I’d like to propose a change in our state slogan.  With all due respect to those that think the “Show Me State” is a good one, the problem is too many people take it too literally.  The new slogan doesn’t even need to be catchy.  How about the “Follow Us State,” the “We’ll Lead State,” or the “Ahead of the Game State”.   I don’t care, so long as we can get rid of the slow minded, take your time, have to see it first approach our current slogan demands.

The first group to benefit from the new Slogan will be the University of Missouri Athletic Department.  It’s time that the department under Mike Alden take a visionary approach to how it runs it’s athletics and a far less reactionary one.  It does not take a mind reader to realize that Mike Anderson had zero desire to be a long-term coach at Missouri.  I think wanting to talk to other schools a couple of years in a row was a clue. After being used by Matt Painter to secure a better situation at Purdue, the Tigers had no where to go but a losing program at Miami.  If Matt Painter was the goal,  then Missouri needed to make sure the offer was one he could not turn down.  It needed to be one Purdue could not touch.  Now the fall back on Haith decision is under fire because of the NCAA Miami investigation.

Now Missouri finds itself trying to hang on to an uncertain Big 12.  They have let Texas run with their demands and now Texas A&M has said enough.  Texas, Texas A&M, Nebraska, and even Colorado took their best interest to heart and reacted.  The Big 12 hedged their bets that the new TV contract would suffice everyone and that bet lost.  What does Missouri do?  Will they put their own interest first or try to keep the best interest of the conference in mind and see what happens?  Is it worth trying to keep the Big 12 in tact if A&M leaves?  If there is even a remote chance Missouri can find it’s way into the Big 10 or SEC, should they hedge their bet that way and go for the ultimate payoff?  Who knows?

Here’s what I do know.  Business as usual is not good enough anymore.  The Missouri Tigers need a more selfish approach to their future.  They need a more aggressive approach towards their fellow Big 12 members.  Missouri needs to act like they belong in the big game and deserve the same attention Nebraska, Texas A&M, and others are receiving.  It may start with marketing.  It may start with an image adjustment. But it definitely starts with a philosophical adjustment.  Enough with waiting to see what others are going to do.  Enough with having to react once that has happened.  Enough with waiting to be “Shown’.

We may have the “Show Me State” as a state slogan, but that does not mean we need to use it as a guide.  Mike Alden and the University of Missouri need to lead.  They need to be the ahead of the process, and they need vision.  Keep the “Show Me State” on license plates if you want.   Just let the “Visionary State” be the guide