Category Archives: basketball

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SPORTS: Critical Week for Mizzou; Bills win but sink; MU, StL football seasons; Baseball roundup and a historic weekend in motorsports.

By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZBB)—Missouri still has gotten no votes in either of the major basketball polls and has this week to win some friends. SI.com has Missouri as a 9th seed in the NCAA tournament, however, facing off against 8th seeded North Carolina State in the first round of the Midwest tournament.

All of this might be interesting but it’s worthless speculation as the Tigers face the last two games of the regular season with an opportunity for a first-round bye in the SEC tournament, and maybe a double bye.

Missouri, 20-9, plays Oklahoma, 15-14 in Norman tonight and wraps up the season at home against Arkansas, ranked 17th and 20th.   The Tigers squeaked past Oklahoma 88-87 in Columbia earlier and lost 94-86 at Arkansas earlier.

(MIZFB)—-Spring football practice is underway at the University of Missouri. Workouts started last Friday and Saturday and resumed today.

Yep, already. Coach Drinkwitz is getting his first look at how his recruits and transfers might fit together for the fall season.  Missouri lost 26 players to the transfer portal but they brought in 27 transfers and signed more than a dozen incoming freshmen in the 25th-ranked 2026 class according to 247 Sports.

Stadium renovations will prohibit a spring scrimmage for the second year in a row.

(BILLSBB)—The St. Louis Billikens dropped five spots in the rankings last week but remain in the top 25.

The Billikens’ 6-10 center Robbie Avila scored all of the teams’ points in a 15-2 run that closed out the 91-76 victory over Duquesne Saturday.  Avila finished with 23 points, all but two in the second half. The Bills are 26-3 overall, 14-2 in the Atlantic 10, and have won 21 straight at home.

The closing run was the second big scoring spree of the second half. St. Louis was down 41-39 at the break but outscored Duquesne 31-6 in the two runs. The Billikens host Loyola of Chicago tomorrow night.

(BATTLEHAWKS—This is the second week of the St. Louis Battlehawks spring football camp.  The UFL is training at the league headquarters in Arlington, Texas. Head Coach Ricky Proehl, a St. Louis Rams Super Bowl winner,  will have an eight-man coaching staff.

His defensive coordinator, Corey Chamblin, was a championship head coach with the Toronto Argonauts and the Saskatchewan Roughriders  in the Canadian Football League. He coached Gray Cup champions in 2008, 2013, and 2017. He also won the NFL Europe championship with the Frankfurt Galaxy in 2006.

Another coach is Frank Gansz Jr., whose father coached the Chiefs for a couple of unsuccessful years that were part of his 40-year coaching career. Frank Junior has coached the college level as well with the old USFL, the CFL, several universities, and in the NFL.

The coach’s son, Austin, will work with wide receivers. He had a short NFL career with the Bills, Rams and Chargers.

Two-time Super Bowl winner Todd Washington will handle the offensive line and tight ends. He was with the Buccaneers as a player when they won Super Bowl 37 and was an assistant offensive line coach for the Ravens in Super Bowl 47. He’s one of 13 people to win Super Bowl rings as a player and as a coach.

Defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina was a defensive lineman with Super Bowl-winning Rams. He had a 17 year playing career with eight teams.

Only one player from a Missouri school is on the pre-season roster—Missouri State running back Kevon Latulas  from Missouri State.

The first game is on the 28th, against the DC Defenders at the Dome. The regular season ends on May 29th.

On the Diamond—

(ROYALS)—Pitcher Kris Bubic had a promising start in his first time back on the mound since last summer when he developed a rotator cuff strain last summer. He didn’t need surgery, though.

He went two innings, 31 pitches, against Milwaukee Sunday, gave up four hits and a run but struck out three. His fastball averaged 91.9. He also threw his slider, sinker, sweeper and his changeup. Bubic said he felt no pain. This is his final contract year and could become a free agent at the end of the season.

The Royals have bolstered their outfield/DH lineup and, they hope, their offense with the signing of free agent Starling Marte, who was crowded out of the Mets organization by the arrival of several new guys including former Royals J. J. Melendez.

Marte found himself in a part-time role in his last contract season with the Mets last year. Health problems have curtailed his production in the last three seasons. He hit .270 with nine homers and 34 RBI in 85 games with New York last year. He’s 37

(CARDINALS)—Ollie Marmol will be the Cardinals manager for the near future.  His contract has been extended to 2028 with a club option for 2029.

It’s a big vote of confidence from Cardinals president Chaim Bloom, who says Marmol realizes the Cardinals have to “compete relentlessly to set new standards in everything that we do…He is invested in the progress of our young core and is unafraid to challenge himself and to help those around him grow.”

The Cardinals have made their first cuts of the spring training, sending 11 players out. One of them is switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, one of eight players assigned to minor league camp.

Cijntje was one of the players picked up in the Brendan Donovan trade with Seattle. He has made one appearance this spring, throwing from the right side, went two scoreless innings, gave up a hit and got two strikeouts.  He has thrown from the right side in the big league camp but still plays catch throwing with both arms. Pitching Director Matt Pierpont and assistant GM Rob Cerfolio will be meeting with him soon to discuss his future development.

On the track:

(NASCAR)—Tyler Reddick is the only person in NASCAR history who has a chance to win the first four races of the year.  He notched number three on a hot afternoon at the Circuit of the Americas with road-racing ace Shane Van Gisberghen waiting for him to make a mistake.  But Reddick never did

He became the first driver in NASCAR history win the first three races of the year, pulling away from Van Gisbergen with about ten laps to go.  VanGisbergen was trying to tie Jeff Gordon’s record of six-straight road course wins.

Several drivers struggled with the heat during the race. A. J. Almendinger was one of he several drivers who reported their cool shirts, which circulate cool water about the driver, had quit working. A. J. Allmendinger crawled out of his car and laid down on the pit lane. He was taken to the infield care center on a stretcher but later released.

Alex Bowman became ill during the race and pulled into the garage area with 10 laps to go.  The team drafted Myatt Snider, a driver from a lower-tier NASCAR series and put him in the car. He finished 36th out of 37 competitors six laps down—most of those laps happening during the change of drivers in the garage area.

No driver has won four NASCAR Cup races in a row since Harry Gant did it in 1991 at Darlington, Richmond, and Dover.  Gant was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last year.

Reddick will take his shot at Phoenix next weekend.

(INDYCAR)—Alex Palou won the season opening IndyCar race by more than 12 seconds Sunday, a huge margin of victory in the series. Palou has won the last three IndyCar titles and four of the last five.

The day was a disappointment for some drivers making their first series race or driving for a new team.  Former Formula One driver Mick Schumacher was caught in someone else’s crash on the first lap. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon’s day ended early when he lost a wheel. Will Power, making his first start for a new team after a career with Penske, finished the race but was twenty laps down because of a crash early that sent his car to the garage for suspension repairs. He went back onto the track to salvage as many points as he could before retiring for good.

IndyCar and NASCAR have a joint weekend at Phoenix next weekend. IndyCar will race on Saturday and the NASCAR Cup race will be Sunday afternoon.

Photo credits:  Avila—St. Louis University; Bucic—Kings of Kauffman; Marmol—Redbird Rants; Battlehawks—Dilip Vishwanat/UFL/Getty Images; Palou—David Jensen, Lumen via Getty Images; Reddick—NASCAR)

 

Sports:  Billikens Rising; Tigers Muddling; Baseball Starting, etc. 

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

We’re a little frustrated today so we’re going to lead off with a basketball team that’s consistently exciting and consistently able to win.  They’re ranked and the Missouri Tigers are continuing to play themselves into the NIT

(BILLIKENS)—The top-20 St. Louis Billikens sit atop the Atlantic 10 Conference roaring back from a 14-point halftime deficit to outscore second-place Virginia Commonwealth 55-22 in the second half and claiming an 88-72 win that featured a brawl in the last minute.  The Billikens are now 25-2 and undefeated in seventeen games at home.

The Bills were sparked by 6-6 guard Kellen Thames, who had 16 points and five steals.  Longtime Missouri fans will ask if Kellen is the son of Kelly Thames, who was a four-year starter at Mizzou whose greater prominence was limited by a knee injury. Yes, he is. Dad was his coach at Pattonville High.  Kellen was the key in a 21-2 surge in the second half when he scored seven straight points, giving the Billikens an eleven point lead with seven minutes left. They never let VCU closer than seven points after that.

SLU guard Quentin Jones, his team 19 points ahead, was dribbling out the clock when VCU’s Nyk Lewis grabbed the ball and after a few steps launched a half-court shot just before St. Louis’ Bobby Avila shoved him out of bounds. VCU’s Barry Evans shoved Avila and the benches emptied. At the end, a bunch of players got excused from the court, enough that Virginia had only four players on the court when Evens hit all three free throws and the clock ran out.

(MIZZ)—Missouri played the 19 and 20 teams in the country last week and split—and they were lucky to get that.

Missouri led by 21 with nine minutes to play before 19th ranked Vanderbilt turned the game inside out. Only by the Tigers making five free throws down the stretch and the rim-out of a Vanderbilt Hail Mary shot as the clock reached zero did Missouri post a skin-of-the-teeth with.

Saturday night, Missouri was on the road against 20th ranked Arkansas. The Razorbacks made nine of their last ten shots to take a six-point halftime lead.  Missouri, as has often happened this year, could not get a stop when they needed one, and Arkansas went on runs of 8-2 and 13-4 to win 96-84.

Missouri drops to 18-9 and 8-6 in the conference. They play Tennessee tonight in Columbia. Tennessee comes in 10-4, and 20-7, one of three teams in second place behind Alabama.  Missouri is one of four teams tied for fourth. They finish the season at home against Mississippi State 5=9. 13-14), at Oklahoma (3-11, 13-14) and at home against Arkansas.

(CARDINALS)—St. Louis opened it spring training games with a weekend split, a 5-2 loss to Washington and a 6-5 win against Houston.

Matthew Liberatore and Dustin May seem to be headed toward being 1-2 in the starting rotation. Spring training will determine 3-5.  Kyle Leahy had a strong start against Houston—18 of 29 pitches in the strike zone—three Ks, two groundouts and a popout. Leahy has been a reliever most of his career but the Cardinals want to stretch him into a starter during spring training.

Newly-signed Ramon Urias is in camp, a 2022 gold glover, likely to play second and third as backup for rookie second baseman J.J. Wetherhold and Nolan Gorman, who is tabbed to be the starting third baseman. Urias is returning to the Cardinals system. He made it to Triple-A before he was DFA’s in 2020. He was with the Orioles and the Astros last year, hit .241 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs. He has a one-year contract with an option.

(Royals)—The Kansas City Royals seem to have their pitching rotation pretty well set as they start play in the Cactus league—Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Kris Bubic seems to have the first four slots tied down with Noah Cameron a contender for the final slot. Sunday’s outing by Bailey Falter, who came to KC from Pittsburgh last year was a sold one, indicating Kansas City could be headed into the regular season with a solid long reliever for them.

Falter started, went two innings, gave up one hit but no runs. Falter made 24 starts for Pittsburgh and Kansas city last year—two starts and two relief jobs for KC.

The Royals took two of three to open spring training in Arizona. The Cardinals split their first two games in the Grapefruit League.

(CHIEFS)—-The Kansas City Chiefs have created some more salary cap space by cutting loose defensive end Mike Dana, who has two Super Bowl rings.  Dana was drafted by the Chiefs in 2020 and would have made about nine million dollars this year, his final contract season.

The Chiefs have been working hard to create more cash heading into the free agent signing season in about two weeks. A few days ago, the team restructured Patrick Mahomes’ contract to lower the amount that applied to the salary cap by about $43.6 million dollars.

Dana was credited with 21.5 sacks in his six years with the team, along with six pass defenses and a half-dozen forced fumbles.

The Chiefs are expected to shed some other veteran players in coming weeks to increase their salary cap space.

This week, Chiefs coaches are in Indianapolis for the “meat market,” the scouting combine workouts that might help decide who to draft out of college.

(HAWKS)—The St. Louis Battlehawks’ UFL season starts in a month—March 28th to be exact, when they play the DC Defenders in the dome.   St. Louis Public Radio reports the co-owner of the league, Mike Repole, has suggested the Hawks abandon the dome and play its games in Energized Park, the home of the St. Louis pro soccer team.

Repole thinks UFL games in a big stadium don’t look good on TV because crowds aren’t big enough. St. Louis averaged a league-leading 30,000 fans last year, more than double the crowds at the second most popular team.  The soccer park, however, holds only 22,000 fans. He says talks with the soccer club about using its stadium are only preliminary.

Six of the eight UFL teams will play at soccer parks this year.

Repole needs to do a selling job on Battlehawks coach Ricky Proehl, one of the stars of the St. Louis Rams, who says he understands how Repole wants to see full stadiums.  But he hopes to grow crowds in the Dome to 40,000 this year with the tailgating atmosphere that would still be available at the Dome continuing to build the team’s culture.

The Dome at America’s center was spiffed up two years ago with new turf and lighting upgrades.

Now—people to whom 100 mph isn’t anything special.

(NASCAR)—Aerodynamics are important to NASCAR competitors, especially on super speedways with their high banks.  Cars that are damaged by bumping and grinding  or by track crashes are supposed to lose their competitive edge.

—which is why Tyler Reddick’s win at Atlanta Sunday was something of a surprise. Look at his car:

Reddick was part of a nine-car crash 36 laps from the scheduled end. He dropped two laps back while in the pits for repairs but charged back to 27th place for a win in two overtimes that he pronounced as “crazy.”  He’s the first driver to win the first two races of the season since Matt Kenseth did it in 2009. It has happened only four other times.

The 260 lap race saw a record 57 lead changes among fourteen drivers. More than one-fourth of the race laps were run under caution because of numerous crashes.

(INDYCAR)—The people who don’t use fenders are speeding closer to the beginning of their season with road course and oval testing, the latter on the Phoenix oval.

The winner of the 2016 Indianapolis 500, Alexander Rossi had the hot laps in both the morning and the afternoon sessions, topping out at 174.542 on the one-mile oval.  Rossi, who hasn’t been in victory lane since August, eight years ago, is driving for Ed Carpenter Racing now with teammate Christian Rasmussen, whose third place finish at Worldwide Technology Raceway was his first IndyCar podium finish, followed by his first win later at Milwaukee.

The test drew all 25 drivers expected to start the season next Sunday on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. They’ll be back at Phoenix for a race on the following Saturday, March 7. The race will mark an IndyCar return to Phoenix. The series last raced there in 2018.

Other highlights of the test: Penske’s Josef Newgarden was second-fastest overall with new teammate David Malukas close behind.

The tests were important to former F1 driver Mick Schumacher, who was the top rookie on the speed charts.  He ran seven miles an hour faster on day two, topping out at just under 172.

The most active driver was Will Power, who drove 259 of the total 4,853 laps turned in by all drivers. He’s getting comfortable with his new ride for Andretti Global.

(Photo credits: Thames–St. Louis University; Dana—Kansas City Chiefs; Reddick—Dirk Bizub, Racing America on SI; Rossi—Bob Priddy at WWTR 2025)

Sports: Just When You Thought the Tigers…..; Mikolas Understands; Catching up on Kobe and Others; The Daytona Survivor

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZBB)—Just when many thought the Missouri Tigers had turned an important corner and were playing consistent, intense basketball they are badly outplayed by a team that played their game better than they did.

Missouri, a team that feasts on the inside game with outside sharpshooters to provide balance, was badly outplayed on the inside in the Texas game and suffered another big-point loss at a crucial time.  Texas ran away in the second half to win 85-68. Texas outscored Missouri 40-28 in the paint and out-rebounded the Tigers 36-26/

The Tigers shot only ten three-pointers and hit four of them. They drew fouls on the inside but continued their mediocre (at best) free throw shooting, going 26-38. Texas missed only two of its 23 free throws. It was only the fifth time in the last eleven years that Missouri has tried ten or fewer shots from outside the arc.

Missouri sent into the game as the last team in the NCAA tournament according to one survey, and as high as 57th in another.  It’s back on the outside again.

The Tigers play Vanderbilt tomorrow night. It’s a big test.  Vanderbilt comes in at 21-4, has won three in a row, and is third in the conference standings.

(THE BILLS)—-The St. Louis University Billikens continued their roll with an 86-59 drubbing of Chicago Loyola to run their record to 24-1.  This week’s coaches poll has them 19th. Sportswriters have them 18th.

(KOBE)—Former Tiger Kobe Brown has moved from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Indiana Pacers in the last week or so. This is his fifth season in the NBA. He’s been a bench player throughout his career—getting only a couple of starts and averaging about three points a game.

But he was impressive in his first two games with the Pacers. In 19 minutes against the Knicks, he got a half dozen rebounds  and eight points.  When he was on the court, Indiana outscored the Knicks by 13.   He followed up that game with four points, seven rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes against the Brooklyn Nets.

How ‘bout some other former Tigers:

Tamar Bates, who signed a two-way contract with the Denver Broncos after going undrafted last year, recovering from a December surgical procedure to repair a broken left foot. A two-way contract lets a player in the NBA’s G League move back and forth to the parent club while developing NBA skills.

Caleb Grill is playing for the Windy City Bulls, the G League affiliate of the Chicago Bulls. He’s averaging about 11 ppg in 27 games.

Jordan Clarkson is averaging about nine points a game for the Knicks. He’s an 11 year veteran of then NBA now.

Michael Porter is in his first year with the Brooklyn Nets. He’s averaging 25 points, 7 rebounds and three assists.

Dru Smith is averaging six points a game for the Miami Heat. He went undrafted in 2021 but played for Brooklyn before moving to Miami in the off season.

Sean East is averaging 17.5 ppg for the Salt Lake City Stars, the G League affiliate of the Utah Jazz.  He has earned his way into the NBA Rising Stars game.

D’Moi Hodge played internationally last year before joining the G League playing for the Texas Legends, the affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. In 32 games he’s averaging 8.5 points per game.

Jeremiah Tilmon also is on a G league team, the Wisconsin Herd, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks after playing time in Europe.

How about some baseball?

(CARDINALS)—Workhorse pitcher Miles Mikolas has found a new home with the Washington Nationals but he has no hard feelings about being cut loose from the Cardinals. It boils down to just baseball business.  He tells Sports Illustrated online’s Patrick McEvoy:

“The Cardinals, you know, they were kind of in between the teardown and the rebuild but you know, sometimes, you have to wipe the board clean, you have to grab a new sheet of paper before you can paint that next masterpiece. They got a new front office and they’re going for it with that. I’m sure you know that’s a really good, smart group of guys there. They’re going to make the moves that obviously they think are best. It is definitely different. It was loaded with veterans my first couple of years there and I was a little bit younger. …

“We caught some bad breaks the last couple of seasons. We lose some guys. Guys had some down years. I’m going to regret forever not pitching my last couple of years in a Cardinals uniform. But that’s the way that baseball is. You have good years and you have bad years. Bounce back. Comeback seasons and stuff like that. Wish all of my best to all of my buddies over there. I hope they do great except for the games that we’re playing them.”

He’s known as an innings-burner, one of four pitchers to start at least 30 games in a season in the last four years—130 of them, which ties him with Dylan Cease for second behind Logan Webb’s 132.  He also is one of a dozen pitchers to make at least 200 starts each year in the last eight seasons, despite missing all of 2020 and part of 2021 with an arm injury. He’s 37.

-0-

(CARDINALS)—-The first spring training game for the Cardinals is Sunday against the Washington Nationals at “home.”

(ROYALS)—Kansas City’s first spring training game will be Friday against the Texas Rangers.

(CHIEFS)—-The Chiefs have picked up another coach with significant opportunities—DeMarco Murray, a former NFL Offensive Player of the year who is the new running backs coach. He spent the last six years on the staff of the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Chiefs have one running back under contract—Brashard Smith. Dameon Pierce, Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt will become free agents soon.

Murray was with the Dallas Cowboys for four years, leading the league 1845 yards rushing one  year. He also played for the Eagles and the Titans.

Circle time—well, more like a tri-oval time.

(DAYTONA)—-Right place, right time—-once again, the Daytona 500 ends with a mad scramble in the last 500 hundred yards and this year’s survivor is Tyler Reddick who emerged from the last lap madness to beat Ricky Stenhouse Jr., across the line. Third-place finisher Joey Logan crossed the line sideways by Brad Keselowski (still recovering from a December broken leg) and Chase Elliott crashing into his side. Logano was awarded third place and Elliott, fourth.

The race featured 65 lead changes with a record 25 drivers crossing the finish line leading at least one lap.  Bubba Wallace led 40 of them and came home tenth.

A year ago, Reddick and his teammates at 23XI Racing were uncertain they’d have rides this year as 23XI and its co-owners Denny Hamlin and NBA star Michael Jordan were involved in a heated anti-trust lawsuit about NASCAR’s charter system that guarantees starting positions and funding for teams.  The suit was settled during the off-season with 23XI getting its charter.

The win is the first for Reddick since 2024. “Just speechless. I didn’t know if I’d ever win this race. It’s surreal, honestly. The best part is my son asked before this race, ‘Are you finally going to win this race?’ Something about today just felt right,” he told an interviewer in winner’s circle.

(SEVENTIME)—Jimmie Johnson is going to quit messing around in the cockpit of a NASCAR car a year from now.  He announced before the Daytona 500 that next year’s race will be his last one behind the wheel.  He’s been competing occasionally in select races for the last six years, but says it’s time to devote all of his time to his team, Legacy Motor Club—which bought up Petty Racing a couple of years ago. Johnson will be 51 in September. He ran with the contenders for part of the race but finished 29th.

 

 

Sports: Two clutch wins; a boost from Minnesota; Super Bowl Rings and baseball is back.

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(SUPERMO)—Several football players from Missouri were in the Super Bowl Sunday and some will be wearing the big rings. The starting center for Seattle was Jalen Sundell, a Maryville native who played collegiately at North Dakota State.

Running back Jacardia Wright played three of his five years of collegiate football at Missouri State, where he rushed for more than 3500 yards and scored 33 touchdowns. He joined the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent.  He carried the ball five times for 20 yards in the ‘Hawks win over New Orleans in week three but was injured and finished the season in injured reserve.

Drew Lock is the clipboard quarterback behind Sam Darnold for the second year. He got into five games this year and  threw three passes.

Mason Richman was a Blue Valley High School grad who went to Iowa for college. He’s a lineman who got into two games this year for Seattle.

Yasir Durant, an offensive tackle from Mizzou, was with the Chiefs and the Patriots before becoming a Seahawk.  He was on injured reserve all season.

The Patriots had Mizzou’s Marcus Bryant as their number two right tackle/  Bryant, a seventh round draft pick, was in a dozen games for New England this season.

(MIZZBB)—Every game is a “must” for Missouri from here on out as they come off of two important victories, one on the road. They remain on the NCAA tournament bubble as we head into the final weeks of the season.  Missouri’s win against South Carolina ups their conference record to 6-4 and their overall record to 16-7 with eleven regular season games to go.

Next up is Texas A&M, the top team in the conference at 7-1. The Aggies’ overall record is only slightly better than Missouri’s at 17-5. A&M was 25th in the coaches poll last week but is off the list this week.

(MIZZMIN)—Minnesota has helped Missouri in its run to the tournament. The Tigers beat Minnesota 73-60 early in the season. Minnesota gained stature by beating 10th ranked Michigan last week, and the elevation of Minnesota brings Missouri along with it. We could try to explain it, but to be honest, we don’t quite grasp the Quad thing.

(MIZZBAMA)—-If the Alabama Crimson Tide meets Missouri in the SEC tournament, the Tide will be without Charles Bediako, the 7-foot center who was allowed to play after spending time with an NBA G League.  An Alabama circuit judge denied Bediako’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would let him keep playing. Bediako scored 14 points in ‘Bama’s 90-74 win last month.

(Bills)—The St. Louis Billikens have cracked the top 20 in the AP sportswriters poll. The Bills, 23-1, are 18th among sportswriters and 19th among coaches. Mizzou got zero votes in both polls. They’re in the top 20 for the first time since they reached as high as tenth in 2013-14.  Their sixteen straight wins are the longest streak since the 2013-14 team reeled off 19 straight. The scoring margin of plus 23.3 is the best in the country. They’re fifth in scoring average—91.3. Their seven games ato100 or more is tied for the national league. They have an NCAA-best 31.2 defensive rebounds per game. Six players have double-figure scoring averages, one of three teams in the NCAA Division 1.

(BASEBALL)—Spring training is starting with Royals pitchers and catchers reporting tomorrow and the Cardinals pitchers and catchers due incamp on Thursday. Position players are due in camp Monday.

Fast Stuff—-

(NASCAR)—NASCAR’s biggest race will kick off the season Sunday afternoon at Daytona, weather permitting. Forty-five drivers/teams are entered but four will not be in the starting field.  Qualifying to set the first two starting positions will be tomorrow with two short races Thursday that will set positions for the rest of the starting field. The green flag drops on the season at 1:30 our time Sunday.

Brad Keselowski’s broken leg, injured in a December 18 skiing incident, has healed enough that he’ll be able to start the race. His only win at Daytona was in the July race in 2016.  He was NASCAR’s champion in 2012.

Five days out, the weather is iffy—41% chance of rain during the race’s scheduled time.

(INDYCAR)—–Mick Shumacher has finished his first test on an oval and says “one of the weird parts” was keeping his foot down when approaching a corner. The test was done at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a former racing site in the series.

 

Schumacher is the son of 7-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, who won five F1 races on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He drives for the team owned by Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and television personality David Letterman.

Pre-season testing for most of the other teams started yesterday on the Sebring road course with 23 IndyCar drivers turning laps. Marcus Armstrong had the fastest lap by a whisker over Scott McLaughlin. Alex Palou had the fastest lap of the day, running the course in a morning session.

The season starts March 1 with a race through the streets of St. Petersburg. Florida.

(photo credit—Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing).

 

Sports: Donovan Finally Traded For Switch Pitcher; Pasquantino Locked In; Missouri Playing Itself into NIT Contention; Race Cars and National Monuments (2/3/26)

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(BASEBALL)—By the time we file our next entry, pitchers and catchers will be playing catch in Arizona and Florida.

(CARDINALS)—It appears, as we go to press, that the Cardinals have finally traded Brendan Donovan.  USA Today reports Donovan is going to Seattle, which has lusted after him since November as a key man in a three-way trade also involving the Tampa Rays. The Redbirds pick up another prized pitching prospect in Jurrangelo Cijntje and minor league outfielder Tai Peete. The Rays get no Cardinals but the Cardinals get minor league outfielder Colton Ledbetter.

Ledbetter hit .265 with seven homers and 37 steals in 123 games in Double-A last year. He’s considered a candidate to move up to Memphis, in Triple-A, for 2026.

Peete was a first round draft pick for Seattle in 2023. MLB.com says he’s a “premium athlete,” bats left, has “immense raw power and showed flashes of it in 2024.”  But he struck out 31% of the time. MLB projects him as a utility player if he makes it to the big leagues.

All of the trades depend on all of the players passing physicals.

(ROYALS)—The Royals have Vinnie Pasquantino through next year after signing him to an $11 million deal. He gets $4.2 million this year and $6.9 million in ’27. He had a career years last year with 32 homers and 113 RBIs. GM J. J. Picollo calls him “a premier run producer and someone our fans have really connected with.”

(MIZBB)—The problem with the Missouri Tiger basketball team this year is that nobody knows which team will show up for a game—one that simply cannot be beaten or, a few days later, one that has no chance.

Saturday, it was the focused Tigers that beat Mississippi State 84-79, running their home record to 13-1 this year. The Tigers are only 2-6 on the road or on neutral courts. They stayed above .500 by beating a team they were supposed to beat; State is 11-11 this year.

Missouri led by fifteen at one point in the second half but let Mississippi State get within one possession but didn’t fold in the closing minutes. Mark Mitchell finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.  T. O. Barrett continued to be an offensive spark with 16-8-4. Trent Pierce and Jayden Stone also were in double figures.

The game against Alabama was a total reversal from the two buzzer-beaters game a few days earlier. Missouri couldn’t hit from outside the arc or from the free throw line—4/21 from outside and only 8/23 from the free throw circle.

Last Tuesday night, blown out at Alabama. Couldn’t hit the trey or the free throw…4/21 from outside and 8/23 from the line. Missouri got forty of its 84 points from inside the paint.  Alabama outscored Missouri 45-12 from outside. But much of the credit for the win as from the free throw line from where one of the worst free throw teams in the SEC his 25 of 33.  Despite the long-range game, Alabama out-assisted Missouri 19-10 and stole the ball 10 times to Missouri’s three. Missouri had 13 turnovers. Alabama had 7. Missouri’s largest lead was three points. Alabama’s larges lead was 29.

Alabama is a top 25 team.  Missouri, before that game, had been considered  one of the next four out of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers are off until Saturday when they take on South Carolina on Saturday. South Carolina is another 11-11 team, 2-7 in the conference.

(SPEAKING OF TOP 25 TEAMS)—St. Louis University is 21 and 22 in the polls after demolishing Dayton 102-71 in an Atlantic 10 game, running their season record to 21=1 and their winning streak to 15. They play Davidson tonight.

(CHIEFS)—The Kansas City Chiefs have added backup quarterback Jake Haener from the New Orleans Saints to their roster. Haener announced the signing of the reserve/future contract on his Instagram page. He spent most of the last season on the Saints’ practice squad, got into nine games last season, starting one, was 18/39 passing for 226 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked six times for 55 yards in losses.

He’s kind of insurance for KC. Gardner Minshew, the first string backup last season will be a free agent soon. Haener will compete with Chris Oladukin for the number two slot.

Going in circles, sometimes:

(INDYCAR)—President Trump has tossed a big plum IndyCar’s way by signing an executive order creating a race around the monuments in Washington, DC in August. It will be the 18 race of the year for IndyCar. The “Freedom 250,” part of the national celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, would be run on August 23 with pre-race events on the 21st and 22nd.

Trump and IndyCar owner Roger Penske have known one another for sometime. The President gave Penske a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, calling Penske a man who has “built a team and legacy that will endure forever.”

The route of the race is to be determined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

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It’s kind of a family reunion for the Penske racing family. Tim Cindric, fired last May as President of Penske Racing, is back in the fold as a strategist for Penske driver Scott McLaughlin. Cindric had been part of Penske racing for 25 years , twenty of them as team president.

In his quarter-century with the Penske, the team racked up ten Indianapolis 500 wins, more than 400 victories overall and 31 championships across various racing series.

(NASCAR)—NASCAR has had trouble getting its season started. Historic snowfall in North Carolina caused postponements of exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem during the weekend. Plans to hold the race on last night fizzled and the latest word is that the race will be run tomorrow night. Weather permitting.

The real stuff begins next week at Daytona with practice starting next Wednesday, qualifying that nails down the first two starting positions, and two races on Thursday that will determine the other starters. The Daytona 500 is slated to start at 1:30 our time on Sunday, the 15th.

(Photo credit: Penske/Trump: ESPN)

 

An Epic Game; Kansas Questions; A Chiefs Shuffle

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by Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZBB)—When they make a list of greatest Missouri basketball games, Saturday’s 88-87 double overtime win against Oklahoma will be on a short list. Neither team could build a lead greater than six. There were ten ties and 22 lead changes.

Missouri, one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the SEC, went 24 of 33 (73%) from the stripe. They were only 6 for 21 from the three-point line. But the last two were historic, the ball ripping through the net as the red light around the backboard flashed on to show the time left at 0:00.

Oklahoma was up by three with 5.6 seconds left when Missouri inbounded the ball in regulation and fed it to Trent Pierce, who had missed five threes in the game finally hit one from the top of the key as time expired in regulation to tie the game.

Oklahoma was up by two with four seconds left in overtime and Missouri inbounding the ball under the sooner basket. Mark Mitchell took the pass, dribbled just past half court and fired the 37-footer that will make the all-time Tiger highlight reel.

The Tigers made up for poor shooting from outside by outscoring Oklahoma 40-12 inside and outrebounding the Sooners 41=29.

Oklahoma took its sixth loss in a row. Missouri might have kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive after a couple of tough losses. They’re now 4-3 in the conference and in the top half of the standings. But the road ahead is hard starting with a road game against 17th-ranked Alabama Tuesday night.

Three guys scored 66 of Missouri’s 88 points—Mitchell with 25 (and 10 rebounds), T. O. Barrett, making his first start, had 21 and Jayden Stone had 20.

(LOOK WHO’S IN THE TOP 25)—-The St. Louis Billikens are 19-1, lead the Atlantic 10, and are 23rd and 24th in the polls. They hammered St. Bonaventure 97-62 Saturday for their thirteenth win in a row.  Their only loss was by one point, 78=71, to Stanford. The Billikens have six players averaging 10-12.7 points per game and a seventh player who’s averaging more than nine.

(BEARS)—-Missouri State forward Michael Osei-Bonsu is the school’s first Conference USA Basketball Player of the Week.  The Bears beat UTEP and New Mexico State last week with Osei-Bonsu hitting 14 of his 22 field goals, averaging 19 points, nine rebounds and a couple of assists. He hit the game-winning shot att UTEP with 12 seconds left. Bonsu, a 6-4 forward, has the best shooting average in the conference and ranks 29th in the country. He’s majoring in psychology.

Missouri State  (12-8) is in sole possession of second place in the conference, at 6-3.  Liberty, undefeated in nine games, leads.
(CHIEFS1)—It appears the Kansas City Chiefs’ move to Kansas is hardly a done deal. The big hangup is a big question:

Who would own the stadium?

Arrowhead Stadium is owned by the Jackson County Sports Authority and is leased by the Chiefs, who want the same kind of deal with Kansas. The Chiefs made that clear in a recent Kansas legislative committee hearing.

It has to do with taxes. Abhishek Sachin Sandikar, writing for Yahoo Sports on Google, says the issue is how money from the Kansas STAR (Sales Tax Revenue) Bonds would be used for a three-billion-dollar stadium.

The Chiefs do not want to own the stadium; they want it owned by a public entity as Arrowhead Stadium is owned by the Jackson County Sports Authority and is leased to the team through 2031. The Chiefs operate and maintain the stadium. The bonds used to built both stadiums in the Jackson County Sports Complex have been financed by a 3/8 cent sales tax. But last April, Jackson County voters went 58% against a new 3/8 sales tax to pay for renovations of Arrowhead and a downtown stadium for the Royals. The Chiefs found Kansas a willing suitor and the Royals are still looking at something on this side of the border although Kansas is courting them, too.

Chiefs lawyer Korb Maxwell says the Kansas stadium proposal does not make sense for the Chiefs unless a public entity owns the stadium. He argues that providing bond money for a privately-owned stadium would mean the funding would not be on a tax-exempt status and 45 percent of those dollars would be taken in federal taxes, thereby killing the project.

While the Kansas governor and the team have announced the move, the Kansas legislature has not yet approved the issuance of the STAR bonds—and the Chiefs don’t want to be their own landlord.

The deal hasn’t fallen through but Missourians shouldn’t think that the Chiefs will stay on this side of the line after all, though.

(CHIEFS2)—The Chiefs hope Eric Bienemy can be magic again for them. He’s back as offensive coordinator, a job he held for five years when the Chiefs offense was high-powered and exciting in Patrick Mahomes’ younger days.

Bienemy was the running backs coach for the Bears in their just-finished season. The Bears were third in the NFL in rushing yards, led by D’Andre Swift’s 1,087 yards and in average yards per carry. He was the Chiefs running backs coach for five years before moving up the OC.

Bienemy’s return has Travis Kelce sound more as if he’ll come back for another year. It’s just enthusiasm without commitment right now, though.

(ROOKIES)—The elimination of the Los Angeles Rams from the NFL playoffs allow us to look at the season three Tiger NFL rookies had.

Harrison Meavis emerged halfway through the year as the Rams’ place kicker and he showed he belongs in the NFL.  He hit all 39 of his extra points and was 12 of 13 in field goals.

Luther Burden III started five of the Bears’ 15 games, caught 47 passes out of 60 targets for 652 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Brady Cook finished the New York Jets’ season as the starting quarterback after two guys ahead of him went down within injuries. In four starts (and a fifth game he finished), Cook threw for two touchdowns but seven interceptions, 738 yards and a couple of touchdowns. He had a 55.43 rating.

(ROYALS)—The Royals continue to be quiet. They’ve signed several players to minor league contracts but have yet to sign a major free agent or make anything near a blockbuster trade. Speculation that former Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader would be a good fit for an outfield slot has been blown up by word that Bader has signed a two-year $20.5 million dollar deal with the Giants.

(CARDINALS)—The Redbird’s news is about who is still on the roster versus those who have left, those signed to minor league deals, or those who have/have not gone into arbitration.  Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero are still on the roster although there’s more than enough speculation about St. Louis’ interest in trading them.

We’re two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting.

Speeding along on track and in the court:

(DAYTONA)—The first major race of 2026 has lasted 24 hours at Daytona and ended with the winner just 1.5 seconds ahead of the runner up.

Roger Penske’s Porsche team has become the third team to win the race three years in a row, joining rival Chip Ganassi’s team and the Wayne Taylor team. Felipe Nasr has been the lead driver for all three of the wins. His co-drivers this year were Julien Landauer and Laurin Heinrich. Their car ran in the GTP class, the fastest of several classes in the race.

One of the drivers of the second-place Cadillac was NASCAR phenom Connor Zilisch. Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou was one of the drivers in the fifth place car. IndyCar driver Colton Herta was part of the team for the car in sixth. IndyCar’s Scott Dixon and NASCAR’s A. J. Allmendinger were half of the team that finished ninth.

IndyCar’s Nolan Siegel was part of the team that finished 12th overall and third in the LMP2 class. IndyCar’s Christian Rasmussen was part of the 5th place LMP2 team (14th overall). Kyffin Simpson, a driver for the Ganassi IndyCar team, was in the 17th place (8th in LMP2). Former 500 winner Will Power, driving in the GTD Pro class, helped his team to second in class and 20th overall. Former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe was in a Lamborghini that finished 24th overall, 6th in GTD.

(NASCAR)—It appears NASCAR might be losing one of its road courser races. The fall Charlotte race had been held on its “Roval” for several years—the road course that’s also part of the oval track—but NASCAR reportedly is ready to move it back to the oval.  The event would be one of the ten-race championship chase series.

(NASCARHOF)—Three new names have been added to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina—Kurt Busch, Harry Gant, and Ray Hendrick. Busch won the NASCAR Cup championship in 2004. Concussion problems after a 2022 Pocono crash sent him into retirement.

Busch ran the 2014 Indianapolis 500, a one-off event, and finished a solid sixth. His hopes of completing the 500 and the 600-mile race at Charlotte that same day ended when his car dropped out after 273 laps.

“Handsome Harry” Gant had 18 wins in the Cup series and 21 in the second tier series. He’s the oldest driver to win a Cup race (52) and the oldest driver to win his first Cup race (42). He won four in a row in 1991 and ran his last NASCAR race in 1994 at the age of 54.

Ray Hendrick only ran 17 Cup races but he raced modified stocks for 36 years and won 700 races. He was 51 when he died in 1990

(MCLAREN VS. PALOU)—The long-running breach of contract lawsuit by McLaren against IndyCar champion Alex Palou is a win for McLaren, but the company isn’t satisfied with the $12 million judgment against him. McLaren wants reimbursement of its legal expenses plus interest.

In 2022, Palou agreed to drive for the McLaren IndyCar team then backed out to rejoin Chip Ganassi Racing where he has won four IndyCar championships and last year’s Indianapolis 500. He says McLaren’s offer included a role as a reserve driver for the McLaren Formula 1 team with the possibility of moving F1 and driving for McLaren’s IndyCar team until then. But he said he later learned the Formula 1 opportunity would not materialize so he walked away from the signed contract to stay with Ganassi. Palou says he’s meeting with his advisors and is considering his options.

He will continue to drive for Ganassi in the IndyCar series.

(Photo credits:  Billikens—Amazon; Palou (shown at the Daytona 24 Hours), Michael L. Levitt/ Lumen via Getty Images; Kurt Busch at Indianapolis 2019—Bob Priddy)

 

 

What’s the Matter With Missouri? 

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A century ago, Emporia Kansas newspaper editor William Allen White wrote an editorial called “What’s the Matter With Kansas,” a scathing column reacting to a populist takeover of Kansas government.

Here in Missouri, the pending loss of a third NFL team and the uncertainty about retention of one of our major league baseball teams, coupled with memories of other pro sports teams we’ve lost (two major league baseball teams and two NBA teams) have sparked some to think, “What’s the Matter with Missouri?

Let’s be clear at the outset of this discussion that there’s a lot that’s RIGHT about Missouri. There’s always something wrong about Missouri politically, depending on where you stand. But let’s not forget what is right as we look at what’s the matter with our state today.

One of Missouri’s biggest problem is that it’s too proud of our cheapness. Expecting the promotion that we are a low-tax state will produce steady economic development significant enough to make a major impact on our economy does not seem to be borne out by the realities.

If all of the tax cuts or eliminations we have seen in the past several years really worked, our metro areas would be economic giants in the Midwest. Our smaller cities would be centers for mid-corporate expansion and our even smallest communities might not be withering. Missouri would not be in danger of losing another seat in the U. S. House of Representatives, not because we are losing population (as is easy to say) but because other states are growing faster.

One of our biggest problems is that we are satisfied to be mediocre. But it can be argued that thinking economic growth springs from being a low tax state is questionable if low taxes are consistent with being the progressive state that excites potential investors.

US News’ most recent ranking of the states puts us 31st out of 50 in many categories. Our highest rankings are in fiscal stability and “opportunity,” where we are 11th (more on that in a minute).  We’re 18th in natural environment. Our economy ranks 25th.   After that—well…..

33rd in education

37th in infrastructure

43rd in health care

43rd in crime and corrections.

39th in teacher salaries, according to the MNEA.

World Health Review says we are among the states with the highest rates of homelessness—one dismaying factor that describes our economy, the numbers increasing 22% in the last five years, 39% more than in 2013 and 78% more than in 2018. People don’t flock to Missouri to become homeless.  This is a home-grown problem that includes many people with mental health issues. Speaking of which—

Mental Health America uses seventeen criteria to rank us 36th  in mental health and well-being—40th among adults.

Digging deeper into “opportunity,” US News ranks us 14th in equality and in affordability. But we are only 34th in economic opportunity.  And what does that mean? “It takes into account a state’s poverty rate, prevalence of food insecurity, and median household income as wellas he level of income inequality among residents… These four comprehensive metrics are indicators of more than just economic opportunity in a given state; they intersect with employment, stability and health – affecting the quality of life of a state’s population,” says the survey.

In health care, we are 28th in low obesity rate, 34th in low suicide rate, 39th in public health, 39th in low infant mortality rate and overall mortality rate and 44th in low smoking rate.

We don’t want to drag this out so we’ll let you read the 50 states report by US News and you can explore why its surveys do not rank us better.  Best States | U.S. News State Rankings and Analysis

States are far more than their sports teams. Once we look beyond the glitz and glamour of the coliseum and look at what should make us a great place to live, we find a grittier and less attractive view. To think that the things that drag us down will be improved by reducing the financial ability to lift them up seems to this layman’s eyes false economy.

We cannot escape the shortcomings that short-change ourselves if our big selling point is that we have low taxes. The exciting visuals of sports teams quickly fade when people look at the quality of real life and that quality is not improved by continued diminution of resources to improve it.

This is a campaign year and, of course, a tax cut is a favorite way of pleasing voters. Candidates, however, might want to focus on how income tax elimination will make Missouri better than 31st and how it will elevate our low standing in personal categories and whether paying sales taxes on a plumber’s visit makes us a place to which significant numbers of people and businesses want to move. Sooner or later, it will become clear that our drive to be a state known for its tight-fistedness won’t perform much economic magic.

Useless arguments about “tax and spend liberals” versus “don’t tax and can’t spend conservatives” won’t solve what’s wrong with Missouri, and as great as our state is in float streams and tourist attractions, there’s plenty the matter with it that we can overcome if all of us recognize that WE are responsible for being 31st or 43rd or—-pick a number as long as it’s in the 30s or 40s.

The first gubernatorial inauguration I covered was that of Warren Hearnes when he became the first Missouri governor elected to two consecutive four-year terms. He said on that clear but chilly January day, “To do and be better is a goal few achieve. To do it, we are required to make sacrifices—not in the sense of shedding our blood or giving our lives or the lives of those we love,  but sacrifice in the sense of giving of a part of those material things which we enjoy in abundance. A great people will sacrifice part of that with which they have been blessed in order that their children might be better educated, their less fortunate more fortunate, their health better health, their state a better state.”

What’s the matter with Missouri?  When have any of our recent leaders laid down this kind of challenge to all of us?  Would we accept it if they did?

Failure to issue that challenge….and a failure to respond to it is what’s the matter with Missouri.

Sports : A Glass Slipper With Spikes; A Shadow Over the Baseball Season; Tigers split two; Cardinals Move Beyond Arenado; Portal Update 

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MEAVIS)—Former Missouri Tiger place kicker Harrison Mevis is living kind of a Cinderella story with the Los Angeles Rams, kicking the Rams to one game away from the Super Bowl.

A year ago he was preparing for the United Football League season with the Birmingham Stallions after signing as an undrafted free agent by the Carolina Panthers for the 2024 season and being waived. He hit 20 of 21 field goals for the Stallions, a performance that drew the attention of the New York Jets who put him on the practice squad before cutting him loose in September.  Two months later he signed with the Los Angeles Rams and was activated from the practice squad two weeks after that to replace, for one game, the Rams’ regular kicker, Joshua Karty after Karty missed an extra point and a field goal. He hit all six of his extra points and all three of his field goals and joined the fulltime squad two weeks later.

Jan 18, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Los Angeles Rams placekicker Harrison Mevis (92) kicks the game-winning forty-two yard field goal held by punter Ethan Evans (42) against the Chicago Bears during overtime of an NFC Divisional Round game at Soldier Field. Matt Marton-Imagn Images

In the regular season, Mevis was perfect on 39 extra points and nailed 12 of 13 field goals.  He was perfect against the Bears on Sunday with two extra points and two field goals including the walk-off winner from 42 yards out to end the game in overtime, 20-17, Rams.

The Rams play the Seahawks next weekend for the NFC championship with the winner headed to the Super Bowl two weeks later.

CHIEFS)—The Kansas City Chiefs reportedly want to bring back he guy who was known for his creative offensive approach–Eric Bienemy, now he running backs coach for the Chicago Bears. Kansas City has asked permission to talk to him about replacing Steve Nagy. He was the OC for Kansas City for five years before moving on after the 2022 season.

Re-sculpting of the Chief roster has begun by saying goodbye to seven members of the practice squad whose contracts have not been renewed. The biggest name was Clyde Edwards-Hillaire who came to the Chiefs in 2020 and was impressive. In his first 33 games, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry. But injuries and other health issues including PTSD limited his role and he wound up on the practice squad, and now has been released. Others cut loose are offensive guard Nick Broeker and wide receiver Jason Brownlee, who were called up to fill roster gaps this year but didn’t make much of an impression. Also gone are defensive end Malik Herring, tackle Marlon Tuipulotu, tight end Tre Watson, and fullback Carson Steele.

The Chiefs on-roster running back situation is changing, too, with Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt entering free agency. Last year, the Chiefs averaged just 106.6 yards rushing per game, which—coupled with a porous offensive line, made things harder for Parick Mahomes and he passing game.

(MIZPORT)—Calum McAndrew at the Columbia Daily Tribune has done a fine job keeping track of who’s coming and who’s going and who is homeless in the college football portal scramble.

Here’s his list of additions since we filed our sports reports last week:

  • Naeshaun Montgomery, wide receiver, Florida (Jan. 10)
  • Jaden Jones, defensive end, Florida State (Jan. 10)
  • Donta Sampson, defensive tackle, Miami (Jan. 11)
  • Brunno Reus, punter/kicker, Florida State (Jan. 12)
  • Cavan Tuley, defensive end, Houston (Jan. 12)
  • Nick Evers, quarterback, UConn (Jan. 13)
  • Elijah Dotson, cornerback, Michigan (Jan. 13)
  • Sione Laulea, cornerback, Oregon (Jan. 14)
  • Va’aimalae Fonoti III, running back, Montana (Jan. 16)
  • Kenric Lanier II, wide receiver, Minnesota (Jan. 16)
  • Colin Sorensen, offensive lineman, Charleston Southern (Jan. 16)
  • Mark Shenouda, punter, Tennessee State (Jan. 16)
  • CJ May, defensive end, Louisville (Jan. 16)

Those who’ve decided to seek greener artificial term since our last posting.

  • Beau Pribula, graduate, quarterback (Virginia, Jan. 12)
  • Jaylen Early, redshirt senior, offensive lineman (Jaylen Early, Jan. 11)
  • Nate Johnson, senior, defensive end (Auburn, Jan. 10)
  • Justin Bodford, redshirt sophomore, defensive tackle (Middle Tennessee State, Jan. 15)
  • Daniel Blood, senior, wide receiver (Washington State, Jan. 10)

Some guys couldn’t find something better.

  • Brandon Solis, redshirt junior, offensive lineman (NA)
  • Robert Meyer, sophomore, kicker (NA)
  • Ryder Goodwin, redshirt junior, kicker (NA)
  • Tavorus Jones, redshirt senior, running back (NA)
  • Shamar McNeil, redshirt junior, cornerback (NA)
  • Damon Wilson II, senior, defensive end (NA)
  • Dakotah Terrell, redshirt freshman, tight end (NA)
  • Mose Phillips III, senior, safety (NA)

(MIZZBB)—The Tigers split a pair last week with a distressing loss to LSU on Saturday in which they once again let the game get away from them in the opening minutes and never got it back. LSU outscored Missouri 10-0 in the opening minutes…and won by ten.

Against Auburn at home, the Tigers went down by seven in the first half before T.O. Barrett’s basket put Missouri in front and they stayed there.  In Baton Rouge, LSU let the Tigers get close in the second half but always got a stop when they needed it—which Missouri didn’t do. It was LSU’s first conference win.

Missouri came into this week 3-2 in the conference. The Tigers face Georgia tonight in Columbia.

(The Baseball)—It might seem premature to be thinking of the end of the 2026 baseball season three weeks before pitchers and catchers report for spring training.  But there is a shadow over this season. This year is the last year of the collective bargaining agreement with players and concerns are growing about how smaller market teams such as those in St. Louis and Kansas City can remain competitive, especially financially, with the New Yorks and Los Angeleses.

Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch says the DeWitts, father and son, think upcoming negotiations could be the most “significant of this era” particularly because of the financial disparities that have grown in the last year.

Goold observes that four of the most prominent free agents have signed deals worth at least $100 million this winter all of them have signed with the major market teams. The DeWitts point to the seemingly bottomless checking account of the Dodgers, who signed Kyle Tucker for four years and $240 million. The Dodgers now have eight nine-figure player contracts. Goold counts only here such contracts in the entire history of the Redbirds.

The players union is unlikely to agree to any kind of a salary cap. Bill DeWitt Jr., promised, “We’ll do the best we can in terms of being competitive.”

We’re still waiting for either of our teams to bust loose with a big free agent signing. The Cardinals have finally ended the painful dragged-out departure of Nolan Arenado, who hopes to find renewal in the twilight years of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

(CARDINALS)===Whether the Cardinals got any kind of return (they also sent $31 million of Arenado’s remaining $42 million contract to Arizona) for Arenado appears to be some distance away. They get Jack Martinez in return. He was an eighth round 2025 draft pick from Arizona State. He’s a righty with a 92-94 mph fastball and an above average changeup and a below-average slider. He has yet to make his professional debut but he fits in with the Cardinals focus on developing young players.  In his last college season, he made fifteen starts and fanned 110 batters in 77.1 innings but he had a 5.47 ERA.

The Cardinals signed ten free agents to minor league contracts in the last week or so.

(ROYALS)—The Kansas City Royals want more home runs this year and they might get them by moving the outfield walls in by eight to ten feet at the foul poles.  Center field will still be 410 feet away but they’re cutting 18 inches off of the ten-foot high wall. The changes also expand seating.  There will be 150 more fans in left field waiting to catch homers and about eight new drink rail seats in right.

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The Royals have signed a dozen free agents to minor league deals. They’ve also signed an intriguing kid shortstop named Jaider Suarez, the 22nd ranked prospect by MLB’s Pipeline. He’s an international free agent that the Pipeline says “has the physical look of a potential impact talent.”  He was 13 in 2023 when he hit .355 and walked twice as often as he struck out in Cuba’s U15 National League.

(

Rolling along—

(INDYCAR)—The knights of speed have a real knight in their midst now.  New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has knighted Dixon “for services to motorsport.”  Luxon described him as “a hero to young New Zealand motorsports fans and his work fundraising for children’s charities is invaluable.”  Dixon is a six-time IndyCar champion with 59 victories—one of which is the Indianapolis 500.  He’s 45 now, moving toward senior citizen status in a sport filled with a lot of 20and 30 years olds.  Dixon finished third in the points standings last year and remains Ganassi Racing’s top driver.

(NASCAR)—NASCAR is ditching its widely criticized playoff system and returning to the Chase format.  Gone is the “win and you’re in” system that let drivers who finish far down in the standings replace driver who had much better years in the playoffs because the lower-runners managed to win a race.  Joey Logano is the poster child for that issue, taking the title in 2024 although he had an average finish of 17.1 and finished the regular season 15th in points would not have made the then twelve-driver championship field if another driver had not been disqualified in the last regular-season race. Logano had won one race that year and went on to become champion when he won the last race of the season.

The new format eliminates eliminations.  Sixteen drivers will compete. There will be no elimination rounds and the champion will be crowned from within that ten-driver field on a points basis, not on the basis of which of four final competitors finishes highest in the last race.

(Photo credits:  Mevis—Field Level Media)

Sports—Arbitrations; No Free Points; In With the New at Mizzou; No Arbitrations

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

Let’s start by thinking warm thoughts—

(BASEBALL)—Both of our teams have avoided arbitration with several players by signing several guys to one year deals.

(CARDINALS)—While many fans have been focusing on possible trades by the Cardinals or he signing of free agents, the Redbirds have been keeping players in the nest through arbitration.

MLB Trade Rumors reports reliever JoJo Romero has signed for $4.25 million. Fan favorite, outfielder Lars Nootbar, is in the fold for $5.25 million. All-Star second baseman Brendan Donovan will get $5.8 million. The Cardinals are going to pay Andre Pallante four-million for his second full-time starter season.  Utility man Nolan Gorman, who hit .205 last year, will get $2.665 million. Another utilityman, Silver Slugger winner Alec Burleson, has signed for $3.3 million after hitting .290 with 18 homers. And pitcher Mathew Liberatore gets $2.26 million.

(ROYALS)—Signing on for another year are outfielder Kyle Isbel, infielder Michael Massey, and pitchers Bailey Falter, John Schreiber, Nick Mears and Daniel Lynch IV.

(STADIUM)—Discussions about a new stadium for the Kansas City Royals have dropped into a kind of limbo. It appears both Missouri and Kansas are getting tired to trying to conclude a deal. Clay County Commissioner Jason Whitington said a few days ago he’s finished negotiating. The State of Kansas also has had enough, apparently leaving Kansas City as the only option.

Sources indicate, however, talks are ongoing with Kansas. One issue is whether the legislature will have to approve any financial deal outside the STAR bonds program.

On this side of the line, a judge has heard a lawsuit from a couple of state legislators saying Missouri’s stadium financing law is unconstitutional. He’s still studying the arguments.

Team owner John Sherman still says a downtown ballpark is what the team wants.

(MIZBB)—Missouri went 2-0 for the first time in the SEC only to blow its chance to go 3-0 for the first time since its days in the Big 12. With two top-tier wins to start the conference season, Missouri went to Oxford Mississippi to face an Ole Miss Team with a mediocre start to the season.

And the Tigers blew it.,

Coach Dennis Gates pointed to Ole Miss’ second-chance points down the stretch as a major factor.  A more frustrating one is that the worst free-throw shooting team in the Southeastern Conference put on a clunker clinic, hitting only half of its 24 free throws in a 76-69 loss. Missouri drops to 12-4 (and also dropped a chance to make a dent in the top-25 ratings).

Another major factor was the loss of their trey touch, starting 6 for 14 in the first half but getting only one in ten in the second half. (Ole Miss was 9-23).

Missouri meets Auburn at home Wednesday night. Auburn is 10-6 overall, 1-2 in the conference.

(MIZFB)—Pretty portable week.  Let’s run down the lists:

Thirteen new guys will be in black gold next year. The biggest catch is Quarterback Simmons from the University of Mississippi. He was a four-star recruit who lost his starting job at Ole Miss when an ankle injury sidelined him and Trinidad Chambliss took the ball and kept it. In 17 career games, two as a starter, he hit sixty percent of his passes for 1,076 yards and four touchdowns. He also was intercepted five times.

Incoming defensive players are Oregon cornerback Jahlil Florence, Auburn linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr., safeties JaDon Blair from Notre Dame, Kensley Louidor-Foustin from Auburn and defensive end Jaden Jones, who moves north from Florida State.

On the offensive side, Cincinnati wide receiver Caleb Goodie will face portal competition from Auburn’s Horatio Fields, and Naeshaun Montgomery from Florida State; Also picked up are running back Xai’Shaun Edwards from Houston Christian, linemen Luke Work of Mississippi State, Josh Atkins from Arizona State, and Jefferson City native Will Kemna who is returning to Missouri from Manhattan, Kansas.

Several departing players have landed new gigs—-although last we heard Beau Pribula was still shopping himself around. But K-State will get WR Joshua Manning for his senior year and redshirt freshman OL Keiton Jones while Mississippi State picks up Marquis Johnson to play wide receiver for his senior year. Redshirt senior offensive tackle Jayven Richardson heads to Boulder, Colorado; Redshirt freshman running back Marquise Davis goes from being a Tiger to being a Louisville Cardinal. Virginia Tech has signed redshirt freshman defensive end Javion Hilson. Redshirt freshman OL Henry Funuko  and redshirt junior OL Johnny Williams IV are off to North Texas; redshirt sophomore wide receiver James Madison II will play next year at UTSA; Redshirt senior Caleb Flagg heads to Central Florida. Senior WR Daniel Blood has signed with Washington State and senior safety Marvin Burks Jr., will be in Madison, Wisconsin.

One Tiger has been convinced to step back from the portal—cornerback C. J. Bass III, a four star recruit who got into a couple of games early in the season, got four tackles and a pass deflection.

(Brady & Burden)—How did the former Missouri thrower and receiver do in their first NFL season? Luther Burden’s season continues after his Bears beat the Packers last weekend 31-27. He has 47 catches in 60 targets for 652 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie year. He was 3 fr 42 against Green Bay.

Brady Cook, who was an undrafted free agent signed by Jets, over he quarterback job for the last four games of a 3-14 year.  The Jets lost all four of his starts and the other game in which he played. He hit 57.5% of his passes (88/153) and threw for two touchdowns.  But he also threw seven interceptions. His game usually was a short one—only 125 yards generated by his 88 completions.

(MOSTATEPORTAL)—Ryan Beard left Missouri State University to become head coach at Coastal Carolina.  So many of his players have moved with him that it almost might be considered Missouri State—East.

Offensive lineman Cristian Loaiza, 6-5 and 315 pounds, will have two years eligibility. Quarterback Deuce Bailey, who was one of the highest-rated high school QBs to sign with Missouri State filled in for starter Jacob Clark this year and went 23/47 for 335 yards and ran for another one.  He will have as a target WR Tristian Gardner, who was third on the MoState receiver roster but led all freshmen in Conference USA with 30 catches, 465 yards and six touchdowns. With him on the receiver corps is TE Jackson Kohl.

Another CUSA all-freshman team member, long snapper Mitch Weisenborn, has gone east.

Some guys from the defensive side also have followed Beard. DT Ahmad Poole had fifteen solo tackles among his 29 tackles this season. Three tackles were for loss. He forced two fumbles. Cornerback Ryan Grayson played in four games but preserved his redshirt.

LB Braxton Starnes, 6-3, 215 was in four games as a true freshman with four tackles, one for a loss and one pass breakup.

Nickleback Don Quist also goes to Coastal Caroline, as dones DT Dezmond Barnes, a member of the all-CUSA freshman team.

Some players who had entered the portal have changed their minds and will play for new coach Casey Woods who had been SMU Offensive coordinator.  Staying in Springfield after all are TE Jeron Askren who at 6-3, 230 is in line to become the number one tight end for the Bears, safety J. J. O’Neal, who was a team captain last season, has three interceptions and ten pass breakups to go with 68 tackles heading into his fifth and final year, and fellow safety Christian Ford who has two years of eligibility after his last season highlighted by a forced fumble, three pass breakups and 39 tackles.

(CHIEFS)—-Whoops. The Chiefs are at home.  Not at Arrowhead. Just at home. Their move in another five years has become a mini-political issue. St. Charles County Senator Nick Shroer has his undies in such a knot about the proposed move that he wants to take away the Chiefs title as Missouri’s Official Football Team that they have held since 2019. He thinks that honor should go to the St. Louis Battlehawks.  Speaking of which—-

(BATTLEHAWKS)—The St. Louis Battlehawks and the rest of the UFL teams start their third season March 27. They will have a new coach, but a familiar name to St. Louis fans—Ricky Proehl, a member of the “Greatest Show on Turf” during the Rams’ tenure in the Dome.  He’s held several coaching jobs since retiring from the NFL and was the ‘Hawks receivers coach three years ago.

Former Head Coach Anthony Becht has moved to Florida to lead the Orlando Storm, a new UFL Team.

The Battlehawks have had winning records the last two seasons but have failed to advance in the playoffs.

They’ll have a new quarterback this year. A. J. McCarron has become the head coach of the Birmingham Stallions. It’s a homecoming for him. He was a star at the University of Alabama.

The league has a new look this year. The Orlando Storm, Louisville Kings, and Columbus Aviators replace last year’s Michigan Panthers, Memphis Showboats and the San Antonio Brahmas.  Returning from last year are the Battlehawks, DC Defenders, and the Stallions.

(CARDINALS)—A lot of people are waiting for the spiked shoe to drop on a major trade or a major free agent signing.  Nothing groundbreaking has happened yet. The most recent transaction had pitcher Zak Kent designated for assignment and picked off the waiver wire by the Cleveland Guardians.

(ROYALS)—Nothing’s up to date in Kansas City.

Next: people who play with tires.

(NASCAR)—NASCAR’s rocky off-season continued this week with the resignation of NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps, a casualty of the off-season anti-trust trial that was finally settled out of court. His status was crippled during the trial by the admission evidence some inflammatory emails he sent attacking one of the sport’s icons—former driver and team owner Richard Childress.

Dodge’s return to NASCAR will be with its RAM pickup truck.  RAM is going to hold its own series in which fifteen drivers will compete for one of the five seats in the regular truck season for Kaulig Racing.  It will be, in effect, an eight-episode reality show produced by the folks with the UFC.

(INDYCAR)—Two months and two days from today, IndyCar runs its first race in Texas in three years and there’s some pretty big talk in anticipation of it.

After all, it IS in Texas. The President of the Grand Prix of Arlington, Bill Miller, has told Motorsport.com, “This could be a signature marquee event on the IndyCar calendar for years to come,” and suggests it could take the use of temporary road courses “to a higher level.”

The track will be 2.73 miles around with fourteen turns. Organizers haven’t decided yet how many miles will be run in the race.  The longest straightaway is just short of a mile, long enough for cars to reach at least 200 mph before making a hard right.

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Off-season tire testing has given Will Power his first full taste of being part of Andretti Global, his new team after seventeen years with Penske.  He got familiar with the car, the crew, and a new engine manufacturer in tests at Phoenix. Power said  afterwards that all the new stuff wasn’t all that strange once he hit the track. “You feel very out of place but once you get in the car and you get rolling, then it’s just like, ‘Oh, it’s an IndyCar. It’s going through the same processes.”  He called his first few runs “very good.”

One thing the tire tests have focused on is the right front tire that takes a lot of cornering weight on ovals. Firstone, the tire supplier for IndyCar, has developed a wider tire for that corner that improves grip.

An open test for all teams is scheduled for next month.

Sports: A Good Time to Retire; a Big Win; The Portal Opens

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(CHIEFS)—Travis Kelce has no reason to play football next year. There are no worthwhile records to be set. He has plenty of Super Bowl rings. If he returns to the Chiefs he will be returning to a team taking the first steps toward rebuilding the dynasty that has eroded, as happens to sports dynasties. He is physically and mentally intact and has a wonderful new life awaiting him that there is no reason to delay enjoying.

He caught a couple of passes in the final game of 2025-26 that made him the fifth tight end to get to 13,000 yards and the fastest to get there.  He was the fourth-leading scorer for the Chiefs this He played as usual with commitment and effort in an absolutely forgettable game that featured eight field goals and was decided on a safety. With the 14-12 loss the Chiefs finished a 6-11 season with their fourth quarterback on the field and patches at other positions. Chris Oladokun, the number three QB, actually had a higher completion percentage than Patrick Mahomes as the backup to the backup although his quarterback rating was only 15.1 (Mahomes was at an uncharacteristic 68.8.

The last time the Chiefs were this bad was the year before Andy Reid showed up to coach.

Once again, Mahomes and his successors were handicapped by an offensive line that showed all the strength of tissue paper in protection.

The Chiefs gave up the sixth most points in the NFL, ranked 21st among the 32 teams in scoring.  Twenty-two players accumulated rushing or receiving yards. Eleven players scored points but Xavier Worthy, Brashard Smith, and JuJu Smith-Schuster  had only one touchdown each and Isaih Pacheco had only two.

While the tendency is to think the Chiefs have gotten old, the NFL says they were the 8th youngest team in the league with an average age of 25.92. The youngest team was the Packers at 25.23 and oldest team was the Commanders, 28.09.  Chris Jones is the oldest lineman (if you don’t count Kelce), at 31.

A lot of new people will be wearing Chiefs shirts next year, starting with the offensive line that has weakened considerably in the last couple of years or hasn’t reached its potential—perhaps because the Chiefs have haven’t had some of the top-level draft choices for a decade.

They will have their first top ten draft pick since they chose Patrick Mahomes in 2017.  Reid is optimistic: “We’ve got a good nucleus of guys that are veteran players. They’ll be back and I think you want that foundation, and that’s where you start. And then you give Brett (Veatch, General Manager) an opportunity to have the draft picks that he has and picking where he’s picking; you know he’s going to do a great job there. And then whatever happens free agent-wise, or guys we signed up — wherever that goes — you still have a long way to go to add people and do what you need. So, there’ll be a fresh start coming up.”

The player lineup isn’t the only parts of the team that’s changing. The Tennessee Titans have asked permission to talk to Steve Spagnuolo, the architect of the defense about their head coaching vacancy. They also want to talk with Offensive Coordinator Mike Nagy, whose conract is up.

Assistant Defensive Line Coach Alex Whittingham is headed to Michigan to work with his dad, Kyle, the new head coach of the Wolverines.

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(MIZPORT)—The first of this year’s Tigers to jump ship have signed with new teams. Senior Wide Receiver Marquis Johnson gets a better deal at Mississippi State and redshirt freshman running back Marquise Davis is rushing to Louisville. Safety Caleb Flaggs is headed to Central Florida. Kansas State gets lineman Keiton Jones.

Late yesterday afternoon, things developed quickly. The first player to shift to Missouri is cornerback Jelil Florence, dropping in from Oregon. He announced his plans to change shirts in November. He was the #54 recruit in 2022, four stars. Florence is a redshirt junior so 2026 is the only year we’ll see him. 35 career tackles and four interceptions.  He’s important because all three of this season’s cornerbacks finished their eligibility.

Mizzou also got wide receiver Caleb Goodie from Cincinnati and Auburn linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr.

In non-portal pickups, Missouri took three-star defensive lineman Jocques Felix away from Iowa State. He played for St. Louis Cardinal Ritter and verbally accepted Iowa State before officially settling on Missouri. He’s rated three stars. The Tigers also signed four-star defensive lineman Tajh Overton in December.

(MIZSTATEPORT)—Missouri State’s coach has left for Coastal Carolina, replaced by SMU Offensive Coordinator Casley Woods. But that has sparked a big turnover of ten offensive and eleven defensive players. Missouri State has not signed anyone yet.

(MIZBB)—A Tiger team has finally beaten a ranked opponent during this school year.  Missouri withstood a late Florida charge Saturday to upset the 22nd ranked Gators 76-74 at Mizzou Arena. The loss dropped Florida out of the AP top 25 for the first time since week 18 of the 2023-24 season. Five SEC Teams are in the top 25 this week and five more got votes, but Missouri got none.

Trent Pierce saw his first game action after a hand injury early in the season and scored ten points after coming off the bench, including the layup that put Missouri top 66-65, followed by a three-pointer that gave the Tigers a lead they never gave up. Jaden Stone, also returning from injury had 9 points.

Missouri trailed for most of the first half but tied it at the buzzer on a three-pointer by Trent Burns, their 7-5 center.

Florida went into the game leading in rebounds with a plus 17.2.  Missouri matched their 37 rebounds. The Tigers are now 11-3

Missouri plays Kentucky in Lexington tomorrow night.

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Speed—

(NASCAR)—Twenty-six days from the NASCAR guys will be racing again. It’ll no an exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium.

—One of NASCAR’s iconic speedways has been bought by the International Hot Road Association—Rockingham. “The Rock,” in North Carolina, is home to NASCAR second and third-tier races after being part of the Cup schedule, 1965-2004.

(INDYCAR)—53 days to the engines firing at St. Petersburg to starts the 2026 IndyCar season. But before that several top series drivers will get their blood running at the 24 hours of Dayona. Five of last year’s seven race winners will be on the high banks in sports cars.  An IndyCar driver his been part of the winning teams in five of the last six 24s.

Indianapolis 500 winner and national champion Alex Palou and his Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon will drive Acuras in the GTP class for Meyer-Shank Racing.  Wayne Taylor Racing’s Cadillac will include Colton Herta, who has left IndyCar to build a Formula 2 career.

Sebastian Bourdais, four time IndyCar champion, will share the cockpit of Tower Motorsports ORECA 07 with Ganassi Driver Kiffin Simpson.

Andretti Global will have all three of its IndyCar drivers. Kyle Kirkwood will be in a Lexus GTD PRO entry. Will Power, who moved to Andretti from Penske in the offseason will get his first taste of the Daytona. Marcus Ericcson will be in a Lamborghini for Wayne Taylor Racing. And Christian Rasmussen will run in the LMP2 class.

Although IndyCar has no races in Missouri, the 2026 schedule offers several day-trip possibilities, depending where you live.  Indianapolis hosts a road course race on May 8 with the 110th running of the 500 on May 24th.  They’ll be at World Wide Technologies Raceway, just across the river from St. Louis, on June 7. Nashville’s not that far away from some parts of the state. IndyCar will run there on July 10. Races at Milwaukee will be on August 29-30.

(Photo Credits: |Florence:  Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images; Kelce—Instagram).