Mizzou Links, 6-20-08

Everybody's got potential! At least, that's the message Dave Matter ended up with when talking to some of the football upperclassmen about some of the football underclassmen. Michael Egnew, Andrew Jones, Wes Kemp, Gahn McGaffie, Blaine Gabbert...they're all gonna be great!! (And hey, I sure wouldn't complain if they're right about that...)

Once again, a recruit thinks highly of Mizzou until OU comes a-knockin'...Kansas LB Marshall Musil committed to the Sooners yesterday. Oh, and I guess it's not a whole new ballgame after Ronnie Wingo's visit to Fayetteville. He still seems to be smitten/buzzed from the Norman trip. Goodie.

What does SI's Stewart Mandel think about the current state of the Big 12?

Have you seen the returning quarterbacks in the Big 12? Ten teams return their starting signal-caller, including Chase Daniel at Missouri, Colt McCoy at Texas, Graham Harrell at Texas Tech and Sam Bradford at OU. Can any other conference match the firepower at quarterback that the Big 12 brings to the table?
--Sam Limbocker, Norman, Okla.

No question the Big 12 takes the cake in that department, but it's also the conference with the least amount of good defenses. And I feel like that dichotomy has existed for years. Go back to the 2004 season, when the league included (all at the same time) Vince Young, Jason White, Brad Smith, Reggie McNeal and whichever Texas Tech quarterback threw for 5,000 yards that year (it was Sonny Cumbie). Yet the league's champion, Oklahoma, went to the national title game and gave up 55 points to USC.

I do think the Big 12 as a whole has improved significantly since then, due in large part to the rise of Missouri and Kansas, but it's still very much an offense-driven league. Kansas was the only team in the conference with a top-25 defense last year. That's not to take anything away from guys like Daniel or Bradford, who are indisputably elite passers, but you have to wonder whether they'd put up quite the same ridiculous numbers if they didn't get to face defenses like Nebraska (112th out of 119 teams nationally last season), Baylor (110th) and Oklahoma State (101st) on a regular basis.

He's basically right, though one of the reasons those defenses were ranked so low was that...well...they had to face all those top offenses.

Lots of little blurbs from the KC Star today. 1) Kimmie English was my favorite of the new basketball signees before I read this quote, and he's even more my favorite now:

English sleeps in a leather chair that he drags from the players’ lounge to the locker room, allowing him to work around the clock.

"To help this team win this year, I’ll do anything," said English, who played at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., last season, averaging 17.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

"I’ll sleep outside if that’s what it takes."

Is it possible for a group of incoming freshmen to show more leadership than the last group of outgoing seniors? I think it is. 2) Danario Alexander is "optimistic" about his recovery. 3) Backup QB Dominic Grooms hasn't taken part in 7-on-7 drills, and his future is uncertain. Not totally surprising, I guess. The moment Blaine Gabbert set foot on campus, Grooms became the #4 QB. 4) Tony Temple is weighing his NFL options.

Via trripleplay, I see that four drafted Mizzou baseballers have signed professional contracts: Jacob Priday, Rick Zagone (boo...I knew it was going to happen, but...boo), Lee Fischer, and Kurt Calvert.

Finally...help put the chin in China!

[editor's note, by rptgwb] Sorry, I had to add in the image of the "Chin in China" shirt. It's just too awesome to leave unposted.

via www.wrestling-central.net