Great News: Exhibition Game Between Missouri – Missouri Southern is Set

As we all know, 2011 has been one of the deadliest years for tornados in decades, and the city hit the hardest this year was Joplin, Missouri. The tornado that carved a 13-mile-long path right through the heart of the Missouri city left behind a death toll of 141 people (making it the single deadliest twister in over 60 years) and destroyed roughly 70 percent of the city. Per CNN, almost 7,800 homes have filed for disaster aid to help pay for repairs.

The University of Missouri has been doing its part in helping those in need down in Joplin with fundraisers and volunteer work by such participants as the Tiger football team, and now the NCAA has allowed an exhibition game between Missouri and Missouri Southern to take place on October 30, with all profits going to help with aid in Joplin. Missouri Southern Athletics had more on the game:

"Tickets, pricing information and a finalized start time will be available later this summer, but this historic event will center around a 5:41 p.m. moment of silence, which was the exact time the tornado stuck Joplin. Proceeds from this exhibition game will be donated by Missouri Southern to support the rebuilding efforts in Joplin in the wake of the devastating May 22 tornado."

All in all, I am very pleased that the NCAA allowed for this to happen. The University of Missouri (along with the entire Missouri community and the rest of the nation, for that matter) has been great in their support of Joplin, and this game is just another great way that the University is lending a helping hand to those affected by the disaster.

2011 has been a year plagued with horribly destructive storms and tornadoes all over the country, from Joplin to Tuscaloosa and beyond, but all of these communities helping to make up the great United States have been absolutely superb in their help for those directly affected by these forces of nature. From the charity drives to the volunteer work, and even simple things like texting donations of ten dollars or more to organizations like Red Cross, all of it has been for the greater good, and it’s prime example of how we, not just as Americans, but as human beings, will go out of our way to help our neighbors back up when they’re down.

M-I-Z for Joplin, and I’ll see you guys in October.