Good morning!
Missouri football fans had a rollicking good time in Amherst last weekend. Fresh off being walloped by Texas A&M in front of 97,049 at Kyle Field, the Tigers beat UMass, 45-3, in front of 16,102 fans at McGuirk Alumni Stadium which is the fifth-smallest venue in the FBS.

It was quite a trek for Tigers Nation; the flagship campus is located off I-70 between St. Louis and Kansas City. “Twenty-one hours,” said the weary truck driver who long-hauled the equipment.

“Get some rest,” I said.

“Thanks man, appreciate it.”

An estimated 1,500 Missouri fans showed up to enjoy a rocking chair game on a sparkling afternoon in Western Mass.

“There’s a lot of black-and-gold here, holy cow!” exclaimed South Deerfield’s Kathy Felton, who was wearing a Missouri game jersey with number “1” inscibed in gold on the front. Felton was hosting family from the Midwest, including sister Allison who wore black-and-gold striped bib overalls and two other relatives, Cooper and Meghan Bettis.

They’d flown from Kansas City to Baltimore on up to Bradley Field in Windsor Locks. “Meghan’s pregnant!” said Allison.

“This is probably my last road game in a while,” Meghan conceded.

Kathy gave them the royal tour to Yankee Candle and the Deerfield Inn for clam chowder, then up Mount Sugarloaf for a view of the valley. “We saw someone get engaged on top of Mt Sugarloaf!” Allison exclaimed. “I love this whole atmosphere!”

It was a humorous coincidence that the UMass security staff was dressed in Missouri colors. “See how hospitable the UMass security is?” I said to a Missouri fan wearing a gold turban.

“Awesome,” said the turbaned one.

Over in Section 20, Dave Lorenz noticed a black-and-gold security staffer standing next to a trash can. “That was her job,” said Lorenz. “Every time the trash can got full, she called someone to come over and empty it.”

The game played out just as the oddsmakers predicted it would.  Missouri had covered the 27½-point spread by the third quarter and never looked back. The only things UMass would win all day were the coin toss and achieving the dubious honor of surpassing 500 penalty yards this season.

Maybe it’s a recruiting tool — come  here and commit all the penalties you want.

Missouri was leading 14-0 and had already outgained UMass 143 yards to two when a reporter from KOMU-TV in Columbia went over to the Missouri sideline to interview Truman the Tiger.

“Truman, how many times have you been photographed today?” he asked.

Truman shrugged. 

“Truman doesn’t talk,” the reporter explained.

“Five-hundred?”

Truman pointed his paw upward.

“A thousand?”

Truman nodded.

Somewhere up in the Martin and Richard Jacobson Football Press and Skybox Complex, athletic director Ryan Bamford was said to be watching the blowout with chancellor Javier Reyes. UMass president Marty Meehan was also supposed to be at the game, but perhaps got stuck in Three Rivers.

Rally towels weren’t being waved, nobody was jiving to the hip-hop music and there wasn’t much enthusiasm for the UMass basketball team when it was introduced, but it was a fun atmosphere. The noontime kickoff helped and so did the brilliant sunshine. 

Jamal Sistrunk — a relative of the great Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Otis Sistrunk — brought his youth team from Pittsfield, and Brian Puchalski came with his Greenfield-based Franklin County Bulldogs.

Two UMass football recruits watched from the corner of the north end zone. “It’s an awesome environment,” said Brett Dupona, a defensive tackle from the Episcopal School of Dallas. He was standing next to his teammate, running back Hudsen Young. “We were at BC yesterday,” said Young.

Earlier, Kathy Felton’s relative Cooper had come over and shook hands. “My grandfather was a newspaperman,” he said. “I really appreciate what you do.”

“Well, thank you, Cooper,” I said. “You made my day.”

There was a moment of silence on Saturday for Greg Landry who died on Oct. 4 in a Detroit hospital. He was 77. Born in Nashua, N.H., Landry was all-Yankee Conference in 1966 and 1967, when UMass was undefeated in conference play under coach Vic Fusia.

Landry was taken 11th overall by the Detroit Lions in the 1968 NFL draft and played for 11 seasons, passed for 12,451 yards and 80 touchdowns. He was also a good runner who once gained 76 yards on a quarterback sneak.

The UMass football community is also in mourning for the passing of Michael Barbiasz, who died of cancer at age 67. Schoolboy footballers from that era will remember Barbiasz from his playing days at Ware High School in “the town that can’t be licked.”

An outstanding tight end, Barbiasz played for coach Bob Pickett from 1977-80. A GoFundMe page was set up by former teammate Ken Horn to help his wife Susan deal with their house, which can’t legally be sold because it was built on contaminated concrete. She’s getting no assistance from either her insurance company or the state. To help go to: gofund.me/7049eaac.

PLAYOFF NOTES: Eddie Yost where are you? Yost was nicknamed “The Walking Man” for his plate discipline, and these playoffs have been one long walk. At this writing the Yankees had drawn 37 walks in six playoff games, and the Dodgers had walked 22 times in three games against the Mets. Walks will kill you as the saying goes, and they also kill the excitement. … Leaving out the name of who’s hitting in the on-screen scorebox is yet another reason why FS1 is unfit to televise the playoffs. … “This is why you don’t pinch hit [Cleveland’s] Bo Naylor early in the game,” said Eduardo Perez after Naylor’s replacement behind the plate, Austin Hedges, struck out with the bases loaded on Tuesday. … Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado batted a combined .173 (9-for-52) in the NLDS. … The MLB Network’s Dan Plesac claims the best food of all the MLB ballparks is on Shea Bridge at Citi Field. “The food is off the charts,” said the 62-year-old southpaw. … Maybe the reason Kike Hernandez dropped an F-bomb on live TV after the Dodgers beat San Diego last week was his way of telling the talking heads to stay in the booth and out of the dugout. … Former Mets GM Steve Phillips told Chris Russo he got COVID in September and the flu in October, and this week he was tested for pneumonia. “But the games go on,” said Phillips.

SQUIBBERS: Three cheers for Northern Colorado, which beat Weber State last week and snapped its 18-game winless streak. … Army (6-0) and Navy (5-0) are both in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1960. Both teams have yet to play Notre Dame though, the Midshipmen next week and Army on Nov. 23 at Yankee Stadium. … The NY Post’s Paul Schwartz reports that Giants QB Daniel Jones is 1-15 in prime time night games. … Wonder what the Reds said to convince Terry Francona to be their new manager. Tito’s former team Cleveland ranks 23rd in payroll ($107M) and the Reds are 25th ($100M) according to spotrac.com. … BSJ’s Greg Bedard on Drake Maye’s NFL debut: “I don’t see a huge difference from the Drake Maye at UNC and the Drake Maye in preseason, a quarterback that you can say, ‘Oh man, they’ve really fixed his footwork and tightened his motion.” … Aaron Rodgers referenced South Park when he criticized Monday night’s officials for throwing 30 flags including two roughing-the-passer calls on the Bills that weren’t.  “May as well play sarcastaball,” said Rodgers. … “The Greenfield Tennis Club lost a good guy. Trevor Bross, 54,” writes Phil Corrinet. … Several of my favorite critics pointed out that Bentley hockey is D-1, not D-II, as reported here last week. … The Dodgers’ obnoxiously loud PA system irritated Mets broadcaster Howie Rose so much this week that he recalled the time NY Post sports writer Doug Gould “yanked the plug on the loud Nassau County Coliseum organ.” Somebody please tell me where to find the plug at the Mullins Center.

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com