Mizzou Links, 7-9-07

I depart for a conference in DC in about an hour, but I'm here to serve the public, so by god you're getting your Mizzou Links...

• Congrats to Mizzou freshman and decathlete extraordinaire, Nick Adcock, for finishing 2nd at the Pan America Junior Championships!


• A 6'7 (and 3-star) forward from Memphis has Mizzou in his final 2. Not exactly one who's been high on our radar screen to date, but sounds like a pretty impressive kid.


• An interesting Q&A with Max Scherzer in the Sunday Trib. Scherzer torched A+ ball, and he's been a bit up and down in AA...but considering he's been playing pro ball for like a month now, I think he'll take it. Oh, and it always bothers me when Scott Boras isn't portrayed as Satan in a suit, but I'll get over it.


• Also at the Trib: Dave Matter's 12 storylines for the Big 12 conference's 12th season. He's been a list-making machine this summer.


• And finally, I hope that anybody who's even slightly interested in tennis watched yesterday's Wimbledon final. While I'm deeply concerned about the state of American tennis, my main concern is hoping that Federer and Nadal stay healthy for another few years. It sometimes gets boring when the same two guys win all the majors, but with the insane shotmaking that takes place between these two, all you can think when you see them play is, "I really want to see them play again." I loved the Sampras/Agassi/Courier/Chang era in the '90s, but Federer and Nadal just crush them in the 'creativity' and 'angles' departments. I just wish they were American!

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Mizzou Links, 6-28-07

• Mutigers.com has a nice update on former Mizzou setter Lindsey Hunter and her progress with the USA Volleyball team.
• Speaking of nice profiles, the Trib has one on Mizzou decathlete Nick Adcock.
• Meanwhile, Indoor Track All-American Tyler Dailey can add "ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-American" to his awards list.
• Ben Askren is campaigning for ESPY votes...
• The Post-Dispatch has an interesting story about sickle cell collapse. Nine athletes--including our own Aaron O'Neal--had the sickle cell trait and collapsed and died during workouts in the last seven years.
• And finally, no great way to segway into this, but former Mizzou gymnast and All-Big XII balance beamer Miranda Boeckman died on June 9 at 22. Here's a discussion about her on Tigerboard. I guess I'm old enough now that I look back with regret on any life that ends that early...bad deal...

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Mizzou Links, 6-24-07

It's been four days since we've heard from The Boy, leading to fears that he may be lost in the Oklahoma wilderness. Before organizing a search party, though, I thought I'd pick up the slack and post some links.

• In addition to being the next great prospect at Tight End U., Mizzou football signee Andrew Jones is also a beast on the hardwood.
• Speaking of hardwood and signees, incoming Tiger frosh Justin Safford is already on campus, and last night he showed his all-around game, knocking down some threes and throwing down some dunks in a St. Louis high school all-star game.
• The Cantwell Curse continues.
• You say you've never heard of Mizzou freshman decathlete Nick Adcock? Well, take the time to read this.
• And finally, the chronically interesting Dave Matter compares the productivity of the Tigers' two tremendous tight ends.

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Mizzou Links, 6-11-07

• Mizzou gets a Texas commitment in football...visit PowerMizzou for the rest...
• The Trib's Steve Walentik reports on the Missouri Elite Basketball camp. If you're a PowerMizzou member, head on over and read The Chamber see what Gabe thinks about Mizzou's chances for various recruits.
• If it's football you're interested in, check out Dave Matter's ranking of Big XII WR/TE's.
• The Bomber from Barbados is an All-American! Congrats! Meanwhile, sophomore Krishna Lee finished 12th in the hammer throw.
• Evan Frey (10th round) and Brock Bond (24th) were the only two Tigers selected in the MLB draft last week. Jacob Priday was not selected...bad news for him, great news for the 2008 Tigers. And speaking of college baseball, what's with the increased media exposure?
• And I guess I can't mention college baseball without noting that Louisville absolutely destroyed OSU to advance to the CWS yesterday. The Pokes showed up on Saturday, winning 3-2, but on Friday and Sunday, they were outscored 29-2. Ggh. Other teams to advance: #2 seed Rice (swept ATM), #3 North Carolina (defeated #14 South Carolina), #5 Arizona State (swept #12 Ole Miss), Mississippi State (swept Clemson), UC-Irvine (swept #13 Wichita State), and CS-Fullerton (defeated UCLA). The final spot is up for grabs between Oregon State and Michigan. In an extreme pitcher's duel yesterday, Oregon State won Game One, 1-0.

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Mizzou Links, 6-8-07

• First, a couple notes from Mutigers.com...the "Bomber from Barbados", Mizzou junior Shernelle Nicholls, has advanced to the NCAA finals in the shot put. Unfortunately, that's almost all that's left for Mizzou.
• Cindy Stein has shaken up her coaching staff...again. Seems to happen relatively often, really. Stein's in an interesting position right now. Her program isn't really progressing or regressing, though she just inked her most highly-touted recruit, Shakara Jones of St. Charles. If she can manage get Hickman's Yvonne Anderson to commit this coming year as well (hopefully Yvonne's dad will put in a good word), the program will be in pretty good shape.
• Fun 'n' games for the Mizzou football team on the hardcourt...meanwhile, apparently Trenile Washington might not be on the roster, but he's not off the team yet...
• And finally...via Gabe at PM, Pat Forde reminisces about last season's Fiesta Bowl...man oh man, did Bob Stoops look like he was in a hurry to get off the field after that game...like he was caught in a hornet's nest or something...

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Mizzou Links, 6-5-07

I'll have more to say about Mizzou Baseball later, but for now...some links...

• Here's the official mutigers.com recap and box score of yesterday's blowout loss. Read PowerMizzou Gabe's Instant Analysis...if you dare. From the Missourian: Dream Denied. From Mike Dearmond: Louisville sluggers crush MU. From the Post-Dispatch: Tigers flop in final.
• Congrats to Jacob Priday, Aaron Senne, and Ryan Lollis for making the All-Regional Team.
• Gabe also wrote a nice 'looking to the future' article. Plenty of returning talent next year, though the offense will take a hit.
• In non-baseball news, the NCAA Track & Field Championships start on Wednesday. Good luck to the seven Tigers who qualified: senior shot-putter Bill Hobson, senior 800m runner Marcus Mayes, junior hammer thrower Jason Morris, senior Decathlete (is that a word?) Bjorn Sommerfeldt, sophomore shot-putter/hammer thrower Krishna Lee, junior shot-putter Shernelle "Bomber from Barbados" Nicholls, and junior 800m runner Trisa Nickoley.
• Future Tiger Golfer Tyler Hillis won the Phil Cotton Invitational at A.L. Gustin this weekend.
• And in happy news, football summer conditioning has begun!! To get you in the mood for football, Dave Matter (friend of Mizzou Sanity!) has ranked the Big XII's best RB's and RB corps.

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Mizzou Links, 5-24-07

• Not quite the start Mizzou was looking for at the Big XII Baseball championships. Stephen Holst and Kyle Gibson combined to give up 6 runs in 6 IP, Mizzou batters left 15 men on base (failing to capitalize on SIX Sooner errors), and #2 MU was knocked off by #7 OU, 7-2. They'll play Baylor on Friday. Pretty vital that they beat both Baylor and OSU.
• In other action, #4 Nebraska beat free-falling #5 ATM, 5-3 (pdf); #1 Texas had to use five beat #8 Kansas State (who used eight), 19-10 (!); and #6 Baylor upset #3 Oklahoma State, 3-1. Tonight, it's Texas/ATM and Nebraska/KSU.
• The Trib has a nice profile of Mizzou ace Aaron Crow. He needs to come up big Friday.
• The NCAA Mideast Regional Track Championships take place at our very own Walton Stadium tomorrow! Mizzou will have 19 athletes competing, including...the Bomber from Barbados!! Also, 800m runner Trisa Nickoley.
• Mizzou Swimming & Diving just finished four days at the Michigan Grand Prix. Does Michael Phelps have eligibility remaining?
• PowerMizzou's thrown together a rough '2008 recruiting board' for men's basketball.
• And just for fun, here's an article about Kenny Hulsof and the MU Presidency vacancy.

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Mizzou Links, 5-18-07

How in the hell is it already 5/18???

• Loved the quotes in trrip's post yesterday...I don't know what happened, but the offense totally clicked halfway through the season. I thought this would be a good offensive team with shaky pitching at the beginning of the year, but the bats just weren't warming up...the pitching was having to do a little too much to keep Mizzou afloat...but most certainly changed. Quite the big series in Stillwater this weekend. First place is all but gone, but this will be an all-out battle for second. Since getting swept by Texas, OSU has won seven in a row against OU, Texas Tech (outscoring them 30-5 in three games), and Wichita State. Mizzou's bid to host a regional would be tremendously aided by a series win here.
• Here's a nice piece from the Trib's Dave Matter on Mizzou Softball's Julie Silver. The SIU game's at 4:30 this afternoon. Go Tigers! Mizzou really did get a decent draw...SIU's not terribly scary (as I wrote earlier this week, they beat Mizzou 1-0 in their only meeting this year), and DePaul's a pretty big unknown. I assume the Blue Demons are good, but I'd still rather face them than somebody like Tennessee.
• And I missed this KC Star piece from last week about our Bomber from Barbados, Mizzou Track's Shernelle Nicholls.

Bomber from Barbados? Really? Ugh...sorry...

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Mizzou Links, 5-12-07

Another weekend links list! You're so lucky!

• First up: a nice KC Star article on the surprising Mizzou Baseball team. Speaking of baseball, they spanked OU, 13-3, last night to move to within 2 games of Texas for the Big XII lead. I'd really appreciate it if OU laid down a couple more times.
• Meanwhile, 3-seed (and #18) Mizzou Softball thumped 6-seed (and also #18?) Texas, 3-0, last night to move to the semis against 2-seed Oklahoma. The other semifinal pits 4-seed Texas A&M versus 8-seed Texas Tech, who took 1-seed Baylor to 12 innings then thumped 'em, 8-4.
• Also, the Big XII Track Championships started yesterday. The men are in 5th, and the women are tied for 2nd.

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Mizzou Links, 5-8-07

Happy Truman Day, everybody!

• I just saw this from Friday...Dave Matter looks into Big XII teams and their Academic Progress Report (APR) scores. Ha ha, Doug...KU stinks.
• Here's a neat Missourian profile of Jason Morris, MU's best hammer thrower.
• Not Mizzou-related, but...ladies and gentlemen, we have a Christian Okoye sighting!!

Yeah, that's about it. Slow day.

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Mizzou Links, Dos de Mayo

Really not much at all going on today.

• Here's about the only Mizzou-related article I could find. It's a Missourian profile of Shernelle Nichols. It's big-fish-small-pondish to say so, but she's pretty much the greatest thrower in Barbados history. I cracked myself up a bit saying it like that, but it's true.
• Another 32 bowl games for next season. THIRTY-TWO. That's insane, but I think I'm in the vast minority who absolutely loves it. And why does college football love it? "The subcommittee also said about 1.6 million fans attended last season's bowl games and about $217.6 million in bowl revenue was distributed to the participating teams and conferences." Yeah, that would do it. I just love it because of matchups like East Carolina/South Florida and Troy/Rice. College football's the only sport where over half the teams in the country get rewarded for their season and get to feel like they're really making progress. It's great. Sounds a little socialist and all, but it's great.

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Mizzou Links, 4-23-07

In all, I'd say this was a pretty good week for Mizzou sports...

• A gorgeous day for the B&G Game, Pinkel shows up at the big tailgate (as noted below), and there's a pretty decent crowd there (for Mizzou, anyway). And nobody got seriously hurt (on the field or in the stands)!
• Mizzou Softball thumped #5 ATM Saturday night and split the series overall. They are 9-2 overall, tied with Baylor (in the loss column, anyway) for the conference lead.
• Mizzou Baseball won yet another road series, taking 2 of 3 from Baylor to move to 9-6 in conference (3rd overall, 1 game behind OSU for 2nd) and 28-12 overall.
• Shernelle Nichols had another ridiculous day in Lawrence this weekend. A day after breaking the Barbados national record for the hammer throw, she broke the Barbados shot put record as well, putting her in the top 5 in the country in that category.
• And finally, lost (by me) amid the football talk earlier this week was a nice profile of Linas Kleiza in the KC Star.

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Mizzou Links, 4-20-07

• Not surprising at all, but Mizzou Women's Basketball signee Shakara Jones was named Miss Show-Me Basketball. I don't know the last time we signed a girl who was offered by Tennessee...hopefully she lives up to the hype. Now we just need Yvonne Anderson (Mike's daughter) to sign next year, and Cindy Stein might be able to keep her job...pull some strings, Coach!
• Mizzou hammer-thrower Shernelle Nicholls broke a national record! Granted, it was a Barbados national record, not a U.S. one, but that's still pretty damn impressive, right? She's qualified for NCAA regionals and is now in the Top 25 in the country...not bad.
• If you're going to stage a Globetrotters-versus-Generals-esque exhibition, you probably shouldn't put Jason Sutherland on the Generals-esque team. Just sayin'. A fight might break out. Would love to have seen this, though...my morbid curiosity would have been flying off the charts...
• Looks like Max Scherzer is attempting to take the Luke Hochevar route. I guess being the #1 pick is more important to actually contributing to an organization. Good for Max, I guess, for figuring out how to increase his stature and make more money (though scouts say it's not going to work and he's just going to end up having wasted a year), but...I really, really, really hate Scott Boras.
• And just to make sure I didn't go football-less in this post, here's a couple-days-old entry in Dave Matter's blog, which talks about, among other things, the kicker-holder relationship and William Moore's rap career. Good stuff as always from Dave. And here's a Ziggy Hood profile from the Missourian.

Big football recruiting weekend ahead for Mizzou. The B&G game itself is usually pretty important, but I'd say the recruiting situation is more important. If we can finally get Blaine Gabbert to commit this weekend (I say if he doesn't this weekend, it will be a mid- to late-summer decision at the earliest, and with his profile improving by the day, this probably wouldn't be a good thing for us), it could open the floodgates for us. Even if Gabbert never contributes on the field (it's doubtful that he'd flop, but never impossible), his impact on this recruiting class (he's tight with a lot of good players) could be huge. Cross your fingers.

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