Sunday, November 6, 2011

Fan's Guide to Missouri

A few quick thoughts about the University of Missouri:

  • It is located in Columbia, making the SEC the only major conference with colleges located in the exactly named towns (without being in the same town).
  • Columbia is similar to several other college towns in the SEC (Ttown, Athens, and Oxford), but has a grittier vibe to it.  The campus abuts the downtown area, which has plenty of bar/restaurant/head shop/clothing store type places around. 
  • The quintessential hangout is Shakespeare's Pizza. It is located across the street from campus, approximately where the Espresso Royale Caffe is in Athens in relation to Georgia's campus.  
  • The pizza is good, but nothing to move North over.
  • Their football stadium is called Faurot Field.  It seats a shade over 71K, making it the 9th largest in the conference after the addition of A&M and Mizzou. It was the fourth largest in the Big 12, just behind A&M's Kyle Field.  It is called 'The Zou' by the Tiger fans.
  • Thier basketball facility is called Mizzou Arena.  It seats 15K.  It'll be the 5th largest venue in the SEC.
  • Their sworn enemy is Kansas.  Something to do with the Civil War. Unlike the folks at Texas, who threw their suckers in the dirt over Texas A&M leaving the Big 12, it is expected Missouri and Kansas will still play each other in football and basketball.
  • Missouri is the oldest public institution of higher education west of the Mississippi.  That is a distinction I expect the University of North Carolina to find a way to horn in on.
  • They have a strong music scene, unless you are from Athens or Austin.  Then it is just a cute music scene.
The easist way to get there is to fly to St. Louis, which is 110 miles east of Columbia. The drive from St. Louis to Columbia is easy, but not scenic, unless you are into interstate porn shops, housetrailer churches and cigarette outlets.  Then it is your bag.

TD

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