Alright, Atch is on vacation, and Dave has been drowning at work for something like three weeks now, so as the roundtable returns from a short hiatus, it's time for the remaining roundtablers to bring the heat. Or at least the lukewarm.
1 - It has to be asked. Where does Mizzou's loss to Norfolk State rank on your own personal list of Mizzou's most gut-wrenching slip-ups?
2 - By my estimate, the following Mizzou football starters (or high-frequency contributors) have gotten hurt enough to either miss time or damage productivity over the past 12 months: James Franklin, Henry Josey, Marcus Murphy, Kendial Lawrence, De'Vion Moore, Jerrell Jackson, Elvis Fisher, Travis Ruth, Brad Madison, Sheldon Richardson, Terrell Resonno, Marvin Foster, Jacquies Smith, Will Ebner, Donovan Bonner, Kip Edwards, Braylon Webb. I don't really have a question here -- I just decided to be a masochist and list them all out. Okay, fine, here's a question: of all the injuries listed above, which is most likely to bite Mizzou in 2012?
3 - Why are Mizzou fans so delusional?
4 - Quick estimate: how many recordings are stored on your DVR right now? Can't decide if my current load of 42 is ridiculous or not nearly ridiculous enough.
The Beef: 1. Strangely, I am so numb to it that it has not started to haunt me like others do. Will that change in time? Perhaps...but honestly, given how we were playing, I am not so sure we get past Florida (yes, I just became that guy). But seriously, the shine from the weekend previous in KC was still quite bright for me and 30-5 is still 30-5 at a macro level, and I am good with both.
2. Ggh…that is just a lot. I think given what we saw and how dynamic he could be, I will still say the Henry Josey injury hurts the most, but I reserve the right to change my mind if somehow Franklin’s recovery stretches into the season. We no longer have the month of Sept to work out the kinks and get healthy like we used to. We have to be ready to go (with all due respect to SE LA) on Sept 8th when the Dawgs come a’callin’ (did I say that right?). Josey, along with a 2nd year Franklin and improved weapons at the WR position would have made our offense REALLY dynamic. I like what I hear from Kendial, but his ability to be nearly as impressive as Josey was last year still needs to be proven.
3. Why do you create graphs I cannot read and demand I use math?
4. Our DVR (500 gig) hovers currently around 50% full. I am going to guess there is roughly...um...36-38 hours of programming in it. So I guess it depends if your 42 shows are all one-hour long or not.
ghtd36: 1) I'll be 100% honest (a first for me here in the Roundtable). I sat in my office and watched the entire Norfolk State game, imploring RMN readers not to look past Norfolk State to little avail, and went through basically the same thought process everyone else did:
First half: "Man, Norfolk State is hangin' around. Oh well; that 16-2 run is coming."
16:00 left: "Well...would really like to see that 16-2 run."
10:00 left: "This really might happen. Time to unleash that 16-2 run!"
4:00 left: "Man, where is that 16-2 run?"
End of game: "That 16-2 run isn't coming, is it?"
And with the last play of the game -- Pressey's missed desperation three -- I remember thinking to myself that this will A) be one of the most astoundingly awesome moments in Mizzou history, or B) free up my weekend. It was the latter. I stopped researching Florida for Better Know an Opponent, went out to dinner with The Fiancee (in my Mizzou polo) and went about my evening, weekend and life. It sucks -- and it will continue to suck -- but it's sports. Sports suck sometimes. You know what you're getting into when you stand in line for the horror movie.
2) Obviously the injury to Franklin is troublesome, but I'm more worried about the running back corps. I think one of the underappreciated things about recent Mizzou teams has been their tremendous depth at RB (even when Derrick Washington was dismissed, the team was able to function at a high level). Now, with Josey's knee still in 50 pieces, with Lawrence and Murphy banged up...well, someone needs to step up and not step on a land mine or something.
3) Ah, sports talk radio (present company excluded): who can say the MOST OUTRAGEOUS OPINION the LOUDEST? Or, you know, ESPN!
If the media were Moneyball, thoughtfulness would be on-base percentage.
4) Well, I'm actually currently operating with two DVRs: the Time Warner Cable-issued DVR at The Fiancee's apartment, and my TiVo at my apartment. I doubt she lets me keep both after July 14.
Anyways, The Fiancee's takes care of the weekly shows that we watch (currently The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, Modern Family, Happy Endings, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Community and Up All Night). My TiVo is currently set to record a lot of the stuff that comes on often and is good when you've got a couple hours at home (currently catch-all subscriptions to South Park, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Seinfeld and Law & Order: SVU). Is that a lot?
SleepyFloyd7: 1 - This loss has to be placed on Mt Lossmore for Mizzou fans. It's going to be with us, and these players, for a LONG time. For those guys to go out like that, I mean, what a colossal waste.
2 - Which player can Mizzou least afford to not be 100%? James Franklin. He has to be a dynamic force this fall in order to win football games. There is better depth at most of the other positions, where the impact of lingering injuries can be lessened.
3 - I think we will find out very quickly that we hate Arkansas. It will be a different flavor of hate than our rational hatred for Kansas, but none the less virulent.
That being said, coming from Arkansans who know from delusion, I took it as a compliment - albeit one smeared with pork-rind grease.
4 - It's just a bunch of Downton Abbey and Sherlock episodes right now. Well, there's a bunch of Phineas and Ferb on there too. We keep it pretty clean.
The Beef: As to your choice of B, that is pretty much where the Tailgate Queen and I fell. We had guests coming in from Como, and I texted them (as they were not going to leave town until the game was over) telling them they had the drive to St. Charles to be pissed, and they had to be done by the time they got to our house. The Queen ran out not long after the game to do some last-second shopping and admitted to being pissed on her drive to the store (alone), which is about...I don’t know...a mile maybe.
I remain very confident (whether it is realistic or pie-in-the-sky confidence remains to be seen) that Morgan Steward will be a very functional back for us this year, and I think Jared Culver-The Crime Dog will see some additional time as well. I think the depth will be a little different than we have been accustomed to, but it will develop nonetheless. Though I still stand by my Henry Josey answer having said all of that
SleepyFloyd7: By the by, how much money do you think will be pumped into the local economy due to speeding tickets to cars on I-70 with fake birds on the back this week?
The Beef: I think some in legal enforcement may try to hit their quotas off of this weekend.
What? There is no such thing as quotas? Are we sure about that?
Bill C.: Beefy, just be glad that that Kansas trooper had already met his quota when we were driving 83 through Kansas on the way back from that 2001 Colorado game.
(In other news, that 2001 Colorado game ... was played in 2001. And 2001 was 11 years ago. That makes me feel older than Ray Lewis' son committing to Miami.)
ghtd36: Or that there's a pretty good football prospect in the upcoming class named Raekwon.
The Beef: I am thinking we were doing 85...had it set there coming out of Colorado where it was 75 :-) Thankfully we knew the scores to the games he was interested in.
Ah the mayden voyage of the Saturn
Doug: 1 - I have to say I don't really have a list for Missouri losses. However, as a Kansas fan, the 2003 Syracuse loss was really hard to take, especially since I was up on campus lugging around a camera, waiting for a celebration or riot (either or both were a possibility at the beginning of the night). But, I can't really compare it to this loss for Missouri. There was so much expected and predicted about this Tiger team, to go out like that in the first round while looking at the real chance of making history has got to be harder than I can imagine. Though, living in New Mexico is giving me new perspective. Even though it's considered a basketball school, or at least a school with an awesome basketball arena, UNM has never been to the Sweet 16. Never gotten beyond the first weekend of the tournament. And, yet, the Monday after a close loss to Louisville, the message from the fan base was a hell of a lot less suicidal than I would have expected. Even with a lot of people, both locally and nationally, expecting the Lobos to make it the Sweet 16
2 - Hmmm... that's a lot of names I don't know. I'll say the fourth guy.
3 - I think all fans are delusional. We all expect great things out of our teams, and have trouble dealing with it when they fall short. Unless we're talking about KU football; NO ONE expected much last season, and safe to say, expectations were met.
4 - I only have 14, but my Comcast DVR sucks. Even at 14 shows, a couple of which are half-hour Archers, my DVR is 56% full. Honestly, I really miss my AT&T U-Verse DVR. That thing could hold shows until the end of time.
D-Sing: 1. Look, it was so bad for me, that I actually sat down and wrote about it post-game. I hadn't written about a basketball game since 2000. That's how punched in the stomach I felt. It just hurt more than anything else. Even though I had Missouri losing to Florida in my bracket, I did think they would be able to make a run at some point like Tepper said...and it just never happened.
2. I think its Josey because we KNOW he's lost for the year. Anytime a QB has an injury to his throwing shoulder it becomes iffy to consider his recovery time and prospects, but losing a workhorse back like Josey (even with the depth we have) will haunt us more at this time.
Granted, I reserve the right to change that if it turns out the damage is worse than we expected when they cut him open on Friday.
3. I don't know. But when I saw that Sleepy "gave them the business" I immediately thought of Ron Cherry.
4. 29 shows (in HD) on the Cox Communications issued DVR. Mostly Disney Channel shows for the kid and hour long dramas for the person to whom I'm related by marriage. But I am going to hold onto that final episode of Good Eats as long as I can. Or until I can get a good way to rip things off of the DVR and onto my laptop (which doesn't have a TV tuner).
SleepyFloyd7: Frank Martin added as a studio analyst for CBS for the rest of the tournament.
ghtd36: Does he have an inside voice?
D-Sing: That picture of him WAS him using his inside voice.
SleepyFloyd7: Yes, he has voices inside his head. They, too, are screaming.
The Beef: So I cannot say I am all that excited about the prospect of him in the SEC and Shaka Smart at Illinois. Neither are coaches I would relish taking on 2-3 times (combined) per year.
D-Sing: Ditto.
Doug: I would have thought Frank Martin would never leave K-State for some place like South Carolina, but after what happened with Jamar Samuels and KSU's new better-safe-than-sorry attitude with NCAA compliance, I would not put it out of the realm of possibility now.
RPT: 1. The fact that Mizzou fans all have personal lists of such things is the Mizzou-est thing ever. Other than that, yeah, I'll just rip off D-Sing. "Look, it was so bad for me, that I actually sat down and wrote about it post-game."
2. Josey stings obviously, though Franklin's has the potential to have the most impact. The wild card here is whether or not Elvis plays at the same level he did before his injury. If he can't come all the way back, that's a major storyline against SEC D-Lines.
3. Meth. Always meth.
4. I'm currently DVR-less. It sucks as bad as it sounds.
And, I think you all meant "2008 Cotton Bowl Referee Ron Cherry," which I remember only because ghtd and I (who were in the same section by completely random chance) freaked out and started yelling "GIVING HIM THE BUSINESS!" when he was announced for the coin toss.
The Beef: Um...that is the EXACT same reaction Bill C. and I (and friends) had.
ghtd36: So much insanity at the Cotton Bowl.
-Realizing by total chance that RPT and I were in the same section (and, actually, the first time he ever met The Fiancee)
-Interacting with Arkansas fans, which was exactly what you think it was
-The fact that what was expected to be a nip-and-tuck game ended up being a laugher
-Tony Temple doing his Tony Templing
-Ron Cherry
-The 11am kickoff on New Year's Day, which meant everyone in the stadium was at least partially temporarily insane
Bill C.: And, simultaneously, the NFL breaks Twitter by both suspending Sean Payton for a full year and having the Jets trade for Tim Tebow. Please tell me the Payton story will be the bigger story of the two ... please, for my own sanity, tell me that...
ghtd36: The Payton story will be the bigger story of the HAHAHAHAHAHAH oh man, almost made it through the whole thing.
The Beef: As a Jets fan....I just don’t know what to say.
I don’t mind the idea of Tebow in the wildcat (though we need another RB and some OL help for that), but the notion that Tebow is going to clean up the asylum that Ryan and Tannenbaum have created is moronic. Nevermind they will have now spent money on THREE QB’s this off-season (also signed Stanton I think)
But Payton for a year means the Rams need to be holding their breath, considering this has followed Robinson EVERYWHERE. If Sean gets a year, doesn’t Robinson have to get more? I realize Payton is the HC and it is supposed to stop with him...but I don’t think it will work that way here.
The Beef: Sorry...did not see Robinson is out indefinitely
D-Sing: Wow.
I thought Payton would get 4-6 games at most and Williams would get a year.
Gregg Williams basically, I think, just got slapped with the NFL equivalent of a show-cause. He has to be gone for more than a year...I'm thinking at least two. He can't come back before Payton, IMHO.
As far as the Jets getting Tebow...I assume this has to be part of some greater mind game they're playing with Sanchez. Have someone closer to his own age on the roster to push him, because it's not like Brunell was doing that.
The Beef: The Jets have FOUR QB’s on salary now, since they still had RPT-favorite Greg McElroy hanging around bashing things in the off-season
D-Sing: Teams often bring in more qbs heading into camp than they actually need...I wouldn't be surprised if Gang Green brought in a free agent QB or a late round draftee as well. Let them fight it out for the third slot.
The Beef: Well but why even bother at this point considering you just signed one, renewed another and traded for another, all with a 4th on the roster already. What would be the purpose of a 5th?
SleepyFloyd7: Well, it's one louder, isn't it?
D-Sing: Maybe the goal is to get to 11?
The Beef: With that front office....I could buy that
(An hour later...)
The Beef: And to circle back...Shaka Smart has apparently turned down Illinois to stay at VCU. This comes as some surprise to me because of his connection to the Illini AD from their time at Akron (I believe)
Doug: It sounds like Illinois and Nebraska are both having trouble finding a basketball coach.
The Beef: One surprises me...the other does not
Doug: I know. Who could turn down the Cornhuskers?
The Beef: Anyone know who they went after so far?
Doug: Obsorne says they haven't "offered" the job to anyone, but it sounds like they've been denied by Gregg Marshall, Mark Few and Tad Boyle (but all three may have simply been "Hey, are you interested?" kind of offers. Also, apparently, Ben Howland (!!!) turned them down as well.
ghtd36: I know he's at Southern Miss, but someone should give Larry Eustachy another chance.
/only half-kidding
The Beef: Hmmm...those are not bad names to have gone after I guess...I don’t disagree with Tepper about Larry E