So I've got plenty of Mizzou stuff to include here, but these are my thoughts, which means I get to put them in any order I want to so we start with some other stuff.
1. The British Open was A+, fantastic, phenomenal viewing. My family makes fun of me for it, but I enjoy few things more than watching Sunday of a major. The British is the best because you don't have to wait around for seven hours for the leaders to tee off. I woke up at 6 and it was already on TV. The last time I was as excited to watch a round of golf was a Sunday in July of 2009. Both of them turned out the same way. Nine years ago, I was living and dying with every shot as Tom Watson tried to turn back time and win a 6th Open title. I wasn't as invested this time, but make no mistake, I wanted Tiger Woods to win. As it was, Francesco Molinari joined Stuart Cink in my "I'm sure they're great guys and they deserved to win, but I'll hate them forever for robbing me the chance to see history" club. Molinari won, but this was Tiger's weekend. One boneheaded, try to be the hero decision on 11 buried him. But to see Tiger walking to the 72nd tee still with a chance to win was awesome. It's been too long. I hope it isn't the last time. Golf is better when Tiger's a meaningful part of it. I've got tickets for Friday and Saturday at the PGA. If Tiger has a chance to win, I just might buck up for Sunday too.
Also, I'm now a big Eddie Pepperell fan
2. Last week was SEC Media Days and Drew Lock was the media darling. I wrote most of my thoughts here. The interesting thing is that I've covered Drew Lock for four years and I had no idea he could be that engaging and entertaining. I mentioned that to a couple people who know Drew far better than I do and they told me "That's Drew. I'm glad he finally decided to be himself." You should also make sure to read Mitchell's story talking to SEC defenders about Lock and our fall camp quarterback preview, the first of ten camp position previews leading up to the first practice.
2A. If we're being honest, though, SEC Media Days are really only good for one thing. They're an outdated concept that existed for major newspapers that used to put out special preview sections. They needed to talk to every coach, get stories for every team as a way to introduce readers to the league. You don't need that anymore. Every team has a ton of outlets that covers it, so everything is out there the day after it's said. And most of the media doesn't understand how to use Twitter as a funnel to its own outlet, so it just dumps tons of quotes and video on Twitter and you've seen the information before anyone would even have time to write a story about it. So what media days are really good for from a media member's perspective is catching up with old friends and drinking too much. One of the national guys compared it to the first day of school for college football writers. The usual debauchery occurred in Atlanta last week. I recorded another lubricated podcast with Jay G. Tate and Neal McCready (warning, if you didn't like the last one because it was just three friends getting hammered and spewing nonsense, you'll like this one even less). There also may or may not have been an incident with a media member refusing to accept the apology of a homeless man (it was not me, nor anyone else that covers Missouri).
2B. From a fan's perspective, the major reason for media days is to complain about how the media hates your team. That happened on my Twitter timeline quite a bit last week. Missouri fans seemed quite outraged at the idea the league's media picked the Tigers 4th in the East. That's exactly where I predicted they'd be picked. I picked them 3rd, but 4th isn't an outrage. Florida does have talent. The fact the Gators are picked above Missouri is a simple belief that Dan Mullen is a better coach than Barry Odom. And history tells us that's not a terrible stance to take. As for UGA and South Carolina (the other two teams picked above Missouri), I don't know how you could really argue they shouldn't have been picked above Missouri. But six Tigers got all-conference honors. That's the fifth most in the league. So I really don't have any idea how a Missouri fan with any sense of reason and logic could complain that they were disrespected. And, to give you guys credit, I didn't see a lot of that here. But, oh, the t-shirt fans on Twitter thought so.
2C. Here were my picks last week:
EAST
Georgia
South Carolina
Missouri
Florida
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
WEST
Alabama
Auburn
Mississippi State
LSU
Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Arkansas
CHAMPIONSHIP
Alabama over Georgia
3. I'm about to start my 16th season covering Mizzou. It occurred to me last week that I have covered almost as many SEC seasons (7) as Big 12 (9). With that, here are the five most memorable football games I covered in each league.
Big 12
1. Mizzou vs Kansas 2007. No explanation needed.
2. Big 12 Championship Game 2007. I almost put this one first because it was the first game I'd ever covered where if Mizzou won it went to the national title game. But this one doesn't happen without the win over kansas, so that one won out.
3. Mizzou vs Nebraska, 2003. First win over the Huskers in 25 years. Grown men probably cried that night.
4. Mizzou vs Oklahoma 2010. The whole day was just such an experience. I took my son to College Game Day at 5 and didn't get done working till after midnight. It was well worth it.
5. Mizzou vs Texas Tech 2003. This was Brad Smith's finest hour. He was the turning point for Missouri football. He was a generational talent. He was never better than that day.
SEC
1. Mizzou vs Auburn 2013. This was the second one I'd covered where a spot in the national championship game awaited Mizzou if it won.
2. Mizzou vs Texas A&M 2013. Standing on the field as the PA blared "Georgia on My Mind" and Mizzou fans celebrated was something to see.
3. Mizzou vs Georgia 2012. It was the first SEC game. For that, it will always stand out.
4. Mizzou vs Georgia 2013. This was the one that told everybody that team was for real. Winning between the hedges with a backup QB and the help of a trick play. Also my first trip to Athens.
5. Mizzou vs Tennessee 2012. It was a meaningless game. It was two bad teams playing for nothing. But as far as sheer entertainment value, four OTs and more than 1,000 yards of offense was a fun day at the office.
1. The British Open was A+, fantastic, phenomenal viewing. My family makes fun of me for it, but I enjoy few things more than watching Sunday of a major. The British is the best because you don't have to wait around for seven hours for the leaders to tee off. I woke up at 6 and it was already on TV. The last time I was as excited to watch a round of golf was a Sunday in July of 2009. Both of them turned out the same way. Nine years ago, I was living and dying with every shot as Tom Watson tried to turn back time and win a 6th Open title. I wasn't as invested this time, but make no mistake, I wanted Tiger Woods to win. As it was, Francesco Molinari joined Stuart Cink in my "I'm sure they're great guys and they deserved to win, but I'll hate them forever for robbing me the chance to see history" club. Molinari won, but this was Tiger's weekend. One boneheaded, try to be the hero decision on 11 buried him. But to see Tiger walking to the 72nd tee still with a chance to win was awesome. It's been too long. I hope it isn't the last time. Golf is better when Tiger's a meaningful part of it. I've got tickets for Friday and Saturday at the PGA. If Tiger has a chance to win, I just might buck up for Sunday too.
Also, I'm now a big Eddie Pepperell fan
2. Last week was SEC Media Days and Drew Lock was the media darling. I wrote most of my thoughts here. The interesting thing is that I've covered Drew Lock for four years and I had no idea he could be that engaging and entertaining. I mentioned that to a couple people who know Drew far better than I do and they told me "That's Drew. I'm glad he finally decided to be himself." You should also make sure to read Mitchell's story talking to SEC defenders about Lock and our fall camp quarterback preview, the first of ten camp position previews leading up to the first practice.
2A. If we're being honest, though, SEC Media Days are really only good for one thing. They're an outdated concept that existed for major newspapers that used to put out special preview sections. They needed to talk to every coach, get stories for every team as a way to introduce readers to the league. You don't need that anymore. Every team has a ton of outlets that covers it, so everything is out there the day after it's said. And most of the media doesn't understand how to use Twitter as a funnel to its own outlet, so it just dumps tons of quotes and video on Twitter and you've seen the information before anyone would even have time to write a story about it. So what media days are really good for from a media member's perspective is catching up with old friends and drinking too much. One of the national guys compared it to the first day of school for college football writers. The usual debauchery occurred in Atlanta last week. I recorded another lubricated podcast with Jay G. Tate and Neal McCready (warning, if you didn't like the last one because it was just three friends getting hammered and spewing nonsense, you'll like this one even less). There also may or may not have been an incident with a media member refusing to accept the apology of a homeless man (it was not me, nor anyone else that covers Missouri).
2B. From a fan's perspective, the major reason for media days is to complain about how the media hates your team. That happened on my Twitter timeline quite a bit last week. Missouri fans seemed quite outraged at the idea the league's media picked the Tigers 4th in the East. That's exactly where I predicted they'd be picked. I picked them 3rd, but 4th isn't an outrage. Florida does have talent. The fact the Gators are picked above Missouri is a simple belief that Dan Mullen is a better coach than Barry Odom. And history tells us that's not a terrible stance to take. As for UGA and South Carolina (the other two teams picked above Missouri), I don't know how you could really argue they shouldn't have been picked above Missouri. But six Tigers got all-conference honors. That's the fifth most in the league. So I really don't have any idea how a Missouri fan with any sense of reason and logic could complain that they were disrespected. And, to give you guys credit, I didn't see a lot of that here. But, oh, the t-shirt fans on Twitter thought so.
2C. Here were my picks last week:
EAST
Georgia
South Carolina
Missouri
Florida
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
WEST
Alabama
Auburn
Mississippi State
LSU
Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Arkansas
CHAMPIONSHIP
Alabama over Georgia
3. I'm about to start my 16th season covering Mizzou. It occurred to me last week that I have covered almost as many SEC seasons (7) as Big 12 (9). With that, here are the five most memorable football games I covered in each league.
Big 12
1. Mizzou vs Kansas 2007. No explanation needed.
2. Big 12 Championship Game 2007. I almost put this one first because it was the first game I'd ever covered where if Mizzou won it went to the national title game. But this one doesn't happen without the win over kansas, so that one won out.
3. Mizzou vs Nebraska, 2003. First win over the Huskers in 25 years. Grown men probably cried that night.
4. Mizzou vs Oklahoma 2010. The whole day was just such an experience. I took my son to College Game Day at 5 and didn't get done working till after midnight. It was well worth it.
5. Mizzou vs Texas Tech 2003. This was Brad Smith's finest hour. He was the turning point for Missouri football. He was a generational talent. He was never better than that day.
SEC
1. Mizzou vs Auburn 2013. This was the second one I'd covered where a spot in the national championship game awaited Mizzou if it won.
2. Mizzou vs Texas A&M 2013. Standing on the field as the PA blared "Georgia on My Mind" and Mizzou fans celebrated was something to see.
3. Mizzou vs Georgia 2012. It was the first SEC game. For that, it will always stand out.
4. Mizzou vs Georgia 2013. This was the one that told everybody that team was for real. Winning between the hedges with a backup QB and the help of a trick play. Also my first trip to Athens.
5. Mizzou vs Tennessee 2012. It was a meaningless game. It was two bad teams playing for nothing. But as far as sheer entertainment value, four OTs and more than 1,000 yards of offense was a fun day at the office.
