A Whole Lotta Randomness

Welcome, dear readers, to another Links post where Karen isn’t really sure what to focus on. There’s just a whole lotta... stuff out there.

First up, if this isn’t an amazing recruiting pitch, I don’t know what is.

Next, Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou graded the year in Mizzou’s sports, and the big sports’ results (football, mens/womens hoops)? YIKES. Big yikes.

Also on the agenda, the Missourian Staff did a TERRIFIC job getting updates from all of Mizzou’s Olympic sports hopefuls— Dom Bradley, J’den Cox, and Queen Karissa. Be sure to check out the links below to the articles.

And finally, on a super weird hoops note, WatchStadium basketball analyst Jeff Goodman asked ALL D-1 coaches what they were watching while stuck at home. 337 responded — including our very own Cuonzo Martin, who had excellent choices (I’m not surprised).

Some thoughts: Big fan of Tubby Smith’s choices. Earl Grant’s tv show is embarrassing (and that’s coming from someone who watches the Bachelor). Of course Rick Pitino isn’t talking to the media and answering this survey— he’s probably out doing morally corrupt things. Muss, I watch Empire too but that show hasn’t been good in years. Jerry Stackhouse and Mike Anderson are too good for this survey, apparently. Given that Bruce Pearl made an appearance on a reality show this season because his assistant coach’s daughter was on it, you’d think it would get a shout out, but nope. You could close your eyes and randomly point to a coach, and chances are, their favorite tv show is Seinfeld and/or their favorite movie is A Few Good Men. Oh, and choosing Sportscenter as your favorite tv show is super lame (again, coming from someone who willingly watches The Bachelor franchise).

Anyway, was that random enough for you? Onto the links we go. Oh, and Happy Friday.

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Josh handed out some end of the season baseball awards. Still sad it all had to end when they were on a 7-game win streak... (stupid pandemic)
• Nate the Great and BK started something fun— a Mizzou Legends Draft! First up- first round. Who did they pick? You should definitely read it and find out.
• WORTH REPEATING: Catch up with Nate and BK’s Before the Box Score podcast- Bunker Edition. These two are so good together on the airwaves.
• COMING UP!!! More player reviews- next up is Mitchell Smith! And ROUND 2 of the MTL Draft!

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More Links:

Football

• Former Mizzou corner EJ Gaines has found himself a new team— THE BILLS, according to Ian Rapoport, national insider for NFL.com.
• J-Mac confessed to running the wrong route in the Alamo Bowl when their twitter shared the footage today. Funny stuff.

Hoops

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Matter’s Best of Mizzou countdown continued, and next up is Kareem Rush!
• Rivals.com: Eric Bossi, national recruiting analyst, looked at each of Josh Christopher’s remaining suitors, and made a case for each of them. Him not being able to make it back out to visit Missouri before his upcoming announcement really hurts Mizzou’s chances. Sigh.
• In good news, BGSU grad transfer Justin Turner has Mizzou on his “list”, according to college hoops insider, Jeff Goodman on the twitter. And in case you missed it earlier in the week when I shared this, our very own Matthew J Harris had some thoughts on him.
• KC Star: On the new KC Sports Beat pod, Blair Kerkhoff, along with guests Kellis Robinett, Taylor Eldridge and Souichi Terada talked transfer season and the departures at Kansas State, Wichita State (SOOOOOOO many) and Missouri.
• From Dave Matter’s Thursday chat at STL Today, which I found interesting:

• Good to know that the SEC will not be taking a huge hit on this:

Mizzou Olympic Sports, by the Missourian staff

• Max Baker of the Columbia Missourian wrote a story on former Mizzou wrestler/current volunteer assistant Dom Bradley’s Olympic dreams being put on hold. He was training for the USA Wrestling Olympic Trials.
• Andy Kimball of the Missourian wrote a story about former Mizzou runner (and GOAT) Karissa Schweizer’s Olympic wait. Schweizer has been setting the track on fire as of late, most recently with her American Record in the 3000m, so it’s sad that those plans will be put on hold for a bit longer.
• Max Baker ALSO wrote about former Tiger wrestler J’den Cox, who is gearing up for a whole new challenge amidst the Olympics chaos.

Assorted Mizzou Sports News

• Mitchell and Gabe of PowerMizzou were back with new hot takes on their Blowin’ Smoke, Presented by Weston Tobacco series (free). They predict their confidence level on if the CFB season will start on time, make a few Mizzou Hoops predictions, and decide upon the #3 pick of the NFL Draft, which seems... odd.
• St. Louis NBC station Chanel 5 KSDK did a really cool feature on Mizzou Baseball senior Peter Zimmerman.
• Super cool stat about Mizzou Softball. Really wishing we’d gotten to see a full season out of Larissa Anderson’s squad.

• A note from Mizzou Swimming & Diving senior, Jennifer King, who came to Mizzou from Scotland. Thanks, Jen!

Interesting/Non-Mizzou News

These are a few of the best sports stories & tidbits I found regarding some goings-on in sports and the world (not that spidery).

• Cards fan or not, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared the late Bryan Burwell’s (my absolute favorite sportswriter) perfect piece about Game 6 of the 2011 World Series in honor of MLB replaying that astonishing game for their virtual Opening Day. (chills)
• Steph Curry did an instagram live with Dr. Anthony Fauci about coronavirus. Read about it at USA Today, where you can also watch the video. It was also recapped by The Sporting News. It’s was a really great video, and I highly recommend it.
• LeBron James told The Sporting News’ Sacha Pisani that there’s no excitement or joy in sports without fans.
• Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou shared the Amazon wish list for the Boys and Girls Club of Columbia. Please check it out and see if you can help.
• The Ringer, Bill Simmons’ brainchild (of which I am obsessed), has a new pod coming out in April featuring Jemele Hill and Van Lathan. They will be doing a deeeeeep dive rewatchable of HBO’s amazing series, The Wire. Can’t wait for this.

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