ozark trout fisher

Well now, that's a bit of a low blow. I mean, who else is going to make your food in a KC barbeque joint without the Kansas City Chefs? Now the Chiefs on the other hand? I don't know.

That's an awfully odd statement. The Chiefs were 11-5 in the NFL's second best division and made the playoffs. Granted, watching their offense was like fingernails on a chalkboard (Alex Smith is the king of the long, boring, 4 yards at a time drive that somehow leads to points anyway) but they were a good team and project to be at least decent in 2014. The Rams were just a bizarre team last year (kicking the crap out of Indy the week after you lose to Tennessee, REALLY) but they had a good start to the draft and have about 500,000 picks left to go. They'll still get buried in the NFC west standings behind San Fran and Seattle in 2014, but they should do well enough outside the division to get close to .500 again. And if they hit on even 50% of this massive draft class, they really might just be a couple years from actually contending.

I think the Rams did a pretty good job. Yeah, they could have picked Manziel......but that's not their area of need. Bradford isn't all world, but with a good supporting cast around him, he's certainly capable of getting a team to the playoffs. Look at Cincinnati and Baltimore. They've had very good success with quarterbacks that a kind person would call "slightly above average". You don't need Peyton Manning. I think they realized that they need to pick based on what division they'r'e in. Everyone, even the Cardinals, in that division is ridiculously physical. Just to keep their heads above water they have to make picks like those two. I was surprised by KC's pick, but it could work out. As for my Broncos, I like that they took a CB.......but I worry that Roby could be a major off the field distraction based on his time at OSU. With Von Miller already filling that role goodness knows we don't need anyone else like that. Elway has never been scared to go after players that others passed due to character issues, and usually it works out. We'll find out if he's right again.

Oh yeah, I think he's got a ton of potential if he's drafted a bit further down than the top 5. I see him being a lot like RG3......capable of carrying a mediocre team to the playoffs, when he's fully healthy, but almost never fully healthy.

I worry about drafting Manziel early in the first round. Everyone that talks about him mentions marketing, ticket sales, etc....That's important, but I don't actually hear a whole lot discussion about how he actually fits in as an NFL QB and whether he'd help a team win. My guess is that he's a massive injury risk, unless he can tone down his style of play quite a bit. If it were me, I'd say he's worth a gamble late in the first/early in the second. He'll go in the top 10 though, and I fear that's a decision some team desperate to enliven a fanbase is going to regret for an awful long time. Should he go #1 or #2 (especially if a team trades up to get him) some GM is putting his job in very grave danger.

Ness, just wanted to say that I owe you an apology. At a time when Mizzou was getting trashed by literally everyone, you tend to put your guard up super high against anyone saying anything that could be deemed as an insult. But that's not an excuse.

Well stated. And Marshall (according to rumors) was demanding BIG money, as in "have to give Pinkel a sizable raise to insure he isn't making less than the basketball coach" type money. I'm all for opening up the wallet for a good coach, but that's just not reasonable for a school like Missouri. If he demands that kind of cash, then he is essentially stating that he will not leave for anyone shy of Duke/UNC/UK/Indiana. Or some other school without much regard for fiscal responsibility. If you aren't going to pay Marshall $3million, then you are going with a guy that has some question marks. We could have picked Howland, with three D-1 final fours, and a SI story that doesn't leave him in a good light and some signs of burnout towards the end of his time at UCLA (while not at Marshall levels, he would have demanded a pretty massive contract, too.) We could have gone with Tim Floyd, the solidly above average major conference coach with some scandal (though he was vindicated, as far as we know) in his history, as well. Or we could go with the former Mizzou assistant with 3 D-2 final fours, and a lifelong dream to coach at Missouri. Given that none of those options are entirely ideal, it's pretty clear that you go with the guy that calls Mizzou home, and would never leave if he's successful. And the guy who has absolutely no black marks on his character, or any run-ins with the NCAA. When an AD says they need to hire a coach with "character" that's usually BS. But in this case, after some recent incidents, that's exactly what Missouri needed (and got.) Plus, let's be honest and practical: he comes awfully cheap, at a time when Mizzou is spending a ton of money improving its football faciliities. That's not insignificant.

What an amazing hire. Couldn't be more excited to be a MIzzou fan right now! Congrats to Alden on doing what he had to do in this situation. Mizzou desperately needed to get back to its roots after this season, and more importantly, after all of the postseason arrests. There was a terrible sense that we were going off the rails and didn't have a clear path back, with zero identity to fall back on. Anderson, at the bare minimum, is a class act who will clean up Mizzou basketball and give us something to be proud of. I can't wait to see a coach that brings a defense-first philosophy to the table. Whether he recruits well enough to win is another story, but honestly, I'm good with starting with the first part and waiting on that.

Okay-look at Missouri's number of NCAA tourney appearances compared to Tulsa. It's not close. This is not a legitimate argument. Here's the deal- you guys are overpaying for a mediocre (at best) basketball coach. Our AD made no move to keep Haith, and according to sources wouldn't even return his phone calls when he was thinking about leaving. Everyone associated with MU desperately wanted him out of town. You did us a favor, and I thank you kindly for that. That said, while I have nothing against Tulsa, everything about his history indicates that he will sink your program into the depths- after an initial honeymoon period with Danny Manning's team still around.

Eh, the Flint Hills are pretty. Won't argue there. No ticks, no meth, no trout, crappy football team, no trees in the western 2/3 of the state. Yeah, ticks never sounded quite so nice. Now my only regret is that I called my first post regrettable. Starting to think I hit the nail right on the head.......

I was referring to football, because, well, that's where one goes when there is a need to insult Kansas. Looking back, that was a regrettable response on my part to an obvious troll. There is something about the revolting phrase "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" that causes me to abandon all reason and get sucked into just about any kind of argument. Ya'll may not want to play us, but the utter disdain between MU and KU will never fade. It's practically written into our genetic code.

Did you say on up to Tulsa? Not gonna sugarcoat it-that's simply an ll-informed statement. Don't even try to defend it, or actually do. We'd have a pretty good laugh. Have fun going 2-10 this fall. Maybe you'll beat Iowa State or something to get to 1-8 in a conference with two losses to FCS programs, even though KU decided to take a rare year off from contributing to that total. High goals, my friend. But ya'll have great scenery....Oh wait, we got ya beat there too.

He isn't denying anything yet, which is a start. Tim Floyd (who's coached with a lot of success at Iowa State, USC, and lately UTEP) is emerging as the latest candidate. He may only have 5+ good years of coaching left in him at this point, but he's won a lot and looks like a safe pick. He's being ridiculously forward to his interest to the point where you half expect him to take out an ad in the Columbia Tribune. So convincing him to come here on the (relative) cheap isn't going to be a problem. Wouldn't be surprised if Missouri quickly snatches him up in the event that Marshall turns Alden down (or demands too many $$$$$$$$$.)

I think we still have some twists and turns before we reach the finish line here. Some yahoo tweeted that Anderson had already agreed to a deal to be announced tomorrow, which got everyone in a frenzy. But from what I can tell, there is no one else corroborating that, so it certainly doesn't appear to have truth behind it. I think we'll see a strong push for Gregg Marshall before anything happens, and it looks like Matt Painter is right in the middle of things yet again, according to what I'm reading. That's bold to even consider him again, but it's a hire that does have some potential to work if it's deemed worth the risk of trying to negotiate another contract with him. I do think at the end of the day it's one of those three, but even that's far from certain. A total off the wall hire is always in play in a Mizzou coaching search. One has to consider that every name we hear leaked could be legitimate, or it could be a smokescreen for who they really want, who we may have no idea they're even interested in until the contract is signed. See Haith, Frank.

According to a few outlets (ESPN in particular) Kim Anderson is emerging as one of (or potentially the) leader for the job. Certainly it's far from official that he'll be headed to Columbia, but he at least has a strong chance. I'm happy, but pretty surprised. I think there is real pressure for a connection to Stewart, and this would be it. But more than that, he may just be the strongest candidate willing to take the job. Assuming Gregg Marshall won't come, I think Kim Anderson and Ben Howland have to be the next two you'd look at, based on my personal criteria. And Anderson might demand 1/3 the money of a guy with three final fours. I'll just get ahead of the joke by saying I'm hopeful she lands the job. I'll just say it-I'd rather have Anderson than anyone else but Marshall. He may be here only 7-8 years, but he has every chance to do great things in that time if we let him try. And folks can fairly often coach 'til they're 70+ (just ask Bill Snyder on the gridiron). If he could give us even 7 years or so, that's the most stability we would have had since Norm, and plenty of time to establish a program and accomplish whatever he's capable of. So age matters, but only to the point where it means he won't be here for two decades or something and get a statue built for him. That's not what we're asking of this hire anyway.

In total agreement there. Frank Martin is one of very few hires that would make me seriously question my Mizzou fandom. One interesting mention that's getting a ton of press (again) is Matt Painter. We all know what happened 3 years ago and Mizzou's fanbase dislikes him as much as anyone associated with college basketball. Mizzou could probably get him, though, if they'd be willing to take him off his suddenly hot seat after two rebuilding seasons. No bidding war would happen this time-Purdue would probably let him go without a fight as he has lost quite a bit of his shine. But petty as it is, I just don't love the idea after the way he treated Mizzou last time. And another failed bid at Painter would have a disastrous look for the AD. This is a move that would be insanely risky, given the past. But it could work, and I'd be open to the possibility if the deal was done quickly and out of the public eye until contracts had actually been signed. That's always tough to pull off. And ultimately, I think we can do better. So then again, why bother opening that can of worms?

All joking aside, I get your concern. But what alleviates it for me is that he was an assistant at Mizzou for a long time and played a central role in hauling in some really excellent recruiting classes. That was awhile ago, but it shows he has the necessary skills. And, obviously he has the relationships in Missouri he needs to recruit in state, at the least. Obviously he'd have to bring in players to Mizzou that he wouldn't even bother offering at CMU, but the relationship with high school/AAU coaches in the area still very much there and ready to be used on a bigger stage. National recruiting is something he'd need to readjust to, but that's where his experience on the Mizzou staff comes in. And, if he were hired, hopefully a great staff of his own, including a couple of former D-1 head coaches (Haith always had 1-2 guys who matched this description which is probably why Missouri stayed afloat as long as they did in his tenure.) Actually, Anderson isn't my first choice. I'd go after Ben Howland as the first, realistic option, and also throw out feelers to Shaka Smart and Gregg Marshall (who are less realistic). If those failed, you are probably going to an unproven coach. That's where the likes of Donnie Tyndall and Mike White come in, but I do think Anderson also has to be towards the front of that "unproven at the major conference level" group.

Goodness, at least you're persistent with this................ Kim is pretty much a male/female name with (relatively) equal frequency in my limited experience. But I dare you to go up to Kim English and tell him otherwise, Justine.

There's good talent at Tulsa, and as experienced as it is he may not be able to screw it up in years 1-2. Think Missouri 2011-12. But a quick fall will come, and you'll hear about him fleeing to wherever he can land a job. Eventually he's got to run out of willing takers- but he tends to have a good instinct for how to keep himself in a halfway decent position without ever quite getting fired. That may be the only coaching related thing he excels at, but it works for him. Haith must really be great at job interviews or something. Because how does a .500 coach get one major conference job after another? (Tulsa is only a marginal major conference program as a new member of the AAC, but it's not like they're in the Sun Belt or something.)

Can we just have Gary Pinkel coach basketball too?

If you are going the Pitino route, Steve Masiello is very much available and looks like he has a pretty bright future. His resume-lying debacle is not that huge of an issue for me, but I doubt Alden will go that direction.

He's taking the Tulsa job, according to all the major sports media outlets. And Columbia starts throwing the biggest party since the 09 elite 8 run. Life is good again. Oh, and make sure to have fun, Frank! Clearly, he had no confidence that you could handle the pressure at Missouri, and wanted to get out before he was asked to leave.Good, because it was difficult to envision a scenario where he coached Mizzou in 2015-16 no matter what. And at that point, even a mid-major job like Tulsa would have been hard to come by. So, Haith and Mizzou both look like winners here. The big loser, of course, is Tulsa. Like Mizzou, they have a great core already in place for one big run, and then they can start their collapse after that. So now we have a coaching search. Greg Marshall and Shaka Smart ain't happening. I'm holding out for Ben Howland as a #1 homerun option, with Kim Anderson being a great #2. Mark Fox out of Georgia is worth a brief look (though that might be a reach) and Bobby Tyndall from Southern Miss needs to be called along with Michael White at Louisiana Tech. I'd also be open to going after Jim Crews, but I'm not sure he's proven enough.

Come on. The guy (allegedly) shoved a girl down the stairs and probably only avoided prison just because the (alleged) victim was too scared of the backlash to file charges. And this is after two previous legal issues in his short time at MO. How you could be upset with a school you love turning that down is a mystery to me. No one is good enough to be worth that. I'm with Flysmallie 100% on this.

He can go to Division 1AA (FCS) immediately for next season but not Division 1A (FBS) without sitting a year. But you are right about the talent he'd be up against, though. Everything he does would be taken with a major grain of salt.

On #1-he can't declare until next spring. That doesn't mean he has to play college ball next year, but if he doesn't it will probably cause his stock to tank quite a bit further than if he's at least on the field dominating undersized 1AA secondaries. Not sure about #5. Certainly has the talent to get there. But if he can't get it together, no guarantees he even makes it to league, let alone lasts for more than a short time. Hope it works out, and he both figures out how to be a decent person and how to make millions. But the latter is far from a guarantee. As for #3, yeah, it's not been proven (beyond a reasonable doubt) that he did what he was accused of, and now without a charge/trial, probably never will be. But that police report isn't a fun read. There is always doubt in this type of situation, but there's also a lot of evidence. #6. I hope I'm still posting on OAF in 3 years. It means I haven't given up fishing for golf yet.