ozark trout fisher

Yeah, that was a bad call.....though it's hard to complain. Just seconds before, UT got the ball due to a terrible out of bounds call-it was clearly off Jerrone Maymon's hand but they ruled that Michigan touched last. So it was terrible officiating, but evenly terrible for both teams. Two great games right now between UVA/MSU and UK/UL. Gotta love this time of year. The games need to go quick because I need to go to bed soon though ( for one of the best possible reasons, planning to leave for the Current River in the early AM.)

Fishing too much definitely didn't help my grades, especially my freshman year. And I didn't have a boat and only a couple of crappy, polluted streams around to fish in. If I had in my possession a boat and a good lake within a reasonable distance my academic career would have lasted about a week. Luckily, I eventually got tired of fishing in water that literally stunk (especially on hot days) and started spending a bit more time studying.

He was right about the Kansas Jayhawk part. To maximize the insult he just should have said that and left everything else off.

It's always interesting when old threads (in this case, almost 4 years old) get dug up. Sometimes I read some of my posts that I'd long since forgotten about and just cringe.

Nice report. I know the feeling where float-fishing can get awfully frustrating until you get into the rhythm of things. Trying to manage a canoe/kayak and a fly rod simultaneously is a match made in hell. But once you get into it (or, in some of my own cases, just give up on the fishing and decide to enjoy the river), then it's awesome. No worries on the egg pattern: heck, I need an awfully good reason to use much of anything else on the Current....If there's a hatch I'll fish to that because I love catching them on dries-but otherwise it's probably an egg pattern on the end of my tippet. I plan to head down there in a couple of days. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to take the kayak out for the Baptist-Cedar run or just wade fish. Probably the latter. But either way I can't wait.

Apparently the key to bracket success for me is not having Mizzou in the tourney. Still have all of my final four and 6 elite eight teams left. A good second weekend and I might actually have a chance to win my pool for the first time in forever. By this point of the tourney, I'm usually just trying to beat the guys who picked based on the mascot, largely because I almost always pencil in Mizzou making that first ever final four, which doesn't help things. Not an option this year. I'm sticking with Florida over Louisville for it all, even though the Cardinals looked awfully shaky in their first two games and they have a tough one against UK this weekend. I'm nervous about UVA's game against Michigan State (I have the Cavs in the final four) but other than that I'm confident. Zona is my other Final Four team and they look the part so far.

Well, I guess it's time to point out that the SEC is a better basketball conference than we all thought. Just three teams in the tourney, but all three in the Sweet 16. Obviously Kentucky has been the most impressive, breaking the hearts of 2/3 of the state of Kansas (Stanford took care of the rest.) Tennessee's best win, ironically, probably came in the first four over Iowa, as victories against overseeded UMASS and Mercer are nothing to write home about. Florida will just suck the life out of you, but it might take all game do finish the job. That second half domination of Pitt was something to see. The conference may have but little depth behind them, but those are three very impressive teams to have as your only reprentatives.

I agree that they are dangerous and underrated, and have been most of the season. And they are a game against Mercer from the Sweet 16. That frontcourt is terrifying. They have lost a lot of close games (mostly a sign of bad luck) and whooped Virginia and Xavier (and poor Mizzou) by margins that are beyond impressive. They've beaten up on a whole bunch of opponents in a row, at this point, with the exception of that controversial, technical foul filled loss to UF. With the draw they have at this point, they're a serious final four contender.

Yeah, there's no predictability. What we know, from history, is that a top 10-15 team will win the national championship, and all of the teams in the final 4 will be top 30-40 teams. And a 16 seed probably won't beat a #1. Everything else, we basically have no idea. A massive single elimination tournament is simultaneously the best and worst way to crown a champion: the process of doing so is ridiculously fun, but at the end, you probably won't have the best team winning because of sheer randomness involved when everyone has to play (at least) 6 games. But who would have it any other way? The flaws are obvious but everything else makes it worth it.

And Duke goes down to Mercer....that's two times in 3 yrs that that the Blue Devils have suffered a shocking first round upset. As good as they still are, I don't think there is any question they are starting to lag behind the Michigan States, Syracuses and Louisvilles of the world at this point in terms of their status as a team that can do damage in the tournament.

It was a pretty great set of games yesterday. 4 Overtime games? Goodness. And most of the overtime games didn't even look like they were going to end up that close until the final couple of minutes.......Think SLU/NC State, New Mexico State/SDSU, and ASU/Texas, NDSU/Oklahoma. All looked like they were going to be blowouts (or at least relatively unexciting finishes) until very late on. But the best game was one of the first and didn't go to OT. Dayton/OSU was probably played at a higher level than any other game of the day and had a fantastic finish. It was hard to see Aaron Craft's career end in the first round against a mid-major though. I was kinda pulling for OSU this year in place of Mizzou, because I'm a huge Craft fan. That's already over with. Guess Eastern Kentucky will have to be my new favorite:) It seemed like no one in the tournament was allowed to hit a free throw, which opened the door for all these crazy comeback wins.

Well, hey, the Tigers have a postseason win for the first time since approximately 1873. I'll let everyone else deal with the negative (which while plentiful, don't really matter at this point of the season because they've already done their damage.) Jabari is one heck of a fighter and Danny Feldmann had 22 really good minutes, which was surprising and fun. Yeah, I was there, call me a sucker but I love Mizzou basketball enough to tolerate some rough times, of which this is one. But hey, we have the same record as last year at least until Sunday (23-11.) I think the one other Mizzou fan who showed up to the game fan had a good time too.

Yeah, it's pretty rare for the best team to win. Strangely, it has seemed to happen the past two seasons, though. I don't know that we have a clear best team, but Florida is the closest. I would argue that Louisville is the clear #2. So I hope we get that title game. I'll say again-how Louisville is a 4 and Kansas a 2 is beyond me. The Selection committee did a terrible job this year all around, honestly. They got everything from the seeding to the last team in dead wrong. Leaving Mizzou out was about the only thing they got right. Though I'd argue that we actually have a better resume than NC State. Not that we should be in. But SMU has to be pissed off, and rightly so. The committee saw that late win over Syracuse and it overshadowed a really mediocre season for the Wolfpack. Based on everything else, I think Cal (who has a better win, just earlier on) Minnesota (same) and Green Bay (a victory over a 1 seed and a great record) all had a better argument. What happened to their statement on having no bias towards the last few game? The Wolfpack are a good, dangerous team, but they didn't do enough.

Meanwhile, both of Mizzou's backcourt reserves (Wes Clark and Shane Rector) decide now is a great time to get suspended. We literally have Brown, Ross, and Clarkson as our only guards on our entire roster right now (poor Corey Haith is injured). May have to play 3 bigs for extended periods, which is terrifying. May, may still sneak past Davidson, but any chance at a run to New York goes out the window.

KU is one of the most fraudulent 2 seeds ever. 9 losses and Joel Embiid injured? I was expecting a potential 4 seed for the Jayhawks, and could have made a credible argument that they should have been a 5-6. Certainly they aren't even in the same stratosphere as a Louisville team that was seeded two lines lower. Go Eastern Kentucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I don't get why every year they have to pack so many good teams into one "region of death". They never fail to do so, though. The Shockers are a good team and deserve a nice run. I honestly have to believe that the selection committee did this on purpose to keep Wichita State from advancing. It's tough to find another way to justify that the best on just about every seedline is in the midwest. Even the play-in 11/12 seeds (especially Iowa) are really good teams with Sweet 16 potential.

I have Florida over Louisville, with Virginia and Arizona rounding out the final four in my first bracket. Not optimistic about Wichita State making any type of run. As a matter of fact, I had to seriously consider dropping them in the round of 32 to Kentucky. But I definitely don't think the Shockers are getting past the sweet 16, at the furthest. They are a real top 10-15 team, but their region is just too brutal. Generously, they are the 3-4th best just in the Midwest. Along with Louisville, Michigan and Duke would have clear edges if they should end up playing Wichita State. But hey, they're a heck of a lot better than Missouri, and also the best team in their state by a decent margin. So there's that.

Missouri is a #2 seed in the NIT, playing #7 seed Davidson at home on Tuesday at 8 PM. Yes, that's the Davidson that seems to make it to the big dance on a regular basis and often scares major conference competition. So this is not a given at all. If we manage to survive them, we'd get the winner of two really good mid-majors (Southern Miss/Toledo) also at Mizzou arena. Either team could have argued for at-large selection in the NCAA tournament, and would present an immense challenge. Arkansas gets a #3 seed facing a tough MVC team (Indiana State) in the first round. Those are two really good teams, and it has potential to feel like a first round tourney game if both teams bring the effort. That's always the question in the NIT-who actually wants to be there. I'm really interested to see SLU play Xavier/NC State in the the round of 64. I think if NC State wins the Billikens should be really worried. They are playing very good basketball right now. Xavier is always tough too, as any SLU fan would know from their time in the A-10. That would be a fun former conference battle should that game occur. I have Florida taking down Louisville for the championship in my first attempt at a bracket. Virginia and Arizona are my other two final four picks.

Well any remaining doubt now erased. Both MU and Arkansas await their NIT seed/opponent (though both should be safe for a home game.) Can I just admit that I'm not disappointed? I'd love to have a good chance to win a few postseason games this year. And more home games are always a good thing.

Yes, it does. Expectations depend on whether Brown/Clarkson come back. If even one of the two is in a Mizzou uniform, it's tournament or bust, I think. By the way, (IMO) Clarkson would be making a big mistake by taking off early. He's got great potential, but he needs to work on shooting, driving to the left, decision, making, and defense. That's a lot to expect to be able to handle during a few summer league games. And a big leap of faith to decide that NBA executives will look past that and give him a shot. I could see the case for Brown declaring, though. He's probably a second round pick, but I'm not sure he has as much room to rise.

Yeah, I agree with you on the first point. OU is definitely a lock for the NCAAs. Probably a 6-8 seed. They'll have a good chance to win a game, maybe two if the matchup is right.

I think if the SEC gets #4 it's going to (probably) be Arkansas. I don't think the committee is going to worry too much about head to head. If I'm right, the Hogs have better wins than Mizzou across the board, and their losses aren't really any worse. I know they had two bad games to end the season, but overrall they've played better late-season, which should matter. Their RPI is in very dangerous territory though. If I was on the committee they'd definitely be above Mizzou (though I'm not sure if that would put them in.) But that may have more than anything to do with my frustration right now. I saw a quote from one of the "bracket experts" that said all year most teams fanbases were begging him to put their team into the bracket, but Missouri's fanbase was the only one arguing why we SHOULDN'T be there. It would be tough to paint a more accurate picture than that. At the end of the day, the Missouri vs. Arkansas resume comparison really could matter. They are the first two teams out in the CBS sports projection. Both probably stay out for good, but it's not a lock. Frankly, I'm kinda glad that Missouri probably won't get in as an 11-12 seed and a huge underdog. We've gotten crushed in the first round every year for the past 3. Maybe we can win a couple tournament games this year, even if its the wrong tournament.

That is to say, Mizzou's 5 season tournament run. It is particularly brutal, for having come within about 10-15 minutes of reversing that. For those who didn't get to follow the game as it happened (pretty much everyone, given the early weekday tipoff) that sounds like an odd thing to say, as the Gators won by 23. But as late as around the under 12 timeout, this was a one possession game, and tied at the half. Missouri just got worn out and let Florida run away with it. Chances are, this was a simple play-in/play-out game for Mizzou. Technically, today's move into the RPI top 50 (because losing to Florida by 23 points actually HELPED that figure, illustrating how dumb that metric is) keeps them in the bubble mix. And CBS sports had us in the bracket before the game. But they're out. I'm about 98% sure of this. Though it's not official, Missouri will almost certainly have a home NIT game (at least one, anyway) at some point next week. Yeah, I plan to go, and call me a sucker if you want. But at least NIT tickets are about 1/2 to 1/3 of the usual price, so there's that. I hope we can get an interesting first round opponent, at least. And more importantly, I hope they play like they actually care. Yes, even NIT games matter in evaluating Haith.

I'd honestly be up for either. Obviously, Greg Marshall would be the first choice, but I could live with giving Anderson a shot. He wins big at his level and if he had a good staff to help him recruit, it might translate. If not, it might cost us an NIT bid or two. Worth trying. But before any of that, we're going to get at least one more year of my favorite Reality TV show, called " Frank Haith's Amazing SEC Adventures". Whether that will be enjoyable or not depends on whether Brown/Clarkson come back. Felt bad for Arkansas. Just couldn't quite break through this year. But they are making progress. and have some pretty good young talent. They'll be okay. They're a team that could benefit from a long run in the NIT, in terms of getting tournament experience for next year (when they'll be in the tournament, barring an epic disappointment.)

And Arkansas goes down. Looking like a 3 bid SEC, if Tennessee can beat South Carolina anyway. If not, maybe two bids.