Missouri's Struggles, Parity in the Big 12

Before the Big 12 season kicked off, the Missouri Tigers looked like a team finally ready to contend with KU for the Big 12 title. Last night, Oklahoma State beat Missouri 76-70, dropping the Tigers to 3-4 in a Big 12 that is officially now a two-team race.

The current Big 12 standings feature two familiar faces at the top: Texas and Kansas. The Jayhawks have won the league six straight years, and seem to be playing their best ball at the moment. Texas, the only team to give the Jayhawks a run for the conference crown in recent memory, is the hottest team in the nation. KU and Texas are clearly the best two teams in the conference, and once again will battle until the end for the conference crown.

While it is no surprise the Jayhawks and Longhorns are off to fast starts, the parity in the rest of the league is shocking. Consider Texas A&M and Oklahoma (yes, Oklahoma) are tied for third place with a 4-3 record, while Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Texas Tech are tied for second-to-last with a 3-5 record. The league has never been this close, and it still remains unknown who will emerge as an NCAA tournament team from the cluster.

Many schools who were expected to struggle have recorded upset wins (Oklahoma, and Texas Tech) while teams like Baylor, Kansas State and Missouri haven't come close to meeting expectations. While the next weeks should bring some separation, it is clear that once again, Kansas and Texas are on a different level.

Bill Muir Named Offensive Coordinator For Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs named Bill Muir their new Offensive Coordinator today. He has been the Offensive line coach for the Chiefs since 2009. Muir was also the Offensive Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Head Coach Jon Gruden. He obviously has the experience, and a Super Bowl ring. I would imagine Jon Gruden also did a lot of play calling, so Muir would also fit in with the idea that Haley wants to have a hand in the Offense. While in Tampa Bay, Muir also coached the Line and I could see him doing this as well. In his 33 years of coaching experience, many of it in the NFL, he has also coached defenses, including a stint as Indianapolis Defensive Coordinator in the late 80s.

Sounds like a good fit for Haley, a guy who will take a back seat and is a career assistant coach. He certainly has lots of experience. The next move for the Chiefs Coaching Staff is a good Quarterbacks Coach to assist with Cassel's development.

Kansas City Getting Back to Normal After Blizzard

The Great Blizzard of 2011 has come and gone. We survived. Quite a storm, with I-70 shut down for some time in Missouri from State Line to State Line. I'm sure it's happened before, but I can;t remember it. Officially, (at KCI), we had 8.9 inches, but more to the south and east. I estimate about 12-13 inches in my driveway in Lee's Summit. It took me two hours to shovel this morning, made more difficult with the two and a half foot pile the snow plow left at the end of my driveway. If this bullshit keeps up, I'm going to have to get a snow blower. But I guess I shouldn't complain, at least my street got plowed. Lee's Summit does a beautiful job with snow removal and they should be commended.

Kansas City on the other hand is a JOKE. I saw the City spokesman on the news telling people to be patient, they should have it under control "by the weekend". Weekend? It's freaking Wednesday - it is unacceptable for streets not to be plowed by the end of today. Kansas Citians should expect more from City Hall.

Snowfall Totals from around the area:
KCI - 8"
Sedalia, Butler, and Warrensburg - 18"
Overland Park - 9"
The Plaza - 11"
Blue Springs - 13"
Olathe - 12"
Wichita - 5"
Lawrence - 10"

College Football Signing Day 2011 - Impact on KC Area Teams

ESPN's College Football Signing Day coverage may seem a bit over-the-top to the casual sports fan, but for college football fanatics, the day is a nice break from non-stop basketball and hockey coverage. It all starts with recruiting for college sports, and KU, MU and KState have all been busy trying to fill holes and build for the future. Big 12 recruiting rankings currently have KU at 6th, MU at 8th and KState at 10th.

After a disastrous 2010 season, Turner Gill and his staff made huge strides in the offseason to get the Jayhawks back on track. KU has built up depth across the board, grabbing six offensive lineman and addressing other areas of need (LB, QB). KU's 2011 signing class is led by 4 star RB's Darrian Miller and Anthony Pierson. KU also may have found its quarterback of the future in Brock Berglund. A very strong class on paper, although it could be a couple years until Gill reaps the benefits of this group.

While KU is in rebuilding mode, the Missouri Tigers have been looking to take the next step into the upper tier of the Big 12. However, Missouri's 2011 recruiting class only features 17 players, and is ranked towards the bottom of the league. The class is led by 4 star DT Sheldon Richardson, and while MU doesn't seem to have any knock-out signings, all of its other 16 recruits are at least a 3 star according to Rivals. Gary Pinkel has already built up a good talent base in Columbia, but it remains to be seen if Mizzou is ready to battle with Texas and Oklahoma for the league's title consistently.

Kansas State's 2011 recruiting class is ranked last in the league, and despite Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder leading the Wildcats, KState cannot afford to continue to be out-recruited if it wants to remain a factor in the Big 12. No one does better with limited resources than Snyder, but KState has struggled since 2004, and a drying well of talent in Manhattan is likely the cause. The Wildcats did bring in several defensive recruits to try to immediately help one of the nation's worst defenses from a year ago.

Mizzou and KU both proved in 2007 that highly-ranked recruiting classes can be very overrated. However, it takes talent to win, and it will be interesting to see how these players impact the local programs over the next couple of seasons.

Pro Bowl a Joke

This year's Pro Bowl featured a lot of big plays, absolutely no defense and a funny ending. However, the NFL's All-Star game continues to be completely and utterly pointless, and the combination of poor football and a meaningless game turn this football fan away. However, year after year the Pro Bowl's ratings are strong, and this year's game had the highest ratings ever.

The Pro Bowl lacks some the elements that make football great: huge hits, an every-game-matters scenario and, above all else, defense. On most snaps you'll see defenders standing around and doing a whole lot of nothing, as the game resembles more of a summer seven-on-seven drill. Unlike the MLB, NHL and NBA, the NFL's All-Star game takes place after the season has ended. An injury or bad play will most likely not result in a player missing any future game time, why not go all out?

MLB has the best All-Star game, because there is a good rivalry between the AL and NL and the game actually means something (the winner gets home field advantage in the World Series). While this scenario isn't applicable to the NFL since the Superbowl is held at a neutral location, it would be nice if the NFL could find a way to make the game mean something to the players. Award money to the winner, or a car, anything to make players want to actually win the game and take pride in their performance.

The Pro Bowl will continue to remain popular due to the NFL's large fan base and because it is the second to last football game of the year. While the game is fun now, imagine the league's best players going all out on every play, giving a playoff-type effort. Until this happens, I will pass on watching the league's best defenders work on their tan.