We're just a day away from Askren's medal chase...and the KC Star and Trib have a couple nice articles. From the Trib:
If he wanted to, Askren could have been the darling of college wrestling. Instead, he was something more complicated than that. If he had kept the wild hair, the colorful personality and the wide-open style but muzzled his urge to admit freely that no one was in his league, he would have been universally adored for giving the sport a shot of pure charisma. But, Lord, it was hard to be humble, and Askren never saw the profit in pretending to respect lesser opponents.
"It’s more important to be me than to be loved by everyone," Askren said. "Of course I could say the politically correct things everybody wants to hear, but, A, that would not be true to myself, and, B, that would be boring. I don’t want to be either of those things.
"People are too scared to break the mold of society. I’m not worried about pissing people off."
Practice reports!
- Mutigers.com: "On the injury front, junior WR Jared Perry did not practice today after suffering a mild shoulder separation in Saturday's scrimmage. Team trainers hope to have him back before the end of the week. Senior TE Chase Coffman dressed out for the first time since having surgery last Tuesday on his broken finger, but he did not participate in contact drills, and was limited to running routes, without catching the ball."
- PowerMizzou has an approximate depth chart.
- Dave Matter has a longer version of yesterday's quick "8 freshmen will play" blog post.
- And then he puts up two practice reports (Part I, Part II) as well. From Part II: "From my novice perspective, I thought the No. 1 offensive line held up well against the top D-line in 1-on-1 pass-rush drills, especially left tackle Elvis Fisher against Stryker Sulak. The more I see of Fisher, the less I think last week’s line shuffle was some sort of panicked shot-in-the-dark move by the staff. He’s athletic enough to keep his feet moving on the edge and has enough power to outmuscle defensive ends."
- KC Star: 'According to veteran Tigers, [eight true freshmen playing] shows just how deep the latest recruiting class is, not how desperate the team is to rush true freshmen. "What has changed is the level of talent," senior captain and wide receiver Tommy Saunders told The Star. "You see it in every class. It’s not just one or two. Every year the players who come in are better and better."'
Which players do Mizzou's best players admire?
Injured ankle? No problem for Brian Coulter.
The Post-Dispatch checks in on Wes Kemp...
Good things happen when there's stability in the coaching staff...
Finally...ouch. Ian Kinsler's got himself a (sports) hernia. Ggh...Mizzourah's got more...