Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Hate Week

This is the week the Missouri/kansas border waits for every year. One of the most competitive rivalries in college football. The names are endless- the border showdown, the border war, the stateline standoff, the Battle for the Drum. Depending what school you listen to, you will hear a different series record. If you believe the liars and cheaters from lawrence, you will think that kU has a one game advantage at 55-54-9. The Missouri fans believe that we lead by one game at 55-54-9. The game in question took place in 1960 when the Tigers were a game away from the national championship and kansas used ineligible players and then kansas ended up winning. If you want a detailed history of this game you can visit the fine people from Rock M Nation. Anyway with the poor showing by the kansas football team this season, I wouldn't expect many fans coming from the west into Arrowhead. The Tigers could have a piece of the Big 12 North title with a win, and could rep the North division in the Big 12 championship with a Nebraska loss to Colorado on friday. This will be like the championship for the beakers, which should scare every Mizzou fan to death. But lets run down the last few meetings, just for some fun:

2009- The Tigers came out in their beast mode unis, and played a tough kansas team. The game literally went back and forth all day with big plays. Until a huge saftey late in the game, and then a huge final drive by Gabbert to set up a last second chipshot by Grant Ressel to clinch the drum.

2008- A tough day for Tigers fans, I really don't want to talk about it. Lets just say, Kerry Meier still haunts my dreams.

2007- Maybe the biggest game in the rivalry. The two teams came in, both were in the top 5. The game was for the big 12 north championship, a spot in the Big 12 Championship game, and hopefully a BCS birth (the losing team got this honor in the most stupid situation ever). The teams battled all game, kansas tried to come back late but a late safety clinched it for the Tigers and then created the legend of Sod Ressing.

It should be a fun one at Arrowhead saturday. Did I mention that I hate kansas? Because I do alot.

Missouri 100
Kansas 0

Saturday, November 6, 2010

College Football Week 10

To be remembered, you must win in November.

That is what Gary Pinkel is preaching to his troops this month. Yeah, we lost last week but that was October. This is when the season really starts. Nebraska has a tough stretch of games over the next few weeks including the game this saturday in Ames and a trip down to College Station. A loss anywhere down the line for the Huskers and they fall out of the drivers seat in the North. Missouri has a easy but very tricky set of games in November. Tonight in Lubbock, Kansas State in CoMo, and then a big time show down at Iowa State, and concluded by the border showdown. I think Nebraska slips up somewhere, they just play to inconstantly.

Missouri has a big game in primetime, down on the planes of Texas. I firmly believe we are not going to let anything weird happen this week. I think we come in and destroy them in a business like way. I really do not know alot about the Red Raiders but I am sure we are good enough to out talent them.

Missouri 38 Texas Tech 21

The basketball team looked really good last night. I am most impressed by freshman Ricky Kreklow, he looked really good last night by showing a ton of hustle and knocking down the 3 ball. This is going to be a fun team to watch this season.

Pro Football Preview tomorrow! 

Friday, November 5, 2010

The 2010 Missouri Tigers Basketball Preview.

Tonight, basketball season tips off in Columbia, Misssouri. This team is highly regarded and should be super solid. We are ranked 15th in the AP preseason poll, and picked in the top half of the big 12! Here we go.

Key Gains: Phil Pressey, Ricardo Radliffe, (potentialy) Tony Mitchell
Key Losses: Zaire Taylor, JT Tiller, Keith Ramsey

Team Breakdown.

Frontcourt:

Justin Safford (Senior)- Last year ended poorly for Mr. Safford as he had a knee ligament injury that cost him an appearance in the NCAA tournament. In the black and gold game last week, he appeared to be in very good condition. The lone senior on the squad this year is going to be one of the vocal leaders and will get the starting job along with a ton of minutes. Coming off of a year averaging 8 points and 4 boards a game, expect his numbers to take a jump.

Laurence Bowers (Junior)- The high flyer and big dunker looks to come back this year with an expanded role on the team because of the departure of Ramsey. From what I observed at the black and gold game, he appears to have improved his game inside and will be pulling in about the same amount of rebounds as last year. Expect some improvements in all phases in the game, and also don't be surprised to see the big man pop it from 3 point land if the D plays off of him.

Ricardo Radliffe (JUCO Transfer- Junior)- Ricardo transferred in to Mizzou this season after being rated as the number 1 juco player in the country last season. He wowed the crowd at the black and gold scrimmage with 32 points. I expect Radliffe to have a HUGE contribution on this team, and to possibly be a Demarre Carrol type player, scrappy and never giving up. Expect big things out of this kid.

Steve Moore (Junior)- Steeeve Moore, is going to be expected to play a similar role as last year for this team. He will come off the bench and play with some of the bigs in the Big XII conference. He had some foul trouble in the scrimmage last thursday. If he can stay out of trouble, he will play a solid role on the team.


John Underwood (Sophomore) Kadeem Green (Freshman)- Don't expect much more than riding the bench and mop up duty this year. Will play a bigger role over the next few seasons.

Tony Mitchell (almost Freshman)- Tony still hasnt enrolled at the University yet due to some eligibility problems. He should be able to enroll for Spring semester, meaning you could see him on the team right before the Illinois game. He would play a HUGE role on this team if he becomes eligible, maybe not immediately but he will make a difference.


Backcourt:

Jarrett Sutton (Senior)- The walk on more than likely won't get much playing time other than in mop up duty.

Kimmie English (Junior)- Last years leading scorer will be coming back with an improved game this season. I am going to expect him to improve on his PPG and also his efficiency. Also, I expect him to stay off of twitter during the season, just sayin. Before essentially taking the 2nd half of the black and gold game off, he had 20 points in the first half...if he can score like that, the big 12 better watch their collective backs.

Marcus Denmon (Junior)- Mr. Sharp Shooter is going to be looking to improve his role from last years team as not only a deadly shooter from the downtown district but really hasn't been known for his D. The whole front court will be expected to replace the intensity that Zaire and JT brought the the hardwood ever night. I expect for Denmon to have a better season this year...get excited.

Matt Pressey (JUCO Transfer- Junior)- I honestly don't know alot about this kid. He didn't look terrible in the black and gold game, but then again everybody looked decent. The only reason he is on the team is because of his brother. I expect a limited role on the team, but I do expect him to get some playing time during the season.

Michael Dixon (Sophomore)- Coming off what I would describe as a bipolar freshman season, when he was on he was really good but then again he also had some very sluggish and bad moments. All of this to be expected for a freshman PG. I want to see some improvement with his passing and shot selection this season. There were far to many times where he would take a bad 3 pointer early in the shot clock. I expect him to get a little bit more time than Phil Pressey but not much more.

Phil Pressey (Freshman)- Everybody is riding really high on this kid. He is a true point guard from the Dallas area. In the black and gold game he showed off his amazing jumping ability, by getting up and throwing down a couple of dunks. I expect him to have a year kind of like Dixon had last year, a little up and a little more down. Though for good measure, check this link out and get excited...Phil Presseys HUGE DUNK!!

Ricky Kreklow (Freshman)- From what I saw at the black and gold game, I want to compare him to a little bit more scrappy Matt Lawrence which is a compliment. It appears that he can drain the 3, and play fairly solid D. I don't expect him to play a very significant role on the team this year, but he defiantly will in the years to come.

I am really excited about this team. I think that we should be able to replace last years seniors with overall improvements and some new freshman. Looking at the schedule, I would expect us to come out of the Non-Conference portion with no more than 3 losses. The Big XII schedule is hard as always, but I could defiantly see us coming out of the Big XII schedule no worse than 10-6. This is going to be a fun year to be cheering for this team. Its a great time to be a tiger!!