When Mike Anderson signed a huge contract extension, campus was (and still is) on a hiring freeze, and a couple media outlets took what I thought was a half-hearted stab at addressing what controversy may have existed from that contrast. Instead of doing the same, The Trib's Steve Walentik stepped back, gathered information, and unleashed a full-hearted stab at the issue. I encourage you to read it--great stuff from Mr. Walentik.
Alright, that out of the way, let's get to B&G Game links!
- Mutigers.com: Tiger Defense shines in Black & Gold Game
- The Trib: Tigers set new gold standard
- The Trib: [Jarrell] Harrison catches on in secondary
- The Missourian: MU defense wins annual Black & Gold Game
- The Missourian: Gabbert leads first-team offense in Black & Gold Game
- KC Star: MU's offense clanks through spring game
- KC Star: Weatherspoon keeps praise to a minimum
- Post-Dispatch: Defense dominates in Missouri football black and gold spring football game
And of course, we always close the book on a football game with Dave Matter's ceremonial emptying of the notebook...
[I]t was obvious that MU’s coaches spent the bulk of spring scrimmages hammering away at the passing game, not so much the run. But it’s always been a mistake to read too much into the play-calling/run-pass ratio during a Pinkel spring scrimmage. Anyone who’s been watching these things for a while will tell you: Pinkel’s staff spends the spring working on what needs the most work. They call these things “practice” for a reason. Sometimes I think we lose some perspective on what it is we’re watching and writing about during March and April: Yes, they keep score, but these are practices, not games.
Colorado Coach Dan Hawkins made a good point earlier this spring when he wondered aloud whether the bloated coverage of spring football is good for the sport. “You can’t really work on stuff because they want every practice to be a performance,” Hawkins told reporters, talking about fans’ expectations for an April scrimmage. “They want it to be a game.”
(I’m including myself in this mini-indictment considering the detailed practice reports you’ve been reading on this site. But at some point, some perspective is necessary.)
Aside from being a glorified practice, the spring game is a nice recruiting opportunity, and Mizzou took advantage by snagging a couple of commitments. First, Olathe North DE/DT Lucas Vincent pulled the trigger. He had offers from NU, KU, KSU, Wisconsin and others, and at 6'3/270 seems to fit the "slap 25 pounds on him and make him a quick DT" mold that we've used successfully in the past.
Vincent's commitment wasn't a total surprise, but the next one was: big Austin OL Mitch Morse was on no recruiting junky's radar screen but got an offer from Mizzou at the B&G game and pretty much immediately accepted. He was getting interest from smart-kid schools (Stanford, Vandy) but had no other offers. In other words, it was a pretty standard recruiting weekend for Mizzou--beat NU/KU/KSU for one kid, snag a complete diamond in the rough for another.
As PowerMizzou reports, there were plenty of other recruits in the house as well...
To softball, where...as I'm sure you followed here...Mizzou very easily handled two games in Lubbock this weekend, winning 12-0 on Saturday and 10-3 on Sunday. Tiger bats continue to be just ridiculously hot right now.
Six conference games remain for the first-place Tigers. Conference standings as of right now:
Mizzou 10-2
Oklahoma 11-4 (-0.5 games)
Texas 10-4 (-1.0)
Baylor 10-4 (-1.0)
And as I'm sure you followed here again, Mizzou Baseball took two of three from K-State as well, knocking the Rachel Phelps Watch down to 14 games. They won 4-3 in dramatic fashion on Friday night (coming back from 2-0 down), and kept the bats hot in an 11-6 Saturday win (coming back from 5-0 down), but poor defense led to an 11-5 Sunday loss. Mizzou is now 21-20 with a strong RPI. Next up: a huge Kaufman Stadium showdown with Kansas on Wednesday...