Merry Christmas!

As I write this I am listening to Christmas music and as the man sings "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", I have to agree. The Christmas Tree is up, as are the exterior lights. The presents are all wrapped and most of the meal has been prepared. So, on this most joyous of holidays let me wish you and yours a very Merry and Blessed Christmas wherever you are. This message is also for our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. To you I say hurry home and may we have you home next Christmas. Thank you for all that you do for us so we may live freely and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tigers Rip Illinois

I'm still celebrating last night's win by my beloved Missouri Tigers over Illinois in Saint Louis. The Tigers beat the Illini for the first time in nine years by a count of 81-68 and have bragging rights for the next year. The win improves Mizzou to 8-3. Illinois is now 8-4

This is also the first time in many many years I can remember Mizzou sweeping Illinois in football and basketball. Both games turned out to be easy wins for the Tigers.

MIZ ZOU!

White Rat Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

I spent a lot of time in the '80s at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. I mean a LOT of time. One of the reasons was the St. Louis Cardinals were always competitive and won three National League championships and a World Series in 1982.

The man who ran those teams, White Herzog, has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown by the so called "Old Timers Committee". And it certainly has been a long time in coming. The "White Rat" as he is still affectionately referred to by Cardinal fans, tailored his team for the cavernous Busch Stadium I. (Well, Busch Stadium as it was know while he ran the Red Birds).

Herzog used speed, defense and timely hitting to win ball games and that style of ball came to be known as "Whitey Ball" a term used for a team that manufactured many of it's runs. I can remember seeing Vince Coleman reach on an infield hit, steal second and then get moved over to third base on a ground ball to the right side of the infield. That would bring up the third spot hitter who would then hit a sacrifice fly and put the Cardinals on the board. With the team's pitching and tight defense the Cards won numerous one run games that led to those three pennants.

So here's to you Whitey Herzog. Congratulations on becoming the newest member of the Hall of Fame!

Kansas and Mark Mangino

I have used this space in the past to poke fun at former Kansas University head coach Mark Mangino. As a Missouri alum I have little use for Kansas and their football or basketball programs. But, the University of Kansas stepped in it when they fired Mangino earlier this week.

Mangino's team lost seven in a row and blew a lead to that school's arch rival Missouri in the final game of the season. And that left the alumni unhappy. But, the truth is Mangino is the victim of"Bobby Knight Syndrome". Mangino has dealt with his players in the same manner for the past seven years. But, no one out in Chicken Hawk land seemed to care when he won 12 games and the Orange Bowl.

Kansas was fortunate to have as talented a coach as Mangino and Missouri fans knew he could recruit and coach. To a person every MU fan and alum I know and have talked to thinks that Kansas screwed up. As a Missouri fan I am glad that we won't have to face Mangino led Kansas teams anymore because he was very good at what he did.

I'm not sure who KU will hire, but they are going to have a hard time finding anyone as good as Mark Mangino. Kansas is a basketball school and good football coaches don't want to live in the shadow of the basketball team. As a Mizzou football fan I am not unhappy to see Kansas' program in turmoil. But, Kansas screwed up when they let him go. Mark Mangino will end up better off than the Kansas football program.

And CBS is No Better

While I wait for the Mizzou basketball game (see the post below), I am also aggravated with CBS TV's continuing usage of inane sound effects in their football coverage. I have the Alabama-Florida game turned on but the sound is muted. Every replay or graphic is accompanied by these obnoxious sounds. Wake up CBS, I haven't heard anyone yet who says they enjoy the noise you insist upon inflicting on your viewers.

ESPN Blows Another One

I am aggravated at the moment because the self proclaimed "World Wide Leader in Sports" did a poor job of scheduling programs. ESPNU is currently showing a football game between two small black colleges that 99% of the nation could care less if they ever saw them play. The network only scheduled three hours for the game, but still sold the same number of commercials it always does. So, there was no way the game could finish in the allotted three hours. In fact most of the fourth quarter remained to be played at 4 pm.

The victims are the fans of college basketball and Oregon and Missouri in particular. Viewers are now being told "we'll keep you up do date on what is happening in that game". This is bush league and ESPN knows it. Why doesn't this ever happen to Duke or North Carolina or Connecticut when ESPN shows one of their games. Thank God most of Missouri's games this year are on Fox Sports Net or the Big XII network.

If you're as displeased by ESPN's actions as I am, boycott the sponsors of the football game and the Oregon-Missouri game.

First of the Season

Christmas is only three weeks away and I had my first taste of a Christmas Ale last night. I was able to sample Schlafly's Christmas Ale and it was every bit as good as I remember it being last year. I am color blind but my neighbor H tells me it is amber in color. Hints of Orange Peel, spicy hops and Cloves are present from the time it hits your tongue. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate this year's batch a 4.

I plan to sample a number of other brewers Christmas and Winter Ales and will blog my findings as I find and taste them. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Ho-Ho-Ho!