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Yesterday's football practice was just a walkthrough of sorts in advance of today's final scrimmage, and there aren't quite as many links about it as normal, so we're just going to cram it all in here.
Mizzou Football Links
So in yesterday's SBN preview, I laid out Missouri's prospects for 2012 like this: five probable wins (SE Louisiana, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Syracuse, though Vandy could obviously be salty as hell), three probable losses (@South Carolina, Alabama, @Florida, though I only included Florida there because of their high Football Outsiders Almanac 2012 projection), and four relative tossups (Georgia, @UCF, @Tennessee, @A&M). Throw Florida into the "relative tossups" pool if you want, but that sounds about right, doesn't it? Mizzou could certainly win one of the probable losses and lose one of the probable wins, of course, but those would be relatively surprising results.
So I split the different in the tossups and set the bar around 7-5 or so. This didn't necessarily mean I was "predicting" 7-5; I just meant that anything above it would be seen as a strong success, anything below it a minor (at least) failure. I could go on and on about how I think 9-3 is a distinct possibility, but that wasn't really the point of the exercise.
Anyway, both in comments there and at Senator Blutarsky's place (link below), this was described as somewhat pessimistic. So I want to ask you: was it? Would you view 7-5 as disappointing (no matter the circumstances)? And remember, try to differentiate between what you hope will happen and what the actual midpoint is on what you expect to happen.
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Brief Practice Reports
The Trib (Dave Matter): Wednesday Camp Report: Tigers prep for final scrimmage
The Trib: Moe finally among the healthy, but injuries still haunting Tigers
PowerMizzou: PMTV-HD: Josh Henson
PowerMizzou: PMTV-HD: Andy Hill -
Hoch
The Missourian: Matt Hoch thrives after position change -
Ealy
Post-Dispatch: Kony Ealy playing for keeps -
DGB
Post-Dispatch: DGB learning fast
The Trib (Dave Matter): Answering the Twitter Satchel@dicksmith188: Whom should SEC defenses fear more this season? DGB or MLucas?
I don’t think SEC defenses fear anyone. They might devote more attention to one player over another in their game plan, but I wouldn’t consider that fear. Lucas is a first-year starter and Green-Beckham has yet to play in a college game, so I’m not sure any coordinator is going to focus his strategy on either player — unless one of them produces like an All-American the first few weeks of the season. Coaches spend more time preparing for formations and tendencies, not so much individual personnel. For example, when Missouri’s defensive staff studied SEC film this offseason, they didn’t focus on individual players. Personnel changes from season to season, even week to week. They concentrated on formations, plays and tendencies in certain situations. That said, if Lucas consistently beats single coverage on the outside the first few games, opponents will have to consider giving him extra attention with an another defender. In theory, that could free up the inside receivers with more single coverage. Green-Beckham is going to play inside where there’s more traffic and potential mismatches. Will teams stick a smaller but faster player on him or defend him with a slower, more physical safety or linebacker? What made Missouri’s offense so potent in 2007-08, besides having an elite quarterback, was its loaded receiver corps. Defenses could only assign extra defenders in so many directions. Eventually, Chase Daniel was going to exploit a weakness. That would be an ideal situation for this team if both Lucas and Green-Beckham, and the other weapons, can all produce.
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Rookies
We Are Mizzou: Mizzou Rookie Spotlight: Rickey Hatley
PowerMizzou: Freshman Q&A: Rickey Hatley
We Are Mizzou: Donavin Newsom Mic'd Up -
Max Copeland Gets A Scholarship
KC Star: Walk-on lineman awarded scholarship -
2012
Senator Blutarsky: Let's talk about Missouri -
2013 Recruiting
Post-Dispatch: Summit's Beisel looking to leave legacy
PowerMizzou: Jamone Boyd sets first official visit
Mizzou Basketball Links
Zach Coleman 6'6 wing Woodrow Wilson HS decommitted from Missouri last night according to close sources. Story @ texasboysbasketball.com 8-23
— Alan Branch (@TXboysbasketbal) August 22, 2012
No word on whether Zach Coleman disliked St. Louis or not.
/having too much fun with that to let it die just yet
While I do a better job than some of tuning out recruiting rankings as a whole, I kind of hate that my first reaction to Coleman's decommitment was "Eh, he's not very highly rated anyway." Mizzou liked him enough to offer, so he must be pretty good, but ... haven't been able to get worked up about this. We'll see what happens.
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2013 Recruiting
PowerMizzou: Coleman Decommits from Missouri
PowerMizzou: New Mizzou Offer
Mizzou Diamond Sports Links
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In The Pros
SimmonsField.com: Missouri Baseball in the Minors & Majors: Outstanding on Their Fields -
Winter Camp
MUtigers.com: Mizzou Baseball Announces Winter Camp Dates
Other Mizzou Links
Yep, Molly Kreklow and Lisa Henning are dorks. Which, of course, is very endearing to me.
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Mizzou Volleyball
Mizzou Network: Molly Kreklow & Lisa Henning Have A Message For You
MUtigers.com: Volleyball Opens Season with Tiger Invite -
Mizzou Soccer
The Trib: MU soccer team enters national rankings warily
MUtigers.com: Alyssa Diggs Earns National Honors
The Missourian: Missouri's Alyssa Diggs earns honors after opening weekend
Other
Man oh man, did Joe Posnanski end up in an impossible situation in deciding to write a Paterno book when he did. There was just no way to get the tone right for this one, even for Posnanski, and I knew the reviews would be devastating even though I haven't read a word of it. Guess I'll have to read it for myself at some point and decide how I think he did.
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"I Award You No Points, And May God Have Mercy On Your Soul"
The Atlantic: 'Paterno': A Relentless, Failed Defense of Penn State's Disgraced Coach -
I Have Used This Word Reflexively For Years Now
DoobyTrain.com: Dan Castellaneta explains Homer SImpson's "D'oh!" -
The Theismann Made Me Cry
SB Nation: Bobbleheads From Our Dreams, Animated And Brought To Life