I have pooled Rock M's "higher-ups" (so to speak), and we have come up with our Mizzou All-Decade team, to be revealed this week (even though the nerd in me really wants to point out that the actual decade doesn't end for another year), but we had two ties that the community must break. The first was Tyler Luellen vs Rob Droege. Next up, the toughest call: who is Mizzou's All-Decade center? Aside from quarterback, Mizzou has been most blessed at center this decade, following up on Rob Riti's All-American career (1996-99) with wonderful production from A.J. Ricker (2000-03), Adam Spieker (2004-07) and Tim Barnes (2007-09). All three centers got a first-place vote, but in the end there was a tie between Barnes and Spieker. Now it's up to you to break that tie.
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| Adam Spieker (2004-07) | vs | Tim Barnes (2007-09) |
| A Rimington Award finalist his senior season, Spieker was a rock, steadying the troops as Mizzou moved to a spread attack in 2005. He was Mizzou's third consecutive four-year starter at center, and he racked up all sorts of awards in black and gold. He was a freshman All-American, then an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer in 2005 and 2006, steadying the ship for both Brad Smith and Chase Daniel. |
Quick question: did Mizzou actually miss Spieker at all in 2008? Another question: can you remember more than 2-3 bad snaps emerging from Tim Barnes' backside in the last two seasons? Despite the fact that he won't get the opportunity to be Mizzou's fourth consecutive four-year starter at center, Barnes has been everything one could ask for from a center for the last two seasons, and he will be again in 2010. |