Thursday, May 29, 2008

Mizzou 25 Champion and baseball links

Thanks to several blogs', including Big MO Sports, attempts to galvanize support for Norm Stewart in Rock M Nation's Mizzou 25 Coaches Tournament, Norm was able to make a remarkable comeback in the final days of the poll and actually accumulated more votes than wrestling coach Brian Smith. 



But in a controversial decision, the writers at RMN ruled the contest a split decision. I gotta be honest, even though I wanted Norm to win this thing and he did technically get more votes, I think Smith was the rightful winner. I'd like to think that the efforts made by blogs like my own encouraged hundreds of people to head to the polls at RMN and vote for the Messiah of Mizzou hoops, but I suspect there was a good deal of ballot stuffing going on. 

And although I felt Norm deserved to win, I admire the passion of the MU wrestling fans. For Brian Smith to get a considerably larger amount of votes than Norm Stewart on the most popular Mizzou blog on the web is really impressive. Even if I think their votes were off base, props to them and props to Rock M for an entertaining series. I thoroughly enjoyed both the Mizzou 25 players and coaches tournaments. 





I have a plethora of baseball links to pass along to prep you for the NCAA Tournament, which begins tomorrow with the Tigers playing Ole Miss at 11 a.m. in Coral Gables, Fla.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sports journalism and the role that Big MO Sports (and other blogs) will play in it


Photo through Creative Commons

I'll start this post with a disclaimer: If you are looking for commentary on Mizzou athletics then you should probably skip this post and come back later this week. I've been meaning to devote a post to Mizzou's running back situation and plan to write that sooner rather than later. But for now I'm going to be discussing something that is pretty much unrelated to Chase Daniel, Aaron Crow and Keon Lawrence.

I'm still trying to figure out what direction to take this blog. I plan to keep its focus predominantly on all things Mizzou, but since the conception of Big MO Sports, I have tended to include a lot of commentary on the world of sports journalism. That in itself is not entirely unrelated to Mizzou considering MU is essentially the journalism capital of the U.S. But I would like to include more of those critiques in my posts since sports journalism, along with MU athletics, are probably my two favorite things to talk about.

And that's what brings us to tonight's post. By now, if you care about blogs, journalism or Friday Night Lights (the book, not the movie or TV series) then you've probably seen or at least heard of (Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and the author of the groundbreaking FNL) Buzz Bissinger's infamous tirade on the HBO program, Costas Now, directed at Will Leitch, founder of the popular sports blog site Deadspin

I avoided commenting on the Bissinger ordeal immediately after it happened for several reasons:
  1. Virtually every sports-related blogger commented on Bissinger's comments to the point that the topic was completely beaten into the ground and there was nothing left for me to say that hadn't already been said.
  2. Bissinger's comments were completely off base. He proved to have no comprehension of what blogs were nor what they should or could be. He sounded like an angry carriage driver refusing to acknowledge that the automobile is the means of transportation of the future. Which leads me to my final reason.
  3. I hated seeing what a moron Bissinger at least seems to be. I guess previous to his appearance on the show I could have been considered a Bissinger disciple. I loved his book on Tony La Russa, 3 Nights in August, and Friday Night Lights should be read by every aspiring journalist whether they have an interest in sports or not. 
Now the reason I bring Bissinger up now is not to point out how stupid (and cruel) his comments were but to use him as the prototypical example of a guy who doesn't understand where journalism is headed and the role that blogs will play in said future. 

Furthermore, I'd like to compare him to a guy who I believe does get it, the Kansas City Star's Joe Posnanski. Joe-Po recently did an interview for the blog, The Big Lead in which he discussed many interesting topics including the future (or lack thereof) of newspapers. 

The future of that medium has been a growing concern of mine with my entrance into the working world growing nearer and more and more people, including Tony Kornheiser, proclaiming that newspapers are dead. That death is being largely attributed to blogs like Deadspin and Fanhouse (although I have yet to hear Big MO Sports blamed for this death). But something Posnanski, who writes one of the best sports columns in America and also updates a brilliant blog regularly, points out is that although Kornheiser is great at what he does (he's wonderful on his radio show, fantastic on PTI and excellent on Monday Night Football) and has been one of the best sports writers of our generation, he hasn't really been a newspaper writer for quite a long time now. Therefore, he is probably not the most qualified person to be making such bold statements. 

Moreover, Posnanski sees the use that blogs can have in supplementing newspapers:

"It seems to me that blogs can be whatever we want to make them, but we have to make them ESSENTIAL. They are a direct line to our readers. It’s a great opportunity, but it’s more important than ever that you offer something unique — a strong voice, an informed outlook, an insider’s view, a funny approach, a breath of honesty, whatever — because there’s just SO much out there."

Posnanski also mentions that, depending how you choose to measure it, newspaper's readership is actually bigger than its ever been: 

"You know when you combine online and the print product, more people are reading newspapers today than at any point in American history."

The point that Posnanski goes on to make is that newspapers aren't dying but changing and changing drastically. And it's that change that makes a guy like Bissinger go on a rant with a temper and fury that would make Bob Knight blush. 

But the entire interview with Posnanski is worth reading, especially if you're interested in journalism. There's really a lot of practical advice for aspiring journalists. 

One thing I found particularly interesting is that he tries to avoid as much commentary on the world of sports (ESPN, talk radio, etc.) as he can so he is able to form his own opinion. That's a strategy that makes a lot of sense and would probably benefit a lot of writers. When you are overloaded with so many opinions on every topic in the sports world, many of which that make sense and many of which that don't, it becomes difficult to decipher your opinion from those of the Woody Paiges and J.A. Adandes. That in turn, makes it impossible to form your own unique voice, something I think most writers would tell you is the cornerstone to becoming successful writer.  

Anyways, that's my two cents on where the profession is going. Maybe it's just me hoping that I'm not entering into a dying business and destined to be homeless in 10 years, but for my sake lets hope not. 

Friday, May 23, 2008

Mizzou athletes doing their best Steven Spielberg impressions


After I posted that Glen Dandridge video a few posts down (a GD25 Production) I received a link to Marcus Woods's youtube profile (he actually does an awesome Waterboy impersonation). That got me wondering how many other Mizzou athletes have made youtube videos? Greg Bracey is featured in a popular and utterly hilarious "Res Hall Linebacker" video but I don't think he is the one that posted it. Dandridge and Castine Bridges are the only other Mizzou athletes that I am aware of that have posted videos and Bridges has several, including his high school highlights, but I am sure there are more. If you know of any please pass along the link, some of these videos are pretty entertaining. 


Now onto some other links:
  • Aaron Crow was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. Not a big surprise, nor was it a surprise that OF Aaron Senne and DH Jacob Priday joined him on the All-Big 12 First Team. C Trevor Coleman earned 2nd-team honors while SP Kyle Gibson, 2B Greg Folgia and OF Ryan Lollis were Honorable Mention. I'm a little disappointed that Gibby wasn't better this year. I thought he was going to be just a notch below Crow this season but he was shakier than I expected. I guess part of my problem with Gibby is that the only other pitcher comparable to him in size that I have seen live has been Randy Johnson so I just naturally assume he's going to be just like the Big Unit, which is obviously unfair. Good thing is, he's only a sophomore and should be better than Crow and maybe even Scherzer by the time it's said and done.
  • If you haven't seen this, Rock M Nation has been doing a tournament to decide "the best, most likable, most influential Mizzou coach of the last 25 years." Currently wrestling coach Brian Smith is beating the legend himself, Norm Stewart. Smith has earned 56% of the votes, earlier today he had a 60/40 advantage. I'm sorry but that's absurd. Rock M's readership must consist of an enormous amount of MU wrestling fans. I'm not taking anything away from Smith because he's a fantastic guy and what he's done with the program is remarkable, BUT IT'S NORM STEWART. The man is the face of Mizzou athletics. Rock M did a similar tournament a couple months ago to determine the best athlete and Ben Askren crushed Chase Daniel in the final, which I think is legitimate. Askren might be the greatest athlete to ever compete for the university. But Smith beating Stormin' Norman is nothing short of outrageous. 

Big 12 Tournament: A microcosm of our season

Is anyone surprised that the baseball team blew a two run lead in the bottom of the 9th inning to OU last night? Because you had to think our sporadic offense and utter lack of anything resembling a decent bullpen would eventually cost us in a critical situation. For the record, this is our fifth loss this season in which we had a 9th inning lead.

It's a shame too because if we would have held on last night we'd have clinched a spot in Sunday's championship game meaning we could have had a day off today and rested whoever we needed to during Saturday's game against Texas A&M. Jamieson had made the decision to move Kyle Gibson back to the bullpen, where he excelled last season, which would seem to cure our bullpen woes even if it meant sacrificing a fantastic No. 2 starter. I don't know what the plans were but Gibby pitched 2.2 innings on Thursday and an inning last night. Had he not blown the save we probably could have gotten four or 5 innings out of him on Sunday and teamed him with someone like Nick Tepesch or Ian Berger and maybe even brought Crow back out to pitch an inning.

All in all I think it was a great strategy by Jamieson to move Gibby to the pen and if things would have gone as they should have we'd be in a fantastic position to win a conference championship. But you can't commit four errors (like the Tigers did) and expect to win a close game. Now we have to win tomorrow and get some help from Texas (who play OU tomorrow morning) and Mizzou must win their game against top seeded A&M just to get to Sunday. That could easily happen but our road to actually winning this tournament just got a helluva lot bumpier and our chances of hosting a regional now seem nonexistent.

I'll be back later tonight with some interesting links I have to pass along.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Baseball bipolarism and links

I was on the verge of dismissing Mizzou baseball's chances of making to the CWS and then they went out this weekend and outscored No. 5-ranked Nebraska 37-13 and TOTALLY REDEEMED THEMSELVES!


OK, sorry for the Harry Dunne impersonation. But in all seriousness, I really don't know what our chances are of making it to Omaha. But all of a sudden we've won 8 of our last 10 and might be getting hot at the right time. 

I think the big X-factor is Nick Tepesch (you could also count Rick Zagone and possibly Ian Berger as significant variables). It's no secret our bullpen might be the combustible relief corps this side of Busch Stadium. But Tepesch easily has the best stuff of all our relievers and has the best potential to come out of the 'pen and pitch 3+ dominant innings. He did a solid job today in only giving up one earned run in 3.2 innings. 

But his inexperience has shown all year. His control has been downright awful at times. He's a guy that could come out and not give up a single hit or not get a single out, depending on the day. 

But at least we're playing well for the time being. 

Now onto a few links from the past few days:
  • So Kansas cheated to win the National Championship. Not really. It's impossible to determine how much blame should be put on KU at this point and as Jason Whitlock points out, the real criminal is the NCAA. But I recall getting an inordinate amount of crap during the Ricky Clemmons era so I have no problem rubbing Beakers fans noses in this. You deserve it whenever you try to argue that your school's athletic department spotless. Bottom line, it's likely that every athletic department in the NCAA, from mid-majors on up, contain a certain degree of corruption. And it looks like Kansas might be worse than most.

  • Also from youtube, if you ever feel like reliving the Glen Dandridge era, here it is courtesy of GD25 himself:

Friday, May 16, 2008

Unexpected Contributions: Ziggy Hood and Jon Gissinger Could Be Key For Mizzou

Special to Bleacher Report

In 2007 the Missouri Tigers had one of the greatest seasons in school history. It was a season that MU students, alumni, fans and even players have described as nothing short of magical.

The success of ’07 however, would not have been possible without the emergence of several players who made critical unexpected contributions throughout the season. Last year few people outside of Columbia had ever even heard the names Jeremy Maclin, William Moore or Pig Brown but now those names are familiar to college football fans around the country. If the Tigers are to remain in the national spotlight they will need a new batch of players to give them the same kind of pleasant surprises this fall.

There’s no sense discussing the impact that Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, Maclin and Moore will have on Mizzou’s season. If those guys are healthy they’ll be All-Big 12 players and a couple of them will likely be All-Americans.

But there are two players, one on offense and one on defense, that I want to discuss who are relatively unknown to most college football fans and have the potential to help the Tigers reach even greater heights next season.

For the past three seasons Gary Pinkel’s high octane offense has featured a two-headed beast at tight end in Coffman and Martin Rucker. With Rucker graduated, MU is anticipating the arrival of the No. 5-ranked (according to scout.com) freshman tight end, Andrew Jones.

But it is another tight end that I expect to lining up with Coffman next year and his name is Jon Gissinger. Playing has been hard to come by for the junior who has been relegated to special teams the past two years. But that’s not necessarily anything Gissinger could help. If he would have beat out Rucker or Coffman for a starting role then you’d be looking at the best tight end in college football.

But while Gissinger doesn’t have the size or athleticism of Rucker or Coffman, he does have a great set of hands and, if the Black and Gold game is any indication, has already developed some chemistry with Daniel. Gissinger didn’t drop a pass and led the Tigers in receiving during the spring game, catching six balls for 57 yards. He also appeared to be getting open all day long.

Gissinger’s probably not an All-Conference type of player but appears to be in the Tommy Saunders (senior MU wide receiver) mold in that he is a good route runner who may not wow with his ability but will make you marvel at his consistency.

On the defensive side of the ball d-lineman Ziggy Hood is not quite the unknown that Gissinger is but Hood has a chance to make the same kind of leap in his senior season that Pig Brown and William Moore made from ’06 to ’07.

Hood earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors last season but his performance in the Cotton Bowl has led many of the MU coaches to suggest that bigger things could be in store for Ziggy.

Hood annihilated the Arkansas offensive lineman and collected 6 tackles and 1.5 sacks. If Gissinger’s ceiling is solid contributor with remarkable consistency then Ziggy could be a potential All-American candidate. And that could potentially make Mizzou’s defense the second best unit in the Big 12 (behind Oklahoma).

And if that happens then the Tigers could potentially be the 2008 National Champions.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Finals induced inactivity

I apologize for the lack of activity here at Big MO Sports the past couple weeks. Five papers due in the next two weeks in addition to preparing for finals have diverted my attention away from Big MO. As soon as the semester ends I plan on spending much more time trying to expand Big MO, so you have that to look forward to.


In the meantime, take a gander at these videos I found this weekend on youtube:

A Clarence Gilbert shooting exhibition against KU circa 2000.

And the end of a classic '97 Big Monday matchup with the Beakers at Hearnes.

And finally, a video from a fan sitting directly behind the goalposts of the second missed FG from Armageddon.