Missouri "Puppy Mill" Law Faces Changes

The Missouri Senate has endorsed Senate Bill 113 which changes some wording and provisions in the "Puppy Mill" law that was recently passed by Missouri voters. This new bill is aimed at softening some of the regulations that would drive costs up for breeders in the state of Missouri. Many contend that the law as passed by voters in November would put many breeders out of business in Missouri.

Many would say one of the serious problems with this law limited the number of dogs at a breeding facility to 50. Seems like an arbitrarily low number to me - if dogs are cared for properly, what difference does it make how many are there? It takes aim at "big" operations, as if there is something inherently wrong about a large facility.

Other issues addressed in the new law include defining what constitutes "adequate" shelter, exercise, food and water, and medical care. A veterinarian would still have to see the animals at least yearly, but any treatment or euthanasia would not have to be performed by a vet. A dog no linger would have to have constant access to an exercise area, but instead consistant with the regulations of the Department of Agriculture. The Food and water language was changed to something similar. In general, some very specific measurements and time intervals were changed to generalities.

Another important criticism of the bill is also being changed. Language in the original law stated "domestic animal" and will be changed to dog. Some opponents of the law stated that it could be applied to many more animals than dogs.

Bill Self Named AP Big 12 Coach of the Year

For the second time in the past four seasons, Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks were not picked to win the Big 12 in the preseason polls. Both times, KU posted a 14-2 Big 12 record and won the conference outright, and the latest Big 12 title has won Bill Self another AP Big 12 coach of the year award.

Apart from winning a national title in 2008, Self's teams have often come up short in the NCAA Tournament. However, his regular season success at KU is rediculous: KU has now won at least a share of seven straight league titles. Self's teams have a huge advantage at home in legendary Allen Fieldhouse (where the team recently won 69 straight home games), but it is the Jayhawks road success that really seperates KU. In Selthe past seven seasons, Kansas has gone 7-1 on the road in conference play three times (no other team has done it once), and has a 43-13 road record overall. That mark is better than any other Big 12 team's home record except for Texas. Any average coach and average team can be good at home - just look at Missouri this season. It takes a special team and a special coach to consistently win on the road, and that is why Self is once again recognized as the league's best.

The only knock on Self is that he has only been to one Final 4 (where his team did win it all), and that his teams often bow out early in the NCAA Tournament. I think most fans need to give him time to bring in some more serious hardware, and appreciate the league dominance we have seen recently. As long as Self is at KU, no one should pick against the Jayhawks winning the league. It will just make winning awards like these even easier.

Previewing the Opening Round of the Big 12 Tournament

With the Big 12 regular season over, its time to look ahead to the Big 12 Tournament. The opening round doesn't feature any of the Big 12's top four teams, but still offers plenty of exciting matchups.

#8Nebraska vs. #9Oklahoma State - 11:30 a.m.

Oh, what could have been for the Cornhuskers. After beating Texas and sniffing the tournament for the first time in years, Nebraska then lost by four to KState and fell to last-place Iowa State by a point in overtime. Now Nebraska can only make the big dance with a Big 12 Tournament title. They are a bit of a scary team, having beaten the Longhorns and nearly taking down Kansas in Lawrence. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, has had a lot of close losses as well. The winner of this one gets Kansas in the quarterfinals. Good luck.

#5Colorado vs. #12Iowa State - 2:00 p.m.

Currently, Colorado is listed as one of the last four teams in in ESPN's bracketology. The Buffalos are about as up and down as you can be - beating Texas and then losing to Iowa State for example. Iowa State can score, but struggles to stop anybody. On a sentimental note, this is CU's last guaranteed game against a Big 12 opponent. Look for Colorado to avenge its loss to the Cyclones to set up a juicy matchup against KState in the quarters - a team the Buffs beat twice during the regular season. Should CU lose, it would almost assuredly miss the NCAA tournament. No pressure boys!

#7Baylor vs. #10Oklahoma - 6:00 p.m.

This game has potential to be worst game of the day, as Baylor is the much better team on paper and has the firepower to beat anyone. Unfortunately, that didn't mean a whole lot this season, as the Bears went from a preseason Big12 contender to out of the NCAA tournament. Baylor isn't making the big dance unless it wins this tournament, but it certainly has the talent to do so. Oklahoma isn't good, but they can be dangerous when they connect on their three point attempts. The Sooners won the last meeting, but I feel like the Bears might once again make a little noise in the Big 12 tournament. Then again, one of these teams could win by 60 tomorrow and I wouldn't be surprised.

#6Missouri vs. #11 Texas Tech - 8:30 p.m.

Missouri has lost three strait, and has seen its tournament stock free fall in the past two weeks. Can the Tigers get out of their funk? They need to start on the defensive end, and who better to test them than the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who scored 84 points in the team's only meeting this year. Tech has shown signs of life this year, but I expect the Tigers to get back on track in a big way in this one.

KCTV Flubs Border War Broadcast

With less than 5 minutes remaining in Saturday's Missouri-Kansas Basketball game, CBS Sports inexplicably switched the feed to the Michigan-Michigan State game. Needless to say, there was slightly less demand for the Big 10 rivalry game as there was for the Border War locally. And yes, it a WAR, not a "Showdown" as some PC pantywaists want you to believe. Though Kansas should have had the game well in hand, Missouri did mount a furious too little-too late comeback to eventually lose by just 4 with local fans running to their radios to hear the outcome of the final minutes.

Soon after the game, the horribly lame excuses started roll in from KCTV, CBS's local affiliate in Kansas City. First it was noted that it was not KCTV's fault for the feed is sent by CBS - that excuse was soon rendered useless as word got out that Topeka and St Louis's CBS affiliate switched back to the MU-KU game within minutes. The next excuse was sun spots. Are you freaking kidding me? Sun spots? Are you sure it wasn't Bigfoot or a Leprechaun who tripped over the network feed cable? No matter what the problem was, there simply is no excuse for KCTV to have dropped the ball like this. I have a feeling what really happened is that no one noticed the problem until it was too late to do anything about. They were literally "asleep at the switch". What should we expect from a news station that did not even have a sports department for 7 years until last year when they hired Michael Coleman (ugh) to be their Sports Director.

I'd link to Coleman's page on KCTV's website if there was one. In fact, you can't even find the guy's name mentioned on the website. Has he been fired? Well, if so I don't think anyone would notice. Oh, I almost forgot, KU can SUCK IT!

KU beats Mizzou, Wins Big 12 Title Outright

Turns out, Kansas won't be sharing anything this season, as it won the Big 12 title outright with a tough 70-66 win over Mizzou in Columbia. The game showcased the Jayhawks' toughness, as they survived a late Tiger push, some of the worst calls you will ever see and even the ever classy Mizzou fans throwing things on the court. Kansas has now won at least a share of seven consecutive conference titles, and has won the last three outright.

Despite being terrible on the road, Missouri had been undefeated at home leading up to Saturday's contest. Once again, the Tigers had absolutely no answer for the KU big men, especially Marcus Morris, who had a monster game with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Thomas Robinson helped KU build a lead it wouldn't lose in the second half with a lot of tough put-backs, and ended up with 15 points and 13 boards. If KU's big men continue to play at a high level, KU is almost unbeatable - no other team in the country has the firepower to match what the Jayhawks do inside.

For Missouri, it was the same old story. Despite a perfect home record, the Tigers again couldn't avoid a season sweep at the hands of their rival. Is it time for Mizzou fans to panic? Possibly - Mizzou ended its regular season with three straight losses and is limping into the post season. Its tournament seed will be average at best, which means the Tigers will likely have to knock off a very good team in round two to crash the Sweet 16. It looks like Mike Anderson may have taken this program as far as he can. MU is always competitive and good enough to finish in the top half of the Big 12 and make the NCAA tournament, but thats about it. Missouri rarely beats Kansas - the Jayhawks have won the last five meetings and 11 of the last 14 - and has still never been to the Final 4. Anderson is rumored to be interested in the Arkansas job, and it would be interesting to get a Tigers' perspective on this.