I think I am really running out of catchy (or not catchy) intros for this little space. I did have the pleasure of cleaning out my gutters this weekend, that's something at least. In fact, I would tell you that the chore was at times more bearable than watching what happened in Manhatten on Saturday night, but more about that later I suppose. Anyway, pretty full weekend for Mizzou sports, next weekend will be even more full with the return of baseball I believe and golf. And in some cases, some sports cannot end soon enough. Let's get to it!
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Men's Basketball:
Well, if anything about our season has been consistent, it is how inconsistent my weekly ramblings have been about the team. We started off the week on a high note, overcoming a monster effort by Aleks Maric to take down the Huskers in OT on the road. And really, any time you win on the road in conference, it should be seen as a good thing (especially considering how many times we have lost games on the road we thought we were going to win over the years). For one of the first time all season, I thought we looked very organized on both offense and defense in overtime and certainly asserted ourselves in that time.
However, Saturday night was a completely different story. I actually turned the game off when I saw Keon Lawrence take a 3 point shot from the wing, and decided to fall back on it. The thing was, he missed it...and a long rebound came out to where, you guessed it, he had been standing. We actually grabbed an offensive board, and it took about 3 seconds for him to come back into the television picture as we reset the offense. To me, that is totally an effort thing, and I saw none. And like The Boy referenced in the live thread, I cannot really hate k-state right now. I think Beasley is an amazing talent, as I commented to people that night I could not remember in my 13 years of being involved with this team anyone dropping those numbers on us.
This week...yeah...I could not even tell you who we play without looking at it. Looks like two winnable games at home, which probably means we split I guess.
Women's Basketball:
Almost mercifully, you can say there was only one game for the ladies this past weekend, as the season truly cannot end fast enough. The Tigers were at home to take on k-State, and fell in a, um, defensive struggle 56-40. The Tigers shot just under 22 percent on the game...yes...22 percent. The leading assist person for the Tigers was a 6-way tie....with ONE each. Alyssa Hollings and Jessra Johnson had 14 and 13 respectively, on combined 9-36 shooting, which I guess is better than the rest of the team shot. Johnson also added 12 boards for the now 8-16 and 1-10 Tigers.
Their next action will be on Thursday as the Tigers hit the road for a game against the Huskers. Coming back home next Sunday, the ladies will take on kU in their annual home border battle game.
Gymnastics:
From a team standpoint, a solid domination of the SEMO Redhawks on Friday night. Mizzou took the team score for the meet, the team score on each event and at least the top 3 individuals on each event, as well as the all-around, which went to Adrianne Perry thanks to her 39.250 effort, which also brought her wins in the beam and vault. Sarah Shire would take the floor exercise and Alicia Hatcher would take the beam for the Tigers, who put up a very solid 195.425 score against the season-high 193.500 for SEMO.
Next weekend is certainly one of the meets of the season is next week at the Hearnes where the Tigers will return to take on the highly rated Sooners of OU. Show time will be 6:30 pm on Friday and should be a VERY strong meet. Mizzou will very likely need a score in excess of 196.000 to have a shot at taking down the Sooners, but they have shown the potential that when they hit all their performances, they can do just that.
Tennis:
Another weekend sweep for the ladies, taking down SEMO and Ill-Chicago by scores of 7-0 and 5-2 respectively. These two wins push their record on the season to 7-1. Coach Starkey was pleased that the Tigers have come through the early part of their season as well as they did, espcially with such a young team. Double winners on the weekend would be junior Jessica Giugioli at the #1 singles spot, freshman Kaitlyn Richie at the #4/#5 singles spot, freshman Maureen Modesto in the #4/#5 singles spot and junior Sofia Ayala in the #6 singles spot. Also, the #43 ranked doubles team of freshman Mallory Weber and senior Chrissy Svetlic won their only match of the weekend.
Next up for the Tigers will be a road trip up to Iowa, as they take on Big 10 foe Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, and then Drake on Sunday.
Indoor Track and Field:
The big news of the weekend was made by sophomore Nick Adcock, who put up a monsterous and record setting score in the heptathlon, topping the score of an Olympian in Hans Uldal. The score almost guarantees Adcock a spot in the NCAA Championships and was the thrid highest score in the country this season, and also earns the lead in the Big XII. Adcock would set personal records in the long jump (which he has improved 16 inches since last season), pole vault and the 1000 meters, 3 of 7 events. A funny quote from Coach Dr. Rick McQuire, who commented that he feels Adcock is a better decathlete than heptathlete...that is probably a good thing.
Other big places for the Tigers include Kaela Rorvig who took 3rd in the women's penthathlon, getting an NCAA provisional score in the process. Krishna Lee and Shermelle Nichols each achieved provisional qualifying status in the weight throw, with Chris Rohr and Tyler Dailey doing the same on the men's side. Lane Moore took 2nd place in the women's 600m run, and Trisa Nickoley took 1st in the 800m run.
Next week will be the Missouri All-Comers meet as a tune up for everyone before the Big XII Indoor Track Championships which will be in two weeks in Lincoln.
Softball:
Tough start for the weekend for the ladies out in Las Vegas, as they fell to both #6 UCLA and BYU by similar 4-0 scores, as chronicled in the diary along the side of the page. Coming back on Saturday, the ladies swept a pair from two California schools, winning 7-1 against UC-Davis and 8-2 against Cal Poly. Star for Saturday was definitely Jen Bruck, who not only collected her first win of the season against Cal Poly, but also hit three homeruns on the day. Finishing up on Sunday, the ladies took on and defeated Portland State 10-3 to finish the weekend 3-2 and move to 6-4 on the season.
Next up for the ladies will be a home double-header against UMKC on Wednesday, I assume inside the Devine Pavillion. Next weekend will hold a trip to Albequerque for 4 games over the weekend, including a non-conference/conference matchup against Texas Tech.
Golf:
Another season got going this weekend, as the men started their 2008 spring campaign down in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Sunday, while the ladies began their season down in Parrish, Florida. More on how they fared next weekend.
Swimming:
It was the Missouri Grand Prix going on this weekend and finishing today, which is a set of races which do not count towards the regular collegiate season. Not much news on it, except for this tidbit from the Worldwide Leader
Random Thoughts:
* So I realize that the Daytona 500 is the Super Bowl of NASCAR racing, but the almost three hours of pre-race show was pretty darn impressive. And no, I did not watch it, I just know it started at noon and the race did not finally get going until closer to 3.
* I did not see the Slam Dunk competition live over the weekend, but did see the replayed highlights that night while at the bar. Honestly, I do not know how the judges score these in live time. On many of the dunks, we had to wait for ESPNews to replay it before we saw Jeff Green blow out the candle on the cupcake on the rim or Dwight Howard tip the damn ball to himself off of the backboard before dunking it with the other hand. And while MJ and Dominique Wilkins did stuff which was ahead of their time, I imagine they would even agree how much things have changed. The "throw down" by Howard in the Superman costume was pretty impressive.
* Back to my New Jersey Devils, a solid week for them, including two wins over eastern conference leading Ottawa. It got them back in front of the Atlantic division and only two points back of Ottawa for the lead in the east overall.
* Pitchers and catchers met this week...wow is all I can say.
* Glad to hear Mizzou has offered Andrew Wilson of Ray-Pec. 6'4, 225lbs...can never really have too many of those kicking around.