"Nothing personal, Quin."

Well, it finally happened. MU basketball coach Quin Snyder resigned yesterday. Jay Bilas of ESPN who is a friend and former teammate of Quin's reported that the University informed Quin on Thursday evening that he would not coach the team following this season. Bilas said that it's a sad situation, that Quin had taken the team to the post-season six straight years including an appearance in the Elite 8 of the NCAAs. Quin told his players that he was stepping down partially as a result of the way he has been treated by the media and the fans.

The TV stations in Columbia have NEVER said a cross word about Snyder. Chris Gervino, the sports anchor of the local NBC station was Snyder's co-host of the Quin Snyder Show every week. Gervino routinely lobbed softballs to Quin during times of NCAA violations and the Rickey Clemons scandal and after each bitterly disappointing loss. The rest of the sports reporters in Columbia showed Quin the same respect. Editorials in the newspaper are OPINION written by fans who have every right to voice their frustration with a program going down the drain. For Quin to blame the media and fans for "forcing" his decision is pathetic.

And Bilas was right, the Tigers did go to the post-season in each of Quin's first six seasons. The first four years were teams with Norm Stewart's recruits. During the fifth and sixth seasons, the Tigers did NOT get an invite to the coveted NCAA tournament, instead they settled for bids to the NIT, which is for teams not good enough to be in the Big Dance. The tigers LOST first round home games in each of those two seasons. In this, his seventh season, Quin has compiled a losing record so abysmal that even an invite to the lowly NIT seems impossible.

Its nothing personal, Quin. You have taken a successful program and buried it in NCAA scandals and two straight losing seasons. It isn't personal that the people who support the Tigers no longer support you. Don't make it personal by blaming it on us. I wish you the very best in life and hope that you find true happiness wherever you go. It just wasn't meant to be.

P.S. As for those Bobby Knight rumors: Two people interviewed on the local news yesterday said they've heard that Knight is interested in coming to Columbia. Another person blogging on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website said he heard that Knight purchased land in Boone County recently. (That's the third time I've heard that.) Oh yeah, Knight's contract at Texas Tech is up at the end of this season.