Eventually, Kadlec had the floor — and never gave it back. I can’t remember what his stories were about that day, but I know I didn’t want to leave the table. I’m fairly certain a few of us missed the opening kickoff, which was fine because the game went into four overtimes.

* Here’s what kind of person Coach Kadlec was. Three years ago his beloved wife Dolly died suddenly. After her funeral, I wrote a short piece in the Columbia Tribune about Coach losing the love of his life. Later that night, the man who just buried his wife of 60 years calls me. On what was probably the low point of his 83 years on the planet, Kadlec went out of his way to thank me for the story. I’ve never been more thrilled to hear back from a reader. I get goosebumps thinking about that phone call. Over the next three years, every time I crossed paths with Kadlec — every single time — he made sure to thank me for that story. He hung it on the fridge, and if I recall right, later had it framed.

* One quick Kadlec story. Phil Pitts played defensive tackle for the Tigers in the early Pinkel years. He was from Helias High School in Jefferson City, a Catholic school. (He’s now the head coach at Helias.) Kadlec was a devout Catholic. He was a Phil Pitts guy, and it was no mystery why. Pitts made 14 tackles his senior year. If you listened to the radio broadcasts that year, Pitts had at least double that. Mike Kelly jokes that Kadlec would credit Pitts for tackles even when he wasn’t on the field. “Hey, Mike, it looks like Pitts got to him first to make the tackle.” Sure, Coach, whatever you say.

* Former Mizzou linebacker and assistant coach Barry Odom shared this with me Wednesday: When Odom left the Mizzou staff after the 2011 season to become the defensive coordinator at Memphis, he received a handwritten letter from Kadlec. Odom tucked the letter in his work bag and takes it with him everywhere he goes, proving Kadlec’s touch has reached far beyond the Show-Me State.

* I hope the football team and the university have something special planned to honor Kadlec during Saturday’s game. His funeral service is in the morning — naturally, on All Saints Day —and the Tigers kick off in the afternoon. I hope Missouri’s offensive linemen appreciate what Kadlec meant to Mizzou football and all the years and sweat he poured into coaching their predecessors. I hope A.J. Ricker, like Kadlec, a former Mizzou offensive linemen-turned-offensive line coach has his guys honor Kadlec in some form or fashion.