Mainstream news runs with a fan forum rumor

COLUMBIA, 11/23/12 (St. Louis) -- A tantalizing story about Mizzou football coach Gary Pinkel that helped feed a firestorm of rumors this week has brought the wrath of Mizzou fans down on a CBS television affiliate in St. Louis.

The KMOV story -- titled "Rumors: Pinkel could be headed for unemployment" -- originated on the popular TigerBoard, an online fan forum abuzz with chatter about Pinkel's future after an inauspicious SEC debut.

It was pulled down after the controversy, and now resides on Google cache.

"Gary Pinkel (GP) was given a very specific outline of what was expected of this football program, and then an ultimatum after the Vandy game for how the season needed to finish," the story explained, quoting a Tiger Board post from a source KMOV reporter JJ Bailey considered credible.  "Obviously, failed miserably on both accounts.  There will indeed be staff changes, and GP is pushing back against them.  This is the reason his job is not as safe as most think."

Though Bailey did not agree that Pinkel was on his way out, "the poster has a pretty reliable track record, including correctly calling nearly every detail of the DGB (Dorial Green-Beckham) signing," he wrote.   "His sources are considered reliable by both members of the online community and those with internal knowledge of the athletic department."
 
Calling this first SEC season "the most important in the history of Mizzou athletics," the Tiger Board post about Pinkel's future sounds a harsh tone from "the best source" in the Mizzou athletic department.  "Many of the money people are tiring of him, his public embarrassments of the school and obviously it all came to a head with this disaster of a season...A handful of assistants are already gone, others are still under review."

Between poking fun at themselves and reveling in the big pick up, Tiger Board members are condemning the KMOV report as shoddy journalism. 
 
"The BS we say on Tiger Board really makes a difference," one member wrote. "We're changing the world."

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