Rock M Digest: Volume 7

Welcome back, Tiger fans, to another edition of Rock M Digest, a weekly column where I, Madame Editor, share with you my must-read picks from the past week at Rock M Nation. These stories made me think (sometimes too much), laugh, smile, cry... you get the picture. Since I have the distinct pleasure of reading everything on this wonderful website — I love reading it all, I swear — I want you, the readers, to know what you should be checking out if you don’t have time to read all the content.

At the bottom, I’ve gathered up my favorite quotes of the week and presented them with no context.

FYI: There are links to the stories in both the recommendations & the quotes so you can reference it if you so choose.

Let’s begin.

How can Kirby Moore fix this #Mizzou offense?

By Aaron Dryden

Aaron starts out this great post by making an excellent point. That we should commend Eli Drinkwitz for giving up his duties as the primary play caller to bring in another offensive mind who can really challenge some of what the team’s processes are. He asks that you remember this is not an easy thing for head coaches, especially offensive-minded ones, to do. To give up some of their power and ego and admit that the best thing for their program is to get some help. And in this case, help from someone who isn’t in his inner circle. I think that’s pretty cool.

Also pretty cool is Aaron’s look at the kinds of things we can expect from the new guy, Kirby Moore, based on film from Fresno State. While Moore ran some of the same things at Fresno State, there’s a lot different iterations and new stuff to like here. I’m interested to see how this all works out, aren’t you?

The Verdict: A missed opportunity for Mizzou in Fayetteville

By Matt Watkins, with video assist by Matt Harris

Just when I thought The Verdict couldn’t get any better, IT DID! Even in a loss! The guys have retooled/reorganized the setup a bit and it works SO WELL. Instead of giving all the keys to the game and then coming back to it later, a new and improved format has the pregame key to the game, then a discussion immediately afterwards of how it worked to go with stats and/or video. So thoughtful.

Another thing I liked in this edition of The Verdict is the easy way Matt-squared described the video clips. Here’s an example:

During broadcasts, you might hear a color analyst talk about a “scouting report” play. Folks, this is what they look like. Just look at Council. It’s been drilled into him that Brown will look to bully drive and use a crab dribble from the elbow. So, Council gives enough ground until Kobe is deep enough that the jumbo wing’s length presents a difficult finishing angle. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks bigs understood that Kobe attacks the baseline after facing up and will spin off a defender to drop-step toward the baseline.

Smart stuff. I look forward to these weekly. I hope you do as well.

New Year's Resolutions for Missouri Football

By Dan Keegan

In this interesting and entertaining piece by Dan, he looks at the traditional “New Year, New Me” mantras and applies it to the football team. He encourages Mizzou Football to kick a bad habit (starting games slow), gain muscle mass (beef up interior OL), learn a new language (new OC’s playbook), meet someone new (get a new QB), and connect with old friends & family (engage and bring in fans).

While we now know perhaps why Brady Cook had some trouble at QB1 this season — who knew you needed a working throwing shoulder? — this is a really nice jumping off point, and I love a good themed piece of writing. Check it out.

Out of Context Quotes of the Week

[reminder: the title of the article links to its location for easy accessibility]

“Anyway, Mizzou is ranked whether you want them to be or not, SETH.” —Josh Matejka, The Revue

“If Mizzou was wanting to make a statement to open up league play, consider this a full-blown filibuster.” — Matt Watkins, The Verdict: Kentucky Beatdown

“His biggest flaw is highly visible every Saturday: his offense — much heralded for the “eye candy” and the side-to-side action — was so prolific at his previous stops but has not been effective in the SEC at all. — Dan Keegan, 2023 New Year’s Resolutions

“Sean East is a tempo starter,” Gates said. “He’s our fire kit...I don’t want him to ever look to the sidelines. I want him to play because his instincts are better than a lot of people.” — Brandon Haynes, Mizzou-Vandy recap

“Now to get to the point. When things are going well for your program, other programs are going to want what you have.” — Sam Snelling, Pourover

Quote I loved that wasn’t written by a Rock M Staffer:

“A team is a microcosm of society,” (Dr. Joseph) Carr said. “Kids come together from different walks of life with different situations. The pressures of the games, the ups and the downs, and the good times, sometimes you need tools to manage the icy conditions.” —Chris Kwiecinski, How Dr. Joe Carr’s impact is helping Mizzou Basketball peak entering in 2023