Transmogrified Tiger

So wait, I don't get it. You're blaming Duke for going out and getting good players? No thats fine, but I fault the logic of feeling sorry for them for not having any depth like many here do. Who feels sorry for them? I think it's an indictment of Coach K. He can get all those McD AA guys, but he can't find anyone that can backup Williams for how many years? Maybe he has some philosophical reason for wanting to play a short bench, but anytime Williams gets in foul trouble they're in a huge bind.

One thing I'm not sure you realize (and if you do, I apologize) is that I lived in St. Louis during Alden's tenure. Many people have excused him for the Ricky Clemons situation, the death of the football player last year (I forgot his name), the fact that his hires in football and basketball haven't done what fans thought when they were hired several years ago. I worked with and have several friends who are Mizzou alums who are just now beginning to finally criticize Alden (not to mention what crap I heard on St. Louis sports radio). In no way did I intend to say 100% of Mizzou fans think the same way, but the ones I know definitely do. All I heard from a lot of fans and alum after Mizzou hired Pinkel and Snyder was how they were going to bring the two programs to national prominence. Snyder did take a team to the elite eight, but even then they were just a 12-seed-- meaning they were one of the last at-large bids handed out. I still stand by my opinion that Mizzou fans are one of the worst in terms of expectations. Three years ago beating Nebraska in football shouldn't have gotten to the point where when you win you tear down the goal-posts. Even I, a Mizzou hater, thought two years ago with Brad Smith, that Mizzou would be participating in the Big 12 championship game before his eligibility was up and beating any Big 12 North team would be the norm. The football player's name was Aaron O'Neal. In my experience, it's been the opposite with expectations. Most figured the football team would be where it was, not quite great, and not quite terrible. They lost some games they shouldn't have, and that's why most have either a neutral or negative view of Pinkel. Most here hate Snyder, some to the point where they wouldn't enjoy any future success the program would have under Snyder. It's harder to gauge the approval level of Alden since he's not as hot a topic as Snyder, but there's plenty of fans that want him gone(just check TigerBoard). I wasn't around for the scandal, and I fully understand his F-ball and B-ball hirings have been subpar. I will give him this though. Just about every other sport is doing very well. Volleyball went to the Elite 8, Baseball was a couple outs away from the CWS, Softball, Gymnastics, Wrestling, and Women's hoops are all Top 25. I don't know how many of those guys he hired, but Mizzou has had a good bit of success in the non-revenue sports. EDIT: Yes, I did know you lived in the St. Louis area for a while.

I never said anything about the loss compared to any other(although losing to Colorado isn't nearly as bad as blowouts against ISU @ home or @ Baylor). Congratulations for being more thick skinned than most, but you have to understand you come off like a jerk when you pile on with hyperbole on a rival after a bad loss. A jerk? Right. Considering I haven't heard from Mizzou or any other posters other than you, I'll consider that's just you speaking out on emotion after a bad loss. I have no earthly idea why you took what I said so personal, I was being absolutely facetious when speaking of the death penalty, and I said Alden and Snyder should be fired --- not for just this year's crappy performance, but crappy performance over the year's and you took offense even though, as you stated, there are lots of people with the same opinion. I think Mizzou has four of the last six on the road, so I hope you're prepared. If Illinois loses at OSU on Sunday, I won't take the negative as personal unless what is said is false. That's when I take things personal. I'm not disagreeing with your points about Snyder or Alden, but you said something false about fans criticizing Alden, and then used that as your rationale to call Mizzou fans(of which I and several others on this site are) and Missouri media among the worst in the country. That's why I took offense.

They've lacked depth for several years now, I doubt they make it past the round of 16 once they lose the officiating edge they seem to enjoy in the regular season. And UNC ties it up. Part of the reason they lack depth is because they've lost a bunch of players to early entry, but you can't tell me thee's not some junior that can run that offense better that the kid who looks scared to death running it now. I dislike Duke as much as anyone, but I think you are being pretty hard on a kid who had seven assists tonight and is averaging over 5 per game this year (plus a steal and a half a game). Not trying to take away from him, but I wonder how many of those are passing from the top of the key to a spotted up Redick? Paulus doesn't look that comfortable out there, the greatest example of this is his inability to find Redick at the end of one of their losses, can't remember which. However, I must say I was impressed with him knocking down those free throws at the end of the game.

I never said anything about the loss compared to any other(although losing to Colorado on the last shot isn't nearly as bad as blowouts against ISU @ home or @ Baylor). Congratulations for being more thick skinned than most, but you have to understand you come off like a jerk when you pile on with hyperbole on a rival after a bad loss.

Many people want Alden fired. Have some tact, you know there's several Mizzou fans on here. If I offended your university, I apologize, but please tell me where I lack tact. I call them as I see them. Like I said, consider the audience. After U of I lost to Penn State, it would be "calling them like I see them" to make fun of the fans rushing the court, pointing out how long it's been since Penn St. beat a ranked team(or a conference team on the road), how Dee Brown isn't that great a shooter, etc. But I know there's a lot of Illini fans here, and they were pissed about that loss. Mizzou just got blown out by Baylor, the fans are pissed, and are just waiting out the season until Snyder is fired(no one fires a college coach midseason). Ripping the university(death penalty to the program?), and more importantly it's fans right after the loss is pretty inconsiderate. What?! If you read anything I wrote in the Big Ten thread I would agree with anyone who (and I was ripping Brown, Augustine,etc) criticized or made fun of Illinois. It makes little sense to get on a sports message board and not call a spade a spade. Quin Snyder and Mizzou's basketball program is a joke. Just as anyone calling Augustine and Brown leaders is a joke. Using an analogy, I guess it was wrong for some to criticize Hendry, Baker, Patterson, et al for last season's performance, huh? You think a Cardinal fan coming here and trashing the organization at the end of the '04 season would have made friends? No one wants to hear an opposing fan ripping your team after a bad loss, especially non-factual hyperbole like "Mizzou's basketball program should be given the death penalty", and "why fans don't call for Alden's head is another example of why I think Mizzou fans and the Missouri media are some of the worst in college athletics."

They've lacked depth for several years now, I doubt they make it past the round of 16 once they lose the officiating edge they seem to enjoy in the regular season. And UNC ties it up. Part of the reason they lack depth is because they've lost a bunch of players to early entry, but you can't tell me thee's not some junior that can run that offense better that the kid who looks scared to death running it now. When was their last early entry? Deng and Jay Williams(who only skipped his senior year IIRC) are the only that I can think of in the last 4 years. Maybe my concept of time is off, and I'm thinking of all the early entries they had from 1999-2002. Then they really got torn up by early entries. Maggette, Brand, Avery(brilliant choice on his part) all in one year if memory serves.

Many people want Alden fired. Have some tact, you know there's several Mizzou fans on here. If I offended your university, I apologize, but please tell me where I lack tact. I call them as I see them. Like I said, consider the audience. After U of I lost to Penn State, it would be "calling them like I see them" to make fun of the fans rushing the court, pointing out how long it's been since Penn St. beat a ranked team(or a conference team on the road), how Dee Brown isn't that great a shooter, etc. But I know there's a lot of Illini fans here, and they were pissed about that loss. Mizzou just got blown out by Baylor, the fans are pissed, and are just waiting out the season until Snyder is fired(no one fires a college coach midseason). Ripping the university(death penalty to the program?), and more importantly it's fans right after the loss is pretty inconsiderate.

They've lacked depth for several years now, I doubt they make it past the round of 16 once they lose the officiating edge they seem to enjoy in the regular season. And UNC ties it up. Part of the reason they lack depth is because they've lost a bunch of players to early entry, but you can't tell me thee's not some junior that can run that offense better that the kid who looks scared to death running it now. When was their last early entry? Deng and Jay Williams(who only skipped his senior year IIRC) are the only that I can think of in the last 4 years.

Many people want Alden fired. Have some tact, you know there's several Mizzou fans on here.

They've lacked depth for several years now, I doubt they make it past the round of 16 once they lose the officiating edge they seem to enjoy in the regular season. And UNC ties it up.

I've really got to stop watching Mizzou basketball on purpose.

Please come to Columbia, Karl Hobbs.

Uh, that was it.

brb gonna go cry

I think you'll see a big change in the bullpen from last year to this year. They were easily among the best and probably most fortunate in the league. The Cards got 220+ IP of very good to spectacular production out of Tavarez, Thompson, Flores, and Reyes. Even Eldred put up a 2.19 ERA in 40+ IP, and the dude had a 1.43 WHIP. I really doubt Flores and Thompson repeat those numbers, Looper probably won't come near to Tavarez's production, and they really don't have anyone to step into Reyes's innings, which is worse when you consider the Cards threw the fewest relief innings in the NL last year(60 IP fewer than when they also led the NL in '04). There's probably not a huge change in the offense and starting pitching, but they could be poised to take a big step backwards with the pen.

is it enough to at least be somewhat excited about? Sure, I'm excited that Murton's going to get an opportunity to be our LF, and hope that he continues his success. My point was the article didn't really bring any new analysis(at least to us Cub fans), aside from the declining K's. Any worries we have about Murton aren't assuaged by that article.

The best thing about those graphs was showing how Murton was making better contact against RHP as he got more time. However, that still doesn't change the fact that the sample for those numbers isn't very large, and he still has BABIP and slugging history working against him repeating last year's success.

That's 10man's work, he posts here on occasion.

I think what you(and me as well) were looking at the perspective of what was actually called, and they are looking at what would've happened had only Williams been called for a T.

It's pretty easy when all you have to do is spend a ton of money on long term contracts. Burnett, Ryan, Glaus, Overbay, that's quite an offseason.

What slot money did EPatt get? He was a 7th round pick if memory serves, but paying him 3rd round or earlier money might be relevant to evaluating their drafting emphasis.

1) Sprint "crime deterrent" phone 2) Ameriquest commercials(missed the beginning of the second one) 3) Fedex caveman Which ad was MacGyver in?

That's my understanding too, I think the FTs would've been from the intentional foul.

Nope, it's the same as any position defensively. I've seen it done too, I just can't remember who it was. Huh, must be remembering from my youth leagues.