Mizzou 25: FINAL FOUR!!

by The Boy on Mar 28, 2008 7:57 AM CDT in News

UPDATE: After 108 votes, we're calling it. Askren wins, 61%-38%, and moves on to the Mizzou 25 finals.

We've accomplished something special for Mizzou 25, the tournament to decide the best, most influential, most likable Mizzou athlete of the past 25 years--we've found a way to put the words "Mizzou" and "Final Four" together!!!

Mizzou 25 was been set up in four 8-athlete regions: the Norm Stewart Region (basketball), the Larry Smith Region (football), the Joann Rutherford Region (all sports), and the Harold "Spider" Burke Region (fan favorites). After 28 matchups, we've got our regional champions: Anthony Peeler, Chase Daniel, Ben Askren, and Pig Brown. Click here for the bracket and here for previous Mizzou 25 posts/polls.

Now it's time to take a creative detour. That's right, I'm re-seeding! Since the football and basketball brackets were easily the most popular and highly-debated, I'm arranging things so that the champs of those regions don't have to face each other in the semifinals. Here are the official Final Four matchups:

3/28: Anthony Peeler vs Ben Askren
3/31: Chase Daniel vs Pig Brown

So without further ado...

Anthony Peeler vs Ben Askren
	vs
1990-94		2004-07
Stats 88-89: 10.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.8 APG 89-90: 16.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.8 APG 90-91: 19.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.0 APG 91-92: 23.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.9 APG Record: 96-33 NCAA Tourney Wins: 3		Stats 03-04: 32-5, National Runner-Up 04-05: 34-3, National Runner-Up 05-06: 45-0, National Champion 06-07: 42-0, National Champion Career Record: 153-8 Two National Titles
Michael Atchison: Perhaps the most dizzying all-around talent ever to play at Mizzou, Anthony Peeler could slash, pass, score and defend the perimeter as well as any Tiger in history. A 6’4" guard from Kansas City’s Paseo High, Peeler was the Big Eight Newcomer of the Year in 1989, as he helped the Tigers reach the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. In his sophomore season, Peeler showed his remarkable versatility, averaging 16.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.0 steals en route to being named first-team All-Big Eight. He also became just the eighth Tiger to score 40 points in a game as he drilled Iowa State for 42, including a perfect 20 for 20 from the free throw line. After he lost the early part of his junior season to academics, Peeler returned and averaged 19.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Peeler was even more dominant as a senior, winning the Big Eight scoring title and Player of the Year honors, and leading a group of young role players to the NCAA Tournament. But the most vivid memory of that season came in a loss, when he scored an electrifying 43 points at Kansas. His 1,970 career points rank him third all-time, and he remains number one in assists (497) and steals (196).		The Boy: Everything Chase Daniel is to the Mizzou Football team, Ben Askren was to Mizzou Wrestling. He's easily the best wrestler in Mizzou history, and one of the nation’s best wrestlers of the decade. All he did was win the last 87 matches of his career. He’s a two-time national champion at 174 pounds (and two-time national wrestler of the year) for a school devoid of many titles, and only OSU’s Chris Pendleton prevented him from being a four-time national champion. During a redshirt season at Mizzou that was encouraging but did not come close to preparing Mizzou fans for what laid ahead in his career, he began to develop his own brand of ‘funk’, utilizing his lankiness, creating a wrestling style that continuously put his opponents off-balance, and being good enough at that style to rack up 91 career pins, 3rd-best in NCAA history. Askren is one of the greatest athletes (possibly the greatest), personalities, and afros in Mizzou history, so much so that he's begun appearing on local commercials endorsing local companies. When's the last time a Mizzou wrestler had that sort of stature?

Poll

Who moves on to the Mizzou 25 finals?

0 recs | Comment 20 comments

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Comments

As always...why'd you vote for Peeler?

(if you did)

by The Boy on Mar 28, 2008 8:14 AM CDT 0 recs

Because

i loved watching Peeler play. I care more about hoops then wrestling, but that's just my opinion. I can appreciate what Askren did for the school, but I gained more enjoyment watching Peeler

by JayC on Mar 28, 2008 4:07 PM CDT up 0 recs

Why'd you vote for Askren?

(if you did...not that you need much explanation for this one...)

by The Boy on Mar 28, 2008 8:14 AM CDT 0 recs

Because I find it increasingly disturbing

(and not that I would not have voted for Askren anyway)

that Anthony Peeler could be the best, most influential, most likable Mizzou athlete of the past 25 years

Best...perhaps...I never saw him play but his stats would say his talents are undeniable.

Most influential, not too sure about this...

most likable...wow...this is where I am growing concerned because for as soapbox as our fan base (or any for that matter) is about players with their issues (since we have had a decent amount of experience with it this past season), to then turn around and vote one of the biggest offenders to this high of a perch (in my eyes) does not bode well for our fanbase. That we are willing to turn a blind eye to all the bad stuff he did because he won games for us bothers me.

/rant

by The Beef on Mar 28, 2008 9:10 AM CDT 0 recs

it certainly does suggest...

...that any problem people had with Quin's or Mike Anderson's disciplinary style really just came about because they weren't winning enough. Win, and folks will look the other way.

And media coverage certainly doesn't help...we were just talking about how Pinkel gets major credit for how he handled the Marquis Booker situation and Mike Anderson caught flack for "no tolerance"...the only true, definable difference in their disciplinary styles is that Pinkel went 12-2 last year, while Anderson missed the postseason.

by The Boy on Mar 28, 2008 9:18 AM CDT up 0 recs

I doubt . . .

that most people are really looking at the likeability factor; instead, they remember how the guys performed. Over time, you can forget some of the off-the-court stuff (especially in Peeler's case since he seems not to have accumulated any high-profile baggage in the past 15 years), but you'll always remember the night he went 20 for 20 from the line in Ames.

The main reason I voted for Doug Smith over AP is that Doug was the better player at Mizzou.

Beef, your acknowledgment that you never saw him play probably explains something, too. I don't think he was the best Mizzou player in the past 25 years (though it's close), but he was - by far - the most spectacular player in that time. An absolutely dazzling talent. At the very top of his game, he was all but untouchable.

by Michael Atchison on Mar 28, 2008 9:27 AM CDT up 0 recs

But isn't that a problem?

That people's memories are that short? It makes me pretty sad that he is the basketball representative when you look at Mizzou's past 25 years in hoops. That is the best we can do?

by chitowntiger on Mar 28, 2008 9:31 AM CDT up 0 recs

Really, does it make any difference?

We're having fun with a made-up poll. We're not conferrng an honorary degree (and I don't think it's any accident that Doug's jersey is retired and AP's is not). I bet there are people voting for Peeler who were ten years old when he played, and he was their favorite player, and they don't even know the off-the-court stuff happened.

by Michael Atchison on Mar 28, 2008 9:39 AM CDT up 0 recs

I suppose it does matter to chitown and I (nm)

by The Beef on Mar 28, 2008 9:43 AM CDT up 0 recs

I dont honestly know that it explains much....

I mean...I knew WHO he was...I just was not exposed to Big 8 games until I moved here in 1995. But I was also exposed to his conduct file and the myriad of stories...and to me there is little difference. If you dont want to believe that I would have felt differently had I seen him play, that is fine, but that's how I am wired. That as a fan-base, my fan-base is willing to forgive the sins for winning is bothersome...call it naive or whatever you want, but it just rubs me entirely the wrong way that a PERSON (not player) of his caliber is still held in such high regard because of his abilities on the court.

by The Beef on Mar 28, 2008 9:39 AM CDT up 0 recs

I'm not trying to justify anything he did

I just think it's easy to forget, especially since the worst of what he did came after his playing career was over and didn't directly affect the team. And, as I said in another post, I'm willing to bet that there are people voting here who never really knew about the off-the-court stuff. It happened 16 years ago. For anyone who's under 30, they probably never really grasped the gravity of it.

by Michael Atchison on Mar 28, 2008 9:45 AM CDT up 0 recs

I would vote for Ben over anyone short of Jesus

And I think he has earned that vote, by being the main thing that turned my favorite sport at Mizzou into a national player.

Of course, as I have stated before, I am pretty disgusted that anyone would vote for Peeler. His off the court crap should not be forgotten. It was a nice surprised to be able to vote for Ben, one who makes me proud to wear Mizzou on my chest, over Anthony, one who I try not to claim as a Tiger.

by chitowntiger on Mar 28, 2008 9:30 AM CDT 0 recs

Busted!

Ben IS Jesus.

but oughtn't you be proud to sport mizzou without askren's success?

(pot calling kettle - i wear my mizzou stuff around austin way more often now after last football season, although i am proud to say i was the only yellow shirted person in the student section back in... '04? that long ago?)

aside: i'm surprised ben isn't winning this bigger. i thought he'd walk to the championship. now i am not sure how he does against chase (daniel, not patton people).

these things are always plagued by overemphasis of the recent and the shanoffian best. _. ever. nature of sports. recent>previous.

by amorphous on Mar 28, 2008 10:51 AM CDT up 0 recs

when we started this thing up...

...I assumed the final would be Chase vs Askren...I also assumed Chase would win because football > wrestling. At this point I'm still thinking the same, but barely. Honestly, assuming Chase beats Pig, I'm still not sure who I'm voting for. Chase is the ONLY person who could justifiably beat Askren, but I'm not totally sure he will. The "recent>previous" thing has jumped up a bit, but not as much as I thought it might...it did in the football, all sports, and maybe fan favorites brackets, but the older people won all the first round basketball matchups...

by The Boy on Mar 28, 2008 11:23 AM CDT up 0 recs

Let me put it this way

When I first decided to go to Mizzou in 1997, as a senior manager of my high school's wrestling team, I wore a Mizzou Wrestling shirt to a tourney. Some guy from another school asked me if Missouri had wrestling. Last year, I went to the same tourney to cheer on the students I teach, and wore a Mizzou Wrestling shirt. I had about ten kids make comments to me about how they wanted to wrestle at Mizzou, and who was that kid with the crazy hair? I am always proud to be a Tiger, but with Ben, other people share in my pride.

by chitowntiger on Mar 28, 2008 1:51 PM CDT up 0 recs

Thank you Beef and Atch . . . .

. . . for the discussion about Peeler and his problems. Peeler had lots of issues and was/is very lucky that his name isn't mentioned in the same breath as Ricky Clemmons. Atch said it best - there's a reason why Doug Smith's number is retired and Peeler's isn't. But more importantly, it wasn't until he was an NBA veteran more towards the end of his career that he became actually likable. However, he was graceful on the court, and who can forget the 44 he dropped in Lawrence? I'll never forget that dunk during the OU game in his freshman year. Maybe the most amazing dunk I've seen from an MU player.

Despite his on court grace, he is neither the best, nor the most likable, nor the most influential Mizzou athlete. That is Askren in a landslide.

by Art on Mar 28, 2008 10:27 AM CDT 0 recs

I actually believe Peeler never got his number

retired because I do not believe he has graduated. I know for a fact the rule put in place about people needing to graduate to qualify for retirement is known around the AD as the "Anthony Peeler Rule"...or at least was.

by The Beef on Mar 28, 2008 12:49 PM CDT up 0 recs

That was a good cover story

Doug had his jersey retired on the court at the end of his final home game the year before without having graduated. I don't think it was AP's academic progress that motivated the rule.

by Michael Atchison on Mar 28, 2008 12:52 PM CDT up 0 recs

Guess it speaks more then to my 1st point :-) -nm

by The Beef on Mar 28, 2008 1:15 PM CDT up 0 recs

i voted for ap

because i had to guard him one time in a pickup game at the rec center. he passed the 'eyeball test'.

no, i really voted for him because he was the guy who got me really interested in mu basketball. watching him play made me care about the tigers (and hating kansas). i know he had some legal 'issues', but he was still my favorite. 44 against ku while drunk/hungover was pretty amazing. finely tuned athlete, hehe.

by Wooderson on Mar 28, 2008 11:52 AM CDT 0 recs