Tag Archives: Missouri

Crib Sheet: Go Forth on the 4th

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It’s Independence Day weekend coming up and we’re getting ready to rock out and blow up some cans with Black Cats.  So in preparation of the the fireworks menagerie,  we’re gonna give you more bang for your buck on this week’s Crib Sheet.  Before everyone goes out to stick explosives into other containers and shoot bottle rockets off, please remember to be careful, especially your hands.  They need to be healthy to handle the frosty beverages over the weekend and later on in the fall for college football.  Now here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Mark your calendars, the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game September 12 at 3:30 pm ET.   Both programs are looking to rebound and we should be witnessing a treat as two boisterous head coaches fight for their jobs.
  • To no surprise, the BCS rejected the Mountain West’s proposal of an eight team playoff.  Hopefully this will end the playoff talk for awhile.  We all know this is not going away forever.
  • Texas student assistant coach Matt Nader got a big ole gun pulled on him at the golf course last week.  Apparently he was arguing with a Texan and he later showed up with a gun ready to go.   Seeing as this all took place in Texas, I’m not too surprised.  Crazy thing was the gun toting Texan was 73, talk about a cranky golfer.
  • After another death and settlement from complications due to sickle cell traits at Rice University, the NCAA will start recommending that test for sickle cell issues be conducted at universities.  After this and the death of former Missouri Tiger Aaron O’Neil, it would make more sense to require the testing of  players for these issues.  The NCAA and schools make bank off of these kids, let’s make sure they get taken care of while they promote the schools on the field.
  • Look out Missouri Tigers, the kid of a maybe future NFL Hall of Famer is coming your way in Derrion Thomas.  He wasn’t high up on anyone’s radar due to only one year of playing high school ball, but he does look and play like his dead dad.  Let’s hope this walk on will do well over in Columbia.  My advice to Derrion:  remember to wear a seat belt.
  • USA Today has a profile of Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing.  It looks like it’s another one of those, short Big 12 quarterback come from behind stories.   The difference this time is Kansas might actually have what it takes to win the big game.  They did it on the Orange Bowl, maybe it’s their year this year.  Sorry Chase Daniels, have fun trying to play for the Redskins.

The Crib Sheet: Tilting the Joystick

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The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, is this week and we here at the KCCGD have always enjoyed getting our game on.  News wise there wasn’t anything too exciting in terms of college sports going on down there.  Wii Sports Resort looks pretty good and the UFC game coming out also looks pretty tight.  We waggle our joystick to the great EA College Football game and there’s a soft spot in the heart for USC because of the National title run we had way back in 2004.  Now let’s waggle our joystick for college football news:

  • ESPN College Football Analyst Lee Corso recovered from a minor stroke due to small blocakge in the artery.  He issued a press release filled with many of his coaching quips.  My guess is all of the mascot heads he put on in his career let to the stroke.
  • Colorado lost a big time receiver Josh Smith to the lure of big time hip hop.  It seems everyone wants to be a star and apparently the shine is on music instead of football.  Let’s face it, he was playing at Colorado.  No offense there.
  • The rivalry for Mizzou against Illinois will stop in 2010.  Apparently Illinois doesn’t like the neutral site aspect of the series.  Either that, or they’ve been getting walloped in the series.  It’s not good news for Mizzou because that game was a rivalry they could actually win.
  • To help with the economy, Kansas will have split season tickets available this year.  This is something the Kansas City Chiefs started doing a couple of years ago and look how it turned out for them.  Uh Oh.
  • Big time Missouri recruit Sheldon Richardson will be heading to a Juco this year due to really bad grades.  Seeing as everyone either graduated or jumped to the draft, the Tigers will be weak this year.  It might be a good time to sit out a year and beef up for next year.
  • A small change in the BCS that goes into effect after the 2010 season means that if either a Pac 10 team or Big 10 team gets to the BCS National Championship Game, they have to give a Rose Bowl slot to a Mid Major Conference.  This is a peace offering for the yelping we’ve been hearing about the BCS and mid majors recently.  Whether or not it’s a big deal, we’ll find out.  At this point it’s fine because the both conferences don’t have a conference championship.

The Crib Sheet: Easter Football Egg Hunt

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We were starting to get worried here at the Crib Sheet that this week’s news would be weak.  Wednesday rolled around and we were totally saved.  Perhaps Easter had something to do with the slow news over the weekend.  This week we sift through some practices and look at some red tape a danglin’ around.  Here we go:

  • Bo Pelini is spitting out chewing gum again in Lincoln.  He’s fired up after a bad practice and is telling everyone on the block about it.  It seems to work fine up there as Nebraska is turning the corner and it’s nice to see some passion from a coach when you’re living with the Pinkel/Mangino/Snyder non speak on a daily basis.
  • Mike Leach is a definite oddball and his practice tactics are proving it.  Making players study on the field in the snow and some high balancing is unique enough.  Still I’m not sure if it will work this year after losing Michael Crabtree.
  • Glen Winston is going to jail for 6 months for kicking the tar out of fellow Michigan State athlete A. J. Sturges.  I thought hockey players were supposed to be tough?  I guess not.  Then again, he was up against Winston and Michael White from the football team.  Two football players > one hockey player.
  • Texas is trying to lure the College Football Hall of Fame away from South Bend, Indiana.  Both Dallas and Arlington have put together proposals to build a hall as well as convention center in support of the move.  Traditionally Notre Dame is king for football but recent years have shown the Fighting Irish’s prominence waning.  Now is a good time to snatch the hall, especially in a state where people eat, sleep, and crap football.
  • Other universities are interested in Kansas Atheltic Director Lou Perkins and the Jayhawks are willing to pay up to keep him.   That makes sense.  The guy produced a national champion basketball team and built and honest to goodness football team down there in Lawrence.  So another $750,000 goes to Lou.  I’m sure it will eat into Mark Mangino’s Ho Ho fund.
  • Bill Snyder still has no clue who’s gonna quarterback the Kansas State Wildcats.  It’s a tough job to replace the overrated Josh Freeman.  Chances are we’ll see all three start next season and the one who does a better job with the option will get the nod.
  • Legal documents stuffed in the AP’s pocket show that the Missouri Tigers officials and staff failed to follow proper steps to keep Aaron O’Neil from collapsing and eventually dieing back in 2005.  The director of sports medicine for the athletic department apparently even rejected suggestions from concerned players to check up on O’Neil.  Yet another example of the Tigers dropping the ball, off the field even.
  • Former Duke basketballer Greg Paulus, after trying out for the Green Bay Packers, sat down with Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez to explore the possibility of using his one year of eligibility to play college football.  So the Rich must be feeling the heat already because even the Duke football doesn’t want him.  Both Paulus and Rodriguez are starting to look a little silly here.

The Crib Sheet: Coaching Up

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The Crib Sheet returns!  Now that we’ve finally shaken off basketball, congrats North Carolina, we can start focusing on college baseball.  Psyche!  We’re still talking football.  This last week saw some interesting cruft float by.  Springs practices are going on and we’re starting to get some news trickle out about who’s doing well and who’s tanking.  But more on that later.  Here’s what else that happened in the past week:

  • Rugby is making its presence known in college football with the Texas Longhorn’s punter Justin Tucker.  Last year he tried some rugby styled punts and it proved successful.  So this year they are asking him and the rest of the punters to try it again both right and left footed.  It’s a little dizzying indeed, but it’s great to see some innovation come out of a kicking meme that’s been around forever.  Now all Tucker needs is some knocked out teeth to fully bring the rugby pain.
  • Tim Griffin reports that a top quarterback recruit from the Wichita area, Blake Bell, has committed to Oklahoma.  This stings a little more because he’s right in K-State’s backyard.  Oklahoma is the mean machine in the Big 12 so why not go there.
  • The New York Times has a piece about Army’s new football coach Rich Ellerson.  Apparently his orders are to win now.  Seems easy, right?  I watched Army play Navy last Thanksgiving and their camoflague uniforms were tight.  That’s the only reason I’m rooting this guy to succeed.  It sounds kinda gay so don’t tell Rich.
  • Chase Daniels looks good as a coach.  He was hanging out at the Mizzou practices helping out the new offensive coordinator, Dave Yost.  He’s not really gonna make it in the NFL so coaching would be the next best thing for Chase.  Just don’t teach them how to eat boogers.
  • The Texas Longhorns assistant coaches feel like champions today.  They pocketed an extra bonus for the Big 12 Championship, even though technically Oklahoma won the title.  Apparently the athletic director talked the school president into the pay.  Mack Brown didn’t dip into his bonus.  They are sounding a lot like Utah when it comes to titles and championships and such.

The Crib Sheet: Bracket Busted

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There’s not much in news this week as we have college basketball and March Madness to fight with.  I’m also fighting a nasty food poisoning bit.  That said, some news eeked by and we scooped them up.   It’s short and sweet but will give you something to stare at besides all of the red ink on your bracket.  Here’s this week’s news:

The Crib Sheet: Irish Eyes are Blurry

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What is with the Crib Sheet coming out after major late night holidays?  First it was Fat Tuesday, which prompted a cold, and now we have St. Patrick’s Day.  The Hooley over at Lew’s Grille and Pub was rocking last night as the beer was flowing and the babes were showing.  The traditional corned beef and cabbage was again very tasty but Disco Dick and the Mirrorballs disco sucked.  The week of college football news did not suck, however.

  • It seems Colt McCoy is pulling a Tim Tebow and doing charity work in his offtime.  This should help him out on his campaign for the Heisman Trophy this year.  Although seriously, if Tim Tebow is coming back, there might be a chance the Tim will win a 3rd time in a row.  Bolster those resumes!
  • Some smart folks over at the University of Kansas did a study about true home field advantages and discovered that Nebraska has the largest of them all.  That makes sense considering the whole state goes to the games.  My problem is, advantage or not, their home record wasn’t the best in the time of the study.  Still, it’s pretty cool to play with numbers.
  • And a new four year deal hit the BCS with the four big daddys (Fiesta, Sugar, Rose, and Orange Bowl) agreeing to a four year extension.  Expect to hear the sports media complain about it for a couple of weeks and then fall back on it, say, about the middle of the season.  No surprises here.
  • Huzzah!  An Ohio State Buckeye cheerleader, the captain nonetheless, is trying out for the football team.  Looks like he can run fast.  I bet he can jump pretty high.  I’m thinking that the huddles might be a little too annoying.  Maybe he can help them come up with better endzone celebrations.
  • Wow Miami of Ohio is looking like a small class team by scheduling two games on the same day, one against Colorado.  When asked about it, officials from the MAC are doing some major buck passing.  Don’t tell Coach Hawkins or he’ll remind us what conference team and football division they’re supposed to play.
  • Missouri finally settled with Aaron O’Neil’s family after his death on the practice field before the season started in 2005.  I guess they had to wait a bit for the program to generate some money through the athletics before they could write them the check.  Meanwhile,  the family of a student, Erek Plancher, will file suit against the University of Central Florida after he collapsed and died on the field last year.  It seems like the condition drills always take out some kids like that.  The large heads of the coaches is the issue here.  They don’t want thier kids to be soft and go the ultra pushy machismo way to do it.  Maybe legal action should be allowed against the coaches in the scneario?  Jail time possibly?
  • The Bryce Brown lottery is over with double B picking Tennessee.  Okay so he had visits to the Vols the last week or so but was nice enough to keep Kansas State in the running.  Don’t fret!  It’s time to celebrate the last mention of Bryce for a long time.

The Crib Sheet: Signing Day/Week Aftermath

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It was a big week of news and the Crib Sheet is back this week to tell you what mattered.  It was Signing Day last week and the ouija board nearly broke from producing signatures sprinkled out across the whole nation.  There were some surprises, but most of what was expected came to be true.  We mixed in some political goobery and a little bit o’ smack talk to keep things fresh.  My guess is the next couple of weeks are going to be dry news wise, so let this be the spike before the long lull.  Here’s the crib:

  • Newly appointed Jesus of Tennessee Lane Kiffin is crying wolf over Urban Meyer trying to hit up one of his recruits.  Lane still got the guy, but maybe the rub off from Al Davis’ fragile shoulders are showing up in Volunteer-land.  It’s nice you got the recruit, Lane, but talking smack on Urban will produce some nasty results.  Just talk to Georgia.  Oh and he apologized.
  • Kansas State expectantly showed weakly recruitng wise.  Ron Prince poisoned the recruiting and Bill Snyder is going to have an uphill battle for the Wildcats.  It’s going to be a big time reboot in Manhattan
  • Kansas on the other hand, nabbed a couple of quarterbacks and some other high profile recruits to lead into their highest rated recruiting class ever.  Will it show up on the field?  Mangino’s shown that he can recruit well and make some talent pay off so look out of the Hawks in the next couple of years.
  • Missouri too, had a pretty good recruiting class.  They promised some tight end play to Sheldon Richardson but realy this kid is defensive tackle all the way.  At any rate, look for them to compete for the North and then choke at some point.
  • Nebraska signed about 21 kids to fill out the black shirts.  Look out for these guys.  With the walk on program back on and some key pick ups, Nebraska will be well on their way to almost going back to the Big 12 Championship game.
  • Conference wise, Texas and Oklahoma went 1 and 2, again.  Hey they do that every year so get used to it.  Colorado had a top 4 conference recruiting ranking last year and look at how they finished.  Sleep tight, Texas A&M.
  • Bryce Brown is hanging out and making everybody speculate the hell out of him.  Everybody else is down and signed but this guy just likes making everyone wait.  Also, the big rumor is he might turn pro in some other league.  Really, Bryce is a huge tease.
  • James Franklin, the Maryland offensive coordinator, was named last Thursday as the successor to Ralph Friedgen.  Overlooking the fact that Maryland has done crap the last couple of years, this pick makes sense.  If the school is satisfied with mediocrity then they should continue in it.
  • Mike Leech is culling his old lawyer skills and is still banging out a contract with Texas Tech.  So the Red Raiders are apparently pulling a Boston College and telling Leech he can’t talk or interview with other teams during his contract.  If they break off now, look for him to be somewhere else after this year.  Come Texas Tech, fumble this one away!
  • Okay, this is getting redonkulous.  Now all of Utah’s lawmakers are sending a resolution to PrezBama to blow away the BCS and give in to the power of playoffs.  Now with football players on hand!  Please somebody tell the whole state of Utah to get over it and focus on getting the Mountain West the automatic bid.  Going the political route won’t work.
  • Missouri pulled in LSU tight ends coach Josh Henson.  It looks as thought some SEC cred might be seeping into the Big 12.  Recruiting wise, this will help out the Tigers immensly.  Tim Griffin’s already saying they’re going after Bryce Brown too.
  • Dana Dimel is coming back to K-State.  So he did a great job for Mike Stoops and reviving some offense and it looks like he’ll be doing the same at K-State.  Let’s hope that it will be more than Ron Prince’s “Throw-everything-up-and-see-what-sticks” offense.
  • In sign of bi-partisanship, Rep. Joe Barton (R) from Texas is siding with PrezBama in setting up a college football playoff.  Does he really need the votes?  Plus, this guy’s an Aggie.  Shouldn’t he be working more toward making Texas A&M a real football team instead of playing up to the playoff people?

Bowl Pick It Standings: Two Minute Warning and the Marching Band is on the Field

We’re running into the last stretch of big games and we are getting ready for the final 3 games of the college football season.  The last week brought us some upsets, some blowouts, some intrigue, and some fatter bellies and stinkier rooms.  Bowl season so far has proved to be, well, anticlimactic but we’re geared up for Florida vs Oklahoma.  The other two games landed on nonplussed for our feelings.

The vaunted, Charlie Weiss led, Notre Dame fighting Irish played hard for their coached and blew the heat off of him by blowing out Hawaii in the, you guessed it, the Hawaii Bowl.  The Pac-10 quieted all detractors by going undefeated in their bowls year, topping it off with a USC blowout of the somewhat Paterno led Penn State Nittany Lions.  Speaking of the Big 10, they are 1-5 in bowls this year with one game left to go.  The Purple Yeti loved the finish to the Kentucky and East Carolina game when Kentucky’s defensive lineman Ventrell Jenkins stiffed armed East Carolina’s Partrick Pinkey after picking him off and tumbled into the endzone for the winning score 25-19.

But that’s not all that happened.  The Big 12 so far has a decent showing going with Missouri kicking it off and barely chugging by Northwestern.  The Tigers should’ve lost the game but the found a way to come out on top.  I was in the gym when Oklahoma State was up 17-7 over Oregon at half and dang near dropped my jaw to the floow when I saw the final score later, Oregon 42, Oklahoma State 31.  KU handled Minnesota rather easily, which worked out well for the evening as Wii Sports were to be had.  The best game of New Year’s Day happened to be the Gator Bowl where Nebraska came from behind to beat the Clemson Tigers.  Too bad Texas Tech couldn’t make a case for being in the title chase when Ole Miss handed them an Ole Whuppin 47-34 in the Cotton Bowl.

Continue reading Bowl Pick It Standings: Two Minute Warning and the Marching Band is on the Field