re: When were your program’s “good old days?”

1987-2000

1999 going Wire to Wire

August 30th, 2014-November 28th, 2014

During my life: RC Slocum, followed by Jackie Sherrill

I see Elko as a return to the Slocum ethos in many ways.

There were some great teams/years back in the leather helmet days, too.

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Tell me about the top two or three moments in your program’s history…

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It's hard to rembember right now

Sadly two of them we lost of course....

64' Game of the Century......with Texas

Sugar Bowl under BP when we had our chances to knock off OSU....

Orange bowl win over OU in 78 31-6 costing OU the National Title.

Plenty of honorable mentions...
Miracle on Markham
OT thriller in Oxford
OT from Kentucky
"Bring da wood" in BR
4th and 25 in Ole Miss

Tennessee redemption in Fayetteville....

Joe Adams highlight reel against Tenner

Mallett to Childs in Athens as the manchild rips his way for a late TD to seal the win.

Lunney to Meadors to beat 'Bama.... (still not sure it was a catch )

man I miss being decent at football

1985-1996 Alabama for me. Not because those were the most successful years but because I was a kid growing up and a lot more enamored with the Tide then than I have ever been as an adult.

Plus, most of the players on those teams were actually from Alabama. Same with the Auburn teams. Both teams were generally good every year, and the Iron Bowl was a much bigger deal.

But college football (true college football) was always a house of cards because of the extreme importance of winning. Eventually teams started recruiting more and more nationwide and as money grew and grew it was inevitable that we would reach the point where we are today - essentially a minor league.

The only reasons I watch nowadays are because I like to see good athletes compete and then observe the drama associated with who wins and loses, who’s getting hired and fired, who’s transferring, etc. College football is my soap opera.

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I remember when we finally broke that in the late 90s

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It was 2003 when we finally broke through against NU, it was at 24 games straight starting in 78.

Mizzou basically went dark with football beginning in the 70s - although had some big wins in the 70s, we also had a lot of inexplicable losses (and a lot of those were to a team just to the West), and residual but declining success the first few years of the 80s, and then all through the 80s and 90s - and really up until 2003 (had glimmer of very modest success in 97/98) we simply did not win much at all. So there was about 25 years where MU's administration basically abandoned football. Poor hires, no commitment to invest in facilities or training, and add to that some really bad luck in critical games (5 downs, kick-catch). We are still playing catch up to this day - although our training and practice facilities are excellent now and our Stadium has improved significantly (and is improving greatly as we speak). I don't see Mizzou ever supporting a mega huge capacity - but the amentities and quality of the experience is way, way up.

Unfortunately - the late 80s and early 90s were years I was there - it was awful. Mizzou basically gave up on football for a quarter century. Of course, that is the frame of reference for many when they think about Mizzou football. Our best years were the 50s, 60s and early 70s (before my time), mid 2000s and early 2010s.

I was a student at OU when Switzer became the HC. Oklahoma went on an unbeaten streak that rivaled 47 straight from the 50's.

The term Sooner Magic was coined a year after the streak during a game at Nebraska on a game-winning drive that included a halfback pass and a flea flicker by a receiver to the running back.

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when Missouri was the "giant killer" team. It was crazy. Missouri would beat the best teams in the country. Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Nebraska... and yet lose to lousy Big 8 teams routinely.

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yes - this for Mizzou. Those losses to lousy teams were maddening (especially kU) - which led to firings, and the replacement hires were terrible - and at the same time MU stopped investing in athletic facilities for nearly 25 years.

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What’s the lie?

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You didn't lie but I see seven in that time period but I may be missing something. Of course the gump thinks it should be zero.