The Trib's got a great, moving column from Joe Walljasper regarding Sarah Becking.
Last night, I looked back at Sarah’s work from the 2007 Missouri football season in an online portfolio at becking.zenfolio.com. There was Gary Pinkel trotting onto the field before the opener against Illinois, when no one suspected the accomplishments to come. There were spectacular aerial photos of a packed Memorial Stadium before the rout of Nebraska. There were shots of jubilation after the Cotton Bowl victory over Arkansas.
Maybe you didn’t know Sarah, but check out those photos and let her bring a little joy to your life. And do Jason one favor: Linger a little longer on the shots of a certain game against the "stupid shoe-wearing mythical birds."
Not doing anything next Wednesday at noon? Go to the Ben Askren Olympic Sendoff at the Peach Tree! Only $40/person!
A couple nice links from PowerMizzou--first up is Gabe's latest Powered Up column:
Two years ago, not only were people critical of Pinkel and his staff's ability to coach, they simply didn't like the man much. I don't say this as an insult. But fans were up in arms over Pinkel's gruff (to be kind) public persona. Players have openly admitted they didn't feel they had enough input into the program. The guys on the team didn't even get along all that well in some instances.
Following the 2004 season, things started to change. But they didn't really change fully until after 2005 when the Tigers put on a last-second come back against Iowa State just to qualify for a bowl game and then staged a historic second-half rally to beat South Carolina in the Independence Bowl. Many will argue those two games saved Pinkel's job. I won't go that far. I think he was going to get to coach in 2006 anyway. But what those games did was make Missouri's players believe they had a chance to get good. They suddenly believed in their coaches and, maybe more importantly, believed in each other.
Next up is a follow-up to yesterday's Five Fresh Faces entry--this time it's Five Under Fire.
So apparently Chase Daniel's gunning for the National Title trophy, the Heisman Trophy, AND the Pulitzer this season...
College Football Chaos: my favorite prognosticators.
Finally, congrats to Mizzou softballer Julie Silver...First-Team Jewish All-American. Or something like that.