As with last Thursday, we’ve got a kind of hodgepodge of Mizzou Athletics news and notes, so I will try to keep it as organized as possible.
Up first, SOFTBALL. Larissa Anderson’s squad, who returns all its starters from a year ago, will kick off their season in the Sunshine State, at the Northern Lights Invitational February 11-13. According to MUTigers.com, this invite specifically is for teams that, due to weather conditions, would have problems playing/practicing outdoors at this time of year.
The Tigers are scheduled to take on UConn, Eastern Kentucky, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, and Liberty. Among those teams, Virginia Tech reached a Super Regional in 2021 while both Eastern Kentucky and Liberty appeared in a Regional.
Starting the season off in the Sunshine State ☀️
— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) October 14, 2021
https://t.co/7pIIzVcTlB
https://t.co/AnB511nG0z#OwnIt pic.twitter.com/gL15e6JQmE
Next up, fans have many questions about the football team, ranging from “How much will it cost to fire Steve Wilks, to “Why aren’t we seeing more young players get in late in the game when the season is pretty much a wash?” Well, Dave addressed fan concerns for FOUR hours in his Thursday chat. It’s for subscribers of the Post, so I can’t share much of it, but here’s one of tidbits that stood out to me:
One of the main topics for discussion in Dave Matter’s Thursday chat at STL Today was about Drinkwitz serving as the team’s OC. Chatters seemed to question that decision often, but, as Dave pointed out, Drink is not alone in this:
All these coaches call their own plays and serve as de-facto coordinators. (They might have an assistant coach listed as coordinator, but that’s just a title to justify a higher salary.) : Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M, Dan Mullen, Florida, Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma, Ryan Day, Ohio State, Steve Sarkisian, Texas, Mike Leach, Mississippi State, David Cutcliffe, Duke, Jeff Brohm, Purdue
And finally, ever wonder how Coach Drinkwitz’s salary compares to that of the rest of the country’s coaches? Well, USA Today released their salary info today, and the KC Star’s Lila Bromberg shared her findings:
#Mizzou's Eliah Drinkwitz is the 36th highest paid coach in the nation and 11th in the SEC, according to the USA Today 2021 coaching salary database that was just released. https://t.co/pCpdGbUX7F pic.twitter.com/lfZCFWsZbe
— Lila Bromberg (@lilabbromberg) October 14, 2021
From this list, it appears that Drink makes the same yearly base salary as Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh (who took a pay cut), Houston’s Dana Holgorsen, Rutgers’ Greg Schiano, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, and Tennessee’s Josh Heupel.
On to the Links! GO TIGERS!
Yesterday at Rock M
- Parker wrote a great story about Tyler Badie, and how his patience has truly paid off. It’s a great read.
- Nate wrote about the costume reveal and ponders, “Why stop at white pants? Why don’t we just wear white all the time for every game we ever play for the rest of time?”
- Sammy talked with Rush Roberts of Good Bull Hunting about the Texas A&M about this weekend’s matchup. He’s a man of a few words.
- A new BTBS podcast is ready for your listening ears, and Nate & StL Radio Wunderkind, Brandon Kiley, are back to chat about the upcoming Luther decision and the Aggies.
- COMING UP: We’ll have a brand new Pregamin, a Three & Out from Aaron, a Matt Harris piece on the non-con hoops game against a rebuilding Utah squad, and much more….
More Links:
Football
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Max Baker, in a special to the Post-Dispatch, talked to some former Tigers about the last time Missouri faced —and beat— Texas A&M on Nov. 30, 2013.
- KC Star: On a new SportsBeat KC episode, Blair Kerkhoff talked the regional beat writers — Kellis, Jesse, & Lila — about the local underdogs (Mizzou, kU, K-State) and if any of them will show some bite this weekend. Lila Bromberg wrote about the Tigers’ defensive line, which has been re-energized under new leadership.
- Ahead of Saturday’s game against the Aggies, Saturday Down South’s Stacy Mickles broke down the Tigers’ game.
- Columbia Tribune: Eric Blum asked if Mizzou football put Texas A&M on upset alert and told us what to know about the Aggies for Saturday, while Chris Kwiecinski asked, Can Mizzou football pull off something that hasn’t been done for an entire decade?
- In a new Opposition Research, PowerMizzou’s Gabe DeArmond talked with Olin Buchanan of TexAgs.com. Mitchell Forde wrote about how the Mizzou OL is looking to prove itself against the stout Texas A&M front.
- Get it, Sam!
Ripped It
— All-American Bowl (@AABonNBC) October 15, 2021
2022 All-American Sam Horn (@_sam_horn) slices the defense with this touchdown pass. #MIZ #AABXXII #AllAmericanBowl
pic.twitter.com/el1qXI9R3e
Hoops
- Power Mizzou’s Joel Lorenzi is putting together a cool thread of EACH player on the men’s roster for subscribers the next four weeks, and one of my faves, junior Kobe Brown, is next. Check it out if you are able. He’s already previewed Kaleb and Trevon.
- Another day, another Matthew J Harris tweet looking at Mizzou Hoops data. This time, it’s their Big XII opponents!
#Mizzou set to face the preseason Big 12 favorite and the team coaches tabbed to finish in the basement. https://t.co/pir8amGvan
— Matt Harris (@MattJHarris85) October 14, 2021
- @DataMizzou kept up their player analyses, and DaJuan “Quaye” Gordon is next. As mentioned earlier this week, click on the tweet to get the whole twitter thread.
Gordon is at his best in creating offense through defense and playing in transition. He's shown an ability to work well off the ball in the half court. Regaining form on his jump shot will be key. He converted on 33% of long range attempts his 1st year before dropping to 23%.
— Mizzou Basketball Analysis (@DataMizzou) October 14, 2021
- YAYA! Dude looks like a grown man and is only a freshman. So pumped to see him play!
MIZ ZOU pic.twitter.com/IxaRlPYWdH
— Yaya keita (@Yayakei26625378) October 14, 2021
- Looks like both President Choi and DRF made it over to the arena to check in with Mizzou Women’s Hoops at practice.
A good start to practice. Thanks for stopping by President Choi #OurTownOurTeam pic.twitter.com/Gm0K4QO7mA
— Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouWBB) October 14, 2021
It's October so we wear Pink in honor of Heather Morris, always on our minds and in our hearts. #BeStrong #BeCourageous. Thanks @DRFrancois1 for joining us, all in this fight together. #Mizzou pic.twitter.com/7xL2jVn1wn
— Tami L.Chievous (@MAGICWAND15) October 14, 2021
Other Mizzou Sports
- Soccer faces its toughest test yet as they travel to Fayetteville to take on No. 6 Arkansas, winners of their last 11 and unbeaten in the SEC. As a reminder, only 10 teams will make the SEC Tournament, so it’s especially important for the Tigers to have a good showing this evening. Check out the story from the Missourian’s Anthony Kristensen or read about it at MUTigers.com.
See ya in Fayetteville!#TakeTheStairs ⚽️ #FlyCOU pic.twitter.com/BIKoQL6Mry
— Mizzou Soccer (@MizzouSoccer) October 14, 2021
- Speaking of Soccer, this is super cool of the Athletic Department to share this in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and Julissa Cisneros.
Overwhelmed with gratitude I am grateful, my family is grateful, and every day is an opportunity to give back to this university & @MizzouSoccer.
— Julz (@julissa_523) October 14, 2021
¡¡¡Viva la raza!!! https://t.co/p712HS16Cg
- New season, new year of men’s and women’s swim teams being ranked…
Both Tiger squads in the top-2️⃣0️⃣ to start the season #MIZ pic.twitter.com/84xTLfQVjc
— Mizzou Swim & Dive (@MizzouSwimDive) October 14, 2021
- Fresh off a top five finish at Gans Creek, Cross Country is set to compete at the Nuttycombe Invitational, according to MUTigers.com. A total of 21 Tigers, 9 women and 12 men, are set to take to the starting boxes in both A and B races this weekend.
Mizzou in the WNBA/NBA News
- Game Three of the WNBA Finals will take place this evening against Sophie Cunningham’s Phoenix Mercury and the Chicago Sky. The game will be at 8pm on ESPN2 (they better have something REAL important on to move this to the secondary channel). The series is tied 1-1 after Wednesday night’s OT amazingness.
Side note: If you don’t watch the W, now would be the time to start, y’all. That game was absolutely THRILLING to watch. Witness:
Sophie says: “Ice those Ankles” @sophaller pic.twitter.com/fQD0zjtMLC
— Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouWBB) October 14, 2021
- In Thursday night’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, 127-92 (yikes), Dru played 17 minutes and had 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from three), with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 TO, and three PF. Unrelated to Dru side note: why was basically their entire team missing this game and listed as “not with team?” Where were PJ Tucker, Bam, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, and Duncan Robinson?
Next up for the Heat? A final preseason game tonight with a 5:30pm time slot against the Celtics on ESPN2.
Wheels down in ATL pic.twitter.com/L4i2TSCEpv
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) October 13, 2021
- MPJ did not play in Thursday’s Nuggets OT win over OKC, 113-107, due to a “sore left knee” but did play reallllly bad (according to the Denver Post’s Mike Singer) on Wednesday night. In Mike’s 24 minutes, he had the worst +/- on the team at -15… Stats-wise, he had 15 points on 6-14 shooting (2-7 from three) with 6 rebounds, 3 TO, and 4 PF. Ehhhhh… not great.
The Nuggets are off til Tuesday, 10/20, when the regular season opens against the Suns at 9pm on ESPN.
- The Jazz were off Thursday, but in Wednesday’s win over the Bucks, JC scored 18 points on 5-10 shooting (4-7 from three) with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in his 23 minutes. His +6 was second highest on the team.
The Jazz are also off til Tuesday, 10/20, when they open the regular season against the Thunder at 8pm.
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