Is this mess and the quick resignation at Mizzou going to lead to many more mobs of ingrates and whiney disenfranchised entitled kids staging protests at the slightest whim to try and get people fired they disagree with at colleges?

I think this is sadly going to become a trend and I hope I am wrong.

My daughter applied to Mizzou last week. This week I told her we will most likely withdrawal the application.

I agree he had a lot to lose. He was in a tough spot. IMO, he went to far by lending his name to their cause (by tweeting his support) whether he personally agreed with the cause or not. He could have let the kids be kids on their own by simply not coming down hard on those who missed practices/meetings/games, etc.

I don't 'know' him socially by any means, I've just had an opportunity to speak with him a couple of times.

My off the cuff impression of him is the same as yours. And I think what corroborates that is that I do get the opposite impression with Wolfe. Moreover, Loftin was very well regarded at A&M.

That said, I don't have my finger on the pulse for fundraising at all. If he really was struggling with the donor base, that's a problem. Kim Anderson may have done some damage there, but not enough to make a massive dent I wouldn't think.

At worst, I'm going to chalk this up to a personality clash rather than a value judgment as to Loftin. Loftin's a Texan through and through. He doesn't wear his politics on his sleeve but that alone is enough to make you a mark here (if you're not a raging liberal in Columbia you pretty much get cast as Yosemite Sam). He has a bit of swagger to him but doesn't really carry himself with that eastern elitist air that tickles the fancy of most academics.

I don't think he's an ineffective leader, though it sounds as if his style simply didn't fit here. Sadly, I don't think I'm going to care for the style of leader that they do bring in because it sure looks like they're going to have to go with some new age 'players coach' that wants to make sure everyone plays nicely in the sandbox.

Why? Because of Kentucky and Vanderbilt?

If I'd have known that I could just hold my breath and pout to get what I wanted when I was on campus, they'd have never taken the goddamn Chik-Fil-A out of the student union.

"I WILL NOT EAT!!! UNTIL SOMEONE BRINGS MY ONE OF THOSE TASTY, TASTY CHICKEN SANDWICHES!!!"

Reminds me somewhat of the Louis CK miracle of flight bit. I'm not saying you shouldn't advocate for making things better, but you're in college, how far down is the man really pushing you?

I wouldn't make a knee-jerk reaction where my daughter's future is concerned. If she thinks a different school has a better program in her major, then yes, but if it's just because of this stuff, then let your emotions calm down first.

Good for you.

There are enough distractions in college as is. The garbage at Mizzou is just a national embarrassment.

Kim Anderson's two biggest supporters (and the two guys most responsible for him being hired, according to what I hear) were Wolfe and Loftin. Not sure if that was them attempting to appease donors or not, but they kind of forced Alden's hand there.

In addition to being not good for many reasons, this conflict is also very not good for Kim Anderson.

And that's one silver lining, at least.

If he does that, he risks a schism in-house. If the lockerroom splits, he's in trouble. By staying in front of it, he kept any potential disagreements low-key. The public face of the team now came out and united it.

Had he said nothing, it wouldn't have taken much for something seemingly benign (one of Scherer's tweets could have been enough) to take root and suddenly there's a perceived public split on MU's football team and you know the narrative will end up with the black kids vs. the white kids.

And yes, at that point all hell would've broken loose.

It just took one little blip on the throttle to straighten out the ship. If he says nothing, who knows where it goes? But at very little cost he made sure that team stayed completely intact.

Think of your alternatives. 1) He says nothing, the team unites and Wolfe/Loftin are still forced out. 2) He says nothing, the team splits, Loftin and Wolfe survive....for a week or two. But when the team you're trotting out there looks like 1940s Alabama and is getting embarassed on the field and in the national media - it's only a matter of time before Loftin and Wolfe get the axe at that point.

Pinkel gains nothing by being a martyr for two guys who had been railroaded...but who Pinkel couldn't save anyway. If I thought he could've kept this thing moving forward without simply being a draconian hardass, I'd have said he handled this poorly. But draconian hardass was the only real option that may have saved Wolfe/Loftin and at that point he'd have completely detonated his football program and their ability to bring in players.

Good advice.

FIRE WOLFE AND LOFTIN!!!

My god, those guys have been the biggest assholes since they got here. Arrogant, lazy, entitled sonsabitches who were ineffective leaders who took their management advice from Mussolini. One Nine Five Oh!

LMAO

Kim Anderson doesn't like it when guys where hoodies indoors or slouch in their chairs. He suspends black athletes for cussing and not going to class. There was only 1 white guy on the team last year and he didn't get suspended.

KIM ANDERSON IS A RACIST!! C'mon, 1950! The time to effectuate change is now!