Welcome to the Big Time

This past weekend was a good one for several Tigers as 9 former weekend warriors have either landed with an NFL team or are close to doing so.

Will Franklin and Martin Rucker were drafted in the fourth round by the Chiefs and Browns respectively while Tony Temple and Darnell Terrell signed free agent contracts also with the Browns. Lorenzo Williams, Adam Spieker and and Tyler Luellen all signed free agent contracts with the Ravens while Greg Bracey signed with the Chargers and Pig Brown is reportedly close to signing with the Chiefs. Defensive lineman Charles Gaines is also reportedly trying to land with a team.

I'll pass along a few interesting draft links before doing my best Mel Kiper impression and analyzing each Tiger's chances at making at the next level:

• Dave Matter gives a great breakdown in his blog on the situation that each player will be facing heading into training camp. He also says that an inside source at ESPN told him that Kiper will be releasing a mock draft soon that will have Willy-MO ranked as the No. 5 overall prospect.

• Adam Teicher wrote a nice article on the Helicopter in Sunday's KC Star.

• Also a Q and A with Franklin from kcchiefs.com

• The Cleveland Plain Dealer explains the circumstances that led to their surprise pick of T-Ruck.

• Not a draft related story but Max Scherzer was called up to the Big Leagues on Sunday.

Now, what are the chances of these guys sticking with the teams they've signed with?

Martin Rucker: I was astonished by how many tight ends went before T-Ruck. I'll be honest, I don't know enough about football to really judge how good of a blocker he has and I know that was kind of a knock on him and I'm sure a lot of scouts attributed a large portion of his receiving stats to the system he played in. But this guy is not a product of his system. He's an hombre and anyone who saw him play much over the past four years will tell you the same thing. I'm convinced he's going to be a pro bowler. I also think he'll fit in well in Cleveland. He's in a very similar situation that he was in at Mizzou with a high octane offense and another talented tight end in Kellen Winslow, Jr. lining up across from him (the Browns also plan on using a lot of two tight end sets just like MU did). Chances of succeeding in the NFL? 80/20

William Franklin: In addition to being a Mizzou fanatic I also love the Kansas City Football Chiefs and although I'm no scout I can tell you with absolute certainty that Franklin is already a better receiver than Sammy Parker is (who the Chiefs have been starting as their No. 2 or No. 3 receiver for the past several seasons). The only guys Franklin has to beat out to be the No. 2 guy across from Dwayne Bowe are Jeff Webb and maybe Devard Darling. The Chiefs offense is still nothing to really write home about but Franklin is virtually guaranteed playing time and he has the tools to be a solid No. 2. He's got speed that's comparable to J-Mac's and, as he proved at Colorado last season, can make some spectacular catches. I think he makes a solid pro. Chances of succeeding in the NFL? 70/30

Tony Temple: Another guy who's going to be extremely undersized. And as great as Tony was in the Cotton and Sun Bowls and against Kansas and A&M last year, he was still inconsistent throughout his career and has a long history of injuries. He did land on a Baltimore team that doesn't have much depth behind Jamal Lewis. I think the consensus is that if T. Temple is going to make it in the NFL it's going to be as a third down back. In his final two seasons at MU, after injuries had robbed him of a lot of his physical skills that he displayed in high school, I thought he began to resemble Priest Holmes a bit in the fact that he's a very patient runner that waits for his blockers and has excellent field vision. I think he has a decent chance of being a serviceable backup for 5+ years. Chances of succeeding in the NFL? 50/50

Lorenzo Williams: I'm not so sure about Zo. He was a very good Big 12 d-lineman but I don't think he's a starter at the next level. He's got all the intangibles but is going to be undersized when going up against guys like Olin Kreutz and Steve Hutchinson. He is VERY strong though despite his lack of size. Regardless, I don't see him lasting more than 5 years. Chances of succeeding in the NFL? 40/60

Darnell Terrell: Terrell worked out at receiver for scouts so he has a lot of athleticism but Terrell really struggled last year. There's a reason Castine Bridges overtook Terrell's starting position toward the end of the season. I remember reading that in the Big 12 Championship Sam Bradford was specifically targeting Terrell. He might be better suited to play safety at the next level but I still don't like his chances. Chances of succeeding in the NFL? 20/80

Pig Brown: I don't see Pig being a star in the NFL but with his heart and determination I can't imagine him not sticking around for several years. He may not make a team this season but you know he's not going to quit. And who doesn't think Pig could make a phenomenal special teams player if nothing else? Chances of succeeding in the NFL? 60/40

Greg Bracey: I have to admit, being one of the founders of the Greg Bracey Fan Club, I'm a little biased on this one, but I think Bracey's got a better chance of making it than a lot of people think. He was the second fastest guy on the team behind J-Mac (fastest according to him) and made a couple very tough catches during his career despite limited opportunities. That said, you can't like the odds of someone making an NFL roster who caught less than 10 passes in his career. Chances of succeeding in the NFL? 20/80

Adam Spieker/Tyler Luellen: As I said in my analysis on T-Ruck, I don't know enough about the game to really tell how good guys are at blocking but for what it's worth our offensive line has been really good the past couple years. Chase has rarely been pressured and I don't recall too many bad snaps by Spieker. Chances of succeeding in the NFL? ???

Fulmer Cup Crap

The past few months the Fulmer Cup standings (which Mizzou is currently sitting comfortably on top of) have been circulating through various blogs and message boards. For those of you unfamiliar with the Fulmer Cup here is the description from their website:

"The Fulmer Cup is an award given to the NCAA or NAIA institution whose exemplary efforts to recruit the most capable Football players results in the most frequent embarrassing and illegal mishaps off or on the field. Players can earn points for their University or College by engaging in illegal or stupid activities off the field and committing penalties on the field that invite legal prosecution. Institutions and Boosters can earn points by illegally recruiting or providing an environment where their Student-Athlete's illegal activities are either encouraged or ignored. The Fulmer Cup recognizes the difference between NCAA penalties and criminal penalties, but all types of infractions and occurances accumulate points toward a final Cup total."

Well in the past week this "story" has been picked up by the Associated Press. Lets clarify what the Fulmer Cup actually is. It's a sarcastic web blog. The website says as much. It is very satirical in tone and nature. There doesn't appear to be a way to verify the accuracy of their standings and we don't know what qualifications the author has to be putting this thing together. For all we know it is put together by a group of rabid Beaker fans. 

The Fulmer Cup should not under any circumstances be considered a serious journalistic website. 

But Alan Scher Zagier, the writer of last week's AP article, uses the site as a source without giving his readers any sort of context as to what the Fulmer Cup actually is. Instead he offers this frustratingly vague description:

"A Web site that tracks player arrests and other forms of misconduct by college athletes has the Tigers sitting at No. 1, thanks to the arrests of six reserve football players in separate incidents since September and the arrests of five men's basketball players – and the shooting of a sixth – in the past 14 months."

Decent journalism that is not. 

If Big MO Sports determines, by measuring student-athletes' physical appearances and personal hygiene over the past 15 1/3 months, that Kansas has the sickliest athletic program in the NCAA will Mike DeArmond quote that in a story? Dave Matter? How about you Mr. Zagier? Feel free to "report" on that. Moron. 

Unfortunately, I'm also going to have to give some props to the KU fan that put together this Mizzou "One Shining Moment" parody. This is pretty painful to watch but I have to admit, it's hilarious.

Spring game observations

I'm not going to spend a lot of time analyzing Saturday's spring game because I don't think you can learn much from a glorified scrimmage. After last year's game I thought our offense looked like it was going to be amazing (it was), Jeremy Maclin looked like a star (he is) and our defense looked like it was going to be historically bad (it ended up being pretty solid). So take everything you see in the spring with a grain of salt...

• Most of last year's seniors were in attendance to receive their Cotton Bowl rings and get a final sendoff. Greg Bracey took time to sit with the fans and show off his ring (see pic to the right). I'm pretty sure Bracey had more fun than any other fan in attendance. He was leading the Missouri Waltz, waving at his old teammates on the sideline, signing autographs and enjoying every minute of it. He was actually more entertaining than the game was.

• Like last year, our first-team offense looks really good. On their first drive they went down the field and scored a TD without even breaking a sweat. A pleasant surprise was backup tight end Jon Gissinger who led the team in receptions with 6 for 57 yards. We're obviously going to miss that Rucker guy a little bit but I think with Coffman, Gissy and freshman Andrew Jones we're still going to have one of the best sets of tight ends in the Big 12.

• Meanwhile our running backs look to be running neck and neck. Derrick Washington made some nice runs and also caught some passes out of the backfield. But just when it was looking like he was having the better day Jimmy Jackson broke off a 30-plus yard run. I think were in good hands with either one of these guys taking carries.

• Unlike last year, our first-team defense looked dominant (check the statistics in Matter's blog). Sean Weatherspoon is going to end up being one of the best linebackers that Mizzou has ever had. Even with a bum shoulder he laid a few huge hits on some guys. I also thought Castine Bridges made a couple of nice plays in coverage. It's nice to go into a season considering our defense a strength as opposed to the last few years where they've been expected to be a liability. 

• Our punting is definitely a major concern. Jake Harry mad Adam Crossett look consistent on Saturday. Fortunately there is no problem at all with Jeff Wolfert. He nailed 51 and 53-yarders Saturday. 

All in all it was probably the greatest spring game in Mizzou history (our at least the highest attended one with around 26,000 fans in attendance). It felt like everyone was celebrating last season's success for a final time while at the same time looking forward to next season with unbridled optimism.

Now onto a few links:

• Another Chase Patton article but this was a little more than your token "backup QB takes everything in stride" story. Dave Matter discusses the offseason rumors that had Patton quitting the team to attend dental school. I like it that the rumors pissed Patton off. I also like it that David Yost called him the best backup QB in the country.

• A Quin Snyder sighting by Jeff Pearlman of all people.

• It looks like Leo Lyons will likely be returning to Columbia next season. This is a good thing because it means we get a potential All-Conference player back and gives us one of the better front courts in the conference. But does anyone really expect to Leo to ever turn the corner. Doesn't he seem destined to constantly tease us with his potential but constantly battle consistency issues and in the end average no more than 14 and 6? I'm glad he's coming back but at the same time I refuse to get too excited about Mr. Halfass. 

• Max Scherzer has been on a roll in the D-Backs farm system.

• And finally, a story on Carl Gettis that has to make you feel good about the future of our defense. I love this story about how he adapted to moving to Zumwalt West in high school:
  "At 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, Gettis plays bigger than his size. When he started at West — an inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter — a couple of bigger players tested him by picking a fight. The legend, as Moe tells it, goes that he whipped each one and then passed out warnings to anyone else who was looking to pick on the new kid."

It's obvious Gettis won't backdown from a fight no matter who he's going against. Last season he got into a huge scuffle with an Iowa State player on the opening kickoff and during a practice this spring he got into a fight with Jeremy Maclin. You want a guy like this on your team. 

Mizzou vs. The Law

Yet another MU football player has been arrested. RS freshman offensive lineman Austin Wuebbels was arrested on Sunday morning on suspicion of possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, possession of alcohol by a minor and false identification.

After senior wide receiver Greg Bracey was kicked off the team shortly before the Cotton Bowl for a very similar arrest you would have to assume that this is the end of Wuebbels' career. And if his arrest alone didn't do it then the fact that Gary Pinkel and the rest of the MU coaching staff didn't find out about it until the media asked a question about Wuebbels' status following Tuesday's practice (a practice Wuebbels participated in) probably did.

I'm sure that Tigerboard is currently littered with posters questioning the discipline within Pinkel's program after the John Stull and Marquis Booker incidents earlier this offseason. But unfortunately this stuff happens at every program in the country. Nebraska has had a several players run into problems with the police over the past few months and KU's Aquib Talib's smoking habits are well documented. I'm not excusing it and I'm not saying that Pinkel shouldn't be concerned (I'm sure this irks him more than anyone) but a lot of college kids make a lot of stupid decisions and that's going to be the case no matter how clean of a program you run. 

You feel bad for Wuebbels because he likely just flushed his college football career down the toilet (but when you go two days without mentioning this to your coaches then it's hard to be too sympathetic) and it sucks because this hurts our OL depth but I don't think this should be used as an indictment of the overall discipline of our program.

In other news...

• Stefhon Hannah pleaded guilty this morning to a reduced charge of peace disturbance by fighting. Lets hope this is the last we hear of Athenagate.
  

• Things got a little chippy during Tuesday's practice as fights broke out between Castine Bridges and Jon Gissinger, Jeremy Maclin and Carl Gettis and Tommy Saunders and Justin Garret. Saunders always seems to get involved in these practice scuffles. I remember reading about a particular memorable fight between him and Darnell Terrell during a practice last August. Matter goes on to say that Maclin and Gettis were joking about their fight after practice but that apparently wasn't enough to change Pinkel's attitude toward the scuffles:
  "It’s bush league, he said. "It doesn’t happen very often around here. ... I had a few words of wisdom for them after practice."

• I heard from an inside source that Graham Watson booted a 35-yard punt after practice on Tuesday. All spring I've been reading in her blog that punting is going to be a major weakness for Mizzou next season and then she shows up at practice showing off her leg. Is she trying to convince Pinkel to give her a scholarship?

• Finally some good news, Jaron Baston says he has learned a lot over the years from guys like Brian Smith and Lorenzo Williams and is now ready to step into a starting role. 

• And a shocker to leave you with, Jacob Priday was named Big 12 Player of the Week and the National Hitter of the Week.

Offensive explosions and spring football

It was a pretty wild weekend at Taylor Stadium as the Mizzou baseball team outscored the No. 12-ranked Texas Longhorns 44-14 in the first two games before dropping the finale 9-2.

The weather conditions on Friday night were not exactly pitcher friendly. With 40 mph winds gusting, all a hitter really had to do was put the ball in the outfield and there was about a 50-50 chance that the wind would catch it and take it for a ride (Ask Jacob Priday for more information on said conditions). 

But it was good to see the bats come alive in the first two games and it was really encouraging to see Rick Zagone pitch four solid innings out of the bullpen (I know he gave up three earned runs but that was something to write home about in this game).

Here are a few links concerning Mizzou baseball from the past few days that are worth taking a look at:

• Joe Waljasper's article on the circus that was Friday night's game.
• An entertaining article from the Missourian on the search to find the real owner of the consecutive scoreless innings pitched record. 
• Another Missourian piece on how well the changes that Tim Jamieson made over the weekend to the rotation and lineup worked out.

Now onto football.

By now I'm sure you've heard that Van Alexander will be out for a while with a torn ACL. You gotta feel for Van. His career seems destined to be defined by injuries. Fortunately, Pinkel is confident he'll be back for Illinois. 

Hopefully his injury ends up being a blessing in disguise. Our depth at linebacker is rail thin so maybe some of the less experienced guys like Luke Lambert and Jeff Gettys will benefit from having to play with the No. 1 defense. 

Ultimately, I think our defense is going to be pretty good regardless of Van's health. The depth across the board has improved dramatically over the past couple seasons. I think Willy-Mo's inability to practice this spring is actually one of the best things that could happen for the Tiger secondary.

Mo's a proven guy who you know is going to perform once he's healthy. You really don't have to worry about him messing with the defense's chemistry because he's been in the system for a few years. His injury is getting guys like Del Howard and Justin Garrett, guys who were already pretty solid last season, a lot more action. Once Moore gets healthy our secondary is going to be stacked. 

And if this Missourian article gives any indication, Carl Gettis is about to become a cornerstone of our defense. You gotta love it when a sophomore, who was as good as Gettis was as a freshman, is saying things like this in the offseason: 

• "I'm not a freshman anymore, so little mistakes that I used to make, I don't get away with anymore."
• "It was a good experience last season, but I’m refocusing. I'm ready to step up and become more of a leader."

Some more football links:

• A Dave Matter article on MU's deep backfield. De'Vion Moore has to be the frontrunner in the race for the Danario Alexander Most Pleasant Offseason Surprise Award.

• I am absolutely giddy over the 2008 Mizzou football commercial as described in this Mike DeArmond story: 
  "So what you’ll get is a group of students daydreaming, to video highlights, of some of the biggest plays of last year’s 12-2 season. The kicker: One of the students says, “There’ll never be another season like that again,” and MU quarterback Chase Daniel and MU defensive lineman Ziggy Hood counter, 'Don’t bet on it!'"

• A good story from Sunday's Missourian about the transition that most college athletes go through once their careers end.

• Apparently half of the Big 12 is going to use the same type of hurry-up offense that we have been using for the past few years. Posers.

• If you're not a season ticket holder or donor you might have a difficult time finding a ticket to next fall's Mizzou-Illinois game.

• If you're like me, you got sick of hearing about Mike Gundy's obnoxious, "I'm a man! I'm 40!" rant months ago. But Tom Friend wrote a fantastic article that tells quarterback Bobby Reid's (the inspiration for the rant) side of the story. This is an example of superb sports journalism. 

College basketball hangover

I gotta admit, I still haven't quite come to grips with the fact that the Jayhawks have finally legitimized their status as an elite college basketball program by winning their first national title in 20 years.

You may have voted in the poll to your right and it seems that the consensus amongst my readers is that Memphis blew the game more than Kansas won it. I have mixed feelings about it. You have to give the Chickenhawks a lot of credit because they made some CHAMPIONSHIP plays in the final minutes to force overtime and then they just dominated the OT to seal it. And it goes without saying but the three-pointer by Chalmers was one of the biggest shots in NCAA Tournament history.

But you cannot ignore the fact that Memphis performed the biggest chokejob since Chris Webber called the infamous nonexistent timeout. There are so many woulduhs, shoulduhs, coulduhs that you can come up with that it's mind-blowing.

In the final minutes it looked like Chris Douglas Roberts was actually trying too throw the game to the point that I think we could have a conspiracy theory on our hands. I was speechless when I saw him slam the ball down nearly drawing a technical. I mean, what player who has played at this high of a level for as long as he has loses their composure to that extent. 

And Calipari should now be recognized as an awful Big Game coach until he proves otherwise. There's really not much he could do about the free throws and apparently he had actually told his team to foul on the Chalmers three so we can't hold that against him. But why would you not call timeout after Chalmers hit it to set up a final play? Two seconds is plenty of time to get off a decent shot. 

And the biggest problem I had was in the overtime period with his team down three with around 50 seconds left he decides to have his team foul instead of play defense, which was idiotic in of itself, but who do they foul? Super Mario himself. Anyone who's watched much of Chalmers knows he's one of the most cold blooded players in the country but if that wasn't enough HE HAD JUST HIT ONE OF THE GREATEST SHOTS IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL HISTORY!!!!

I'd go as far to call this the worst coaching job I have ever seen in an NCAA Tournament game. And I'm really not doing this to discount what Kansas did because the Beakers stepped up to the plate just as much as Memphis tucked their tails between their legs and hid. But the fact remains, KU doesn't even get the opportunity to make those clutch plays if Memphis had even one player who was able to rise to the occasion and oh, I don't know, HIT A SINGLE FREAKIN' FREE THROW!

The most frustrating thing about this game for Mizzou fans is that after Armageddon at Arrowhead Tiger fans finally had a leg up on their most hated rivals and the only thing that could change that was if Kansas was able to win a National Championship. Now all a Jayhawk fan has to do when arguing about the rivalry is point to the rafters in Allen Fieldhouse. But the argument is still a lot more evenly matched than it was a few months ago. The closest we may ever come to a Mizzou/Kansas national title game was 11-24-07. It was unquestionably the biggest game in Border War history. 

So lets get a bully for Ol' Mizzou!!!

(And screw Kansas)

(And John Calipari)

Spring cleaning

It's been awhile since my last post so here are some links and observations on the last week of Tiger athletics:

• Tough week for the Tiger baseball team despite Aaron Crow's continued brilliance. He's now gone 42.2 innings without giving up a run. There is some confusion over who holds the record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched but it appears that Crow will have the chance to set the record in his start next Friday against Texas. Unfortunately, it looks like the team isn't nearly as balanced as we thought. The bullpen is going to struggle all season long. I don't think there's any question about that. I think that when No. 2 starter Rick Zagone returns to the rotation Jamieson should consider moving either Zagone, Ian Berger or Kyle Gibson to the pen. That gives you a dominant arm out of the pen who will have the stamina to pitch a lot of innings. The offense has also been very inconsistent. Trevor Coleman has been in a major sophomore slump following his fantastic freshman campaign. Despite their struggles they're still a legit top-15 team without question and with their starting pitching they still have the potential to make a CWS run.

• Spring football is back in full swing. Here are scrimmage reports from Graham and D-Matt. You gotta love hearing about Chase begging Pinkel for one more series for the offense in Saturday's scrimmage and then driving 65 yards against the No. 1 defense to win the scrimmage for the offense. I've never liked an athlete as much as I like No. 10.

• The breakout star of the spring thus far has without a doubt been junior WR Jared Perry. As nonexistent as he was last season he didn't really drop a lot of balls. There were a few but for the most part he just wasn't targeted. That doesn't necessarily mean anything because it could have been that he wasn't getting open but I see a big comeback season for JP. Remember, he was named honorable mention freshman All-American by the Sporting News and made people forget that injury to Jeremy Maclin (who is also apparently getting better if you believe coach Pinkel). 

• A very good article on high school quarterback turned college safety Giblert Moye. I like Moye's chances of becoming a very good college player. He was highly touted coming in as a freshman but apparently looked lost during preseason practices and was not at all ready for the college game, physically or mentally. He's also battled some maturity issues (he's been criticized for a lack of effort and focus at times and was arrested after getting into a fight with his roommate during the season). That redshirt season will really benefit him in terms of maturity and it's given him time to learn the system, adapt to the speed at the college level, etc. He's also gotten to learn from a couple of pretty good safeties, one of which (Willy-Mo) also battled maturity issues early in his career. 
  

• A Chase Patton article by Graham (I think this same story has been written at least 5 times over the course of Patton's career). If you've ever met Chase P. you know he's a really down to earth guy and I'm sure he could be a pretty good college QB, but I hope we never see him take an important snap next season. Nevertheless, it's good to know that our backup QB might have a shot at playing in the NFL.

•  Mizzou's answer to Rudy.

And finally, GO TIGERS!!!

(Memphis that is)