Mizzou Links, 5-29-08

I don't say these words often, but CBS' Dennis Dodd has an entertaining article up, about college football's fastest players, and as one would expect, Jeremy Maclin got a mention.

"Yeah, I've heard of him," said Missouri's Jeremy Maclin of his opponent in the dream match race that probably will never take place. "We get compared a lot. I've heard people say I'm faster, I've heard people say he's faster. I know he's really fast.

"I think it would be fun to go (race) at the same time, two guys with speed like that."

And Trindon Holliday has heard of Maclin. The LSU track star/receiver/running back/returner said so in December when his team was getting ready to win another national championship.

You might have deduced, then, the reason for a match race: Two Tigers from top programs at the top of their game. The pair might consist of the two fastest players in college football. Might. That's the problem. How do we know? Factor in football equipment; the way they're used; their positions; their height. Holliday is listed at 5-feet-6. Maclin, a redshirt sophomore, has more classic receiver size at 6-1.

Holliday, a complimentary player in football, is a borderline Olympic class sprinter for the nation's No. 1 track squad. Maclin doesn't run track but was an All-American for Missouri on the gridiron, which reached No. 1 for the first time in 47 years.

As we prepare for tomorrow's NCAA tourney game, here's a nice Trib Q&A with Tim Jamieson. Jamieson's always very open and honest in interviews, and this one's no different.

It started back in Central Florida, when we had a four-run lead in a shortened game and didn’t hold onto it. (Missouri scored four in the top of the seventh before giving up five in the bottom half of the inning to lose 10-9.) Really, that was kind of a dilemma all year. We couldn’t finish. We couldn’t get that 27th out and hold on to the leads we had. Had we done that, shoot, we might be ranked in the top five and had won the Big 12 and be sitting here at home. But we think we resolved that now.

But that's just the tip of the Jamieson iceberg today...the Post-Dispatch's Vahe Gregorian takes a look at how far Jamieson's come...and how far he had fallen about six years ago. I do also love the sidebar on the article pointing out that Mizzou's had three baseball coaches since 1937. That's fantastic.

Meanwhile, via Trripleplay I find this Boyd's World look at the strength of different regionals. I guess Ole Miss came closer to missing the tourney than I thought.

Meanwhile, Graham Watson follows up on what Steve Walentik talked about yesterday--the likelihood of Demarre Carroll coming back soon.

I'm not sure how many tight ends we'll be looking to take in this year's recruiting class, but we've at least offered one now--Klein, TX, TE Jordan Najvar.

Finally...Rhea Taylor: All-American. I don't think that's the last time we'll hear those words put together.