1 - We're starting with basketball this time! Unbelievable! In previous years, Mizzou has ambushed an unsuspecting non-conference foe at home. Two years ago, it was Arkansas by 22, last year Purdue by 10 (not as much of an ambush), and this past weekend California by 27. Was the win over Cal a sign of something different, or was it another "They haven't seen our style--they couldn't prepare for it and got blown out of the water" situation?
2 - For those who have kept up with college basketball so far, who has stood out in the Big 12? Who do you think is better than Missouri at the moment? (Dave, you may just want to post a funny picture instead of answering this question.)
3 - To football! Say something good about Northwestern (or in Doug's case, Minnesota).
4 - Now say something extremely derogatory about Northwestern (or Minnesota).
5 - Name the three bowls you're most looking forward to watching (not including your own). Here's a list if you need one.
The Beef: 1 - Having attended the game, I think it was a mix of both. The style we play is NOT a very west-coast style, so I do not believe Cal had seen much of it. Also, we did a great job of coming out of the gate with tremendous energy and shell-shocked them. We were also very smart about it, pounding it inside to get our large lead (before we "annoyed" me and started jacking 3’s for about 8 minutes). I am going to reserve total judgment on the "something different" until after Illinois…because beating them would truly be something different.
2 - Yeah…not really kept up on the Big XII…all I really know is USC thugged Blake in the junk and kU lost to Cuse, but is otherwise unblemished.
3 - Chicago is awesome…I went to tour the campus before my senior year of high school. We walked into their tour office and asked about a tour. They handed me a map…we used it to get back to our car and leave. So…yeah…I guess that is nothing good about them.
Seriously though, I enjoyed watching their offense and I do like how their coach has made such a good thing out of an awful situation.
4 - Damn…I should read all the questions before answering them.
5 - Holiday, Rose (since I am a Penn State fan for longer than I am a Mizzou fan) and whatever one it is with Tulsa and Ball State. I have a curiosity about the Chick-Fil-A Bowl because I love the triple option and want to see how it does against the front line of LSU’s defense.
ZouDave: Holy cow, it's Wednesday. I honestly didn't even know that, somehow.
1 - I hope it is something different, and so far it sounds like our team is actually pretty good and really fun to watch. It almost seems like they don't need me.
2 -
3 - My brother-in-law got his MBA from Northwestern (after getting his undergrad at Mizzou). This year's Alamo Bowl has now been renamed to the "John Nelson Bowl".
4 - They're Wildcats and they wear purple. Would you really want to be that closely associated with K-State if you didn't have to be?
5 -
#1 - Poinsettia Bowl, and I have a feeling this will be #1 on just about everyone's list. Boise State vs TCU, baby! The great part is I probably wont' get to see at least the first half, if not the entire game, because I'll be in California with my family and we'll probably all be sitting around and talking. Other than my dad and I, and my sister's husband's sister's husband (yeah, that's right) nobody else in the family cares about football.
#2 - Holiday Bowl. I just have a feeling that Oklahoma State vs Oregon is going to be a great game...I don't really even know why.
#3 - Oddly enough, the Insight Bowl. kansas vs Minnesota in the "Glen Mason's Former Teams Bowl".
GO FLORIDA!
Michael Atchison: 1 - I think the style always makes it harder for a team that hasn’t seen it before, but I think this squad is different. The way they share the ball, the way they play hard all the time, the way so many different guys can have an impact offensively. The one thing I’m not sure this team has is a difference-maker on the perimeter. I think Denmon and/or English could grow into that role, but it’ll take some time. And one more thing about Denmon: How strong is that kid? He has shown a real ability to get inside the paint, draw contact from bigger players and still get his shot off. He’s going to be very, very good.
2 - Texas and Oklahoma would appear to be the clear 1 and 2 at this point. I’m not sure that the Sooners are a great team, but Blake Griffin is a great player, and he’ll put them on his back a lot of nights. Baylor is good, Kansas is good (but if anything happened to either Aldrich or Collins . . . ). K-State has been competitive against good teams, but they can’t seem to get over the hump. They’ll be a team to watch come January and February.
3 - I have friends who attended, and they’re upstanding citizens.
4 - What’s it Northwest of? Ohio?
5 - Can’t I just declare it basketball season and be done with it?
ZouDave: "Texas and Oklahoma would appear to be the clear 1 and 2 at this point."
Wait, wait, wait....I thought we were talking about basketball!
Michael Atchison: We are, except Colt McCoy is called A.J. Abrams and Brian Orakpo is called Damion James.
Doug: 1 - Obviously, Cal is in a bit of flux with Mike Montgomery coming on as head coach. He was a failure in the NBA, though I'm sure coaching Golden State had something to do with that, but he should build that team over the next couple of seasons. I think Missouri has always had a knack for blitzing some unsuspecting non-con opponent at home, mainly because you can't really prepare for the style the Tigers play, especially now that the Mike Anderson has the system working better than any of the previous seasons.
2 - It's definitely Texas and Oklahoma one and two in the Big 12 right now. I haven't seen much of Baylor, but, I would still pick Kansas three at the moment, just because that's probably where they'll be when the final standings shake out. Plus, I think Kansas has the most opportunity of any of the schools in the conference to improve a drastic amount from now until March. But, like Atch said, if anything happens to Collins or Aldrich, I withhold the option to completely change my opinion.
3 - They've got a pretty nice, new stadium coming on line next season.
4 - They hired Glen Mason and Tubby Smith. Sloppy-seconds much, Minnesota?
5 - Holiday: Because Oklahoma State could go ape-shit scoring points.
Fiesta: Because it's not the bowl season without Ohio State getting blown out.
Cotton: Because it's one of those classic New Year's Day... holy shit! When did it get moved to January 2nd? And still at 1 in the afternoon? Seriously, Fox... fuck you. Fuck You.
ZouDave:
The Boy: Seriously...gonna have to censor the Beaker...
1 - I can't tell for sure how good Cal actually is--they obviously looked discombobulated on Sunday, and that's obviously the first time I'd seen them play this year--but I must say it was encouraging. The most encouraging part was, while Leo and DeMarre both brought their A-game, and the defense was extremely stellar, Mizzou actually shot horribly from the 3-point stripe...and still won by 27. If they made a couple more of their open 3's, or if Matt Lawrence had been in rhythm or something, this could have been a 40-point win. So the fact that they won so easily without clicking on all cylinders was awesome. If there's a difference between this year and the previous two, that's one sign. The other, of course, is that Atch is right--this team shares the ball better than any Mizzou team I can remember. Hopefully that keeps up when the opposition is more consistently decent.
2 - OU is a good team when Blake Griffin is carrying the load, and a potentially great team when that Willie Warren kid gets hot. He's been hit-or-miss so far (his last four games, he's scored 6, 22, 5 and 14 points...quite the standard deviation there), but he's a pretty solid freshman, and he gives OU another offensive weapon.
Either way, though, I've seen more of Texas than anybody else this season (must be nice to have every damn game on ESPN), and they've responded quite well so far to having to replace DJ Augustin and face a murderer's row (three games against Top 12 teams so far) early on. They're my #1, followed by OU, and...yeah, until proven otherwise, KU is #4. I need to see more of Baylor...I watched them play Providence, and while they seemed totally out of control in the backcourt, it's working for them. The Jerrells-Dunn-Dugat trio is fun to watch. If the shots aren't falling, they're in trouble, but...in the end, that goes for just about anybody.
3 - Pretty campus next to a great city. And I don't care what anybody says...I like Zach Braff.
4 - The "purple Wildcats" thing has already been mentioned before, so I'll just say...I think Rich Eisen is a little too full of himself now. There, I said it.
5 - Holiday, because BOTH teams could go ape-shit on the scoreboard.
GMAC Bowl for the same reason.
Poinsettia (I think that's the one with Boise and TCU), because it's a contrast in styles, and it's a nice mid-major showcase.
Oh yeah, and the national title game is attractive for once as well.
Doug: Oh, I'm sorry... was that too strong for your sensitive Tiger ears?
The Boy: We're a family website, didn't you know?
ZouDave: even the Manson family was a family...
Doug: Beat me to it.
The Boy: And what do you think sent the Mansons on the route to mass murder? Curse words and sensitive ears, that's what.
ZouDave: and enough drugs to take down a bull elephant.
Michael Atchison: I like the part where you say "Atch is right." I want to see Baylor play more, but The Boy is right (right back atcha), that team rides on the ragged edge of chaos. Sometimes it looks like five different guys playing their own game, but they definitely have talent. I’d love to sit in the background for a couple of weeks and watch Scott Drew recruit, because when he got there, he had absolutely nothing to sell, and now the cupboard is full.
ZouDave: Atch...atcha...
Cha cha cha!
The Boy: Well, his pitch for recruiting guards seems to just have been "Come to Baylor, and you can shoot whenever you want."
(Of course, that was Dave Bliss's recruiting pitch too...ZING!)
Okay, that was wrong.
ZouDave: Once again....
Doug: Wow.
And I thought I was the bastard.
The Boy: Too soon?
Michael Atchison: It’ll be too soon 100 years from now.
The Boy: Damn...I'm always ahead of my time...
ZouDave: Yeah, but, if people didn't cross lines for humor...we wouldn't have Family Guy.
(15 minutes later)
ZouDave: I think this is The Boy right now:
The Boy:
ZouDave:
The Beef: I have to say this was a pleasure to come back from a 2 hour meeting to this ridiculousness…glad to see form and order was restored with this roundtable
ZouDave: Form & Order, the far lesser known spinoff, debuts on NBC this January.
The Boy: This means we're definitely going to beat Northwestern, right?
ZouDave: Wouldn't that be dependent on the Roundtable immediately preceding the game?
Which would be scheduled to take place on 12/24...yeah, gonna guess there won't be much of a roundtable that day.
The Boy: Am assuming that one will be on 12/23...I don't believe I'll be traveling that day...
Michael Atchison: Absolutely. Remember a few weeks back how we conclusively determined that only four teams in the country could hang with the Tigers on a neutral field? I don’t recall Northwestern being on that list.
ZouDave: Oh you are just the worst kind of person.
Doug: Of course, I don't remember Kansas being on that list either.
But, I think Oklahoma was... so good call, guys!
The Beef: The resident Jew will be in the house….I can hold down the fort for all you gentiles that day
ZouDave: I'll be in Thousand Oaks, CA, with my family already. And while I will have my phone on me to get emails, I will probably get no more than 1 response out. No offense to you guys, but my 3 year-old niece and nephew are more important. Other than maybe Beef.
The Beef: That is a fair stance….I respect that
ZouDave: So have we already covered the BS that is Bob Stoops (hmm...BS, Bob Stoops...can't be coincidence) convincing his players that Mizzou players were talking trash about last year prior to Saturday's game? It's one thing to motivate your players, it's quite another to just be a big fat liar. I didn't respect him much before, and I certainly don't at all now. This is bush league crap that NO other team in the conference would resort to, even kansas.
The Boy: I guess technically he can say whatever he wants to fire his team up, but a) when your players go in front of a national camera and repeat the ridiculousness, it makes them (and you) look pretty silly, b) it opens you up to pretty awesome parody, c) you had the whole country telling you that you didn't deserve to make the Big 12 title game, and you had to make stuff up for your team to get upset about? Eh??
rptgwb: Holy science - my inbox is a trainwreck of Big 12 Championship game proportions.
1. This was clearly a sign of something different. I still think this team is in trouble when it finally faces a dominating low post presence in the mold of a Blake Griffin, but the attitude around this team is completely different. As long as this team keeps its collective head about it when all the inexperienced guys take to the road in the Big 12, you can't convince me this isn't a tournament team. As for the "haven't seen the style" argument, new Cal coach Mike Montgomery said that Missouri's style of play is the type he'd least want his team to face, but I don't think it's fair to discredit Missouri's dominance. BIG props need to be given to Zaire Taylor's D on Randle.
2. I really couldn't say at this point - the only teams I've seen are Oklahoma and Texas, and they're both better than MU.
3 - I considered going there.
4 - Northwestern is a school with purple as its primary color that can not boast TB. And is therefore worthless.
5 - Bowls I'm interested in most:
Florida/Oklahoma - obviously
Utah/Alabama - family ties
Oklahoma State/Oregon - interested to see the Pokes against a quality non-Big 12 opponent
Bonus: Buffalo/UConn - it's Turner Gill vs. Fat White Guy (http://lunn65.blogspot.com/)
So, whose turn is it to bring up Robert Loggia, ZouDave's sister, or Flo from the Progressive commercials?
The Beef: I think it is Jenna Haze's turn to bring up those people...
Mmmmm.....Jenna and Dave's sister....saucy.....
The Boy: Since it's been a while...
(2 hours later...)
ZouDave: For all fans of "The Office", if you look closely enough at Kevin's desk during an episode, you will see something that appears to be a knock-off of a Mizzou helmet. You can see it most easily in the last 30 seconds of this webisode. I know it's not a Mizzou helmet, but it's close. Who else could it be? But Brian Baumgartner doesn't have ties to Mizzou, so I don't know. David Koechner, on the other hand, plays Todd Packer on "The Office" and is from Tipton, MO, and majored in Poli Sci at Mizzou. This is all of course as unrelated to anything as it can be.
The Boy: Which gives me a reason to post this:
a) God bless Kristen Wiig.
b) "You'll go CRAZY for them."