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Morning Linkage, etc.

Mullen and Diaz talkin' bout football - Mullen lavished well-deserved praise upon Missouri's defense, dished out tried and true blurbs about bye weeks and Thursday night games, and discussed the progression of the offense and the O-line. Diaz discussed the minimal effect Missouri's QB situation had on game planning, the near-misses that have plagued Missouri's offense, and his need to employ a 4-2-5 scheme in the past few games. Here are the full interviews:

State of the Lines from the Big Uglies - Get some perspective on the mid-season form of State's offensive and defensive lines from interviews with OG Justine Malone, Center Jamal Clayborne, and DT Torrey Dale.

Dak Prescott is . . . wait for it . . . good at football - Prescott's now a semifinalist for the Maxwell and Davey O'Brien awards. He's also 65 yards shy of being the 10th SEC player in history to amass 10,000 yards of total offense, has the 6th most touchdowns in SEC history, and his family crest is a picture of a barracuda eating Neil Armstrong.

Well, this sucks - Have you seen the forecast for tomorrow night's game in Missouri?

Good thing we're not a pass-heavy offense playing an away game on artificial turf . . . .

What do pitching coaches do in the off season? - On his first day on the job, State's new pitching coach did this:

I'm sure by now y'all've all read about how Coach Johnson is known for developing unknown prospects into draft-worthy talent and for improving pitchers' velocity. For a change of pace, here's a window in the man's personal life from Bob Carskadon.

Fred Brown's a helluva third option - State's blessed with more talent at the wide receiver position than at any other time I can remember. That our third leading receiver is someone like Fred Brown, who's averaging about 16 yards a catch and is getting the offense an average of about 10 yards each time Dak even throws the ball toward him, is amazing.

Views from the other side of the field - Get Bill Connelly's quick takes on State's offense and defense here and here, and read about Missouri's respect for all things Dak here.

Women's Basketball Media Day - MSU's preseason-Top-15 women's basketball team had its media day yesterday. Hit the link for transcript of Coach Schaefer's press conference and for quotes from the players.

A Gal a Day's Enough for Me

I stayed up way too late the other night watching Duck Soup on Turner Classic Movies. I've seen it probably dozens of times, but it's hard to resist, at least in spurts. If you're a fan of old movies and haven't given it a whirl, I suggest you do so.

Now that "soup" is on my mind . . . .

One of my wife's favorite bands is Blind Melon. Early in our relationship, I bought her a vinyl copy of their second album, Soup, as a gift. I'd never heard it before, though frankly, I was unfamiliar with the band's work outside of their ubiquitous though enjoyable single, "No Rain." Turns out, Soup is a pretty damn solid record. Peruse and be glad: