People have seemed to like these. I haven't run out of things to share yet. As long as you keep reading I'll keep trying to come up with things. I'm actually starting with four Mizzou thoughts. Then on to my other mind-numbing ramblings.
1. The Ringer reports that multiple league sources that Jontay Porter is leaning toward coming back to school. As I posted in the Chamber on Friday, it's by no means a done deal, but I think the chances are much more legitimate than I did a month ago. Near the end of the season I was told over and over "if he's a first round pick, he's gone." In the last week or so, that's softened. I'm not sure that he'll be back. But I'd say it's 50/50 right now. He's got nine days to make up his mind.
2. Mizzou might have the most intriguing prospect in the entire NBA Draft. Rob Dauster wrote that about Michael Porter Jr. this weekend and I agree. I mean, he could go as high as four (the top three seem pretty set with DeAndre Ayton, Luka Doncic and Marvin Bagley III) and I could see him slipping potentially even out of the top ten. A year ago he was the No. 1 pick and now nobody seems sold he is healthy enough to take so high in the draft. He could be 100% healthy and be every bit the player everyone thought he was and be a 10-time all-star. Or he could be a guy who battles injuries, who can score, but doesn't do some other things and eight years down the road, he's a guy that's in the league, but nothing special. I have absolutely no idea where he'll go or what he'll do once he gets there. My thought for this board is this: If Michael Porter Jr. goes on to be a star in the NBA do Missouri fans think "Man, that's great, he went to Mizzou and look at him now." Or does it just make it hurt that much more that in a 15-20 year period, the only year where he wasn't one of the best basketball players on the planet was the year he spent in Columbia? Or maybe both?
3. Mizzou's softball season is over. The Tigers lost 7-0 to Oklahoma yesterday to finish 30-29 on the season. But I'd argue the weekend was a success. Missouri beat Boston and Tulsa to get into the "regional final" against the Sooners. That was more than most thought they would do. They proved that they belonged in the tournament as one of the best 30-40 teams in the country. The season was very similar to last season, when they ended 29-26, but didn't win an NCAA Tournament game. So maybe it wasn't a step forward, but it wasn't a step back and everyone's returning next year. Whoever the next coach is--and I don't think it will be Gina Fogue--there's some material with which to work.
4. Mizzou's baseball season is not over. The Tigers went wild late in an 8-3 victory over Tennessee on Saturday to clinch the 12 seed in the SEC Tournament. They'll play South Carolina on Tuesday night. The loser is done, the winner enters double elimination play.
Most seem to think Missouri needs to win a game or two in Hoover to make the NCAA Tournament. I'll trust them. They probably know more about it than I do. I don't know if "make the NCAA Tournament in year two" is a fair expectation for Steve Bieser, but that was clearly the expectation halfway through the season. The Tigers stumbled down the stretch.
My feelings on this are well known: I have no idea how Missouri can regularly compete in this sport in this conference. For a make or break game on Friday night, Mizzou had 908 fans. A lot of them left when the game was tied after nine innings because, well, they'd paid and invested their time for nine innings, but it sure wasn't worth spending another hour there apparently. This isn't just me blaming the fans. Baseball isn't that important here. I get it. I've never cared about it either. But to more than half the SEC, it's the second most important sport on campus. The league has 14 teams and at least 12 of them (take out Mizzou and maybe Alabama) have Super Regional at least hopes every single season. For Mizzou, I'd say the goal is try to finish 10th or better in the league somewhat regularly. Get in the top half now and then. Maybe host a regional one out of every four or five years. I know people hate to hear that, but I think that's about the ceiling in this league until a lot of things change. So I'd say Bieser is on track or exceeding what reasonable expectations would have been for him two years ago at this time.
On the positive side, he did beat Tony Vitello two out of three. Can you imagine the kick in the gut it would have been for Missouri fans to miss out on the SEC Tournament because of the guy most thought (and many still think) Mack Rhoads should have hired?
5. I'm not posting about school shootings to start a political debate. I don't care what you think about gun control and you don't care about what I think and we probably aren't capable of having a civil discussion about it. My main thought about it is this: What the f--- is wrong when we hear about something horrific like what happened at Santa Fe High School last week and most of us probably think, "Well, it happened again" and we're not even surprised. Good Lord what a hideous reality. The only redeeming thing about tragedy is that it often leads to some genuinely heartwarming events.
Bless you, JJ Watt. One of the truly, truly good ones out there.
6. Sometimes I see things and think "What in God's name is wrong with people?" That happened this morning.
No. No. No.
However, this does bring up a larger point. It is my opinion there are two great condiments in the world. Two things that you can put on 95% of foods and either make them better or at least not make them worse. Those two are:
Barbecue sauce and buffalo wing sauce.
Now, look, I don't want barbecue sauce on my ice cream or my cereal. Same with buffalo sauce. But I've had them both on nachos and salads and potatoes and any number of things and they improve the vast majority of them. We try to eat pretty healthy food around my house. Anytime we have something that is a little bit bland (and a lot of healthy food is bland--don't you ever believe these people who say they eat clean and healthy because they really think it tastes better because that's bulls---), we just put a little bit of Frank's Hot Sauce on it. Almost without fail it tastes better.
7. Ed Bassmaster is the hero we deserve.
F you double parker. If you are a person who takes up two spaces and doesn't immediately back out to correct your bad driving, I hate you. I MIGHT make an exception if your car is worth more than $100,000. I probably won't, but I might. If you drive a 2011 Honda Accord and you take up two spaces I hope someone keys your car and slashes your tires and every bird in a 50-mile radius craps on your windshield.
8. I like companies that know how to do social media. It ain't that serious. You're allowed to show some personality. Wendy's has a notoriously excellent Twitter account. Here are two more examples.
The Golden Knights won the Western Conference Finals last night. I've got to imagine it's one of the more improbable championship runs in sports history. Not for any amount of money could I tell you the name of a single person that plays on the team or who their coach is.
9. My recommendation for a podcast and a show:
Podcast--Slow Burn. It's a deep dive into Watergate and everything that surrounded it. Perhaps many of you know everything in this podcast. I did not. Really fascinating stuff.
Show--Nailed It! on Netflix. The premise is that home bakers (mostly bad ones) compete in attempts to recreate professionally done baked goods. We watch a lot of cooking shows, but you don't have to like those to like this. I was in tears laughing. There are only six episodes. You can watch the whole series on a Sunday afternoon.
10. The reading list is a little longer this week. Four stories for you:
Sam McDowell in the Kansas City Star on an Olathe North runner who overcame a stroke to get back on the track.
Peter King's final MMQB entry. If you like the NFL and you like stories, read this, but it will take a while.
Prospect and Pariah. S.L. Price on Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich, star pitcher and registered sex offender (read the story before passing judgment and popping off).
I Killed them All. A Buzzfeed investigation into a prolific hired gun.
1. The Ringer reports that multiple league sources that Jontay Porter is leaning toward coming back to school. As I posted in the Chamber on Friday, it's by no means a done deal, but I think the chances are much more legitimate than I did a month ago. Near the end of the season I was told over and over "if he's a first round pick, he's gone." In the last week or so, that's softened. I'm not sure that he'll be back. But I'd say it's 50/50 right now. He's got nine days to make up his mind.
2. Mizzou might have the most intriguing prospect in the entire NBA Draft. Rob Dauster wrote that about Michael Porter Jr. this weekend and I agree. I mean, he could go as high as four (the top three seem pretty set with DeAndre Ayton, Luka Doncic and Marvin Bagley III) and I could see him slipping potentially even out of the top ten. A year ago he was the No. 1 pick and now nobody seems sold he is healthy enough to take so high in the draft. He could be 100% healthy and be every bit the player everyone thought he was and be a 10-time all-star. Or he could be a guy who battles injuries, who can score, but doesn't do some other things and eight years down the road, he's a guy that's in the league, but nothing special. I have absolutely no idea where he'll go or what he'll do once he gets there. My thought for this board is this: If Michael Porter Jr. goes on to be a star in the NBA do Missouri fans think "Man, that's great, he went to Mizzou and look at him now." Or does it just make it hurt that much more that in a 15-20 year period, the only year where he wasn't one of the best basketball players on the planet was the year he spent in Columbia? Or maybe both?
3. Mizzou's softball season is over. The Tigers lost 7-0 to Oklahoma yesterday to finish 30-29 on the season. But I'd argue the weekend was a success. Missouri beat Boston and Tulsa to get into the "regional final" against the Sooners. That was more than most thought they would do. They proved that they belonged in the tournament as one of the best 30-40 teams in the country. The season was very similar to last season, when they ended 29-26, but didn't win an NCAA Tournament game. So maybe it wasn't a step forward, but it wasn't a step back and everyone's returning next year. Whoever the next coach is--and I don't think it will be Gina Fogue--there's some material with which to work.
4. Mizzou's baseball season is not over. The Tigers went wild late in an 8-3 victory over Tennessee on Saturday to clinch the 12 seed in the SEC Tournament. They'll play South Carolina on Tuesday night. The loser is done, the winner enters double elimination play.
Most seem to think Missouri needs to win a game or two in Hoover to make the NCAA Tournament. I'll trust them. They probably know more about it than I do. I don't know if "make the NCAA Tournament in year two" is a fair expectation for Steve Bieser, but that was clearly the expectation halfway through the season. The Tigers stumbled down the stretch.
My feelings on this are well known: I have no idea how Missouri can regularly compete in this sport in this conference. For a make or break game on Friday night, Mizzou had 908 fans. A lot of them left when the game was tied after nine innings because, well, they'd paid and invested their time for nine innings, but it sure wasn't worth spending another hour there apparently. This isn't just me blaming the fans. Baseball isn't that important here. I get it. I've never cared about it either. But to more than half the SEC, it's the second most important sport on campus. The league has 14 teams and at least 12 of them (take out Mizzou and maybe Alabama) have Super Regional at least hopes every single season. For Mizzou, I'd say the goal is try to finish 10th or better in the league somewhat regularly. Get in the top half now and then. Maybe host a regional one out of every four or five years. I know people hate to hear that, but I think that's about the ceiling in this league until a lot of things change. So I'd say Bieser is on track or exceeding what reasonable expectations would have been for him two years ago at this time.
On the positive side, he did beat Tony Vitello two out of three. Can you imagine the kick in the gut it would have been for Missouri fans to miss out on the SEC Tournament because of the guy most thought (and many still think) Mack Rhoads should have hired?
5. I'm not posting about school shootings to start a political debate. I don't care what you think about gun control and you don't care about what I think and we probably aren't capable of having a civil discussion about it. My main thought about it is this: What the f--- is wrong when we hear about something horrific like what happened at Santa Fe High School last week and most of us probably think, "Well, it happened again" and we're not even surprised. Good Lord what a hideous reality. The only redeeming thing about tragedy is that it often leads to some genuinely heartwarming events.
Bless you, JJ Watt. One of the truly, truly good ones out there.
6. Sometimes I see things and think "What in God's name is wrong with people?" That happened this morning.
No. No. No.
However, this does bring up a larger point. It is my opinion there are two great condiments in the world. Two things that you can put on 95% of foods and either make them better or at least not make them worse. Those two are:
Barbecue sauce and buffalo wing sauce.
Now, look, I don't want barbecue sauce on my ice cream or my cereal. Same with buffalo sauce. But I've had them both on nachos and salads and potatoes and any number of things and they improve the vast majority of them. We try to eat pretty healthy food around my house. Anytime we have something that is a little bit bland (and a lot of healthy food is bland--don't you ever believe these people who say they eat clean and healthy because they really think it tastes better because that's bulls---), we just put a little bit of Frank's Hot Sauce on it. Almost without fail it tastes better.
7. Ed Bassmaster is the hero we deserve.
F you double parker. If you are a person who takes up two spaces and doesn't immediately back out to correct your bad driving, I hate you. I MIGHT make an exception if your car is worth more than $100,000. I probably won't, but I might. If you drive a 2011 Honda Accord and you take up two spaces I hope someone keys your car and slashes your tires and every bird in a 50-mile radius craps on your windshield.
8. I like companies that know how to do social media. It ain't that serious. You're allowed to show some personality. Wendy's has a notoriously excellent Twitter account. Here are two more examples.
The Golden Knights won the Western Conference Finals last night. I've got to imagine it's one of the more improbable championship runs in sports history. Not for any amount of money could I tell you the name of a single person that plays on the team or who their coach is.
9. My recommendation for a podcast and a show:
Podcast--Slow Burn. It's a deep dive into Watergate and everything that surrounded it. Perhaps many of you know everything in this podcast. I did not. Really fascinating stuff.
Show--Nailed It! on Netflix. The premise is that home bakers (mostly bad ones) compete in attempts to recreate professionally done baked goods. We watch a lot of cooking shows, but you don't have to like those to like this. I was in tears laughing. There are only six episodes. You can watch the whole series on a Sunday afternoon.
10. The reading list is a little longer this week. Four stories for you:
Sam McDowell in the Kansas City Star on an Olathe North runner who overcame a stroke to get back on the track.
Peter King's final MMQB entry. If you like the NFL and you like stories, read this, but it will take a while.
Prospect and Pariah. S.L. Price on Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich, star pitcher and registered sex offender (read the story before passing judgment and popping off).
I Killed them All. A Buzzfeed investigation into a prolific hired gun.
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