Tales from the Missouri Tigers

College sports fans around the nation know it as the University of Missouri,the home of the Tigers. But for the legions of fans from St. Louis to Columbia, it's simply Mizzou, and there is simply no better place to be on a crisp fall afternoon than Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Don Faurot himself, as a graduate student, helped lay the sod in 1926, and the playing surface was named after the legendary coach in1972. It's where Norris Stevenson bravely broke the color barrier in the 1950s, where Dan Devine built a national powerhouse in the 1960s and where Al Onofrio pulled some unlikely upsets in the 1970s. Phil Bradley, Kellen Winslow and Eric Wright -- household names in college and in the pros -- continued to build on that foundation in the early 1980s. Hardworking players such as Corby Jones and Brock Olivo gave the program a new spark in the 1990s. And today, quarterback sensation Brad Smith just may become the best player ever to wear the black and gold. The Tigers had little tradition in basketball until Norm Stewart returned to coach his alma mater in 1967. Big men Al Eberhard and John Brown first put the program on the map in the early 1970s, then Willie Smith electrified crowds at the Hearnes Center with his prolific scoring. Highly regarded recruits Steve Stipanovich and Jon Sundvold were the pillars of a team that won four straight Big Eight championships. Players such as Doug Smith, Anthony Peeler and Derrick Chievous took the Tigers to the top of the national rankings while rewriting the school record books. Coach Quin Snyder has the program right on track as it prepares to move into its state-of-the-art arena. Mizzou fans are passionate about their Tigers. And for generation after generation, Mizzou athletes have shown them how to play the games with determination, passion and heart.


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