SB Nation User Blog: The Beef

Mizzou Finishes Best-Ever 36th in Learfield (Formally Sears) Cup

The Beef — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:26:42 -0000

Mizzou Finishes Best-Ever 36th in Learfield (Formally Sears) Cup

Nice job in the piece on MUTigers.com which includes all of the finishes in the past 15 years, showing the consistent improvement experienced under Mike Alden's leadership.

Rickey Paulding named Finals MVP in Germany

The Beef — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:29:28 -0000

Rickey Paulding named Finals MVP in Germany

Pouring in over 19 and almost 5 boards per game (over 5 games), Paulding led this squad to a title. He averaged almost 15 per game over the course of the season.

Monday Musings - Men's and Women's Swimming

The Beef — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:25:52 -0000

Sorry about the lateness this morning, but the previewin' and reviewin' party continues on Rock M this week as we take a look at two programs which continue to make the slow climb to national prominence. Coach Brian Hoffer has been with the Tigers for 17 seasons coming into 2009-2010, and thanks to some good faith and effort from the Athletic Department, has been allowed to grow and expand the program, especially over the past couple of years thanks to the amazing Missouri Aquatic Center, which has become quite the recruiting tool. We will cover what the 08-09 version of the squads did, what we think the 09-10 squads may do, as well as a quick look at the USA Track and Field Championships, which had a solid Mizzou flavor of participation this past weekend. Let's rock and roll, but first, some helpful terms for the knowledge needy.

Freestyle (free) - Classic, overhand stroke
Backstroke (back) - should be self-explanatory
Breaststroke (breast) - huh huh...huh huh
Butterfly (fly) - crazy-ass dolphin kicking thing
Individual Medley (IM) - competiting in all four strokes in the same race

Men's Swimming: 2008-2009 Season

Final National Ranking: 27th
Final Conference Ranking: 2nd (first time ever)
Seniors Lost: 7 (out of 32)
2009 Roster Breakdown by Year: 4 seniors, 6 juniors, 14 sophomores, ? freshmen (the mens team does not seem to release recruiting info, though the women do...strange)
All-time Records broken in 2009: 17 (of 25 which are kept)
Big XII Champions: 0
NCAA Participants: 0

The sport of men's swimming is certainly a funny one. How else can you explain how the Tigers would have ZERO conference champions and still come in 2nd in the conference for the first time ever? Well, winning an individual event against anyone from Texas is very tough for one, but the Tigers are starting to build the depth needed to compete with Texas A&M. And yes, there are only three schools which swimming on the men's side in the Big XII.

Anyway, the Tigers are slowly progressing as a national program. They held a ranking as high as 20th this season before settling for the season at 29th. They are swimming a tougher and tougher schedule, including duals against multiple top-10 teams this past season. And hey, you have to love a sport where you finish 2-5 in duals and are a top-30 team. It should be noted that academically, the Tigers lead the Big XII in APR for both men's and women's swimming and diving.

The Tigers have just said goodbye to some very solid contributors to the program. Seniors Gilad Kaufman and Bryan Difford are leaving with their names littering the all-time swim list for Mizzou. Kaufman, who specialized in the butterfly owns the 100 and 200 (and is on a number of all-time relays), while Difford broke the record of all-time great Matt Ferarelli in the 200 IM this past season. Other notables leaving will be backstroke specialist Jake Hoffmann and medium-distance freestyler Matt Dahlke

On the other side, the Tigers are returning a TON of talent. Senior-to-be Martin Cernansky will lead the charge, already owning the best times in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. He will be rejoined by future juniors Cameron Sellers, who is the 200 freestyle leader and also very prominent in the 500 freestyle, Spenser Lauver, who owns two records in the distance freestyle events, and Jordan Hawley, the freestyle sprint king for the Tigers. Those three own four records between them, and are second in the other two events. Hawley even broke the 14-year old record in the 50 freestyle this past season. There were a number of freshmen who also contributed this past season, but none bigger than Jan Konazewski, who already is the leader in the 200 backstroke. Scott Martin will be expected to help Kaufman's void in the butterfly (along with future junior David Dorak).

In the Diving Well, it was a BIT of a down season, as the Tigers did not send a diver to the NCAA's for the first time since 2004. Their zone competition (think of it as a regional) was super competitive and neither senior-to-be Greg Destephen (a previous All-American) or future junior Dante Jones. Ryan Meeker will also return to the squad for his final season, and I expect there to be some freshman names cropping up (two graduating seniors would seem to dictate that, but again, I cannot find the release).

Looking Ahead: 2009-2010

In 2009-2010, the Tigers will swim a pretty standard schedule. They will start in early October with the Show-Me Showdown before travelling down to Dallas to swim against SMU (18th last season), Texas (3rd) and aTm (35th). They likely to swim at some point against SMS (32nd), and will welcome Minnesota (11th) to the MAC in early 2010. A trip to South Bend is certain to include a swim against Notre Dame (33rd) and the Missouri Grand Prix only brings Olympic Champions to Columbia. So like I said, a pretty standard schedule. aTm will host the Big XII's this season.

No doubt about it, the Tigers lose some big time contributors from last season to this season. However, there is plenty of talent returning, and on the heels of a LARGE recruiting class last year (14 sophomores), expect some additional names to have grown and improved in the summer. I will be keeping an eye on the Diving Well to see what names come up, and also on Cernanski and Konarzewski as I believe they represent our best chance of winning a Big XII individual title. A good season for this squad would be something closer to a .500 record (since it would mean wins over some good programs) and finishing 2nd again in the Big XII. I think we will be close, but I think it will be another productive season in the pool.

Women's Swimming: 2008-2009 Season

Final National Ranking: 27th
Final Conference Ranking: 3rd (of 6)
Seniors Lost: 10 (out of 31)
2009 Roster Breakdown by Year: 5 seniors, 9 juniors, 8 sophomores, 10 freshmen
All-time Records broken in 2009: 15 (of 25 which are kept)
Big XII Champions: 1 (Kayla Durnill, the 3rd all-time)
NCAA Participants: 8 (Kendra Melnychuk - All American)

Like the men, the women's team made some pretty significant strides in 2008, ascending all the way to #18 during the season before settling at 27th. They had a freshman win a Big XII Championship, becoming only the third Tiger to ever accomplish that feat. They sent a school-record eight participants to the NCAA's, bringing home their second straight All-American in graduating senior diver Kendra Melnychuk. With 10 graduating seniors and a TON of names from the all-time list leaving, what can the Tigers expect this coming season?

Before we look ahead, let's look a little further back at the 08-09 campaign. The women swam against a very tough schedule, splitting it at 5-5 while going 3-1 in conference (they must not have swam against UT or aTm because they certainly would have lost that as well). They were led by seniors Lori Halvorson and Jill Granger, who combine to appear as leaders on the all-time list a staggering 10 times. Halvorson will likely be missed the most, as she dominated the 100 and 200 freestyle while also appearing on four (of five) relay teams. The other ENORMOUS senior loss will be that of Melnychuk, a two-time All-American in the diving well.

So, with the doom and gloom having passed, what do the Tigers have to look forward to in 09-10? The answer is plenty, as they had some big-time performances from a number of underclassmen last season. At the top of that list would have to be soon-to-be sophomore Kayla Durnil, who won the Big XII Championship in the 200 breaststroke. She is already the school record holder in one other event (100 breast) and is just behind Granger in the 400 IM. Durnil is joined by fellow sophomore to-be Lisa Nathanson, who became the first female Mizzou swimmer to break 23 seconds in the 50 free. Colleen Gordon will be one of the senior leaders on the squad and a continued force in 200, 500 and 1650 free events, as well as on some relays (three). Future juniors Laura Lavigna and Francie Szostak both went to the NCAA's last season, and both will be back this year. Lavigna holds the records in the 100 and 200 backstroke, while Szostak will be expected to take over for Halvorson in the 100 and 200 free.

In the diving well, all is not lost with the departure of Melnychuk. A sophomore next season, Jordan Morcom had a great season and was able to put her name right on the top-10 lists in the 1m and 3m spring board. Mizzou also has plenty of options in the 5m platform, and all of them are young. Leading the way will be classmate Christina Gailey and now-junior Keely Brooks.

Cutting to the quick, the Tigers and Coach Hoffer are bringing in 11 new swimmers next season (10 frosh and 1 senior transfer from the University of Washington), and it is rated out as the 11th best recruiting class in the nation according to the fine folks at CollegeSwimming.com. The headliner of the group is Kim Jasmer, who singlehandedly led the Huskies into the NCAA Competition the past couple of seasons. She will help Gordon in the long-distance events, as well as Szostak in the 200 free, all of which she has made the NCAA's in, including being an All-American in the 500 free. Also look for Canadian swimmer Dominque Bouchard and Cassie Cunningham from Texas to help make an impact and add depth to the backstroke.

For the coming season, the Tigers have a lot of reasons to believe they can further improve upon their finish of last season. The returning talent, along with that of Jasmer should give them solid depth, and a strong class coming in should assist as well. The schedule is tough once again, with Texas (3rd last season), aTm (8th), kU (31st), Notre Dame (28th), SMU (16th), Arkansas (19th) all making an appearance. If Morcom can improve in the diving well and Jasmer can regain the form which brought her to the NCAA's in so many events in 2007, the Tigers could continue to place All-Americans and keep on ascending the ladder in women's swimming.

Outdoor Track:

A solid weekend for both current, past and long-past Tigers. Nick Adcock put up a solid finish in the decathlon, finishing 7th. Leslie Farmer managed the same finish in the 400m hurdles, while Christian Cantwell won the shot put competition. Krishna Lee and Chris Rohr just missed on qualifying for the finals in their events, as did Brian Graybill and Tim Cornell in some distance events.

Random Thoughts:

We are short on time this week, and thus likely short on thoughts
Like I said last week...the Mets are up (3 of 4 from the Cardinals), the Mets are down (swept by the Yankees)
Still waiting for the other shoe to drop in MN and seeing what Cahn can get for Rubio from the Knicks.
Good for Demarre, as surprising as that was for him to go to Memphis with that pick (figured if it was Memphis, it would be at 36)
I do enjoy one facet of the NHL draft, where the GM's from the teams get up to make the individual picks.

Three Tigers in a MLB Game on Wednesday Night

The Beef — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:25:20 -0000

Three Tigers in a MLB Game on Wednesday Night

I guess we all missed this, but Scherzer, Kinsler and Mathis all played in the same game Wednesday night...a 8-2 win for AZ. Scherzer got (another) win, K'ing 7 and only walking 1 over 6 innings. Mathis threw 2 innings in relief for TX, giving up 1 hit and striking out 1. Kinsler went 1 for 5.

Pretty cool....

H/T to Pehs for sending me the screenshot...looks like some headway is being made out at Faurot, as...

The Beef — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:29:14 -0000

H/T to Pehs for sending me the screenshot...looks like some headway is being made out at Faurot, as the four support poles are in the ground, giving us an idea about how much bigger this thing will be

2008 Mizzou Football Commerical Wins National Award

The Beef — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:16:56 -0000

2008 Mizzou Football Commerical Wins National Award

This appears to be a growing trend for the Tigers and pretty fantastic director Jack Smith. I (along with the Tailgate Queen) actually appeared in one of his commercials back some time ago in which long-time legendary Tiger fan Bill Cocos was the central character. It was a great time.

Monday Musings - Cross Country and Indoor Track

The Beef — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:23:16 -0000

This week, the previewin' and reviewin' is going to be a little different, as I am going to tackle four different teams. First off, did you know the fall season only has five sports? (Football, soccer, volleyball, men's and women's Cross Country). Interesting that the other 15 sports Mizzou has participate in the other two seasons. Anyway, Cross Country brings an end to the fall season, while Indoor Track opens the winter season. This one will have a little bit of a different feel as it is tough to attach any sort of numbers to these sports (breaking the heart of The Boy I realize), but let's get to it and see how things stack up for the Tigers in 2009. We will get it going with Cross Country.

2008 - In Review

For the men, it was a pretty solid season out on the terrain. They were lead early by some of their senior runners, but saw a lot of younger talent come on at the end of the season. Departing senior Michael Barrows led the group to start the campaign, and received some help from another graduating senior in Brian Graybill. However, by the end of the season, the group was led by departing senior Garrett Jeffries who continued the streak of the men's team sending someone to the NCAA Championships. Once Jeffries was healthy and in the lineup, he led the Tigers in their last five meets, including the Big XII's and NCAA Regional Meet, where he placed high enough to earn All-Region. The team itself would win the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, while placing a pretty solid 5th in both the Big XII Championships and NCAA Regional. We will have more on the returners in a bit, but the Tigers and coach Jared Wilmes used a lot of different runners on the season, with 16 seeing time. (Tim Cornell is the last of the four seniors who will be graduating)

For the ladies, 2008 was a bit of a transitioning time, as they only had one senior seeing action in Angela Potrykus. Of the 12 harriers on the team, only eight saw action, with one of those only being used sparingly. The team would be led by youth all season long, as their top four runners at the Big XII's (12th) and five runners at the NCAA Regional (10th of 27) were underclassmen. The team did win two competitions on the season (SIU Early Bird and Missouri Cross Country Challenge), and did have one individual winner in junior-to-be Kinsey Farren, who led the Tigers for much of the season.

2009 - A Look Ahead

Both squads have an exciting amount of talent and experience returning to the fields this season. For the ladies, they should expect to be led once again by Farren. She led Mizzou in all six races the team competed in and the only knock on her 2008 season was her not setting a new personal best in any of the races. If she can start shaving some time down from her freshman season, the team can look forward to higher finishes. She will be joined by a pretty young cast, including juniors Jessica Armstrong and Layne Moore. These two took turns placing 2nd on the team behind Farren in the post-season and had some exciting performances from Moore, who PR'ed in both of the last two meets. Achieving the same was now sophomore Laura Roxberg, who will likely be joined by classmates Aimee Bontee and Megan Kowalik, who did participate in two meets last season, while Bontee ran all season. The Tigers will have but one senior returning who saw action last season in Emily Baker, who finished strong for Mizzou last season. Junior Janelle Harrison and sophomore Ashley Mack could also see time this season. Coach Rebecca Wilmes is also adding three pretty solid runners to the squad next season in Bailey Bevis (four-time Texas state champ), Brittany Tate (2007 MO state champ) and Katiie Vanatta (three-time COLORADO state champ, very impressive). With all this talent and experience, I see the Tigers improving a decent amount on their finish of last season.

For the men, they will obviously be replacing their biggest piece from last season, but return a really nice core group of performers. Finishing right behind Jeffries were a pair of (now) juniors in Philip King and Michael Pandolpho, who traded 2nd place finishes in the Big XII's and Regional while both PR'ed in their last race of the season. They will be joined by classmates Dan Quigley, Ben Brammeier, Rick Scheff, Aaron Dixon and Kyle Rood to fill out quite the large junior class. The team will be led by a senior Dan Hedgecock, who placed in the NCAA's back in 2007 and hopes to regain that form in 2009, along with another senior in Ben Wafe. There was also a decent crop of freshman from last season in Philip Bascio, Stanton Ragland and Blake Irwin. The team will also welcome a trio of Missouri-bred runners, featuring a pair of MO state champs in the awesomely-named Max Storms, Tyler Compton and rounded out with the aptly-named Hayden Legg. With the amount of high placers returning from last year, the team has a lot to be excited about. If Hedgecock can regain his 2007 form, this team should be able to repeat a very solid performance from last season.

2008/2009 Indoor Track - In Review

As the calendar turned from 2008 to 2009, the ladies set about another indoor track campaign. In the past few years, the track community has seen a return/increase of scored team meets, giving programs a little more to work towards in what is very much an individual sport. In the indoor season, an interesting wrinkle has been thrown in with combined teams from conference competing for bragging rights. The Mizzou ladies more than held their own with their conference mates against both the SEC and MWC this season, being led by senior thrower Krishna Lee and senior middle distance specialist Shannon Leinart. For the men, they were led by senior thrower Chris Rohr, along with junior pole vaulter Brian Hancock and multi-sport stars in junior Nick Adcock (especially in the hurdles this past season) and sophomore Lars Rise.

I'll be honest, and this might seem as a bit of a cop-out, but with a team of this size, breaking it down to the individual level is pretty darn tough. Basically, the names above, along with senior Kaela Rorvig in the heptathlon were the shining stars for the Tigers. As we turn our attention to the future, we must take notice that of the seven bolded names above, four of them were departing seniors.

2009/2010 - A Look Ahead

In contrast to the cross country teams, the indoor track program may be short of the stars it had this past season. Rohr and Lee depart, paving the way for people like senior to be Andy Oaker and future sophomore Tim Opfer for the men and junior to be Katie Vandersall and future sophomre Melissa Coil for the ladies. As you might expect, the Tigers continue to bring in big-time throwing talent, and this incoming class will be no different. Coach Brett Halter will welcome two decorated athletes to each squad this winter, with the men brinigin in Corey Jones and Brooks Mosier. Jones finished his high school career as the state record holder in the shot put and ranked second in the NATION in the event. Mosier was only 14th in the nation in the same event, winning the shot in class 4 in 2008 (Jones is class 3). Oh yeah, he won it while "badly injured" (from here) that year. The women will enjoy the services of Katie Evans, the class 2 champion in the shot put and Kylie Jones (no relation to Corey) who was runner-up in the discus. All four youngsters hail from Missouri.

Given the decent strength of the cross country program, as well as the middle distance discipline, it is not too far of a stretch to believe that new names will appear for the Tigers in 2009-10. Hancock, Rise and Adcock all will return and should be expected to excel at the conference and national level. Sophomore Stacy Swineburg will look to improve upon her solid freshman campaign in the high jump while classmate Leslie Farmer will try to do the same in the 600 meter, along with returning senior Emily Baker in some of the longer distance events. With eleven seniors departing, and some who are very highly decorated both in the conference and nationally, expect the Tigers to fall off a bit from their national finish (the ladies placed 60th and the men a pretty impressive 20th).

Random Thoughts:

I really dont enjoy being hyper-critical of any of the Mizzou programs, but I found this pretty obvious as to why the basketball programs are going in different directions. From the Ultimate Man-Cruch Collector we have this snipit:

Englishscope: "at the arena.. Third straight all nighter.. 100 3's 100 mids.. Wrkin while the weld is sleepin. Only ppl wrkin me, mj n shuttlesworth"

On the other hand, we get this from junior Amanda Hanneman on how her summer will stack up from her MUTigers.com blog entry:

The first day back, we jumped right into the swing of things: 7:30 a.m. workouts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, including weights and cardio. Tuesdays and Thursdays are our conditioning days. We have had great attendance this year at workouts and we plan on having it like that the whole summer. The first day back was also the first day of summer school. My Classic Mythology class is at 9:50 to 11:50 a.m. everyday so I'm done for the day after Noon, which makes it perfect timing for some sun!

Now, Ms. Hanneman goes on to say everyone is giving 110 percent, and that is great. I also assure you my pointing this out is in no way a shot directly at her. It just is a very clear-cut look at why the programs are perhaps are where they are.

Nice to see Carl Edwards reach the winner circle for the first time THIS YEAR. Still, he is 2nd in points in the Nationwide Series (127 back) and is still #6 in the Sprint Cup (before yesterday's race).
The Mets are up...the Mets are down...the Mets are up....the Mets are down...
I dont even know what to say about former Devil coach Brent Sutter quitting with a year left on his contract to simply move to take over Calgary. I am sure the fine folks of In Lou We Trust will have more on this, but it just seems awfully strange.
Looks like football recruiting is picking up and hopefully some more young men will be casting their (unofficial) lot with the Tigers in the coming weeks. I am very excited about "The Bezerker" coming on board already for 2011.
Excited for the NBA Draft, though I do NOT attempt any sort of beer draft along with it.

Radical BCS Restructuring Plan Brought Forth

The Beef — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:44:08 -0000

Radical BCS Restructuring Plan Brought Forth

The Mountain West is bringing the thunder...not sure it will have the staying power...especially when you get to this caveat:

"Under his proposal, a conference would qualify for one of the BCS bowls only by meeting two criteria: playing at least 20 regular-season games in a two-year period against teams from the six major BCS conferences; and winning at least 40 percent of those games."

Yeah...I dont think a lot of schools are going to be able to change their schedules around like that, never mind a HUGE blow to the smaller D-1 conferences.

H/T to RCT

Monday Musings - Women's Volleyball

The Beef — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:29:07 -0000

We will get to the close of Mizzou's sporting season for 2008-2009 with outdoor track here in just a bit, but we will start off today with a continuation from last week. Our reviewing/previewing brings us to the Fighting Kreklows and the Women's Volleyball squad. Just as a review for those of you not around last year (and we are certainly glad you have found us now), I take the summer to hit up each Mizzou sport, with the exception of football and men's basketball. It is time to bring some knowledge and attention to all of the other ones, and for those of you who have taken a special interest in any/all of these sports, PLEASE make it a point to comment and tell me where I am horrifically short of information and/or insight. My goal has always been to give these sports as much time and press as I can since I have a special appreciation for student athletes. Hopefully with more conversation, the more interest can be generated. Anyway, the ladies had a down season last year to be sure, but there is potential to rebound, especially when you look at what we lost and what we return. So with that, let's take a quick at the numbers, including who and what is departing the Tigers in 2009.

2008 - By the Numbers

2008 Record: 13-17 (home 6-5, road 3-10, neutral 4-2, conference 7-13, out of conference 6-4, 5-setters 2-5)
Seniors Lost: 0...as in ZERO
Hitting/Blocking/Assists Lost: see above
Starters Lost (starter=started more than half of games played): and again...just look up
2009 Roster Breakdown by Year: 4 seniors, 6 juniors, 4 sophomores, 2 freshmen

Hitting Percentage: .203 (.209 opponent)
Kills per Game: 12.28 (13.53 opponent)
Assists per Game: 11.41 (12.52 opponent)
Digs per Game: 16.20 (17.03 opponent)
Blocks per Game: 2.31 (2.20 opponent)

Some Helpful Abbreviations:

L - Libero (can go anywhere on the court)
OH - Outside Hitter (really left side hitters)
MB - Middle Blocker
RS - Right Side Hitters (also known as Opposite Hitters, but we already used "OH)
S - Setter
DS - Defensive Specialist
MH - Middle Hitter (not really a position in traditional volleyball terms)

2008 - In Review

Mizzou had kind of snuck back into the 2007 NCAA Tournament to keep their streak alive, but would lose a couple of BIG components in Na Yang and Tatum Ailes. Still, with everyone else returning, including OH Julianna Klein from missing most of the 2007 season, optimism was high that the Tigers would reach their ninth straight NCAA Tournament. The schedule was a little tough, as the Tigers would only play one of their first 12 games at home. They went 2-1 in Utah and 2-1 in College Park, MD before only going 1-2 in a tough tournament in California, ending the pre-conference schedule at a slightly disappointing 5-4. The conference season fired up and the Tigers stumbled out of the gate, falling at Norman and in their first home match to Baylor. They would right the ship a bit, winning three in a row, with the last being a 5-set thriller against eventual NCAA tourney participant ISU. Hope was high that at 8-6 overall, the worst was behind the Tigers and they finally had it in gear. However, Mizzou hit a tough part of the schedule and lost four of their next five (with three against NCAA teams). Still, if the previous year had proved anything, it was that a winning record overall and a .500 record in conference was sometimes good enough for the NCAA tournament.

After losing to Texas to finish that stretch, Mizzou was sitting at 9-10 and 3-6 in conference. However, they were through much of the tough part of the schedule, and there was still time to get on a run. That sentiment was repeated almost weekly by myself and The Boy through late October and into early November, as Mizzou never quite got it going. They always got to the game which, if they won, would really propel them, and then lost it. After a win against CU, Mizzou was back to 13-13 and 7-9 in conference with four matches left, three of them at home. Win those (the road game was at Texas) and they likely could make it. They lost all four, and the season ended.

2009 - A Look Ahead

The first off-season without a tourney appearance looks like it was pretty productive for the Tigers. First, L Caitlyn Vann got a tryout with Team USA, which is always a prestigious honor. On the recruiting front, they initially inked a pretty darn impressive class of three new players, at least one of which should be making an immediate impact. A few weeks later, they would bring in one last player for the season, making their class of four evenly split with two JUCO's and two true frosh. They also made a coaching change, bringing in former Stanford assistant Chris Muscat. Muscat was a part of a couple of Pac 10 Championship squads and some NCAA teams as well, including the runner-up last season to Penn State. Speaking of which, I remembered these stats were out there about the National Champs and thought they were worth a look. From Black Shoe Diaries:

The numbers are mind numbing:
* 38-0
* 114-2 in sets (with both sets being on the opponents "home" court in the national semis)
* 111 consecutive sets won (NCAA record)
* Only 20 or more points given up in only 26 of 116 sets.
Wow.

...yeah....wow indeed. I believe also their ENTIRE STARTING SQUAD made the All-American team (4 first team, 2 second team and Coach of the Year). Anyway, back to Muscat, it is also worth mentioning he helped coach three 1st team All-Americans last season, so needless to say he is bringing a lot of high-level experience with him.

Since we dont need to cover what Mizzou has lost, let's now look at what is returning for 2009. A team which had no seniors the year before now becomes a pretty veteran squad with six of them, along with four juniors. Leading the way will be Klein, who led the Tigers in total kills and kills/game (3.42) last season. However, she only hit .189, and will need to pick that average up for the Tigers to improve. Also returning will be Util Megan Wilson and MB Amanda Hantouli, who were the 3rd and 4th most prolific hitters on the squad last season. Hantouli led Mizzou with an average of .253, as well as total blocks and blocks/game. The #2 hitter (obviously) returns in the form of junior RS/MB Weiwen (Wendy) Wang who was 2nd in both kill/game and average. Senior DS Lauren Nuckolls and junior MB Catie Wilson came on OK towards the end of the season offensively while sophomore MB/OH Brittany Brimmage had some nice moments early on. Hantouli, Klein and Wang started every match for the Tigers last season, with Wilson starting about half, though that is not always a great stat to use.

It is not a great stat because Caitlyn Vann did not start a single match for the Tigers last season, though she led the team in digs and digs/game, while also being served to the most by the opposing team. She is joined on defense by a pair of sophomores in DS Priscilla Armendariz and Annie Lopez, who each averaged a couple of digs per game. Armendariz was one of the better servers on the squad last season, which often led to her seeing more time. Finally, and perhaps the most important position on the floor, senior S Lei Wang returns for her last year. The old saying is something about never wanting to replace a legend, and that is exactly what Wang was charged with after the departure of All-American Lindsey Hunter. She has been serviceable, but the team averaged 2.5 fewer sets per game last season, which really hurt. That number needs to come back towards what she and the Tigers did back in 2007 for the team to get back over the hump.

Mizzou will also welcome four new players into the mix this season, and I can see where a couple of them could and hopefully will have an impact. I expect/hope for the largest to come from JUCO transfer OH/RS Paola Ampudia. She was the National JUCO Player of the Year in 2007 as a sophomore (she did not play last season), hitting an amazing .571 with with almost 4 kills/game. Coack Kreklow is very excited about her, and us adding another big (and efficient) hitter would be a great shot in the arm for the offense. The other JUCO entering with Paola is actually from the same school. Junior MB Rosa Medrano was a two-time JUCO All-American and led her team to a berth in the Championships last season. As for the two freshman, both are from the KC area, with S Kate Harris being from Lee's Summit and MH Lindsey Petrick hailing from Overland Park. The 6'2 Petrick can jump out of the gym, but may not see a lot of time across a pretty crowded front (especially if Brimmage has improved). As for Harris, you would love to see her get some experience this season before the setter position is likely turned over to her next season. Coach Kreklow was VERY high on her, as was PrepVolleyball.com, who named her one of their top 25 seniors.

The schedule is pretty average, as the Big XII is always pretty solid and the Tigers do play a couple of out of conference teams who made the NCAA's last season. In Volleyball, there are not a ton of out of conference matches, but Mizzou's schedule is highlighted with matches against 2008 NCAA Tourney teams in Utah and Michigan. The conference season is each team (minus Okie State) twice, simple home and away. There are four more tourney teams in there, with perennial powers Nebraska and Texas, both of whom lost in the national semis last season. The Big XII may have been a hair down last season, so if the conference picks it up, this schedule will certainly get tougher in a hurry. That, and five of the six tourney teams from last year who the Tigers will play did make the Sweet 16, so that ain't bad either.

Prediction Time

I really dont think many saw the 4 game fall the Tigers experienced from 2007 to 2008, but the youth really seemed to play a big part of it. With a very experienced team returning (and adding some junior pieces), the time is now for the program to rebound and to start another NCAA streak. I will be very curious to see what changes (if any) are made to the starting lineup and how that trickles down to who plays in rotation. Returning everyone is a good thing, but returning everyone from a sub .500 team is not always great. If Wang can show a return to her 2006 form of about 12.5 assists per game, that should help across the board. At the same time, the hitters will need to put those passes away better than they did last season. The team already digs and blocks decently, so improving the offense is likely where the team can make the biggest stride. I am confident they will get the ship righted some this season and see a decent turn-around enough to put them back in the NCAA Tournament come December.

Outdoor Track:

And with this paragraph, the curtain falls on the 2008-2009 Mizzou athletic season, which has now spanned just shy of 10 months since the ladies kicked it off on the soccer pitch. Good efforts from the team down in Arkansas this past weekend, as Mizzou crowned three more All-Americans. Here is some of the "play by play" of the action from the past week.

Day 1 sees the Tigers get off to a good start
Day 2 brings Lars Rise an All-American honor
Day 3 finishes the season with Rohr and Lee earning AA honors as well

In the end, a set of impressive efforts from Lee and Rise and a slightly disappointing finish for Rohr, who does complete a pretty amazing Mizzou career. It will be tough replacing the talent of Lee and Rohr, but we will get to that in due time about what the Tigers can expect. In the meantime, let the longest two months of the year commence.

Random Thoughts:

I may have the most cursed fantasy baseball team...featuring Jake Peavy, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Quentin, Josh Hamilton and Dice-K Matsuzaka
I really did not think Detroit would lose to PIttsburgh...I just figured they were toying with them
I grew up listening to Gary Thorne being partnered with the late/great Bob Murphy on Mets radio. Thorne is the reason I became a New Jersey Devils fan, as he called for them on cable. And I say this now, but Mike Emerick (who happens to be the New Jersey announcer now) is the best I have heard.
It's been a long time since I watched "Major League" on anything but TBS...forgot how much funnier it was
One interesting shot is of the Indians losing on the road to the Brewers, which was funny because the team played its games for the movie in Milwaukee's stadium. In most "road" shots, they were simply changing the color of background at County Stadium...too funny.
My disinterest in the NBA grew considerably with the Finals this year...as I did not watch more than a few minutes here and there of the games.

Big XII vs. SEC Challenge in Football (mock) by ESPN

The Beef — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:30:08 -0000

Big XII vs. SEC Challenge in Football (mock) by ESPN

Pretty sure we have seen stuff like this from The Boy previously....wonder what he would think of this piece?