Monday Musing

That's right...the country may be off today, but I am STILL WORKING for you....all 12 of my readers :-) So let's get to it!!

Football:
I was in attendance on Saturday, with some lovely seats compliments of the extra effort by the MU Ticket office (had to plug them there, they really hooked me up when I was simply late with my form). Most things have already been said about it, either by the Boy in his alarmingly long 2600+ word tour de force that was his live thoughts, or by his repeating what I said on the phone to him just after the game. To retract a bit, Chase was not MAD at his O-line, just frustrated, and deservedly so. The line looked nothing like what I would have expected in this game, even given the fact Illinois was supposed to have good LB's and a decent front four. In the end though, a game where we have a special teams TD, a defensive TD, 400+ yards of offense and a +3 turnover ratio is always going to be fine by me. I will also say I had relatively little problem with the play calling in this one, but a much bigger problem with the play execution, and that falls on the players. WR's....you boys need to catch first, then run.

As for next week, I will once again be in attendance as we head down to Oxford. In a quick look at the stats of Ole Miss's 23-21 win at Memphis shows the Rebs getting outgained by over 200 yards, and scoring on a blocked punt and a ZERO YARD Int return...I guess Memphis threw a screen in the endzone or something. Memphis had a shot to tie and missed a late 2pt conversion. Even with our play and our injuries going into this week, I am not too concerned....but I hope we get the crap kicked out of us in practice this week.

Soccer:
Well, I suppose it should surprise no one we come firing out of the gate, winning on the road at #20 Illinois 3-1 on Friday night before overcoming a terribly sloppy first half at home on Sunday before finally beating Western Michigan 5-2. The team with no seniors is getting good play from their juniors and their frosh, and while Western Michigan is picked to finish last in MAC soccer, the ladies showed some decent mettle to outscore them 3-0 in the 2nd half. This week, they play another road Big 10 game Friday at Iowa before returning home for another home Sunday matchup, this time against Eastern Illinois. I am sure they will get some additional love this week in the regional poll for their win against Illinois, and as always, it will be interesting to see if they can keep the momentum they typically build in the non-con through the conference season.

Volleyball:
I will let The Boy get into the stats of volleyball and trends you can gleam from them, but all I know is the team is a bit Jekyll and Hyde right now, crushing Notre Dame on Friday night in 3, then crushing Florida International in the first 2, before losing the next 3 and the match to them. Some how, by double-secret probation method of scoring, they were named tourney champs, but at 3-2, I don't think it will much matter to the Kreklows. The ladies are back on the road this coming weekend down in TX to take on CS-Fullerton, Texas State (FIGHTING ARMADILLOS!!) and Houston. Simply put, this team will need to learn how to close games out, these 5 setters early on (THREE in five games) is just going to be too much for them at some point.

Random Stuff:

• How nice must it be for Oregon to have Phil Knight and Nike close by. Good for them for re-starting their baseball team, and WOW for them for signing away George Horton of CS-Fullerton to give their program INSTANT credibility.
• I never did know why so many people thought Okie State was going to go down to Georgia and win....
• Great start for kU...more than I really thought they would do in that game.
• Pedro Martinez starts today for the Mets. I have no problem with him starting, but would have thought with a 4 game lead in the division that the Mets could have waited to start him at home instead of against 14-3 Aaron Harang in Cincy. Hopefully the Reds are broken coming off of their sweep at the hands of the Cards.