Local Mizzou fans hoping for magical football season

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – Customers at Harpo’s in Chesterfield were all smiles Thursday night. The restaurant and bar is a gathering spot for Mizzou fans in the St. Louis area.

“The fight song’s playing, and fans are jumping up and down chanting M-I-Z, Z-O-U,” Harpo’s Chesterfield owner John Rieker said. “It’s exciting.”

The anticipation has reached another level this year, Rieker says. The Tigers enter the season as one of the top-ranked teams in the country.

“In my lifetime, this is probably the most excited people have been about an upcoming season,” Rieker said.

Fans arrived early to watch Mizzou’s first game of the season on television.

“We’re here about two hours early,” Nick Cacciarelli, Mizzou fan, said. “We’re pretty excited.”

Some fans say the successful season last year, culminating with a Cotton Bowl victory , has fired up more than the fan base.

“Even my friends who just weren’t that into sports, they started to become super, super Mizzou fans,” Mizzou fan Ashley Hansen said.

“They don’t have a game they can’t win on the schedule,” Cacciarelli added.

Howard Moellering has been attending Mizzou football games since he graduated from the University of Missouri in 1968. He is also hopeful that the college football playoffs are in Mizzou’s near future.

“It’s going to be the most exciting time we’ve had in while,” he said.

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