Recreational Spectacles — A New Way to Look at Sports in the Ozarks

For the past three months of RecSpecsOnline.com, I’ve been trying to highlight aspects of the local sports scene that either don’t receive enough of the spotlight or didn’t exist at all, and I want to thank you for becoming part of that movement.

Now, the movement is moving, so to speak.

As many of you know from my style of writing, I love things other than sports. I love music. I love the arts. I love movies. I love food. In other words, while this is a sports Web site, it’s always been about much more than sports. It’s your life. It’s my life. It’s our lives.

That’s why as of Jan. 4, RecSpecsOnline.com is merging with TheFourFour, the area’s most dominant local music site and S.A.U.C.E. Magazine, the most energetic and unique community site in the Ozarks. The collective effort is called Tag Magazine and can be found/viewed/consumed at TagSGF.com. (It exists now, if you want to try it out.)

I understand most sports fans like to identify themselves within the sports category. It carries a certain comfort level and an image, a membership to a sometimes-gregarious, sometimes locked-lips club that elevates us above “non-sports” people. And that’s fine, identify away. But if it makes you feel better, while Chris DeRosier and Scott Perket are driven by music and Brett Johnston’s sweet spot is the arts, the community, etc., when we have meetings at our secret Tag headquarters, we all discuss business with SportsCenter on in the background. We have the same conversations I have with you about both Missouri State programs, the high schools and talk Spring Vegas hilarity.

As Chris said, “Knowing people who work as tirelessly to cover those specialties as we do ours, we thought, why not put it all in one place?”

Exactly. So brace for the change by heading over to TagSGF.com and start being a complete SGFer. Or, simply read the sports section until you’re comfortable with branching out to our Top 5 lists, the Daily Show Report or our Foodie Reviews. We are still posting on our individual sites until Jan. 4, and after that, they will no longer be active. Change your browser bookmarks and get ready for the next step.

Also, if you follow RecSpecsOnline on Twitter or Facebook, go ahead and make the change to TAG, as well. Click here for the new Twitter page and here for the Facebook page.

It’s an exciting time for Springfield and every SGFer out there. If you’re at the Blue and Gold Tournament next week, be sure to stop by our booth and say hi. You’ll want to be on the ground floor for this one.

Not that this means the Bears are going to make the NCAA Tournament, but the Missouri State men’s basketball team, which extended its record to 10-0 after a 73-63 victory over Saint Louis, has been included in the latest Bracketology at ESPN.com.

If you’re not familiar with Bracketology, ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi gives a real-time look at what teams would be in and out of the NCAA Tournament. As of now, the Bears would be a No. 10 seed in the Midwest against No. 7 seed Butler.

MSU’s next game is Tuesday at Arkansas.