Mizzou Links, 12-30-08 (The '30 Wins in Three Years' Edition)

by Bill C. on Dec 30, 2008 5:48 AM CST in News

And six hours later, I'm back up to work on the Links...thank god we won that game last night...it took me about an hour and a half to get my heart rate down enough to go to sleep, and I'm going to need to buy a couple extra cups of coffee from Lakota this morning, but...winner winner, chicken dinner.

First of all, if you haven't checked out last night's open thread and live blog, you should do so. It's worth your time. Ahh, the ups-and-downs of sporting events.

(I still hate Mediacom, by the way.)

And now to the real links...

2008 Alamo Bowl Champions Links!

Mutigers.com: official recap and box score.
NUsports.com: official recap.
The Trib: Tigers survive Alamo thriller
The Missourian: Maclin shines (Loved the "I’m his roommate. I can probably get him to stay." quote from 'Spoon)
Post-Dispatch: Missouri's Maclin shows why Tigers will miss him
The Missourian: For the Tigers, the final feeling is victory
The Missourian: Sack saves Tigers
KC Star: Missouri pulls out OT win in Alamo Bowl.
KC Star: Upon Further Review live blog.
Post-Dispatch: Missouri squeaks past Northwestern to win Alamo Bowl.
Post-Dispatch: In the end, 'D' comes up big for Mizzou.
ESPN's Tim Griffin: Daniel overcomes struggles in Missouri's OT win
PowerMizzou: Escaping the Alamo.
The Maneater: Tigers victorious in Alamo Bowl cat fight.
Chicago Tribune: 'Cats can't scratch bowl game itch
Chicago Tribune: Despite loss, Pat Fitzgerald should be at Northwestern for life
Chicago Sun-Times: No moral victory for NU
Chicago Sun-Times: Northwestern notes

Alamo Photo galleries!

Are you serious, Jason Whitlock? Is that Ball State loss to Buffalo still sticking in your craw? Nothing you said was technically incorrect, but...we won! We could have lost the Alamo Bowl like CU did to Wisconsin, or KSU did to Purdue, but we didn't. We won.

And..."The Tigers have mastered the art of beating weak teams and sneaking past decent ones. We’ll call the Wildcats decent." Really? This year, we officially "snuck by" a whole two "decent" teams--Baylor and Northwestern...NW'ern being comfortably better than Baylor. We beat a "decent" Nebraska team by 35 (was 42 until the final play of the game). A "decent" Nevada team by 52. A "decent" Buffalo team (that ruined your beloved Cardinals' dream season) by 21. A "decent" Illinois team by 10 (was 17 until the final play of the game). They've "snuck by" teams to the tune of 22 wins in two years--30 in three. That's so terrible--you're absolutely right. Pinkel needs to accomplish more before he thinks about celebrating.

They might not have been as good as they were supposed to be this year--okay, they definitely weren't--but...they could have lost this game 26 different ways, and they didn't. They shouldn't celebrate that? They should have just refused the trophy, showered in shame, and gone home? Really? Enjoy the GMAC Bowl there, bud.

Finally, quickly to basketball to wash the taste of that lame column out of our mouths...all hail Jarrett Sutton, pick-up gamer extraordinaire...

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Yes, Whitlock is very serious

He’s discovered he can make a nice living by pissing off K-State and Mizzou fans while playing lapdog — wait, that’s one helluva big lapdog — to KU fans.

After KU beats Minnesota in the Insight Bowl, we’ll probably get a column praising Mark Mangino for the brilliant work he’s done on the Kaw.

We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats

by TB on Dec 30, 2008 8:08 AM CST reply actions

Whitlock

He’s very good at telling you which way the wind just blew. If you played poorly in a game, you’re a poor team. If you play well the next week, you’re a good team. The most recent evidence is the only evidence.

But I don’t think it’s fair to call him a Kansas lapdog. Some of the best work he’s ever done at The Star was his reporting on the J.R. Giddens bar fight. And I don’t mean writing, I mean reporting. He went out and knocked on doors and got the story. It was very impressive.

by Michael Atchison on Dec 30, 2008 11:33 AM CST up reply actions

I far prefer Whason Jitlock

Much better.

http://www.RockMNation.com
Home of "Thrust Nunchuk Upward"

by RPT on Dec 30, 2008 5:02 PM CST up reply actions

That's amazing.

Whitlock has found a way of spinning the best three years in Mizzou football history into a bad thing.

Didn’t think it could be done.

"Please. What the hell do you know about starting a sports-related website and then deciding to leave it to work on other things and then? How dare you, sir." -- Michael Schur, aka FireJoeMorgan's Ken Tremendous, to Will Leitch

by ghtd36 on Dec 30, 2008 9:15 AM CST reply actions

Impartial much?

To say I despise Jason Whitlock with every fiber in my being is a bit extreme. Let’s just go with I loathe him and call it a day.
It’s people like him that cause unrest in the general public.

"Wherever you go, there you are" - Buckaroo Bonzai

by brik on Dec 30, 2008 9:43 AM CST up reply actions

I was just about to reply to myself.

Here’s the thing: nobody denies that Mizzou got outplayed last night. They did. They were out-inspired, out-motivated and, in a lot of respects, out-schemed for the vast majority of the game.

And guess what? They still beat a pretty darn good Northwestern team. Doesn’t that speak to the team’s talent? Doesn’t that speak to how good they are, that they were absolutely outplayed and STILL won?

Sorry. Columns like this, that say “well, you shouldn’t take any pride in winning this game,” especially when it’s not exactly against lunch meat teams, kind of make my blood boil.

by ghtd36 on Dec 30, 2008 9:46 AM CST up reply actions

Agreed

Any Mizzou fan who came away with “Damn, Tigers played well” were not watching the first 3 and 1/2 quarters of that game. Defense was lathargic by and large, Daniel had probably the worst game I’ve seen him have in his three years as a starter, Washington was a non-factor in a way I’ve not witnessed in quite a while, and the whole offense not named Coffman or Maclin looked unispired and downright embarrased to even be in San Antonio. It was a pitiful performance from this Missouri team that had me shouting obscenities so often I owe roughly $100 in the swear jar this morning.
But damn if they didn’t dig deep and find some pride in the end and pull out the victory. And to beat a nine win team from the Big 10, to earn your 30th win in three seasons, your tenth win for the second year in a row, to finish ranked in the top twenty for the second consecutive season…those are all things to be pretty damn excited about. Yeah, I’d jump up and down like a friggin’ idiot on the field if I was the Tigers last night, too.
Whitlock is an idiot. I usually don’t reserve such harsh judgement for people I’ve never met, but I feel like I’m making a qualified statement here.

"Wherever you go, there you are" - Buckaroo Bonzai

by brik on Dec 30, 2008 9:58 AM CST reply actions

The sign of a good team ...

… is to win even on an off day. Congrats to the Tigers. You did the conference proud.

And Whitlock? Man, I quit reading anything he spews out a long time ago. I honestly thought his sports columns were just a cover for the derisive (and devisive) liberal politics he can’t seem to resist promoting. I can get that lots of places; I don’t need to see it in my sports.

by TT_ on Dec 30, 2008 1:32 PM CST reply actions

Whitlock's politics

I don’t think Jason has a coherent political point of view (and his column commenting on the issues of the day ended for me in the second paragraph when he confessed that he doesn’t vote), but I certainly wouldn’t peg him as a liberal. He was a conservative TV favorite during the Imus flap, when he ripped Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

by Michael Atchison on Dec 30, 2008 3:30 PM CST reply actions