Five Minutes for Blogging, Early Edition Dec. 30
It’s 3:55 a.m. and the night is young.
Crazy football game, eh? Mizzou wins over Northwestern 30-23 in OT.
I’ll always remember the Alamo Bowl…
1. FOR MUCH OF THE GAME I HAD TO RESIST THE URGE TO THROW A BOTTLE OF CHILLED GREY GOOSE THROUGH THE TELEVISION SCREEN, BUT AT THE END I WAS HAPPY FOR CHASE DANIEL: I’m telling you, as I watched Daniel struggle through those gadawful series in the second half, when he was freaking out, sailing passes and drifting swiftly into madness, I started thinking… you know what? We’ve seen this before. Or at least something like it… Rick Ankiel, on the mound, peppering the screen behind home plate with his wild throws during the NL playoffs. But late in the game, Daniel gathered himself and put together money drives to force a tie and carry this ordeal into overtime. And he threw a perfect strike to J. Maclin in the OT for the winning TD. Daniel surely can be irritating; some of his junior-year success swelled his ego. And he’s been in decline. He threw only one INT in the first five games of the season, but was picked off 17 times in the last eight games, including three on Monday. But considering all that he’s done for Mizzou football — all of those magic moments, all of those wins — it would have been a shame to see Daniel finish his MU career on depressing, dirty lowdown evening of failure. The Texan rallied himself. He didn’t go out like Ankiel against the Braves, Ankiel against the Mets, in 2000. Daniel went out a winner. And the kid deserved that.
2. WHAT THE HECK WAS GARY PINKEL THINKING ABOUT? Chance to tie the game, or win the game, less than a minute left in the 4th Q, ball at the Northwestern 23 yard-line. OK, Jeff Wolfert is a helluva kicker, as reliable as they come in the college game. He’s facing a 40-yarder there. Not a gimme putt, but a high-percentage kick. Except that Mizzou — instead of trying to carve out a few more yards to advance the ball and give Wolfert an easier shot — ran two passive plays that lost between four and five yards. (Pinkel apparently was trying to position the ball closer to the left hash mark for Wolfert. Heck if I know). So now all of a sudden, Wolfert is staring at a 44-yarder. Yes, I know up to that point he’d made 6 of 7 field goals from distances between 40 and 49 yards this season. But anything from 40+ is fraught with risk, especially at the end of the game. It’s never an easy kick. Not for Wolfert, not for anyone. You just don’t back your kicker up and put more pressure on him. You run a couple of low-risk plays there, maybe get Wolfert another six or seven yards, and let him hit the field goal attempt from about 33, 34 yards out. But you don’t push him back and give him a more difficult kick. That’s just goofy. Well, now… Wolfert, as you already know, missed the 44-yarder and the drama spilled into OT. And Wolfert didn’t deserve to have this on his conscience as he concluded his final game for MU. But for Wolfert’s sake, and Pinkel’s, the Mizzou offense and defense sharply disposed of Northwestern in the bonus stanza.
3. WHICH REMINDS ME OF FONTELLA BASS: It is my humble opinion that the greatest song recorded by a St. Louis Rock N’ Roll, R & B or pop artist is “Rescue Me,” by Ms. Bass. Controversial choice, I know. I’m not trying to diss all of that wonderful stuff from Chuck Berry, Nelly, Ike & Tina Turner, Uncle Tupelo or any number of acts we could mention. Yes, even “The Cheater” cranked out by Bob Kuban and The In-Men, featuring the late Walter Scott on lead vocals. But “Rescue Me” always jumps, always hits it, and never gets old. Feel free to discuss, and dissent. But “Recue Me” certainly applied to Daniel, Wolfert and Pinkel on Monday night.
4. JEREMY MACLIN, THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: The kid’s gotta declare and head to the NFL, right? Mizzou’s sensational sophomore wideout, return man and blaze runner is going to make a lot of money in the pro game, and it is time for him to get paid instead of risking another major injury that could jeopardize his NFL draft status in 2010, or 2011. (Whisper: Maclin thrills the Rams’ scouts.)
5. WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO BASEBALL AMERICA … I don’t care where the Cardinals’ player-development system is ranked. Sure, it’s nice to know that the Cardinals are apparently doing better in stocking the system with more talent. But until I see this brigade of wunderkinds, phenoms and prodigies up in the majors, tearing it up over the course of several seasons, I’m not going to buy into the hype. No sale. Not now. I want to see the players getting it done in the majors, and then I’ll be happy to start singing their praises. Until then, I’m not going to go Pavarotti and belt out “Nessun Dorma” in a tribute to a bunch of kids who may or not play in the majors. Let’s hold off on the parade, OK? Thanks.
First 30-second bonus: Missouri winning at least 10 football games in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history is a significant achievement — even if the diabolical Mizzou hater Joe “El Diablo” Strauss only gives the Tigers credit for several legit wins over the two-year period because of the soft schedule.
Second 30-second bonus: Debate topic for all of you former or current J-Schoolers out there. The Alamo Bowl got me thinking (which can be dangerous). Who’s got the better journalism school these days, Missouri or Northwestern? Let the throwdown begin. Keep it clean.
-Bernie
Itchie, no one argued that Mizzou should not play a tougher schedule. However, the only team you mentioned in your original post that could beat either Nevada or Buffalo was Iowa. Indiana, Vandy, and Mississipi State would actually have been a decrease in strength of schedule from Nevada and Buffalo. Would I like to see the Tigers play a couple of quality teams? Sure I would, but just because a team is from a BCS conference doesn’t make it good.
Oh, J-School … Mizzou…
Thank God that Mizzou put aside the KU debacle and finally started blitzing again…and especially on the second to last play of the game.
Can anyone explain the downturn in defense this season when all but one of the starters was back. Did Lorenzo make that much difference?
I think Daniels felt the pressure of knowing that when playing good teams the offense must score every possession as the defense couldn’t due their part.
Coffman, Maclin, Daniel, Weatherspoon. I just wanted to post their names one more time, mainly for nostalgia, but also to make sure at least one post in cyberspace had all of their names spelled correctly.
Itchie, it’s not Mizzou’s fault that Illinois turned out to be an even greater disappointment than the Tigers this year.
Prior to the start of the CFB season, the MU - Illini game was ranked by College Football News as the second biggest non-conference matchup of the 2008 season. As an MU football season ticketholder since 1979 I can certainly agree that our scheduling practices have changed decidedly from my early days when we used to line up against Penn State, Notre Dame and Ohio State. However those were also the days when we only had to contend with only one or two really strong conference opponents such as OU and Nebraska. With the limitation on scholarships, more schools are competitive. This year the Tigers played six bowl-bound schools, four of which came from within our own conference. Even making allowances for the sizeable increase to the number of bowls, there were very few years when the Tigers were playing nearly that many good teams in one season.
I think there’s other issues to consider as well such as the complex nature of scheduling agreements among schools. A number of big time programs have pretty stout demands to schedule any type of home-and-home arrangement and a lot of those arrangements are front-loaded to the advantage of the big-time schools. Back when I was a student at MU (1986-1990) I recall hearing some scuttlebutt about a failed attempt in the early 80’s to schedule Michigan, but the Wolverines were apparently insistent upon a five year deal with the first four games in Ann Arbor and the right to cancel the fifth year. Yes, Mizzou did book Iowa and UCLA for home-and-home series during the past decade, and yes, Mizzou did pull out of both of those arrangements, subbing in Western Michigan and Arkansas State instead. When those games were scheduled the Tigers were just pulling out of the funk of the 14 year “dark ages” period between bowl appearances. MU was coming off of a home-and-home with Ohio State and still had one more game with Clemson to finish off when they decided to pull the plug on UCLA. They also had a quick, two-year series with Michigan State still on the books at that time, so it wasn’t as if they were combing the basement of the MAC, Sun Belt and FCS for all of their non-conference tilts. This was also during a time when MU only had 3 n/c vacancies per year.
Fast forwarding to the present, I think the conference schedule provides the Tigers with enough opportunities to play highly-ranked opponents without having to bring more in from the outside. If the Tigers are able to establish themselves firmly as a perennial legitimate division title contender (with a rehabbed Nebraska, Colorado and perhaps even K State in the division), and can beat the better Big XII South teams with regularity, then I think they can start thinking about seriously beefing up the n/c schedule beyond the annual game with an apparently mercurial Illini squad.
Changing subjects - re: the NU/MU journalism rivalry. Was it just me or were some of the ESPN studio personnel showing subtle loyalties to their alma maters via their choice in neckwear and pocket squares? I noticed a few ties and pocket squares in various shades of gold and violet during a few network broadcasts over the last couple of days (including SportsCenter). I will admit that I am not up on the host’s educational pedigrees other than John Anderson’s status as an MU alum. Can anyone vouch for whether I was simply reading too much into what I saw?
Final thought - I read on the San Antonio newspaper’s website that the Alamo Bowl is pushing for a higher position on the bowl pecking order for both the Big XII and the Big 10. This will be the final year that the Gator Bowl takes a Big XII team under its current contract. That will leave the conference with only one New Year’s consolation bowl slot - the Cotton. I have to wonder whether the Alamo Bowl will jockey for a January 1 date and try to leapfrog the Holiday Bowl for the 2nd position on the non-BCS slate of games.
Look, I am a Mizzou fan. I am sorry, but their non-conference schedule in Columbia this year was horrendously booooooring. I would be more psyched about a Mizzou-Indiana or a Mizzou-Vandy or a Mizzou-Iowa game than Mizzou-SEMO, and yes folks, even more than Mizzou vs. the powerful Nevada or Buffalo teams. Watching football is supposed to be fun, and frankly, playing the teams we played does not make me want to travel to 125 miles to Columbia. It’s a shame that Mizzou has lowered its’ standards, and people even try to defend the obvious deliberate attempt to water down the schedule. It is cowardly.
Journalism isn’t a legitimate college degree program . . . take that!
good thing you hung on to the bottle
This revisionist bull about Mizzou not beating anyone in the past two years is irritating. Last year, Mizzou beat the Orange Bowl champs (Kansas), the Gator Bowl champs (Tex tech) and Rose Bowl participant (Illinois). They also stomped Nebraska and Arkansas (cotton Bowl participant and victor over national champ LSU). They throttled two teams away from home (CU (which went to a bowl), and KSU (keeping them from bowl). Frankly, what ohter teams had more significant wins? This year, they again whupped rivals Illinois and Nebraska (who might just be Gator Bowl champs) and other bowl teams in Nevada, Buffalo and NWern. Certainly, this year had more disappointing losses, but nonetheless, some fine wins, regardless.
Itchie, you do understand that it takes two to tango, do you not? Do you know for certain that Mizzou hasn’t put out feelers to schools like Indiana, Vanderbilt and the like? Buffalo was a last minute add - were there any BCS conference teams available AND interested in filling that spot when Western Michigan pulled out? Mizzou has been on the rise for six seasons now (even with the hiccup in 2004) - who’s clamoring to enter into a contract with us? Who’s approaching us with home-and-home offers? My guess is that a lot of BCS conference teams haven’t been scrambling to get Mizzou on the schedule over the last couple of years. My presumption is that while Mizzou was being led by Brad Smith and Chase Daniel, there weren’t a lot of teams like Indiana, Vanderbilt, Iowa or even Arizona, TCU or Cincinnati looking to hook up with the Tigers if it meant having to come to Columbia any time in the near future. Simply put, it cuts both ways. I just don’t think a lot of emerging programs would have wanted to schedule a game like Missouri, nor do I think a lot of the big guys would have wanted to schedule such a game at a point in time when it was yet to be determined whether the Tigers were a legitimate top 10 team.
For all we know, Mizzou is doing the best it can to schedule a decent non-conference schedule among the programs that are willing to agree to some sort of a FAIR scheduling arrangement, i.e. a guaranteed home-and-home, no-cut deal. Until we know what deals were and were not on the table, I don’t see how criticism can leveled fairly.
Let’s see what MU does with the recently vacated SMU dates. Anyone out there know what BCS conference teams still have openings for 09 and 10?