Happy Wednesday,
Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson here. Just a quick note to alert you to a change in the formatting of my weekly newsletter. I'm shifting away from the weekly Tuesday online chats, so re-running the greatest hits from that chat in this newsletter is no longer an option. I still hope to answer any questions readers have for me. I'll do that here in this newsletter in mailbag style as they come in, and will also have more freedom and flexibility to bounce around to other topics and ideas. This week's question will be answered below. Thanks, and please don't be shy about sending in any questions or comments you want to see tackled. Have a great rest of your week!Â
Got a question? Email me here (bfrederickson@post-dispatch.com) or find me on X (formerly known as Twitter) at and hashtag your question with #BF5.
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Wheels are turning in Mizzou's search for yet another athletics director. This one will be the university's fourth in less than eight years. The whirlwind has included Mack Rhoades (bolted to scandal-ridden Baylor), Jim Sterk (nudged out) and Desiree Reed-Francois (bolted to cash-poor Arizona.) Who's up next? Lips have been mostly sealed at Mizzou other than some say-nothing press-release quotes. We do know the search committee and the search firm. There's no debating ºüÀêÊÓƵ lawyer Bob Blitz, who led the region's fight against the Rams and the NFL over broken relocation guidelines, will be an influential force in the hiring process. He's a new curator who has moved to the forefront of athletics influence, and he's the lead on the committee that was going to oversee Reed-Francois' department along with the search committee. It jumped out to me right away that the search committee doesn't have much if any representation from the athletics department. It also lacks any former Mizzou football players, which has been perceived by some as an oversight. Stay tuned.
I head to Florida for my Cardinals spring training shift this weekend. I always go down last, and it never fails that the bright and sunny optimism of spring's start has taken a bit of a reality check by then. This season it's the Sonny Gray hamstring injury. He sounds like he's less concerned than most fans. The Cardinals should have added two starters better than Miles Mikolas instead of one. Now they're risking being too thin once again.
My pick to win Arch Madness: Second-place Drake. The Valley deserves two teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Another college hoops thought: Illinois lost to Purdue but the Illini could be a Final Four team this year. Book it. I thought the Terrence Shannon Jr., scandal would trip Brad Underwood's team up. I was wrong.
Another college hoops thought: Thankfully, the end is near for SLU and Mizzou.
Got a question or comment for me? Let me know and I'll answer it here.
This week's spotlight goes to . . . Charles, via email.
After reading your column about expanding the men's NCAA tournament, the first thing that came to mind was the practice of awarding "participation trophies" for the runners-up in a grade-school field day. While it made the kids who came in lower than third feel less traumatized about not winning, it indeed cheapened the experience for those who really put extra effort into winning. Now that really is March Madness!
Amen. I keep getting told NCAA Tournament expansion is inevitable. That's what people say when there is no reason to justify it other than the money it creates. No one who doesn't benefit from NCAA Tournament expansion financially seems to think it's a good idea.