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.

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.

• Aaron Crow is a 1st Team All-American. Shocker.

• There's gonna be some good arms down in Coral Gables this weekend.

• Aaron Senne likes to screw with opposing pitchers.

• A pretty interesting Q&A with Tim Jamieson.

• And if you only read one of these, make it this in-depth profile of Jamieson by the Post-Dispatch's Vahe Gregorian. There's some fascinating stuff in there that I didn't know about Jamieson. My respect level really grew for the man after reading this story. 

• And finally, the Tiger Team Store is now selling wine and cheese baskets. All I can say is it's about damn time. I've been waiting years to show my school spirit while toting around all of my wine and cheese. The team store also has 30 other new items for those that are interested. 

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. 

• Kickoff for the Arch Rivalry will be at 6:45 and will be broadcast on ESPN. Hmmm...College Gameday anyone?

• Not sure how I missed this but Wednesday was the three year anniversary of the day that James Douglas signed his letter of intent to play for the Tigers. How is it possible that an entire 48 hours went by without a single person reminding me of this historic signing?!? I'll be sure to mark May 21 on my 2009 calendar as James Douglas Day.

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.

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:

• If Tiger baseball isn't able to make it to Omaha, then maybe their female counterparts can advance to OKC. For more info, Dave Matter is taking a hiatus from football to cover softball's run.

• Did you realize that Athena Night Club reopened? Did you realize there's already been another altercation outside the club, this one involving gunfire? Sigh.

• 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.

• Willy-Mo and Leo Lyons are "Ridin' Neon." Personally, I'm partial to Willy-Mo's performance at the Sun Bowl talent show: 

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