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Sunshiiiiiiiiiiiiiine...on a cloudy day. All in the month of May. Lots of ups and downs, arrivals and departures as the school year came to a close and the athletic year reached its penultimate month. Only four sports were still active at this point in the year, but two of them gave us some great moments and memories. Let’s tackle the major moments of the month, and we will wrap up the four teams at the end.
The month started (and nearly ended) with the resurfacing of Faurot. It is always exciting to get some new turf down to make the stadium look shiny, but that fresh new SEC logo on the pitch certainly added a tremendous element to the stadium upkeep. Keeping it with football, here is a story that will ALWAYS deserve mention and repeat, as TJ Moe escorts an amazing young woman to prom
May is a big month for recruiting, but typically in football as juniors finish their year and want to get it out of the way before their senior year. However, basketball started the month with the surprise commitment of Zach Coleman. I will allow one of the other monthly reviews to update you on how that turned out. Frank Haith also was able to name the replacement to Isaac Chew with the arrival of Ryan Miller. Once again, I will allow someone else to update us on how that turned out. Finally, some news which was good and stayed good, though we have not yet seen the return, as Jordan Clarkson transferred from Tulsa to Mizzou. He is sitting out this year, but figures to factor prominently next year when Keion Bell and potentially others leave the back court.
On to football, where recruiting was OK and the rest of the month was barely that. On the positive, Clay Rhodes committed as a 6’6, 265 OL from just over the border in KC Metro area. Mizzou also received a commitment from fellow OL prospect Jake Campos, who would later decide to stay closer to home and play for a proud coach. The hits kept coming, as Corbin Berkstresser was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident. Later in the month, we would learn Tavon Bolden was dismissed from the team, and that Robert Steeples would follow new DC Barry Odom down to Memphis for his final season of eligibility. The month would finish on a high note however as a relatively unknown DE from Texas in Marcus Loud. Though Mr. Loud appeared to lose his way for a little while, I am hoping we make it through the rest of these wrap-ups without another change of heart from him.
To the diamond, where May means regular seasons finish up and post-season tournaments excite. For the baseball team, an up and down season led to a tough May, as the team scuttled to only a 5-7 mark for the month. But there was this, and that is never a bad thing. They headed to OKC for the final Big XII Tournament for any Mizzou outfit with little reason to believe. Then there was this. And then this. And then we all REALLY enjoyed this. And then it ended with this.
What a ride and what a way to exit the Big XII.
For Softball, the highs were not as high, but we did have a good time. The team would go 6-2 in the regular season and then 3-0 in the Regionals to win their FIFTH straight title. But LSU would come calling and put our Jekyll and Hyde bats to sleep in the Super Regionals, keeping us out of the WCWS. But we sure as hell loved seeing this, buying this and giving over $5,000 through this. It is where I am most proud of this site and I chose this month just to be able to say that.
To put a big, pretty bow on the month of May, it does bear mentioning that the Outdoor Track team finished 10th (men) and 7th (women) at their final Big XII Championship meet, while the Men’s Golf team had their season officially completed when Emilio Cuartero (26th) and Jace Long (43rd) completed individual play in the NCAA Regional tournament. So here’s to May...the last full month of action before the summer doldrums.