Mizzou Arena -- is that the best they can do?

They could have come up with a thousand or so new names for what was originally the Paige Arena in Columbia that would have been preferable to Mizzou Arena. That's about as silly a name as could have been suggested. Also, less offensive to anyone -- namely the Lauries.

There has been this rush to keep quiet the disdain the Lauries have for Norm Stewart. That's why the Missouri Board of Curators came up with Mizzou Arena. It appeased the Laurie family and is not a name that Missouri fans find difficult to complain about.

It is pretty easy to condemn Paige Laurie both for not going to nearby MU and heading off to sunny Southern California where there are so many parties to attend that matters like studying can be too much a hassle to bother with.

There are ways to look at this entire situation other than what we have read. Paige said she opted for the warmer climes of the Left Coast school because of her interest in communications. That kind of shows you what she knew about her home town school and its reputation for communications, which used to be known as journalism. In her defense, maybe she chose where she chose in order to go away to school. Under the watchful eyes of her parents, Paige might also have had to study at MU. Had her parents lived somewhere other than in Columbia, she might have chosen the Missouri school.

The mistake came when her parents wanted the place named after her when she had done exactly nothing for the city, the state or the university. The $25 million donation came from her parents and I doubt if there would have been any hue and cry over Laurie Arena.

However, if Paige had attended Missouri maybe she could have told her parents about this awful building on campus named Brewer Fieldhouse where the Tigers used to play before a man named Norm Stewart came on the scene and made the basketball program one all Missourians could be proud of.

But it is no secret that the Lauries don't like Norm Stewart. Never have. Never will. That's why the new arena will never bear his name as long as they and their $25 million donation have anything to do with it. They made that perfectly clear when they wrote the university that big check.

And that is what it comes down to. In the final analysis, money always wins out over minor matters such as right and wrong. And I must admit, although I don't fit into that category, a lot of people didn't and don't like Norm Stewart. He is a blunt man who says what he means, which is always bound to hack some people off.

Nevertheless, no one ever did more for the Missouri basketball program than Stewart. Basketball was an afterthought when he became coach and elevated it into a national power. In those days, football was the No. 1 sport at MU.

There were those who near the end of Stewart's reign decided he was out of step with the times because he simply couldn't get the Tigers into the Final Four. They needed new blood and weren't about to let Stewart leave with the dignity he deserved. They should have had a big night honoring him for all his accomplishments over the years. Instead he was swept out the back door and never received any kind of honor until he was recognized in, of all places, Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Missouri should be ashamed.

As it happened for those who were so anxious to turn the page on the basketball program and lead it into the 21st Century. Be careful what you wish for. Sure, Missouri has a spanking new arena with private suites and great sight lines. It also has probation, loss after frustrating loss and all that went with naming the place to start with. They did advertise the old sign on eBay. I'm sure Norm is sitting back and watching it all. He might even be grinning once in a while.