THE WATERCOOLER
(Post-Dispatch columnists and beat writers share their thoughts on a question of the day.)

Question: Did Mizzou jump the gun with Gary Pinkel’s contract extension and overpay by making him the third-highest paid coach in the Big 12?

JEFF GORDON
No. Pinkel has not built a Top 10 football program, true. His Tigers are not ready to compete with Texas and Oklahoma step for step. His team might lose by 50 points in the Big 12 Championship game. But Mizzou has arrived as a perennial Top 25 program. On Pinkel’s watch, MU has built better facilities, a stronger recruiting base, greater fan support and increased revenue. For two decades, Missouri was one of the biggest underachievers in college football. Pinkel changed all that with Herculean effort. So he earned his extension and raise.

STU DURANDO
No. How can they be jumping the gun after he went 12-2 and 9-3? If fans think the raise was a mistake, then they’re willing to let him go and start over with a new coaching staff. And then maybe it takes that staff seven or eight years to get back to this level.

BILL COATS
Absolutely not. Even though Larry Smith took Mizzou to a couple of minor bowls, the program was in terrible shape when Pinkel arrived. He said it would take time to rebuild, and it did. But now, MU has established itself, and its recruiting success reflects that.

DERRICK GOOLD
The pay isn’t the issue. Pinkel’s new salary fits the going rate for college football coaches at major programs, and Mizzou is starting to fancy itself a major program even before it really has enough major victories. No, the pay has a purpose. The salary is a shield. It makes any buyout difficult and sends would-be suitors shrinking back to their boosters. The concern here is the length of the contract. Committing to Pinkel, the 31st coach in MU history, through 2015 means his tenure will be second only to Don Faurot. He’ll vault past Dan Devine. There is more faith than money in this contract. Is a repeat of the last seven years good enough now? Is Mizzou that confident that Pinkel can keep the Tigers in the BCS picture? It must be. This contract offers consistency and implies sustained excellence. It just as easily could lock the Tigers into a complacent run of up-year, down-year cycles. That’s better than it was, sure. But hasn’t Pinkel positioned the program to demand better yet?

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

MORE SURGERY FOR BALLESTEROS: Five-time golfing major champion Seve Ballesteros has undergone more surgery, this time to drain fluid from his brain, according to the Associated Press. Doctors implanted a valve in Ballesteros’s brain today to remove fluid. Madrid’s La Paz hospital says he is in stable condition and remains in intensive care. The 51-year-old Ballesteros had surgery Oct. 24 to remove a malignant brain tumor.

STEPHEN A. ON PLAX: “Another black athlete. Another sad statistic,” says Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.com. “The embarrassing and precarious set of circumstances Plaxico Burress finds himself in clearly are not an indication of the behavior exhibited by most players of any color in the NFL, particularly African-Americans. The vast majority of NFL players have some sense.”

ALBERT AND THE MVP: While you’ll always find the best Cardinals baseball coverage in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch or here at STLtoday.com, occassionally I’ll run across a different perspective. I thought this piece written by John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus when Albert Pujols won his most recent MVP award had some interesting anecdotes about the Cardinals slugger and his thoughts on hitting. This won’t get you whole article (you have to pay for that), but what Albert has to say at the top is pretty good. Read about his “rookie mistake.”

HOT CARDINALS TOPICS: Again, like I said, you’ll get the best Cards’ coverage from us, so here’s a couple things you don’t want to miss: Rick Hummel’s Hot Stove discussion today, where he includes thoughts on Mark McGwire’s Hall of Fame chances and those of another former Cardinal. … And, don’t forget to come back tomorrow on STLtoday.com to ride the tsunami of Joe Strauss Live!!! as he gets set to head to the baseball Winter Meetings. Ask Joe your questions now before the wave moves out on its way to Las Vegas.

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SOME THINGS I THINK I THINK

PERRON AND ON: St. Louis Blues forward David Perron might be the most exciting St. Louis athlete in-season to watch right now. Kudos to coach Andy Murray for lighting a fire under Perron’s French-Canadien derriere by reminding him the AHL always awaits, and to Perron for stepping up to the challenge. Always fun to watch as a stick-handler, Perron once seemed to fear going into the dark places on the ice. Watch his shifts now. Though it may not always show up on the stat sheet, Perron is charging the puck hard all over the ice and even when he’s not scoring it seems he’s keeping the puck alive and creating opportunities for his teammates. Now that Patrik Berglund is back from injury, hopefully T.J. Oshie also returns soon and Blues fans long-starved for offense will have a troika of young, offensive talent to watch.

A-ROD GONE WILD: Has Alex Rodriguez lost his mind? He’s 33, he’s in the prime of a Hall of Fame career that likely will end with him becoming the all-time home run king, he’s made more money playing baseball than anyone ever, and he’s pretty much always listed as one of the World’s 100 most Beautiful People. He’s got it all, right? So what in the name of all things good is he doing frolicking around with 50-year-old Madonna, who’s probably the only person in American history to have slept more places than George Washington? I just don’t get the fascination with the washed-up pop star. Perhaps Madonna’s playing the Susan Sarandon role of Annie Savoy to A-Rod’s “Nuke” LaLoosh. You watch closely this year and tell me if you don’t see A-Rod trying to “breathe through his eyes.”

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STAT OF THE DAY

11 — Number of games missed by Blues LW Paul Kariya due to his “day-to-day” injury suffered Nov. 5 against Anaheim. “Week-to-week” would have been a more accurate description of Kariya’s lingering hip-flexor injury from the outset, and since this Friday will mark one month since Kariya’s been out, perhaps “month-to-month” would have been better yet. Unfortunately, in the NHL teams do not have to give out much info on their players’ injuries, and the players themselves are often under pressure from management to remain mum also. I don’t know that the secrecy gives teams any sort of competitive advantage, but I do know a lack of information leaves fans totally in the dark about their favorite players and teams. When will Kariya be back? Who knows? Reports now say perhaps sometime next week … whatever that means.