Farewell, Keon

I was extremely disappointed to hear that Keon Lawrence will be leaving the University of Missouri.

All season we heard that Keon had been considering moving closer to his home in New Jersey but at the end of the year it appeared that he had fully committed to MU and Mike Anderson. In fact, on Wednesday he sounded very upbeat when talking about this year's group with the Kansas City Star, "This squad, everybody’s about the team,” Lawrence said. “They’re going to give what it takes to win. Whether somebody doesn’t like it or not. They’re here to please the coach."

Keon told the Star that the reason he is transferring is to be closer to home but that was after he had taken a subtle shot at the MU coaching staff earlier in the day when talking to the Columbia Tribune, "It's not my teammates, and it's not the fans. That should tell you something."

He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch over the phone that he's not even sure he'll return to school.

Keon's past has been well documented. Gangs were prevalent in his life throughout his childhood and adolescent years. Earlier this year his brother was murdered and his sister is also reportedly deep into the gang life. According to the P-D, Lawrence will move back to Newark with his mother, who abandoned him as a child, to the streets that nearly swallowed him before escaping to Mizzou. 

"The people I used to run with know I'm coming back home and I don't know what's going to happen," Lawrence said. "But this might be best for me right now."

I'm not going to pretend to understand Keon's situation or try to say that I know what's best for him. But I can't imagine this being a good decision. Keon appeared to have overcome his past and survived, but his battle could be long from over.

I'm not going to bash him for leaving MU even though it's extremely disappointing. I do think his jab at the coaching staff was a little below the belt. And I'm not taking Anderson's side in this. Anderson could be driving the program deeper into the ground than it already is, we don't know and only time will tell. But if you're going to say something like that about your coach after you leave decide to leave the program you better be prepared to explain exactly what the problem is that you have with him. Don't hint that there was something there the public didn't know about and then refuse to answer any followup questions, which is exactly what Keon did. Either tell-all or don't tell a thing.

But that's really the secondary issue here. Keon's obviously a very troubled young man who's going through a lot of serious problems that most have us couldn't possibly comprehend. I hope he has the wisdom to stay as far away as he possibly can from the people that got him into so much trouble in his high school years. 

If you've ever seen Keon in a public setting he always seems to be having a great time. He's a guy who's always the life of the party. It's hard to believe he's been as unhappy as he says he's been. 

I've gushed about Keon as a player before and I sincerely believed he was going to be the catalyst that turned the program back around. But it wasn't meant to be. This is a significant blow to the team's Tournament chances next season but that's also besides the point. 

Right now this looks like a heartbreaking story. My prayers are with Keon and I hope he's able to find his place, wherever that may be.

61-year-old KU superfan marries 22-year-old

I don't usually write multiple postings on one day but I've got a little free time and I found a link that's too good to not pass along.

Jimmy Neal is an avid Jayhawks fan nicknamed the "White Owl" who is 61 years old. He apparently spends a lot of time at Wescoe Beach on KU's campus shouting at students to "Wake up!" Basically, he's the complete opposite of MU's Brother Jed but just as crazy. 

The Daily Kansan says he is "known for his enthusiastic dancing and cheering at KU games." It also reports that he's set to marry 22-year-old KU student Julia Lee.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

It gets better. The two have only known each other for a little over a month. The soon-to-be Mrs. Owl also told the Kansan reporter about her engagement before her father.

Neal has spawned two baby owls from previous marriages but he expects this marriage to last because "In previous marriages I (Neal) would see the reflection of my love, not their love."

He knew that he and Julia were meant to be together the first time he laid eyes on her, "I saw an injured spirit and I'm all about helping people and being a light."

It sounds like this guy has been spending a little too much time hanging out with Aqib Talib.

But don't worry, the couple doesn't plan to become sexually active until after they're married. And even though the White Owl is settling down he still plans to be a regular at KU basketball and football games. 

For the sake of humanity lets hope these two don't produce a child. 

Graham Watson headed to The Network

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Mizzou beat writer Graham Watson will be leaving the PD next month for the greener pastures of ESPN. 

Graham is an MU journalism grad (and former soccer player) who has covered Tiger athletics for the past several years. I always respected her professionalism in maintaining a level of objectivity despite the seeming conflict of interest (being a former Mizzou athlete). 

Her blog paled in comparison to the Tribune's Dave Matter but her weekly chat sessions were must reads for Mizzou fans. Any questions as to wether or not she was ESPN material were erased in the spring of '07 when she wrote two superb pieces on the rough upbringings of Keon Lawrence and Jeremy Maclin (I looked everywhere and was unable to find links to these without paying $2.95). 

It's weird how you kind of grow attached to the writers that cover your team. Mizzou's had pretty solid coverage with the trifecta of Matter, Watson and DeArmond. I think a lot of Tiger fans will miss Graham and I look forward to seeing her on the Worldwide Leader.

Speaking of Graham, she wrote an encouraging article for Tiger fans about what the only goal is for this year's team. 

Kim English=my new favorite Mizzou hoopster

I wrote a little bit yesterday about how much I like Keon Lawrence being in a leadership position on the MU basketball team next season. I've always been a big fan of Keon even during his season-long slump last year. In fact, I'd consider him my favorite player on the team. But that might change real soon and it's no fault of Keon's.

Freshman guard Kim English's mutigers player bio says he "has been called a gym-rat by coaches and teammates because of his tremendous work ethic." But after reading this Mike DeArmond story in Thursday's KC Star, I'm starting to think that gym-rat doesn't do him justice. It's a short blurb (but very telling) so I'll go ahead and post the entire thing:

Kim English lives only half a mile from Mizzou Arena. However, for the last four nights, he has made the basketball locker room his bedroom.

“On my recruiting visit, they told us this was a 24-hour practice facility,” English, a 6-foot-6 freshman guard from Baltimore, said Wednesday. “We’ve got a key and it works at 12 p.m., it works at 1 a.m. It works 24 hours a day.”

English sleeps in a leather chair that he drags from the players’ lounge to the locker room, allowing him to work around the clock.

“To help this team win this year, I’ll do anything,” said English, who played at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., last season, averaging 17.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

“I’ll sleep outside if that’s what it takes.”

How many 18-year-olds do you think spend the summer prior to their freshman year of college literally living in a gym? How many nights do think Jason Horton spent sleeping in the gym during the last four years? 

In addition to the locale that he's decided to take up residence in, his mutigers bio also calls him a "basketball junky that follows the prep, collegiate and NBA games with a passion." So he's also a student of the game. Oops! Sorry, I just drooled on my keyboard. 

Belated links

We've got a lot to get to today so lets get right to it:

• Not only did Ben Askren qualify for the Olympics, but he was so confident he would do it that he reserved a 40-person suite in Las Vegas to celebrate his qualifying...a week before trials even started. He's also made t-shirts with his silhouette against China's flag that says "putting the 'chin' in China." I'd love to get ahold of one of those. Askren's going to make olympic wrestling a lot more interesting for me this year.

• A great column by Joe Walljasper, listing the 25 biggest wins in Mizzou football history. You gotta love that two of the top 10 are from last season but am I the only one that thinks Nebraska '97 belongs on the list? I know we didn't technically win but maybe we could include an asterisk with it? Just a thought.

• Our friends at Mizzou Rah wrote a hilarious post comparing each Big 12 team to a brand of potato chips. If you liked his comparison of Big 12 teams to Mike Tyson's Punch-Out characters then you'll love this one too. 

• If the college basketball season ended today, Joe Lunardi thinks we'd be dancin' as an 11 seed! Bring on Bob Thuggins!

• Don Faurot is the face of our program.

• Chase Coffman was embarrassed by his performance over the last eight games of the season. Yeah, now that I think about it I guess those plays he made against Colorado weren't that amazing.

• I actually found a fantastic post concerning Keon Lawrence on Tigerboard about how despite his sophomore slump, he's still played above the ranking he had in the class of '06. I've said all along that Keon has to be the leader of the team next year. When putting his sophomore season into perspective you have to consider all the things Keon had going against him, all of which were really outside his control. The issues with his family (including his brother being murdered), the chemistry issues with Stef (not Keon's fault), etc. I think the team's going to be in much better shape now that Keon feels he's in a position to take on a leadership role.

• Steve Walentik broke down each freshman's performance in a recent pickup game. 

• Not everyone in Champaign was happy with Ron Zook last season.

• So there is actually a reason why Armageddon Part II won't be Prime Time. I'll let Dave Matter explain:

"Here's what I've been told as to why this game will be on FSN, not ABC/ESPN: The networks essentially have four “draft picks” for the Thanksgiving weekend. This year, the draft falls in this order: No. 1 ABC/ESPN, No. 2 ABC/SPN, No. 3 FSN, No. 4 ABC/ESPN. The Big 12 needed the networks to make their selections by June to allow for any games to be moved to different days for TV purposes. ABC took the Texas A&M/Texas game on Thursday with the No. 1 pick. ABC took Oklahoma/Oklahoma State for Saturday with the No. 2 pick. MU officials assume ABC would have liked to take Missouri-Kansas at No. 4, but FSN slipped in and took the Border War with the No. 3 pick. That left ABC with Colorado/Nebraska in at No. 4."

So ABC would rather have A&M/Texas and OU/OSU over the Border War. I guess I can understand the first one because of the enormous fanbases of both teams, but do you really expect OU/OSU to get higher ratings than the Border War? Maybe it will but I would find that surprising.

• I also found T-Ruck's mini-camp diary, via Matter's blog.

• The Jacksonville Jaguars decided to cut ties with Brian Smith. You have to feel so bad for Mizzou's other B. Smith who never recovered from that fluky hip injury he suffered during his senior season. I'll never understand why Smith was even on the field at that point in the game (late in the fourth quarter, up by at least three scores). Doesn't that have to rank right up there with Pinkel electing to play Tony Temple during his freshman season as one of the biggest blunders of his career? I find it odd that he basically got a free pass for this during a time when many Mizzou fans were still looking for reasons to bash him.

• And last but not least, a couple of Mizzou football promos from the makers of Rock M Nation. These are Zou Dave-esque so if you don't click on any other links in this post, be sure to click on these. I love the first one because it uses the music from "The Contender" and I'm a huge Rocky fan (little known fact, MU has never lost a home football game when I've listened to that song on gameday) but the second one has all of Mike Kelly's calls of the biggest plays from last season and includes a cameo by my boy Greg Bracey, so bonus points for that.

Welcome back Zou Dave!

I've fallen way behind on my links and there have been a lot of them from this past week. I will do my best to have a fresh batch posted by this weekend and possibly another special post to Bleacher's Report. 

But because Game 6 of the NBA Finals is tonight you're going to have to make due with a much shorter post to tide you over until I get a little more free time. But don't worry, I've got a treat for you.

If the end of baseball season didn't signify the beginning of football season for you then maybe the first Zou Dave video of the year will! If that doesn't make you long for Faurot Field, tailgate parties and Lee Corso then I don't know what will.

Take two and a half minutes to remind yourself how well J-Mac's knee recovered (lets hope for the same for 'Nario). 

One thing that really stood out to me from the video that I hadn't really thought of before is the nature of Maclin's big runs. He's shown the ability to be shifty and change direction but with the exception of his punt return versus Illinois, none of his big runs involve him juking and breaking ankles. He just shifts into another gear and blows by everyone. Initially, that doesn't make for as impressive of a highlight reel. But if you really sit down and watch the gap between him and the closest defenders widen so quickly then I think it becomes even more amazing. 

And one other thing about Maclin, I think we need a new nickname for him. I know J-Mac has really caught on, but that's just so cliché. I tried calling him "The Macrowave" last season but I'm not really sold on that either. This could be a good poll question. Lets put our heads together and try to come up with something new by Aug. 30.

Armageddon Part II relegated to Fox Sports Net

Rewind to Nov. 24, 2007 for a moment. 

The nation's second- and third-ranked teams square off in a memorial contest on neutral territory bringing one of college football's oldest rivalries to the attention of a national public that had previously been largely unfamiliar with the rivalry's history. It would be the highest rated game of the 2007 college football season.

Fast forward to a little over 6 months later. Both schools are preparing for a college football season in which expectations are higher than they have ever been for both teams.

So it only makes sense to not nationally televise this year's Border War, right?

That's right. Armageddon: The Sequel, will be televised only on FSN at either 11:30 a.m. or 2. Those of us that don't live in the KC area and don't want to get up at the crack of dawn can kiss tailgating goodbye. 

I understand that it's highly unlikely that this year's game will match the hype surrounding last year's. But you're telling me we can't at least get the 2:30 ABC game? We got ABC two years ago when both teams were just hoping to get in a bowl. Now both teams have legitimate BCS dreams and we can only get FSN Midwest? The only other games that day that I could understand getting the national slot over us would be USC-Notre Dame because the Fighting Irish actually rule the world (already scheduled for 7 p.m., not sure if ABC or ESPN will get it though) and possibly Alabama-Auburn. 

Inexplicable.

In other news:

• Remember how I was saying Danario's injury gives JP the perfect opportunity to return to his freshman form? Graham Watson agrees with me.

• I guess the time we miss tailgating at Arrowhead we can make up for by tailgating extra long at the Arch Rivalry. 

• Gary Pinkel and Tony Temple won the Oscar of college sports commercials for their work in "Speed." I personally preferred the one where Chase threw a pass to Will Franklin from Faurot to the columns. I thought the special effects in that one were George Lucasesque.

• Mike Alden has the respect of his peers. Love him or hate him, the MU Athletic Department is in pretty good shape (minus the basketball teams).

NCAA Football 09: GOLD PANTS!!!

This will probably only interest  those of you who are dorky enough, like me, to count down the days every year until EA Sports releases their NCAA Football video game (July 15 for PS2).

But this year we have a reason to be especially stoked because we get the GOLD PANTS!!!

We also get the privilege of beating Kansas in their red and whites. I was going to bash those uniforms until I realized they're the color of the American flag. Horribly unfortunate that those two entities have to be associated in any way, shape or form.

Colorado and Texas Tech are the other Big 12 teams that will have alternate unis available.

The player rankings for the Top 25 teams has also been released. You can download the spreadsheet here.

Danario Alexander: Mizzou football's Grant Hill?

Photo through Creative Commons.

Yesterday afternoon the MU coaching staff found out that its most physically imposing wide receiver, Danario Alexander, will have to undergo further surgery on his left knee to repair the ACL that he injured in the Big 12 Championship game and caused him to miss the Cotton Bowl. 

It is believed that Alexander will be back for the start of conference play but he is almost certain to miss all of Mizzou's non-conference games.

This isn't the end of the world for the Tigers, obviously. But it's certainly not an insignificant injury. The Tigers still have a lot of talent at WR and they still have that Coffman guy who's alright. But they don't have the depth they had last year. Two things have to happen for the Tigers to be able to overcome this injury:

1. Jared Perry has to re-emerge as a playmaker. I'm confident this will happen. I've said before I think a lot of people forgot how good he looked as a freshman. And by all accounts he was one of the hardest working players this spring and that hard work appeared to be paying off as coaches and media alike were raving about his performances in practice and scrimmages.
2. One of the freshman weapons that MU has brought in (Wes Kemp, Rolandis Woodland, Andrew Jones) will have to pretend they're not rookies. Again, I'm confident at least one of these guys can step in and contribute immediately. If there is one position that this coaching staff seems to specialize in, it's wide receiver.

So I fully expect this injury to be an obstacle that this team can overcome. But that doesn't mean I'm not very concerned. This offense is undergoing a lot of change as it is and when your first game is against a team like Illinois, that becomes worrisome. You need as many proven guys as you can get. 

I'm even more concerned for Danario. He seems destined to be plagued by injuries during his career. He has size that no other receivers on this team has and skills that only Maclin can match. He's got a future NFL career ahead of him if he can overcome these injuries but thus far he hasn't been able to do that. 

Only time will tell if Danario can reach his potential or if he's destined to be Mizzou's answer to the NBA's Grant Hill. 

Derrick Washington vs. Jimmy Jackson: Who's gonna be The Man?

First things first. Aaron Crow. Drafted ninth by the Washington Nationals. Congratulations.

Five other Tigers. Drafted in the MLB Draft. Congratulations.

Baseball season's now over. It's finished. See ya next year. We're moving on.

And you know what that means?

IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON!

I don't mean to discount the baseball team because I really do enjoy going to Taylor Stadium on sunny Saturday afternoons and there were some very entertaining games this past season (especially when Crow was pitching). It's just....

IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON!

And I'm counting down the days to Dave Matter and Graham Watson's first practice reports and Mike DeArmond's first disturbing vlog post.

By now you've probably noticed the poll posted to your right about Mizzou's running back situation and this is something I've wanted to discuss for awhile. It's a very interesting position battle for several reasons.

First of all, the Temple of Doom is gone and that's obviously a significant loss. What made Tony great was that he saved his best performances for big games (Sun Bowl, Armageddon at Arrowhead, Cotton Bowl, etc.). Those performances built him a permanent home in the hearts of Mizzou fans. 

But while every Tiger fan admits they are going to miss Big Game Temple, I have yet to come across a True Son who thinks Mizzou's running game is really going to suffer without him. 

And that's because the Tigers have two guys coming back, Derrick Washington and Jimmy Jackson, who have also proven themselves in key spots.

Nobody really expected Jimmy Jackson to do anything more than occasionally give Temple a rest last year and maybe occasionally give the offense a change of pace. There was even some doubt in August as to whether he was going to be able to hold off Marcus Woods for the backup spot. But by the end of the year he was stealing carries from Temple. He was especially effective when used in the pistol formation in goal line packages, rushing for 7 touchdowns.

Washington, on the other hand, hit campus with the kind of expectations that were at least comparable to the hype that accompanied Temple upon his arrival to Columbia. Unlike Temple, he wasn't thrown directly into the fire delaying his maturation as a player and person by at least two years (possibly the worst decision of Pinkel's career). 

Washington's playing time gradually increased over the course of the season culminating when he caught a critical touchdown pass in the second half of Armageddon. 

Everyone tends to agree that this is a win-win situation for the MU coaching staff. Both players appear capable of handling a starting role. Jackson has experience starting and Washington has been groomed to eventually be the starter since he stepped foot in the Daniel J. Devine Pavilion.

But an overwhelming majority would prefer to see Washington as the starter. Why such apathetic feelings toward the more seasoned Jimmy Jack? 

Lets take a look at their stats from last year:

 

Jackson: 67 carries,  342 yds, 4.9 ypc, 7 TDs, 6 receptions, 30 rec. yds       

Washington: 36, carries, 199 yds, 5.1 ypc, 1 TD, 10 receptions, 70 rec. yds, 1 rec. TD   

Jackson's totals are higher because, like I said, he was used more at the beginning of the season. But at least on paper, there doesn't appear to be much difference between the two. Washington seems to be a bigger receiving threat but Jackson has proven to be a more reliable weapon in the red zone.

But ask yourself this question; Which player has a better chance at making it onto the cover of NCAA Football '10? 

Everyone is going to answer Washington. 

The point is, we don't know exactly how much potential Washington has. He's shown us flashes but his talent is mostly untapped. He could be a guy who runs for 800-900 yards, scores a half dozen touchdowns. He could be a guy who runs for 1,100 and scores a dozen. Or maybe he's an All-American. We aren't sure. 

So we'd rather have him than a player like Jackson who could probably rush for 800 yards and score 8-10 touchdowns. We know what we've got with Jackson and what we've got is a pretty darn good running back. But he's the safe pick. It's a fan's tendency to swing for the fences, to throw the deep ball, to not rest your starters and to run up the score. 

It's really doesn't matter who the "starter" is anyways. Everyone knows both guys are going to get their opportunities to shine. But inevitably, one will emerge as the guy who gets more carries than the other. 

I think a lot of people expect Jackson to be the starter in week 1 but Washington to overtake him by midseason. I don't see the logic in that. Washington's had a year to learn and develop. What's more, he's had a season to learn from Temple about the dangers of having sky high expectations. He can start now. He doesn't have to get 30 carries against Illinois or even 20 for that matter. But if you're expecting him to be The Man, you've got to get him on the field.

And I think Pinkel knows that. He's not going to repeat the same mistake he made with Temple. He made sure of that by limiting Washington's exposure as a freshman. But he's not going to use Jackson's experience as his security blanket either. Pinkel's proven he's not afraid to take chances provided the potential reward is high. If Washington outperforms JJ this summer or even if they finish in a dead heat, I think D-Wash is The Man.

Sun sets on Mizzou baseball

Photo through Creative Commons

My dreams of traveling to Omaha to watch our Missouri Tigers play under the lights of Rosenblatt Stadium in the College World Series will be delayed for at least another year.

I think this would sting a lot more if it hadn't been so predictable. It was like getting hit with a train that you could see coming from miles away. It still hurts, but at least you have time to come to grips with that inevitable pain. 

I was optimistic when we won 8 0f 10 heading into the Big 12 Tournament. But then when our sloppy play and trainwreck of a bullpen (guess we're going with a railroad theme today) prevented us from advancing to the championship I came to the realization that this wasn't going to be the year that I got to visit the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo. 

I'll admit I thought we had a puncher's chance when we beat Ole Miss in the first game of the regional, but then in the last two games those two glaring weaknesses, fielding and relief pitching, reared their ugly heads yet again. You CAN'T CAN'T CAN'T consistently win close games against good teams without those two things (see 2003 Boston Red Sox for further proof). It got to the point where we either had to have a dominating performance by our starter (which happened regularly when Crow or Gibby was on the mound) or an offensive explosion (like we had against Texas and Nebraska) in order to beat any decent team and you can't bank on those things when you're playing the best teams in the country. 

I'm more than a little concerned about Kyle Gibson. I thought it was a great move by Tim Jamieson to move him to the bullpen for postseason play but it backfired in the worst possible way. Gibby was shelled in every one of his performances but his first. In his final 2.2 innings pitched he gave up 7 runs (6 earned) on 6 hits. He also either blew a lead or gave up the eventual winning run in each of those appearances. That's gotta affect a guy's psyche. At a point in the season when we absolutely had to have Gibby pitching lights out he did anything but. I just hope he's able to recover and come back strong because next year, he's the Aaron Crow. He's the Max Scherzer. In order for Mizzou baseball to take the next step they need Kyle Gibson to do the same. 

Other than the aforementioned bullpen and fielding woes, it was Jamieson's inability to discover a consistent third starter that spelled the Tigers' eventual doom. Ian Berger was hit or miss all season (and seemed to be a miss in the most critical games) and Rick Zagone never really regained his form from last season. Nick Tepesch looked very much like the freshman that he is coming out of the bullpen and didn't show anything to convince anyone that he could handle starting at this point. 

But the question remains, did Mizzou baseball underachieve this season? That's difficult to answer. They obviously fell well short of the expectations that most people had for them. When you're ranked pre-season top 10 and climb to as high as No. 2 in the country, anything short of Omaha is a disappointment. 

But I think early on most people failed to grasp how crippling some of our weaknesses were. Sure, Aaron Crow is as good as any starting pitcher in the country and for the most part Gibson was an excellent No. 2. There was even enough evidence to believe that between Berger, Zagone and Tepesch we'd have a darn good No. 3. Aaron Senne and Jake Priday formed one of the best 3-4 combos in the country and Ryan Lollis ended the season as hot as any hitter this side of Chipper Jones. 

But when you start facing the Miami's of the college baseball world, you find out how complete a team you are. And in the end the Missouri Tigers, although they had their strengths, were not a complete baseball team.