WELCOME BACK TO PREGAMIN’ HERE’S YOUR JAM OF THE WEEK
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HAVE A RESTFUL AND CHILL WEEKEND, MY FRIENDS
Rock M-ixology
So there you are. It’s Halloween, and not everyone coming over to your party is a beer/bourbon
fan. I get it, pleasing everyone can be hard, especially when it comes to alcohol. You need to get something together that is sweet enough for the pickier palettes but not so sweet that you’re alienating your real heads too.
So that’s why you should dip into the second-tier of the liquor cabinet, pull out some Midori and make you and your guests a Witches Brew. It’s easy to make, easy to drink and strong enough to keep everyone happy.
1.5 oz Midori, 1.5 oz orange liqueur, 1 oz lemon juice
shake or stir ingredients over ice, serve in a chilled glass over rocks
It’s not quite a proper sour because of the lack of sweetener – trust me, it’s plenty sweet – but it’s got the tartness that a good sour should have. The orange and melon flavors play nicely together, and the lemon balances things out. I will say that you should opt for a higher end, preferably dry orange liqueur for this recipe, as the cheaper stuff is going to make things way too syrupy. I’m a big proponent of having Dry Curaçao stocked for any occasion, but Grand Marnier or Clement Creole would be good options too.
- Halloween is nearing its 200th anniversary here in the U.S. While a Halloween-type observance may have been practiced as early as 4000 B.C., our view of Halloween stems from the practices of the Celts, who would leave out “treats” to pacify spirits. Halloween in the U.S. dates to the mid-1800’s, when Irish immigrants fleeing English-created food scarcity brought their traditions overseas.
- Mizzou Football doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to play on Halloween, but they sport a winning record in those games over the past 20 years, beating Texas Tech in 1998 and Colorado in 2009, while dropping their most recent Halloween matchup to Florida in 2020.
- If you have kids and have been out at trunk-or-treats over the past week, this won’t be a surprise to you: Google’s most searched costume for 2025 has been Rumi from the Netflix movie KPop Demon Hunters. I’m more partial to Mira myself, but I can see why Rumi would be the more popular choice amongst the youngsters.
Last week was discouraging in more ways than one. How did the loss to Vanderbilt — and all that happened during the game — reset your expectations for the season?
Josh Matejka, Deputy Site Manager: How do you say, “almost entirely,” in a more poetic way? Losing to Vanderbilt would’ve been discouraging on its own, but the Beau Pribula injury basically shuts the door to anything loftier than a pretty good bowl game. Mizzou’s defense is good enough to keep them in games, but I just don’t know how you can expect a true freshman QB (as good as he looked!) to run the table with two Top 20 teams in the offing. I think Mizzou will be competitive in every game because Drinkwitz teams don’t quit. But I’m expecting something of a deflating end to the year.
Nate Edwards, Football Writer/Podcaster: Losing that game was a big ol’ “whatever” for me since Beau Pribula’s injury essentially ended the 2025. There’s no way you can have expectations for any lofty goals that a college football team would want with a 3rd-string freshman quarterback. Until proven otherwise, my expectations now are to win 7-8 games (which was my expectation for the season heading in) and give Matt Zollers five games of live-fire development to get ready for the future.
Sammy Stava, Staff Writer: The College Football Playoff discussion is off the table. Can they theoretically win out? Yes, but highly unlikely.
Though, there’s still something to play for down the stretch. Matt Zollers will get some valuable playing time as a true-freshman quarterback. I think going 2-2 in their final four games with wins over Mississippi State and Arkansas is doable. If Drinkwitz’s “down years” are consistently 8-4 then sign me up.
Contributing to the bad vibes? Eli Drinkwitz’s name keeps popping up around the coaching carousel. If you had to put odds on him leaving, they’d be…
Josh Matejka: Before the LSU job opened up, I probably would’ve said around 15-20%. But now that the crazies in Death Valley are set to spend one gagillion dollars on Lane Kiffin, I think that makes Drinkwitz the No. 1 candidate for Florida. And as much as I think that’s a bad career move, the amount of smoke around that connection has me sweating. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised either way, so I’ll say 50/50.
Nate Edwards: I dunno man, is Eli Drinkwitz more interested in increasing his national championship/firing probability for a raise? Or would he prefer to ride out what he’s built for a raise? The odds of him getting a raise is 100%, but — to be a good improv partner — I’ll set the odds on him leaving at 35%.
Sammy Stava: The Florida buzz is a little bit concerning, but in the end, I just don’t see him leaving Mizzou yet. I’d say less than 50 percent.
Matt Zollers looked pretty sharp in his first game action, so there’s something to look forward to! What else are you hoping to see from Mizzou the rest of the way?
Josh Matejka: Kirby Moore needs to get Donovan Olugbode more involved. I know Zollers will likely cling tightly to his security blanket, aka Kevin Coleman, Jr., but that’s a connection that needs to develop for the future of the offense. I’d start scheming up some more targets for the true freshman, supplemented by some snaps for KC3, Joshua Manning and Jude James.
Nate Edwards: I’d like to see another 100-yard day for Ahmad Hardy. I’d like to see Donovan Olugbode average more than 5 targets per game. I’d like to get an extended look at Jude James. And I’d like to see some younger defenders – particularly those who play on the line and in the secondary – get increased snaps. Lotta names from the defensive depth chart are going to be gone next year.
Sammy Stava: Ahmad Hardy getting back to where he was in the first five games and Donovan Olugbode seeing the field a lot more. The Zollers to Olugbode connection could be quite fun for the future.
PICK ‘EM! Mizzou closes out the year with games against Texas A&M and Mississippi State, alternating with trips to Oklahoma and Arkansas. What’s the Tigers’ final record?
Josh Matejka: I think there’s an outside chance Mizzou steals one against Oklahoma or A&M, but I also think it’s just as likely that they drop the trip to Arkansas (as much as I fear that possibility). Averaging it out, I’ll say Mizzou ends up 8-4 and loses the bowl when a number of players declare for the draft or transfer out.
Nate Edwards: 8-4, lose the bowl.
Sammy Stava: 8-4 with wins over Mississippi State and Arkansas. Tigers win their third consecutive bowl game against some Big Ten opponent.
