Best and the Rest: Week 7
Monday, Oct. 6, 2008
"Premature gray hair courtesy of the Griffons," Wes Bell said to me in the parking lot following Western’s 31-28 win over Fort Hays on Saturday.
Western’s defensive line coach wasn’t alone in blaming the Griffons for accelerating the aging process. Head coach Jerry Partridge said he doesn’t think his heart can hold out much longer if the Griffons continued this last-second drama each week.
They certainly don’t make it easy.
Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008
Not everybody is a fan of Pittsburg State coach Chuck Broyles.
Some think he's brash, some think he's arrogant. Some even harsher, more personal words have even been used in our brotherhood of sports journalists.
Friday, Oct. 3, 2008
After a brutal week last week, Saturday’s slate of MIAA games offers at least three no brainers for someone who went 2-3 six days ago — Emporia at Central, Fort Hays at Western and Omaha at Truman.
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008
To borrow from a Bruce Springsteen song title, Northwest Missouri State defensive end Sean Paddock must believe he was “Born to Run.”
The 6-foot-2, 285-pound junior provided a thrilling, yet almost comical 52-yard return of a fumble two weekends ago at Truman State. He tightly clung to the ball with both hands as he rumbled toward the goal line. The Bulldogs closed in on him for the last 15 yards, dropping him at the 6-yard line.
Monday, Sept. 29, 2008
Two weeks ago, a fellow MIAA scribe told me, “Only UNO can beat UNO.” On Saturday, about 30 minutes before kickoff at Yager Stadium, another fellow beat writer stopped by to chat about the conference — specifically Nebraska-Omaha’s dominance of it. The general consensus seemed to be that the Mavericks were just a few hours away from another statement game.
Game Blog: Washburn 21, Western 16Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008
I grew up in Colorado and went to college at Mizzou. In short, I’ve never had a horse in the MIAA race nor cared much about the winners either way . My opinions of each school have been shaped by my interactions with its coaches, SID and athletes. And on the whole, covering this conference has been a great experience, dealing with helpful and friendly people on a daily basis.
With that preface out of the way, there are times when your objectivity can’t help but give way to your humanity, and we’re there with this Missouri Western team.
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008
Tyler Roach made Nebraska-Omaha pay on Saturday for snubbing him back in 2004-05.
Roach was an honorable mention All-State Class A defensive tackle in Nebraska, playing for Elkhorn, an Omaha suburb. He also was selected to the all-district and All-Omaha first teams.
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. -- This may start out like a bad joke, but this actually happened on Saturday in the press box in the moments before Nebraska-Omaha and Northwest Missouri State opened their MIAA clash at Omaha's Caniglia Field:
Friday, Sept. 26, 2008
On the eve of Missouri Western’s next football game, it’s certainly time to move on from the events of last Saturday’s Griffon-Gorilla matchup at Spratt Stadium.
But I wanted to add one more note from my 30-minute conversation with Phil Laurie, the MIAA’s director of football officials. Laurie certainly didn’t have to talk to me at all, not to mention with the honesty and depth that he used. Laurie has been on the job for less than two months, but he already has a vision to transform the officiating process in the MIAA.
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008
Recent history doesn’t inspire much confidence in the chances for a Northwest Missouri State victory this weekend.
There, I’ve said it.
But before everyone with a Bearcat paw decal on the back window of their SUV starts slamming me, please let me explain.
As an old-school, no-bias-allowed journalist, I must admit I’ve never been fond of the football pick ’em features or giving lengthy analysis of games. I figure the coaches know better than I, although they’re never going to come right out and say it publicly.
Monday, Sept. 22, 2008
The top four teams this week’s poll meet this week. No. 9 Northwest and No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha bring the conference’s top two offenses into their matchup in Nebraska, while No. 20 Central Missouri can stakes an early claim to biggest threat to the Mavericks’ supremacy with a win at No. 7 Pittsburg State.
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008
I have no idea why Drew Newhart didn’t run in for the touchdown on the third-to-last play. From where I was standing, when he scrambled out in the right flat, it looked like he had an avenue to the end zone. Instead, he threw a soft pass that fell incomplete in the end zone. While he is just a sophomore, Newhart needs to make better decisions in crucial moments and carry his team to victory. That’s three weeks in a row where his mistakes overshadowed his talent. And, as d2football.com’s and friend of the blog Jeff Harlin pointed out, Newhart doesn’t look off defenders. Two of his picks came on deflections where linebackers read Newhart.
GAME BLOG: No. 7 Pittsburg State 46, Western 40Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008
“We won the game.”
That was Jerry Partridge’s reaction after he, KQ2’s Ryan Menley and I watched the replay of Andrew Mead’s dive for the pylon in the closing seconds of this contest.
While the Griffons still would have had to make an extra point, cover a kickoff and defend for at least one play – the last two of those hypotheticals producing the biggest challenges – I agree with Partridge.
Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. -- Arriving at a site two hours before game time gives sports writers too much time to think. And when they do that, it's likely to produce an offbeat blog or column, which is what you're reading right now.
Nevertheless, it's a lovely afternoon in Kirksville, where I'm making the best of a bad situation. Of course, that's exactly what Truman State has been doing all along. For all the gnashing of teeth that has taken place over the new artificial surface that was completed just in time for last week's game here, I have to say the new turf looks nice.
Friday, Sept. 19, 2008
Week 4 Pick ‘em
Pittsburg State enters Saturday’s game with Missouri Western having lost two straight to the Griffons for only the second time ever.
Prior to 2006-07, the last time the Gorillas lost back-to-back games to Western came in 1983-84 when the Griffons won 61-14 in St. Joseph and 42-34 in Pittsburg the following season. The Gorillas never have lost three in a row to Western, though, and went 18-3 against the Griffons following those two losses.
- More Headlines
- Recently Discussed
