Just Saying Hello

Greetings from a chilly Midwest part of the United States.  It has been in the low 30's and we finally got some snow today.  I know, I know, it's no excuse for failing to write for the past 30 days.

I will write as time permits but just want to let you know I am alive and doing fine.  Some of the topics I will write about are the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's 33% increase in the price of it's Sunday paper and the resurgence of the Mizzou basketball program under coach Cuonzo Martin.  The Tigers lost tonight to Illinois but the team's future is bright. M-I-Z!

Quick Thoughts in Late March

Greetings friends, my life seems to get busier the older I get. So, here are some quick thoughts on what is happening in my world.

-I was angered to see Mizzou head coach Kim Anderson get fired by my Alma Mater; Missouri.  Anderson showed improvement as he was asked and the team is clean.  By, that I mean no recruiting or NCAA violations and the players are graduating.  Cuonzo Martin has had success at Southwest Missouri State, Tennessee and California.  But, I don't think he is the guy to take Mizzou to a Final Four.  Time will tell.  I just hope Missouri doesn't get in that rut of firing and hiring coaches every three to five years.  Mizzou tried that in football for 25 years and it didn't work very well.

-I voted for Donald Trump.  Actually I voted against Hilary Clinton.  But, the more Trump governs as President of this country the more frustrated I become.  Trump just doesn't seem to know when to shut the hell up.  Maybe he will mature the longer  he is president of the USA.

-The St. Louis Blues are like a Pogo stick.  They are up and down.  They win four or five in a row and then go on a six game losing streak.   But, beware NHL teams.  They have the players to take this team deep into the playoffs if not win the Stanley Cup.

Finally, I have no clue who will win the NCAA tournament.  Of the remaining teams it could be one of about five in the tournament.  If I were to pick a team at this point I would go with Kansas.  You know I'm a Missouri Tiger fan, but Kansas is playing as well if not better than any other team still alive in the big dance.  If Kansas doesn't win it beware the Tarheels.

Happy Days are Here Again!

It's been two months since my beloved Missouri Tigers had won a basketball game.  But, today they took on our neighbors to the south and beat the Arkansas Razorbacks 83-78!

It's been a miserable year for the Tigers.  With the win today they improve to 6-16.  My guess is they won't get to ten wins this year.  But, a win is a win.  And beating Arkansas makes it even sweeter.  The Razorbacks have been designated Mizzou's rival in the SEC.  (Maybe the SEC sees it that way, In my mind the lowlife Kansas Jayhawks will always be Missouri's arch rival.  It's just too bad the gutless chicken-hawks refuse to schedule Mizzou).

And I'm happy for Missouri head coach Kim Anderson.  Anderson has busted his butt since being hired three years ago to resuscitate a program that had been left in the dumpster.  I hope the powers that be in the Missouri athletic department honor his contract and give Coach Anderson another year to turn it around.

Happy Ides of March

It's been about four weeks since I last wrote and it has been a relatively uneventful period.  Maybe the biggest thing to happen is Mizzou Basketball ended its season at 9-22 and Spring Football Practice has begun.  Mizzou's first home game is only five and a half months away.

Other random thoughts on this Sunday morning...

-"The Americans" may be the best show on television right now.  It is a spy drama set in the early 80s focusing on two Russian spies embedded in Washington D.C. and their neighbor who works in counter espionage for the FBI.  If you haven't seen it yet check it out on FX on Wednesday nights at nine.

-Good riddance to "Two and a half Men".  It had its series finale several weeks ago and for the most part it was unremarkable. Jon Cryer is a very good actor and his portrayal of Alan Harper was very good.  The rest of the show turned to mediocrity after the departure of Charlie Sheen.  I thought it vindictive of the writers to kill off his character in the finale.

-And finally, the worst commercials on TV are still those for Sonic Hamburgers.  The two gay guys in the commercial make me turn the channel whenever I see one of the ads.

That's it.  Happy Ides of March to you. And a Happy St. Patrick's Day to my Irish friends as well.

Mizzou is as Bad as Promised

In the post below this one I stated it would be a long winter in Columbia.  Well, its four weeks later and it is.  The Missouri Tigers are 7-13 overall and 1-6 in a mediocre SEC basketball conference and have lost six in a row.  As I write this they are losing to Ole Miss (13-7 & 4-3) by 17 with six minutes to go in the game at Columbia.

This is not Mizzou coach Kim Anderson's fault.  But, rather the a problem created by former coach Frank Haith who bolted to Tulsa after last season and left the cupboard bare.  Anderson will rebuild the program but it is going to take some time.

Note:  Mizzou ended up losing to Ole Miss 67-47 shortly after this was posted.

It's Going to be a Very Long Season for Missouri

As I write this my beloved Mizzou Tigers are struggling to beat Lipscomb University on the Tigers home floor in Columbia.  The fact of the matter is this is not a very good Missouri team.  In fact to be honest its a terrible basketball team.

To give you a little background Kim Anderson took over the Tigers basketball program this past spring after winning the NCAA Division 1-A Title at Central Missouri State.  I am a fan of Kim Anderson.  I watched him play at Mizzou and I watched the Tigers while he was an assistant to former head coach Norm Stewart.  Bottom line is Anderson knows the game, he knows how to coach and he knows how to recruit.

The problem is the person who had the program prior to Anderson is an opportunistic selfish man who left town as fast as he could to go to a smaller school at Tulsa.  His name is Frank Haith and he left the cupboard bare for Anderson.  Really, there is very little talent in Columbia and the Tigers are going to struggle in a mediocre SEC conference this season.

Give Anderson time and the Tigers will be back and competing against the powers in the SEC.  But for the rest of this basketball season and next year the Tigers will struggle against average teams and be overwhelmed by good teams.

As a Missouri Tiger fan I will continue to support them through the bad times and then into the good times.  Good Luck to Kim Anderson and his staff while they turn around this program.

For the record the game just ended and Missouri took advantage of poor shooting by Lipscomb to win the game 72-60.

Random Thoughts in Mid April

Here it is the middle of April and it is finally getting nice outside.  I celebrated Easter with my family and the weather was finally gorgeous.  We spent the day outside playing and eating.  So with Spring finally here I have a few thoughts on my mind...

-Its nice to see "Mad Men" back on AMC.  I'm not sure its as good as it was the first few years.  But, it is still very good for television.  I will watch the remaining five episodes scheduled for this year.  Oh, and have you noticed Peggy has become "one of the boys".

-"The Americans" on FX is the best show on television right now.  I find myself cheering for the Russian spies even though I am American.  This season is just as good as when season one left off last year.  If you haven't seen it do yourself a favor and watch or DVR the program.

-It's been a rough month for my beloved Missouri Tigers.  First Coach Gary Pinkel kicked super star Wide Receiver Dorial Green-Beckham off of the team.  It will hurt the Tigers but in the long run it sends a message to every student / athlete on the Mizzou campus; behave yourself or else.  The other development was the resignation of Men's Basketball coach Frank Haith. I say good riddance to Haith and advise him not to let the door hit him in the butt.  He was a fine recruiter but not much of a game coach as evidenced by his inability to control his team.

-My favorite baseball team the Cardinals are off to a .500 start.  Adam Wainwright has been lights out so far this year.  But, the rest of the staff has been mediocre and the batters have not yet started to hit consistently.  Hopefully that will change as the weather gets even warmer.

-Last but not least congratulations to Albert Pujols on his 500th career home run.  Albert I wish you were still a Cardinal but I still respect your decision to move on to Anaheim a few years ago.

Have a great afternoon and I will post again soon (or well, whenever I have time).

Congratulations to the Huskies

Congratulations to the University of Connecticut on its NCAA Men's Basketball Championship last night.  If you were in a coma the Huskies beat the Kentucky Wildcats 60-54.  I didn't watch the whole game because I don't like either team.  And I watched less of the NCAA Men's Tournament this year than in the past because my beloved Missouri Tigers played like crap down the stretch and didn't make it to "The Big Dance".

To UConn I say job well done!

Terrible Loss in T-Town

My beloved Mizzou Tigers shot themselves in the foot last night in their efforts to make it to the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  Mizzou went down to Tuscaloosa and lost to a terrible Alabama Crimson Tide hoops squad 80-73.  The problem last night was Mizzou played no defense.  Even in the weak South East Conference you have to do more than wave at the offensive player as he goes by.

Mizzou is now 7-7 in the SEC and 19-8 on the season. Mizzou has four games remaining before the conference tournament and by my count will need to win three of them and then go deep into the SEC tournament to get into the NCAA.  I have my doubts that will happen based on what this team has done away from home this year. Can you spell N-I-T?

Another Good Sports Weekend

My beloved Missouri Tigers picked up win number ten this weekend as they defeated the Ole Miss Rebels 24-17.  Up next for Mizzou is "Johnny Football" and his Texas A&M Aggies.  The Tigers are now ranked #5 in the latest Associated Press poll.

The St. Louis Rams continued on their winning ways too.  They clobbered the Chicago Bears yesterday afternoon 42-21.  The Rams are now 5-6 and will fly to San Francisco this weekend to play the 49ers.

And if the football wins weren't enough, the Blues continued their winning ways with an easy 6-1 win over Dallas on Saturday night and Mizzou's basketball team improved to 5-0 Saturday afternoon with a 72-63 win over Gardner-Webb.

Final Thought's on Mizzou's Basketball Season

Missouri ended its up and down basketball season with a good old fashioned ass whooping at the hands of Colorado State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  As they did much of the season, when Mizzou left it's happy place in Columbia, Mo. the team was mediocre at best.

This team was loaded with talent, but appeared to lack direction all season.  For this I blame head coach Frank Haith.  In fairness to Haith the team lost a key player mid-season over unproved charges of sexual assault.

With Dixon's departure the team never did come together like it should have.  Junior point guard Phil Pressey played out of control frequently and the result cost Missouri several wins on the road.  Haith, never did bench Pressey even when Pressey was firing up three point jumpers and missing like there was no tomorrow.  The bottom line is Haith lost control of the team and never did get the team back under control.  When Mizzou played at home they were very very good, and didn't lose all season.  But, when this group went on the road they were very, very mediocre.  It's time for the Athletic Director Mike Alden to evaluate where the basketball program is and what Haith's future is with The University of Missouri.

Tigers Put it all Together

I won't dwell on this but my beloved Missouri Tigers basketball team put together two solid halves tonight and smoked the Arkansas Razorbacks 93-63.  The Tigers led 48-22 at half, in what I believe was the team's best half of the year.  Mizzou dominated Arkansas on the boards and at the Free-Throw line.

Missouri finishes it's home season with a perfect 16-0 record.  The 22-8 Tigers complete their regular season in Knoxville on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Tennessee Volunteers.

One Down Two go Go

The Missouri Tigers have taken the first step towards being one of the number one seeds in the upcoming NCAA tournament. The Tigers this evening beat Oklahoma State 88-70. The game was not as close as the score. With the win, Mizzou advances into a Big XII Conference Semi-Final game against the winner of tonight's Iowa State - Texas matchup in Kansas City. Mizzou swept both of those teams during regular season play. While, it is tough to beat the same team three times in a season, Missouri should be able to pull it off at the Sprint Center be it the Longhorns or the Cyclones.

That would set up the Big XII title game on Saturday afternoon. Presumably it will be against Kansas. (But, that might be a huge assumption. Kansas will have to get past a very good Baylor team that is playing as well right now as it has all season). Should KU win, Mizzou and the chickenhawks have already played twice this year and have split. On a neutral court I like Missouri's chances to win the whole tournament. And with that being the best team in a tough conference the winner should get the number one seed in the Midwest.

Missouri is Lucky to Still Be Playing

My beloved Missouri Tigers are in a funk. It seems they couldn't fall out of a boat and hit water. Lately the shooting has been horrendous and Kim English continues to fire away. Mr. English is a lot like Will Rogers, except that English has never met a shot he didn't like. And the poor shooting hurt the Tigers down the stretch as they lost their last three conference games. I have a feeling that will come back to bite them in the butt when the tournament committee makes it's selections for the "Big Dance".

The Tigers dodged a bullet last night against Texas Tech and held on to win 88-84. At times they look brilliant and at other times they look like mental midgets. I am not sure what the problem is. But, Mike Anderson has better figure it out fast. Up next this evening is Texas A&M in Kansas City. The Aggies won earlier this season down in College Station. Hopefully Mizzou will defend it's home soil, but I'm not holding my breath.

Staying True to His Word

Mike Anderson is a man of principle. He said he wasn't interested in leaving Missouri for potential job offers at Georgia or Alabama earlier this year. And Anderson's word is good as Gold.

Anderson turned down an offer that would have had him moving to Athens, Georgia to coach the University of Georgia. Reportedly Georgia offered the Tiger's coach two million dollars a year. But, Anderson who told anyone who would listen, that he was staying at Mizzou turned down the extra cash for a chance to get his team to the Final Four. Anderson will reportedly make about 1.55 million dollars a year for the next seven years. I am not a mathmetician, but I calculate his decision to stay at Mizzou is costing him about $450,000 per season. And I dont know many people with that kind of loyalty that would pass up that much money. A lot of coaches pay lip service to staying with their recruits and building a program, but Anderson actually did costing himself and his family resources they could have used to build financial security. Coach Anderson, I respect you and admire the selfless decision you made to stay with the Tiger basketball program. You are a True Son of the University of Missouri. I salute you!

Late Thoughts on the NCAA tournament

It's taken about a week for me to get past my Missouri Tigers' loss to UConn last Saturday afternoon. I really thought the Tigers would win, but ultimately UConn was the better team that particular day. But, still it hurt to see such a fun season come to a close. I miss seeing them running up and down the floor striking fear in the eyes of their opponent. Mizzou truly was this season "The Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball".

Having time to think about it now, I have to say this team far exceeded my expectations. After Illinois beat the tar out of Mizzou at Christmas time, I figured this was just another team of mediocre selfish players. But, they fooled me and they improved every game as the season went on.

As it turns out this is the best Mizzou team of all time. They won 31 games and made it to the Championship game of the West regional. So my hat's off to coach Mike Anderson and the Tigers.

M-I-Z Z-O-U!!!

MIZ ZOU RAH!!!

My Tigers picked up their 31st win of the season last night by knocking Memphis out of the NCAA tournament 102-91. Mizzou jumped to a 24 point lead with 16 minutes left in the second half and then held on to pick up the win and move into the "Elite Eight".

Those may have been the longest 16 minutes of my life as the two teams stopped the clock on almost every possession with fouls. A total of 77 free throws were shot with Mizzou making 30 of 45. I was at my favorite watering hole and as the game ended the familiar "MIZ" "ZOU" cheer was heard echoing through the bar.

This may be the best MU team of all time. This squad has more wins than any team in school history and is only the fourth Missouri team to make it to a regional championship. Up next the top seeded Huskies of Connecticut.

NCAA Tournament - Part Three

Congratulations to the remaining teams in the NCAA tournament making it to the "Sweet 16".

My favorite of course is my beloved Missouri Tigers. Mizzou, with the third seed, knocked off Marquette on Sunday afternoon 83-79. Up next for Missouri; the two seed Memphis Tigers.

The next round sets up some battles of giants as all but two of the top four seeds in each region are still alive. It appears the NCAA selection committee did a better job than the media initially reported.

MIZ ZOU RAH!!!

How 'bout them Tigers!

The Missouri Tigers beat Baylor this evening to win the Big 12 Conference post season tournament. This is the first time my beloved Tigers have won the tournament since the inception of the Big 12. The final was Mizzou 67-59.

The Tigers are in the "Big Dance" with the win and I have to think they may be in line for a three seed, but more realistically a four seed. Regardless, I am happy to see the team do something no other Missouri basketball team has accomplished since the Big 12 was created.

MIZ ZOU RAH!!!

Tigers Knock Off the Sooners

The Missouri Tigers didn't have too much trouble last night as they beat the number five ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Columbia 73-64. The Tigers harassed the OU guards into numerous turnovers and frustrated Sooners post man Blake Griffin into several key mistakes. Griffin is projected by many to be an NBA lottery pick later this year.

The win gives 12th ranked Missouri a perfect 18-0 record for the season at Mizzou Arena. And the win improves Mizzou to 25-5 and 12-3 in conference. Oklahoma falls to 26-4 and is also 12-3 in conference.

Up next for the Tigers is Texas A&M in College Station on Saturday afternoon.