Good morning/afternoon.
Let's do a twist on one of my old column forms and go with a Stream of Not-So-Enlightened Consciousness ...
Reading Time 5 Minutes:
* Missouri needs to beat Baylor. OK, I'm stating the obvious here. But in a skirmish for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, a Saturday win over the visiting Bears would help the Tigers in the Big 12 standings, and in the RPI. As of Friday morning Baylor, at No. 5, still had the best RPI in the Big 12 according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi. Kansas is No. 6, and MU is No. 9. Missouri is in terrific position here. Sweeping the season series from Baylor would be a big plus for the Tigers. In head-to-head matchups, Baylor is 0-3 against Mizzou and KU; Kansas is 2-1 against Baylor and MU; and Mizzou is 2-0 against the other two. With a defeat of Baylor, Missouri would have a chance to go 4-0 against Baylor and KU this season. Not that it will be easy for the Tigers to win at Kansas on Feb. 25. Not at all.
* Should be a fun game. After getting embarrassed at home by Kansas earlier this week, Baylor should be all keyed up and fairly berserk upon entering Mizzou Arena. And if the Baylor big men decide to attack, it's a dangerous game for MU.
* I am craving hummus, for some inexplicable reason.
* The Rams have reduced their list of GM candidates to two, possibly three. Nothing will happen this weekend. Rams COO Kevin Demoff is out of town on non-football matters, which is fine because Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants to have individual meetings with each GM finalist and that won't happen until early next week. (By the way, Pittsburgh Steelers executive Omar Khan is not a serious candidate for the Rams' GM post.)
* Also, I can tell you this: the Rams' GM will be a football guy, with a background in personnel and scouting.
* Not that my opinion matters, but I like Steve Keim (Cardinals) or Tom Gamble (49ers) for the Rams' GM job. Two reasons: (1) the NFL people I've spoken with say good things about each man; (2) I like the idea of weakening a division rival by raiding the front office and coming away with a good football man. But Demoff has good names on his list, so I think the Rams will make a solid hire.
* Here's a stat note from Harry Hockey, otherwise known as Jeremy Rutherford: The Blues are 24-0 when they score 3+ goals per game but only 8-14-7 when they score 2 goals or fewer.
* Mizzou doesn't have to be a No. 1 seed to play in the St. Louis region for the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Multiple No. 2 or No. 3 seeds have been placed reasonably close to home in regional play by the NCAA selection committee.
* Best recent-release albums I've heard over the last six months or so are "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" by Girls. And "Attack on Memory" by Cloud Nothings.
* Welcome back, Chris Stewart.
* Speaking of music, I owe local bandleader John Henry (of John Henry and The Engine) a bottle of his favorite adult spirit after losing a Super Bowl bet. He took the Giants. He was smart.
* Y'all leave Lana Del Ray alone, OK? She's just a kid trying to sing for her supper.
* Illinois appears to be in big trouble. The Illini have lost five of their last six in Big Ten play. The remaining conference schedule includes appointments against Michigan (two games, No. 15 RPI), at Ohio State (No. 4 RPI) and at Wisconsin (No. 24). Good luck, Coach Weber.
* The Blues are 7-5 on the road since Ken Hitchcock became coach on Nov. 8. And that road winning percentage (.567) is ninth-best in the NHL over that time. The Blues' best road player this season has been Alex Steen, who leads the team in goals per game and plus-minus rating on road games. The absence of the concussed Steen, an underrated player, is more of a problem for the Blues than many realize.
Have a good weekend....
— Bernie
