What's On
Well ... we'll always have games 1 and 2...
MUTIGERS.COM: No. 15 Mizzou Drops Series Finale to No. 3 LSU
You know when MUtigers doesn't include the score in the headline, it's probably a pretty bad score ... ALAS! Two out of three from the No. 3 team in the country. That means the standings look like this heading into the midweek games...
1. Florida (16-4)
2. Auburn (16-5, 0.5 games back)
3. LSU (14-7, -2.5)
3. Alabama (14-7, -2.5)
5. Missouri (13-8, -3.5)
6. Georgia (14-9, -3.5)
7. Tennessee (12-9, -4.5)
A sweep of LSU would have meant a tie for third place, but ... well ... it's hard to be too disappointed about only taking two of three from LSU, so I'll just say it was a good series, ladies. Now do it again next weekend when Florida comes to town.
MUTIGERS.COM: Lowary Named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week
Revenge ... a win of any kind...
...call it whatever you want. A baseball win in Springfield tonight would be very, very helpful.
MUTIGERS.COM: No. 21 Mizzou Closes Road Trip at No. 16 Missouri State
The Missourian: Missouri seeks revenge in rematch with No. 20 Missouri State
Tate
It's not officially official, but when the media outlets are all reporting it as assumed fact, I'd say we can assume it's fact...
The Trib: Anderson set to make Tate new Missouri assistant
Post-Dispatch: Anderson adding Tate to Mizzou staff
Sam pretty much shared the sentiments I could think to share yesterday: the pros and cons of hiring Corey Tate are both pretty obvious. You'd love for Anderson to have gone out and hired the next Tim Fuller, so to speak ... some hot, young upstart with some D1 experience and recruiting connections. In the absence of that, you'd have loved to get a Rick Ray type, a seasoned hand with D1 head coaching experience. But when Ray took the SEMO head coaching job, the latter fell through, and in regard to the former, no young upstart is going to feel like taking a Missouri job is a good career move at the moment.
If Kim Anderson is going to rally the program out of its sudden, deep rut, he's going to do it by circling the wagons. The core of talent already on the roster is going to have to learn to play better, and he and his staff are going to have to learn to coach better. Tate might not be a wow of a hire, but he's got plenty of success on his record, and he has St. Louis connections. If that results in Missouri playing a little better and recruiting a little better, then he's a successful hire. It's not sexy, and it might not work, but it's the hand Anderson currently has to play, and it could still work.
Okay FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE ... Shane Ray...
Not smart, Shane. I'm not going to give a commentary on whether marijuana should or shouldn't be legal (should), or what percentage of top prospects could get caught for the same thing at any moment (pretty high ... get it? high?). instead, I'll just say that if you're about to be picked by a future employer and paid lots of money, it's not smart to do something you know could hurt your stock in the face of those employers, especially this close to selection time.
I would also like to think it's not devastatingly stupid. As has been pointed out by many, Ray didn't fail a drug test at the Combine like Randy Gregory (and also unlike Gregory, Ray actually produced last year ... boom, roasted, etc.), and I also want to believe that this type of red flag isn't as red as the potential real-life judgment issues displayed by the nearly unanimous No. 1 pick in the draft. But combined with worries about his foot, this certainly doesn't help his stock. It only takes one team to shrug its shoulders and say, "He's still pretty awesome," but we know how the Draft works: give teams a reason not to pick you, and they'll run quickly to someone they're less scared of.
The Trib: Former MU end Shane Ray cited for marijuana possession
Post-Dispatch: Mizzou's Ray arrested for marijuana possession
Fox Sports MW: Former Missouri Tigers defensive end Shane Ray cited on charge of possession of marijuana