We're without The Beef (and mostly me, but that's not unusual) today, so ... somebody pick up the slack!
1 - So it appears Missouri might be attempting to bring in former Wake Forest center Tony Woods. Where do you generally stand when it comes to both giving a kid a second chance after an iffy/bad situation and giving a new coaching staff the benefit of the doubt when it comes to character?
2 - From what you either saw or read, what is your biggest concern about Missouri's (or in Doug's case, Kansas') football team now that spring has wrapped up? What is something you felt would be a concern, but possibly isn't now?
3 - Name something at which you are better than Chelsea Thomas is at pitching.
4 - We're plowing our way toward May and the end of most TV show seasons ... what season finale are you looking forward to the most?
Doug: 1 - I'm pretty willing to give a college student the benefit of the doubt, especially since there are countless regular students who do stupid crap in college but don't live in the fish-bowl of college athletics. If the kid needs a second chance, give it to him and see what happens. The bigger question is what happens when a second chance turns into a third, fourth and fifth chance? But, hopefully, you never have to find out.
2 - Sadly, no idea. I think the quarterback situation is still the biggest question mark. No one ever stepped up last season to really claim the job. Now they have another recruit coming in who was supposed to compete during spring ball, but had issues that kept him out of practice. KU will go into the fall without a strong idea of who will be under center for the second year in a row, and that sucks.
3 - I called a pretty mean play-by-play in my day.
4 - Chuck. And, I really hope it's just a season finale and not a series finale (Goddamn NBC), especially with a name like "Chuck vs. The Cliffhanger." I also think Justified and Archer are close to wrapping up their fantastic seasons as well.
Michael Atchison: You won’t have me for long today, either. I’m sure Doug, Dave and Greg can carry this.
1. The second chance thing is very much case-by-case with me. On its face, knowing few facts, the Woods thing gives me considerable pause. But then the totality of my knowledge is this: He’s a talented basketball player, he was involved in some sort of incident with his girlfriend that resulted in a terrible injury, she’s apparently still with him (though in cases involving domestic violence that’s not always the most probative fact), and the criminal justice process is apparently over. I’d want to know if he has a history of trouble or if there’s just one (admittedly horrifying) incident on his record. I’d want to talk to a lot of people who have had experience with him. I’d have to get to a very high level of comfort.
2. Can I speak for everyone? Concern: Quarterback play and protection. Not so much: Cornerbacks. Not at all: Front seven.
3. (this space intentionally left blank)
4. I had no idea that this was TV finale season.
(90 minutes later...)
SleepyFloyd7: 1. I agree with Atch that those decisions must be on a case-by-case basis. But every coach and team has to balance needs and risk. When a new coach like Haith and his staff is putting together their first class (and getting a late start in doing so) sometimes it's tougher to make the safe choice. The staff ultimately has to sit down with the kid, look him in the eyes and lay everything on the table - that if the 2nd chance is wasted, the repercussions will be severe and swift.
2. The thing I'm most worried about with MU Football is the month of September, with road games at Arizona St. and Oklahoma. The team has so much experience and talent all over the field that these should be good contests. But with a QB making his 2nd and 4th college starts in these games? Yikes. As far as the 2nd part of the question, I think we're going to be a good punting team. In a related note, Pinkel must have rubbed a magic lamp several years ago to ensure that he would always have a solid kicking game.
3. I make a mean Bolognese. But it would go 0-4 with 4K against Chelsea.
4. I think the only episodic show I am currently watching live as it airs is The Killing on AMC - FANTASTIC!
We now return you to the din of crickets.
(5 minutes later...)
SleepyFloyd7: Sweet, merciful crap! Have you see this?
You serious, Clark?
Doug: For something that took a while to produce, I really wish there was a point to it.
I mean, really... why?
SleepyFloyd7: Why? Because we're the Griswalds!
Come on, I'll race ya.
ghtd36: Pick up the slack? I think that falls under RPT's job description...
...so, yeah, we're screwed.
1 - There's not a hard-and-fast rule for me when it comes to situations like this. Ultimately, you have to make the best judgment you can based on the evidence presented, including actually sitting down and talking to the dude. He would obviously be an asset to the program from a basketball standpoint, but you have to balance that with the risk that he could, you know, Quin Snyder the whole thing.
2 - I'm a bit concerned that the quarterback situation has not resolved itself. Count me among those who didn't really have a preference -- Franklin or Gabbert -- as to who was taking the snaps, but who did want someone (ANYONE) to grab the reins and say "this is my job." Apparently, nobody did that, and that's concerning. I am no longer worried about the running back situation; a nice platoon of Lawrence and Murphy should do just fine.
3 - /list
4 - This won't win me friends, but I am absolutely hooked on The Biggest Loser. I know. I know. But it's sensational human drama.
ZouDave: Hey, guess who had their Wednesday meeting again today? 8:30am – 10:15am. That’s efficient and useful. Below is an alphabetical list of things that were accomplished during the meeting:
And now I’ll respond to the roundtable.
1 – Well I think with the Tony Woods case, since we obviously weren’t around to follow the story as it happened or anything, we pretty much have to go on what the result was. The result was a misdemeanor conviction, and the girl vouching for his character. I think that pretty much means you can’t just say "he’s a criminal, don’t want him." We’re not saying that about Will Ebner or any of the football players that had misdemeanor offenses last summer, so this should be no different. I think what it does mean, for me, is that a person with a past is on a shorter leash and has far less room for error. Where a guy like Marcus Denmon could go out and get a misdemeanor right now and have no long-lasting problems with the team or fanbase, I don’t think a guy with a prior conviction can.
And we have to give this coaching staff the opportunity to show what kind of men they are, what kind or program they’re going to run and what judges of character they will be. It’s unfair to place any blame/expectations/rules on them right now for what might happen based on what might have happened. Let it play out, and react accordingly.
2 – Um…nothing, really. I’m not overly concerned about any one position on the team. I guess the biggest question mark is our corners since we’re not returning a starter at that position, but Gaines and Edwards played a lot last year so they’re not stepping in with no experience. I have full faith that our QB is going to be just fine, I know who our running backs, receivers, tight ends and O-Line will be because we saw all of them last year. Our D-Line, even with losing Aldon Smith, is going to be just fine. We return our entire linebacking corps. Kenji Jackson brings the needed experience to Safety and Tavon Bolden got some late experience last year after Simmons got the boot and Kenronte Walker is a JUCO so he has played, just not D1. Really the variables around Mizzou football this year are how much better are we than other teams in the conference? We should be good enough to beat ku, KSU, ISU and Baylor regardless of where we play them. We should be good enough to beat Tech, despite not doing it last year. We should be good enough to have no worse than a 50/50 shot against aTm and OSU. So it comes down to matchups, timing and execution vs. OU and Texas. I think this will be the case in most years going forward, except I think we’ll move ahead of Tech more than we are and maybe we’ll finally be able to solve OSU. I think aTm is on the rise, right with us, and we’re all chasing OU and Texas. So Mizzou should be in position to be 3rd/4th in the conference and under the right circumstances we’ll be fighting for 1st/2nd.
3 – Picking crappy music for highlight videos.
4 – Friday Night Lights, even though the season JUST started last week, because it will also be the Series Finale. Can’t wait. LOVE that show. Also, The Office. And America’s Next Great Restaurant. I don’t really watch much else, besides South Park and Archer. Archer is absolutely freaking gold, btw, so anyone who isn’t watching it really needs to start. It’s on FX, normally shown around the same timeslot as It’s Always Sunny. Just an absolutely hilarious show.
(30 minutes later...)
SleepyFloyd7: Here is an alternate question to help us along -
Bill C. and the Mrs. are about to have their first kid. There will be times when Bill will be called upon to help get the little one to fall asleep. Before I had kids, I thought I know a lot of music. But at 3am, it's virtually impossible to sing an entire song from memory if you have not practiced it recently.
The question is this: Aside from children's standards like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, what songs do you know all of the words to? (go ahead and sing it all the way through in your head to make sure).
I'm telling you it's tough, but here are some in most recent rotation at my house:
Blackbird - Beatles
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
You Belong to Me - Steve Martin & Bernadette Peters
My Little Buttercup - the Three Amigos
I'm Picking Out A Thermos For You - Steve Martin
ZouDave: You talking specifically songs that you could/would/should sing to kids? Because I can sing a shit ton of songs straight from memory but it’s going to be Billy Joel songs, Garth Brooks songs, a plethora of 80s/early 90s songs, a smattering of Broadway show tunes, etc.
But songs appropriate to sing to children at 3am?
Does "Nothin’ but a G Thang" by Snoop and Dre count?
SleepyFloyd7: Sure. Different strokes for different folks.
ghtd36: "When It Rains" -- Eli Young Band
"Forgot About Dre" -- Dr. Dre ft. Eminem
"If I Had A Million Dollars" -- Barenaked Ladies
"Possum Kingdom" -- The Toadies
Doug: I was thinking Forget You by Cee Lo Green. Honestly, with a newborn at 3 AM, you can sing death metal lyrics and so long as it's in a gentle tone, it doesn't matter.
SleepyFloyd7: exactly. I'm not wailing like Ronnie James Dio at 3am.
I should also throw in Wonderboy by the D.
ZouDave: Seriously, a list of songs I could sing off the top of my head with no accompanying music and without missing a word?
Cripes, that’s a lot.
Billy Joel:
Piano Man
Captain Jack
Only the Good Die Young
Tell Her About It
She’s Got a Way
She’s Always a Woman
Still Rock ‘n Roll To Me
We Didn’t Start the Fire
Garth Brooks:
Ain’t Going Down ‘til the Sun Comes Up
The Dance
Friends in Low Places
Shameless
That Summer
The Thunder Rolls
Rap:
Without Me (Eminem)
G Thang (Snoop and Dre)
Gin and Juice (Snoop)
What’s My Name (Snoop)
Wit Dre Day (Dre)
Baby Got Back (Mix-a-Lot)
My Posse’s on Broadway (Mix-a-Lot)
Bust a Move (Young MC)
Humpty Dance (Digital Underground)
Others:
Safety Dance (Men Without Hats)
Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
The Freshman (Verve Pipe)
Broadway/Showtunes:
Entire RENT soundtrack
Entire Les Miserables soundtrack
Vast majority of Wicked soundtrack
And I’m sure I’m forgetting dozens of others. Two things should be glaringly obvious here:
1 – This is evidence of why people hate my taste in music.
2 – I like karaoke bars.
Doug: The entire RENT soundtrack and a vast majority of Wicked?
Do you own every Glee re-make, too?
ZouDave: Well, not EVERY re-make…
(Four hours later...)
ZouDave: Wow, we absolutely killed it today.
ghtd36: We killed something, that's for sure. Like the Internet's innocence.
Doug: We killed that a LONG time ago.