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).

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.