Nothing major going on in Linksville today...which means The Trib's Joe Walljasper picked a really good time to attempt this list, of Mizzou Football's 25 best wins. This highlights two things--that last year was fantastic, and that we've never really won much of anything when it comes down to it. Anyway, here are the top 5:
1. Nov. 24, 2007 — Missouri 36, Kansas 28: Gary Pinkel’s Tigers win Big 12 North and grab No. 1 ranking while denying the Jayhawks the same prizes at sold-out Arrowhead Stadium.
2. Nov. 12, 1960 — Missouri 41, Oklahoma 19: With the first victory over the Sooners since 1945, Dan Devine’s Tigers ascend to the No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history.
3. Sept. 25, 1976 — Missouri 22, Ohio State 21: In a season of upsets, knocking off the No. 2 Buckeyes in Columbus was the most thrilling. Filling in for injured QB Steve Pisarkiewicz, Pete Woods makes his first career start and scores the winning 2-point conversion with 12 seconds left. Afterward, Coach Al Onofrio calls it the greatest game in MU football history.
4. Nov. 18, 1978 — Missouri 35, Nebraska 31: James Wilder rumbles for 181 yards and four touchdowns and Kellen Winslow catches nine passes for 132 yards in an upset of the second-ranked Cornhuskers in Lincoln.
5. Sept. 8, 1975 — Missouri 20, Alabama 7: In the opener in Birmingham, Tigers hand second-ranked Crimson Tide their only loss of the season in a nationally televised Monday night game.
Check out the whole thing...pretty good stuff from Mr. Walljasper.
The Trib blogs come up with some interesting blurbs too. First, Steve Walentik takes a look at the finalized NBA draft pool and promises an in-depth Big 12 post on the topic at a later date. Next, Dave Matter produces a few links, including this one on recent Mizzou commit Justin "Travis" Britt. (Mizzourah comments on Britt's commit as well.)
Well, it appears that Ian Kinsler still has the best chance of anybody when it comes to breaking the Sox/Yanks death grip on the All-Star Infield. He trails Dustin Pedroia by 200,000 votes, which is, you know, pretty tough to overcome, but...well, it's better than Kevin Youkilis' 290,000-vote lead over Justin Morneau, Derek Jeter's 718,000-vote lead over Michael Young, and A-Rod's 717,000-vote lead over Mike Lowell. Wait, that's a Yank over a Sock. Joe Crede is 999,000 votes behind A-Rod. Oy.
Finally, another day, another "Askren the Olympian" story...this one from the Missourian.
He toned down some of his freewheeling style in order to compete with the best. He humbled himself to re-learn certain aspects of wrestling but never lost belief in himself, eventually rising to the No. 1 spot in America at 163 pounds.
He felt so good about his chances to get to the Olympics that he ordered a 40-person suite in Las Vegas, the site of the Olympic trials, to celebrate qualifying for the games — a week before the actual trials started.
"I was kind of calling my shot but I didn’t actually tell anyone till the day before," Askren joked.
Askren also had T-shirts made with a silhouette of his distinctive curly hair and jutting chin depicted in the foreground of the Chinese flag. The shirts read "Putting the ‘chin’ in China" and were distributed to family and friends before his matches at the trials.
"That’s Ben," Smith said. "He’s so confident that it didn’t shock me."
Nor will it shock Smith if Askren walks out of Beijing in late August with another piece of hardware to add to his other trophy case.