Rock M Roundtable!

Good thing neither the Independence Bowl nor Braggin' Rights take place before the next Roundtable ... be on the lookout for a Kennesaw State upset bid tomorrow night.

Hooray, a normal Wednesday! Let's have ourselves a good, old-fashioned roundtable!

1 - We're staring a potential undefeated-versus-undefeated Braggin' Rights matchup in the face. Name your favorite Braggin' Rights game that you've attended. And if you haven't attended one, name your favorite one, period. And if you're Doug, talk about something else. Um ... Kansas' backcourt, maybe. Or the awesomeness of New Mexico food. That always works.

2 - The topic for the day on Rock M is in-state recruiting. How important is it for Mizzou to "seal the borders" and land the big in-state talent?

3 - Charlie Weis to Kansas. Good move, great move, or the greatest move? (Or, amazingly inexplicable, baffling move?)

4 - At this point, I am accepting who I have become. My work day seems equally impacted by Nick Saban and Nigella (3:00 PM CT, every weekday on the Cooking Channel!). Last week, I put on a Moby Wrap and only cried a little. (Never again, by the way. That thing is ridiculous. And it takes 15 minutes to remove.) What is the next step in my Mr. Mom conversion?

Michael Atchison: 1. I’ve been to the game six or seven times and have never seen the Tigers win, so this one is difficult. There was the year that I was sitting with my friend Matt Gaunt and his wife Courtney (who is Sparky Stalcup’s granddaughter), and there were two guys behind us who were endlessly ripping on Travon Bryant. On one possession, Travon popped out to the top of the key, dragging his defender with him, and leaving Arthur Johnson alone in the lane with a single man on him. Travon got to ball and threw a perfect pass to Arthur, who then missed an easy layup, and Illinois got the rebound. The guys behind us started screaming "Travon, you moron, why are you out at the three-point line instead of under the basket rebounding?!?!" Matt and I turned out and gently suggested to those guys that they didn’t know anything about basketball. Moral of the story is that if you can’t win, you can entertain yourself by turning on fellow fans.

2. It’s important to land big-time talent, wherever it comes from. It would seem to be easier to attract that kind of talent from Missouri than from elsewhere. So I’m going to go with pretty darned important.

3. I get the hire. Charlie Weis is probably the single most famous guy they could get to take the job. And for a program that has gone from scandal to losing to ennui to existential crisis, it’s important to do something to get some attention, especially that of recruits and your potential ticket buyers. I’m skeptical that it will work, but I’m skeptical that anyone (save Urban Meyer) would succeed in that job. It’s just a tough spot to be in right now. But if the local talk radio speculation that Jim Leavitt is coming to be defensive coordinator and head-coach-in-waiting comes to fruition, that makes some sense (though I think those arrangements are always fraught with danger). Jim Leavitt knows how to build an anonymous program into a winner.

4. As someone who has walked this path, just wait until you get into Gymboree or some other playgroup where it’s just you, the kids, and a dozen moms. It will either make you a better, more thoughtful man, or it will destroy you from the inside.

The Beef: 1. I will go ahead and say my first one was my favorite, since it was a back and forth game, and because I have only seen us win this game twice out of about 6-7 attempts. But I had some nice seats back in 1999 and enjoyed the duel in the 2nd half with Clarence and Keyon bombing away from outside.

2. I think your article said a lot of what needed to be said on this subject. Missouri recruiting Missouri is important, but it does not appear to be making or breaking the program. Thoughts on that may change a little this year if we end up missing out on the #1 recruit in the country, but like we all know, recruiting does end up being a bit of a crap-shoot. The biggest thing about recruiting now will end up needing to be patience as the staff transitions from some areas of the country to others. But if there are two things which this staff has proven it can do in recruiting, it is build relationships and identify talent. I have no reason to believe that will stop now that we have switched conferences and shifted our footprint a bit.

3. Wow…I just don’t like it. I know a couple of kU people here at my work, and they were excited about it, but I just don’t see it. Weis (and I am only looking at Weis in college and not what he did with one of the top 5-10 QB’s of all-time in the NFL as an assistant) lived well off of Ty Willingham’s QB at ND in his first two seasons. But after that, and even though the recruiting services would tell you he recruited well, it fell apart. Weis has said that had more to do with continuity of his staff….um….OK. But here is my issue. Without a traditional (re: Brady) QB at Florida, their offense was relatively miserable this year. And that was with FL talent. kU has the potential for a solid stable of running backs, but has absolutely nothing at QB. If they don’t get Crist (who really has not done too much as it is), they are up a creek without a paddle for him. And while I hate to harp on it or even bring it up because of its nature, he is neither healthy nor really even mobile at this point, and for a man in a new job with a LOT of work to do, that just don’t not seem like the right mix.

4. The Tailgate Queen loved the Moby Wrap, but fortunately never subjected me to it, saving that piece of my masculinity.

Doug: 1 - Let's see, Kansas' back court... the next couple of weeks should be interesting. I get the feeling Taylor will not be back for the Davidson or USC game, so that will give Naadir Tharpe some much needed game experience, but will really stretch the bench even more.

Couple of burrito stories. I think I've found my favorite breakfast burrito: Blakes, a local fast food chain, but they don't make the burrito until you order it, so it's always hot and fresh. Also, they say it comes with two eggs, but I think it's more like three or four. Just really great. Plus, the first New Mexico Chipotle opened last week here in Albuquerque. The lines were ridiculous. It opened on Tuesday, I drove by on Friday and even at 2 in the afternoon, the line was still out the door. Granted Chipotle is definitely not your standard New Mexican food, people here will still manage to love it, I think.

2 - So important.

3 - I was in the baffling move camp when it was first announced, now I'm leaning towards at least a good move. People are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them, and I think Weis made mistakes, a lot of mistakes, at Notre Dame, and is quite candid about that fact. He seems like a very straightforward guy, much in the same vein as Bill Self. Someone asked him what he would tell recruits about playing at Kansas: "We were 2 and 10. If you can't play here, you can't play anywhere." And, while it may just be for show, KU is suddenly being mentioned with a lot of recruits you would never associate with the Jayhawks. There's still a lot that can happen with this hire, but when you consider where KU is as a program, should anyone be surprised that a hire like this had to be made?

4 - Have you started lactating? By the way, does Nigella shop at the same stores Giada gets her shirts from? I was at the mall this weekend, and I saw a child being put into a Moby wrap. That child looked as miserable as I'm sure you were putting it on.

ZouDave: 1 – I’ve never attended a Braggin’ Rights game, unfortunately. The timing/travel of it has never been agreeable. But the ’93 game where we won by 1 in 3OT is going to be extremely high on the list because not only was the game absolutely incredible but it was played by one of the best teams Mizzou has ever had. I definitely hope this year tops it, but at the same time I hope we run out to a 77-60 win this year and are never really in any danger of losing.

2 – I think it’s extremely important to get as many Missouri kids as we want because the state produces enough talent to always be a great foundation for a strong team. We will probably have to continue to rely on Texas and other states to give us a lot of top-tier talent at certain positions, but over the last 10 years Missouri high schools have produced enough 3-star and above talent to keep our depth chart full and occasionally give us the stud we need (Maclin, Gabbert, Coffman, Rucker, Temple, Franklin, Justin Smith, Aldon Smith, Richardson, Gage…just to name a few). We need to keep the Big XII teams, and certainly the neighboring SEC teams, from pilfering any of our in-state talent because it just makes it that much harder to get a top-notch class if we’re losing in-state kids. But, that said, Missouri isn’t big enough to rely solely on in-state talent the way a Texas school, Florida school, California school, even Michigan, Ohio, Alabama and Georgia schools can. We should be getting the majority of the top 10-15 players in-state.

3 – It’s not a baffling move to me, but it is terrible in my opinion. I didn’t expect kansas to be able to attract any of the rising stars, because it’s just not a place a rising star is going to see as a good step. But I didn’t think they would so quickly go after a guy who has already shown such aptitude at failure in the college ranks. I mean, what was the hurry on getting Weis? Did they honestly think other schools were going to be going after him? Did they honestly think "THIS IS OUR GUY!" and just had to act now before the secret got out? They could have interviewed any of a half-dozen other coaches that would have almost certainly been better hires, or at least better PR moves, before having to go to Weis. In that, it’s baffling. But to be clear I don’t see anything but continued losing coming from this coach. He BARELY did anything besides lose at Notre Dame where he had every possible resource at his fingertips. He won’t have that at ku.

4 – 220, 221. Whatever it takes.

SleepyFloyd7: What the hell is "Normal" anyway? I really have no idea.

1 - I have only been to the last 2 (and will have to miss this year). I'll say that seeing those guys in 2009 break the streak was special. Zaire Taylor tried to play, but he was so sick that he was sitting on the bench (with an avocado pallor). That was a pretty scrappy and fun win.

2 - Sure, it's important. But there will always be those kids that want to get the hell away from home. I had quite a bit of wanderlust when I was younger. I wanted to go off someplace, unknown, and see if I could make something of myself. I can't blame a kid (or a coaching staff) when a kid gets away. That being said, RAWR DGB RAWR!

3 - I can see the upside in a hire like that, but I have no idea how a guy like that warrants $2.5MM/yr. That is money that does not go to Bill Self.

4 - Poop-knuckle. Poop-knuckle is always the next step.

By the way, we will be listing a job opening for my co-host in the not-too-distant future. We have a list of qualifications (Warm Body is at the top of my list), but what else should we be looking for?

And are any of you interested in applying to join the surprisingly lucrative and rewarding world of broadcasting?

Michael Atchison: Sure, I'd love the gig. Can I do a permanent remote from Parkville, MO?

Doug: Not just broadcasting... but radio broadcasting. No where to go with that gig but up.

ZouDave: Hey at least you don’t have to shave every day, right?

SleepyFloyd7: Hell, I'm lucky if I remember to wear pants.

ZouDave: So are we, Spencer. So are we.

The Beef: That is the beauty of radio…they are optional.

Doug: That's the joy of weak facial hair follicles. Three shaves a week.

D-Sing: Who has two thumbs and a cold after this weekend's trip to Disneyland? This guy!

1. My favorite Braggin' Rights game was the only one I attended: 1999. The last win before the losing streak began. Unranked Mizzou beat #15 Illinois.

2. It's always important to try and get those who want to come and live in state, but I know if I had been a D-1 athlete, I think I would've been the type to leave home and go away to school. So I find it hard to begrudge those who do. And that is the extent of my recruiting opinion/knowledge.

3. Confused cat was confused by the move. My first reaction was, "LOL. Whut?" Then I thought about how there is not going to be the pressure on him to win that there was at Notre Dame (which wasn't helped by it being his alma mater) and he might—might—have more time to rebuild. I think he needs patience and time to see if he can fix it. Sometimes you have to fail gloriously to be successful.

4. The inevitable weight gain that comes?

SleepyFloyd7: What? No Chief?

ghtd36: Sorry I'm late; state championship weekend here in Texas, so it's mildly insane.

1 - Never attended a Braggin' Rights game -- it's on the sports bucket list -- but my favorite one has to be 2009, getting the monkey off the program's back. Kim English going HAM.

2 - It's priority No. 1, if you ask me. Mizzou is in a very unique position, being the only FBS team in the state, and it has to take advantage of that first and foremost. Getting big kids from Texas and Illinois and Florida is great, but getting the top handful of kids in Missouri every year has to be at the top of the to-do list.

3 - Greatest move. Oh, you mean from a football perspective?

4 - Well, I'm thinking that after this, you need to play a living snowman in Jack Frost.

(Five hours later...)

ZouDave: I guess this is "normal".