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www.newstribune.com SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2012 C INSIDE SECTION C2 Statistics C4 Faces C6 Outdoors STANDINGS Conference standings and schedules for Missouri men’s and women’s teams. COLLEGE BASKETBALL C6 NEWS TRIBUNE PRESSBOX Hometown Favorites DENVER 21, KANSAS CITY 16 The Chiefs become the latest vic- tim of a case of Tebow-itis, and the Broncos clinch a division title. NFL Games With Andrew Luck Implications SAN FRANCISCO 28, ST. LOUIS 3 Will the Rams pick Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft? They’ll have to start thinking about it after ... INDIANAPOLIS 15, JACKSON- VILLE 10 — the Colts hurt them- selves again with their late-season surge. NFL Games With Playoff Implications NEW ORLEANS 34, CAROLINA 13 — The Saints will get the win they needed to complete half the scenar- io for a first-round bye, but the 49ers’ easy win over the Rams crushes the second half. TENNESSEE 17, HOUSTON 6 — The Titans’ postseason hopes are tied to them- selves, and ... BALTIMORE 14, CINCINNATI 3 — the Bengals, and ... NEW YORK JETS 19, MIAMI 14 the Jets, and ... OAKLAND 21, SAN DIEGO 20 the Raiders. Let’s just avoid the details. NEW ENGLAND 35, BUFFALO 9 The Patriots clinch home-field advantage through the playoffs with a win, while the Bills are left thinking about the glory days of their 4-1 start to this season. PITTSBURGH 28, CLEVELAND 7 Pittsburgh does its part by getting a win, but Baltimore’s win deprives the Steelers of a division title. NEW YORK GIANTS 30, DALLAS 14 — If the Giants get into the play- offs, they’re going to be better than they’ve shown this season, just you wait. NFL Games With No Playoff Implications GREEN BAY 24, DETROIT 21 — With the Packers already clinching home-field advantage through the playoffs and the Lions holding one of the NFC wild-card spots, this game is one of many where the outcome means nothing. The rest are ... CHICAGO 9, MINNESOTA 6 Major injuries to skill players on both teams make this a toss-up. PHILADELPHIA 21, WASHING- TON 18 — Both teams could have won the sad-sack NFC East this year just by being mediocre. Instead, they’re worse than mediocre. ARIZONA 14, SEATTLE 10 — The battle for sole possession of second place in the NFC West is must-miss TV. ATLANTA 35, TAMPA BAY 13 — Will Buccaneers coach Raheem Mor- ris keep his job? Not after this loss sends Tampa Bay to 4-12. A 12-of-17 (71 percent) week by TOM RACKERS, which included a cheap win thanks to a basketball pick, moved the staff’s season total to 204-of-300 (68 percent). Tony Hawley Final piece of the crosstown showdowns As the new year is upon us, one of the great high school rivalries in the area will soon take center stage. The Jefferson City and Helias boys basketball teams will hit the hard- wood in the annual crosstown show- down, which rarely disappoints. It’s one of the great sports tradi- tions in Jefferson City. Both teams are usually competitive and it’s fun to watch. It’s the same way when Jef- ferson City and Helias get together in wres- tling, baseball and softball. Ask any player, coach or fan, and that game means just a little more than the others. But in the sport where both teams have seen the most success, they haven’t seen each other on the field. Ever. I’m sure I’m not the only one in this town who feels that way, but I think it’s time the Jays and Crusaders took their rivalry to the gridiron. Year after year, both teams are in the running for playoff berths and consistently finish in the top 10 in their respective classes. I’ve heard a number of reasons why the Jays and Crusaders shouldn’t meet on the football field, and none of them have ever convinced me to change my mind. Some people think the crowd might be out of control. I’m not so sure that would be the case. Helias and Jefferson City fans have coexist- ed in this town for decades. I’m a Jef- ferson City graduate. My neighbors send their kids to Helias. I’ve had friends who went to Helias. I played sports when I was younger with kids from Helias. We coexisted just fine. While I understand there would probably be a few isolated problems, I’m pretty sure a riot wouldn’t ensue. Some people have argued there would not be a stadium big enough to hold the crowd. That just sounds like an excuse. One way to fix that is to bring in temporary bleachers. Once those are filled, people can stand until the fire marshal says no more people are allowed. There have been times when the boys basketball game between the two have sold out. I’ve heard the argument how Jef- ferson City might not want to play a Class 4 school, and Helias might not want to play a Class 6 school. That isn’t true. The Jays have played Class 4 juggernaut Webb City twice in the last decade. In recent seasons, Helias played Rock Bridge and Hickman, both Class 6 schools. Some could argue Helias is afraid to lose to Jefferson City, and Jefferson City is afraid to lose to Helias. While that argument is valid as to why Mis- souri rarely plays Saint Louis Univer- sity or Missouri State in basketball, it doesn’t seem to hold a lot of weight at the high-school level. They play in every other sport, so I’m not sure whey either would be afraid to lose to the other in football. The change in the playoff system would seem to add another obstacle to the situation. Because strength of schedule is now a part of the formula for seeding the district tournament, Helias would get a boost if it played Jefferson City. The Jays would not get a boost, but would not get penalized for playing a Class 4 team. But the new format also makes it harder for teams who aren’t in a conference to schedule games. Both Helias and Jefferson City are independents, and could potentially have trouble filling schedules down the road. ... Hmm? Jefferson City coach Ted LePage is a Helias graduate. Helias athletic director Doug Light used to coach girls basketball at Jefferson City. If Jefferson City and Helias com- peted in tiddlywinks it would draw a crowd. In fact, I would probaly go watch. The time for this to happen has come, and 2012 sounds like as good of a year as any. Time to play Brent Foster AP Justin Smith of the 49ers sacks Lions quarterback Mat- thew Stafford during a game earlier this season. Smith, the former Jefferson City Jay and Missouri Tiger, and the 49ers will play the Rams today in the Edward Jones Dome. AP Kyle Orton (left) brings the Chiefs to Denver today with no shot at the playoffs but a chance to stick it to the team that benched him in favor of Tim Tebow (right), the raw quarterback who led the Broncos’ revival with a series of fourth-quarter comebacks. Orton can hurt Broncos one last time today DENVER (AP) — Kyle Orton won’t come out and say it, calling his much-anticipated return today to Denver just another chance to take the field and play a football game. It’s a whole lot more than that. With a victory over the Broncos, Orton, who was masterful in end- ing the Green Bay Packers’ perfect season two weeks ago, perhaps can secure starter’s money and a long- term deal he’s been longing for as he heads off into unrestricted free agency. And he could also help Kansas City Chiefs interim coach Romeo Crennel secure his own future. Perhaps biggest of all, Orton can stick it to the team that benched him after he finally caved under the weight of Tebowmania and the Broncos stumbled to a 1-4 start. The stakes are even higher for Tim Tebow, who’s gone 7-3 with a series of fourth-quarter comebacks that galvanized a city and captivat- ed the league. Tebow has stumbled himself the last two weeks, com- mitting five turnovers in back-to- back losses that have rendered this afternoon’s reunion a high-stakes showdown. If Tebow can beat the guy he couldn’t beat out in training camp, the Broncos (8-7) will win the AFC West and clinch their first playoff berth since 2005, when Mike Sha- nahan and Jake Plummer were still around. They could lose and still get in, if San Diego wins at Oak- land, but the Broncos don’t want to leave it up to anyone else to bail them out. A victory over the Chiefs (6-9) would also validate Broncos boss John Elway’s dangerous decision to release Orton on Nov. 22 knowing full well the Chiefs had lost Matt Cassel to a hand injury and were likely to put in a waiver claim. They did, saving the Broncos $2.6 million in salary — the same amount they’d paid him to ride the His shot at revenge Please see Chiefs, p. 3 49ers can lock up first-round bye today against Rams ST. LOUIS (AP) — A month ago, the San Francisco 49ers became the first team to clinch its division, shutting out the St. Louis Rams to win the NFC West. Beat them again in this afternoon’s finale, and there’s a nice bonus for the Niners: the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye. Sure, they’re in. There’s still plenty of incentive for a franchise that’s made a rapid rise to the top under rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh. “Anytime you could lock up a bye, you’d take it,” quarterback Alex Smith said. “Great opportunity for us, we’ve just got to go seize it.” They couldn’t have picked a more vul- nerable opponent. The bedraggled Rams (2-13) are in dan- ger of a dubious honor — landing the No. 1 pick in the draft for the second time in three years. All it’ll take is dropping their seventh in a row and the Colts winning at Jackson- NFC No. 2 Please see Rams, p. 3 AP Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard turns away a shot by Blues right winger B.J. Crombeen during Saturday night’s game in Detroit. Howard finished with 31 saves in the Red Wings’ 3-0 victory. Red Wings quiet Blues DETROIT (AP) — Jimmy Howard stopped 31 shots for his ninth career shutout Saturday night as the Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues 3-0. Johan Franzen, Justin Abdelkader and Jiri Hudler scored for Detroit, which won its 12th consecutive home game, two short of the team record. It was the Red Wings’ second win over the Blues at Joe Louis Arena in five days. One of Howard’s best saves came with 7:44 left in the first period when he denied Matt D’Agostini from in front and to Howard’s left with a glove save right on the goal line just inside the post. Howard, who has four shutouts this season, also made a blocker save on a deflection by Jason Arnott with a little under nine minutes left. Brian Elliott made 28 saves for St. Louis, which came closest to scoring when Carlo Colaiacovo hit the post on a shot from the point during a power play early in the third period. Franzen opened the scoring 7:28 into the second period when he cut in from the left wing, skated across the slot and beat Elliott from just below the right circle. It was Franzen’s 15th goal. He had gone eight games without a goal. Abdelkader made it 2-0 with his fourth goal, and second in two nights, just Blanking Please see Blues, p. 5

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Page 1: Brent Foster best column press box

www.newstribune.com

SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2012 CINSIDE

SECTION

C2 Statistics

C4 Faces

C6 Outdoors

STANDINGSConference standings and schedules for Missouri men’s and women’s teams. ■ COLLEGE BASKETBALL C6N

EW

S T

RIB

UN

E

PRESSBOXHometown Favorites

DENVER 21, KANSAS CITY 16 — The Chiefs become the latest vic-tim of a case of Tebow-itis, and the Broncos clinch a division title.

NFL Games With

Andrew Luck ImplicationsSAN FRANCISCO 28, ST. LOUIS 3

— Will the Rams pick Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft? They’ll have to start thinking about it after ...

INDIANAPOLIS 15, JACKSON-VILLE 10 — the Colts hurt them-selves again with their late-season surge.

NFL Games With

Playoff ImplicationsNEW ORLEANS 34, CAROLINA

13 — The Saints will get the win they needed to complete half the scenar-io for a first-round bye, but the 49ers’ easy win over the Rams crushes the second half.

T E N N E S S E E 17, HOUSTON 6 — The Titans’ postseason hopes are tied to them-selves, and ...

B A LT I M O R E 14, CINCINNATI 3 — the Bengals, and ...

NEW YORK JETS 19, MIAMI 14 — the Jets, and ...

OAKLAND 21, SAN DIEGO 20 — the Raiders. Let’s just avoid the details.

NEW ENGLAND 35, BUFFALO 9 — The Patriots clinch home-field advantage through the playoffs with a win, while the Bills are left thinking about the glory days of their 4-1 start to this season.

PITTSBURGH 28, CLEVELAND 7 — Pittsburgh does its part by getting a win, but Baltimore’s win deprives the Steelers of a division title.

NEW YORK GIANTS 30, DALLAS 14 — If the Giants get into the play-offs, they’re going to be better than they’ve shown this season, just you wait.

NFL Games With

No Playoff ImplicationsGREEN BAY 24, DETROIT 21 —

With the Packers already clinching home-field advantage through the playoffs and the Lions holding one of the NFC wild-card spots, this game is one of many where the outcome means nothing. The rest are ...

CHICAGO 9, MINNESOTA 6 — Major injuries to skill players on both teams make this a toss-up.

PHILADELPHIA 21, WASHING-TON 18 — Both teams could have won the sad-sack NFC East this year just by being mediocre. Instead, they’re worse than mediocre.

ARIZONA 14, SEATTLE 10 — The battle for sole possession of second place in the NFC West is must-miss TV.

ATLANTA 35, TAMPA BAY 13 — Will Buccaneers coach Raheem Mor-ris keep his job? Not after this loss sends Tampa Bay to 4-12.

A 12-of-17 (71 percent) week by TOM RACKERS, which included a cheap win thanks to a basketball pick, moved the staff’s season total to 204-of-300 (68 percent).

Tony Hawley

Final piece of the crosstown showdowns

As the new year is upon us, one of the great high school rivalries in the area will soon take center stage.

The Jefferson City and Helias boys basketball teams will hit the hard-wood in the annual crosstown show-down, which rarely disappoints.

It’s one of the great sports tradi-tions in Jefferson City. Both teams are usually competitive and it’s fun to watch.

It’s the same way when Jef-ferson City and Helias get together in wres-tling, baseball and softball. Ask any player, coach or fan, and that game means just a little more than the others.

But in the sport where both teams have seen the most success, they haven’t seen each other on the field. Ever.

I’m sure I’m not the only one in this town who feels that way, but I think it’s time the Jays and Crusaders took their rivalry to the gridiron.

Year after year, both teams are in the running for playoff berths and consistently finish in the top 10 in their respective classes.

I’ve heard a number of reasons why the Jays and Crusaders shouldn’t meet on the football field, and none of them have ever convinced me to change my mind.

Some people think the crowd might be out of control. I’m not so sure that would be the case. Helias and Jefferson City fans have coexist-ed in this town for decades. I’m a Jef-ferson City graduate. My neighbors send their kids to Helias. I’ve had friends who went to Helias. I played sports when I was younger with kids from Helias. We coexisted just fine.

While I understand there would probably be a few isolated problems, I’m pretty sure a riot wouldn’t ensue.

Some people have argued there would not be a stadium big enough to hold the crowd. That just sounds like an excuse. One way to fix that is to bring in temporary bleachers. Once those are filled, people can stand until the fire marshal says no more people are allowed. There have been times when the boys basketball game between the two have sold out.

I’ve heard the argument how Jef-ferson City might not want to play a Class 4 school, and Helias might not want to play a Class 6 school. That isn’t true. The Jays have played Class 4 juggernaut Webb City twice in the last decade. In recent seasons, Helias played Rock Bridge and Hickman, both Class 6 schools.

Some could argue Helias is afraid to lose to Jefferson City, and Jefferson City is afraid to lose to Helias. While that argument is valid as to why Mis-souri rarely plays Saint Louis Univer-sity or Missouri State in basketball, it doesn’t seem to hold a lot of weight at the high-school level. They play in every other sport, so I’m not sure whey either would be afraid to lose to the other in football.

The change in the playoff system would seem to add another obstacle to the situation. Because strength of schedule is now a part of the formula for seeding the district tournament, Helias would get a boost if it played Jefferson City. The Jays would not get a boost, but would not get penalized for playing a Class 4 team.

But the new format also makes it harder for teams who aren’t in a conference to schedule games. Both Helias and Jefferson City are independents, and could potentially have trouble filling schedules down the road. ... Hmm?

Jefferson City coach Ted LePage is a Helias graduate. Helias athletic director Doug Light used to coach girls basketball at Jefferson City.

If Jefferson City and Helias com-peted in tiddlywinks it would draw a crowd. In fact, I would probaly go watch.

The time for this to happen has come, and 2012 sounds like as good of a year as any.

Timeto play

Brent Foster

AP

Justin Smith of the 49ers sacks Lions quarterback Mat-thew Stafford during a game earlier this season. Smith, the former Jefferson City Jay and Missouri Tiger, and the 49ers will play the Rams today in the Edward Jones Dome.

AP

Kyle Orton (left) brings the Chiefs to Denver today with no shot at the playoffs but a chance to stick it to the team that benched him in favor of Tim Tebow (right), the raw quarterback who led the Broncos’ revival with a series of fourth-quarter comebacks.

Orton can hurt Broncos one last time today

DENVER (AP) — Kyle Orton won’t come out and say it, calling his much-anticipated return today to Denver just another chance to take the field and play a football game.

It’s a whole lot more than that.With a victory over the Broncos,

Orton, who was masterful in end-ing the Green Bay Packers’ perfect season two weeks ago, perhaps can secure starter’s money and a long-term deal he’s been longing for as he heads off into unrestricted free agency. And he could also help Kansas City Chiefs interim coach

Romeo Crennel secure his own future.

Perhaps biggest of all, Orton can stick it to the team that benched him after he finally caved under the weight of Tebowmania and the Broncos stumbled to a 1-4 start.

The stakes are even higher for Tim Tebow, who’s gone 7-3 with a series of fourth-quarter comebacks that galvanized a city and captivat-ed the league. Tebow has stumbled himself the last two weeks, com-mitting five turnovers in back-to-back losses that have rendered this afternoon’s reunion a high-stakes showdown.

If Tebow can beat the guy he couldn’t beat out in training camp, the Broncos (8-7) will win the AFC

West and clinch their first playoff berth since 2005, when Mike Sha-nahan and Jake Plummer were still around. They could lose and still get in, if San Diego wins at Oak-land, but the Broncos don’t want to leave it up to anyone else to bail them out.

A victory over the Chiefs (6-9) would also validate Broncos boss John Elway’s dangerous decision to release Orton on Nov. 22 knowing full well the Chiefs had lost Matt Cassel to a hand injury and were likely to put in a waiver claim.

They did, saving the Broncos $2.6 million in salary — the same amount they’d paid him to ride the

His shot at revenge

Please see Chiefs, p. 3

49ers can lock up first-round bye today against Rams

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A month ago, the San Francisco 49ers became the first team to clinch its division, shutting out the St. Louis Rams to win the NFC West. Beat them again in this afternoon’s finale, and there’s a nice bonus for the Niners: the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye.

Sure, they’re in. There’s still plenty of incentive for a franchise that’s made a rapid rise to the top under rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh.

“Anytime you could lock up a bye, you’d take it,” quarterback Alex Smith said. “Great opportunity for us, we’ve just got to go seize it.”

They couldn’t have picked a more vul-nerable opponent.

The bedraggled Rams (2-13) are in dan-ger of a dubious honor — landing the No. 1 pick in the draft for the second time in three years. All it’ll take is dropping their seventh in a row and the Colts winning at Jackson-

NFC No. 2

Please see Rams, p. 3

AP

Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard turns away a shot by Blues right winger B.J. Crombeen during Saturday night’s game in Detroit. Howard finished with 31 saves in the Red Wings’ 3-0 victory.

Red Wings quiet Blues

DETROIT (AP) — Jimmy Howard stopped 31 shots for his ninth career shutout Saturday night as the Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues 3-0.

Johan Franzen, Justin Abdelkader and Jiri Hudler scored for Detroit, which won its 12th consecutive home game, two short of the team record. It was the Red Wings’ second win over the Blues at Joe Louis Arena in five days.

One of Howard’s best saves came with 7:44 left in the first period when he denied Matt D’Agostini from in front and to Howard’s left with a glove save right on the goal line just inside the post. Howard, who has four shutouts this season, also made a blocker save on a deflection by Jason Arnott with a little under nine minutes left.

Brian Elliott made 28 saves for St. Louis, which came closest to scoring when Carlo Colaiacovo hit the post on a shot from the point during a power play early in the third period.

Franzen opened the scoring 7:28 into the second period when he cut in from the left wing, skated across the slot and beat Elliott from just below the right circle. It was Franzen’s 15th goal. He had gone eight games without a goal. Abdelkader made it 2-0 with his fourth goal, and second in two nights, just

Blanking

Please see Blues, p. 5

Page 2: Brent Foster best column press box

True freshman Boehm should see playing time for Tigers

By Brent Foster

[email protected]

COLUMBIA – No one ever said life in the Southeastern Conference would be easy for Mis-souri.

And that was before a rash of injuries hit the Tigers’ offen-sive line for the second con-secutive season. Now, Missouri must face opponents known for their defensive prowess, with a younger, less experienced offen-sive line.

With starting left guard Tra-vis Ruth (triceps) and reserve tackle Taylor Chappel (knee) out

for the season, players such as true freshman Evan Boehm and junior walk-on Max Copeland

are pushing to fill the void left by Ruth. Missouri got a boost when starting right tackle Justin Britt returned to practice Saturday after missing the first part of camp with a foot injury.

Boehm has received rave reviews from his coaches and teammates during camp. Only a handful of true freshman offensive linemen have ever started in Gary Pinkel’s career as a head coach.

“It’s definitely intimidating,” senior tackle Elvis Fisher said about making the jump from high school to college. “I remember back in high school, way back when, when I was a freshman, it was intimidating to come in and just see the speed of the game.”

Per Missouri policy, first-year players will not be available for interviews again until the season starts.

The 6-3, 290-pound Lee’s Summit West grad-uate has stepped in for Ruth and it appears likely he will play this season. He’s taken reps with the first team in practice.

“He’s getting better,” Pinkel said. “The thing

about him is he’s a tough competitor. Something bad happens, that’s fine, he gets up and com-petes. … Those guys are the kids who get better faster.”

In Thursday’s scrimmage, Missouri’s defen-sive line spent more time in the backfield than not.

But that’s part of the learning process, and part of practice in general.

“Evan’s progressed more than any freshman lineman I’ve ever seen,” Fisher said. “He’s done excellent. He came right in. He’s strong as an ox, knows the plays well.

“He’s answering questions that I don’t even answer. He’s doing good. He’s coming along great. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen with him.”

Last season Missouri played through injuries to Ruth, and Fisher, and still ran for a Big 12-high 244 yards per game.

Whether the Tigers can repeat that perfor-mance remains to be seen as four SEC teams

Making an early impression

Please see Tigers, p. 8

www.newstribune.com

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012 CINSIDE

SECTION

C2 Statistics

C3 LLWS

C6 Outdoors

CHASE CHASETime is running short for drivers like Carl Edwards to qualify for the Sprint Cup’s postseason.

■ NASCAR C7NEW

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PRESSBOX

ESPN needs to take break from Tebow coverage

I hope everyone enjoyed Tuesday’s national holiday.

It was nice to take a day off and reflect on the importance of what Aug. 14 is all about.

Have no idea what I’m talking about? It was Tim Tebow’s birthday. If you didn’t know this, you probably weren’t watch-ing ESPN.

The network that claims to be the worldwide leader in sports spent all day ogling over the Jets’ backup quarterback like a silly school girl.

One segment even featured former Jets and Chiefs coach Herman Edwards and other “anchors” don-ning birthday hats, a cake and singing a rendition of happy birthday. Edwards said he would give Tebow a conductor hat for his birthday if he could get him a gift. What does that even mean? A con-

ductor hat? The coverage was so bad during the

day I thought “anchor” Sage Steele was working up the courage to ask Tebow to prom.

But it’s not just Tebow’s birthday. The network has hourly, sometimes even more frequent updates from Jets camp. When Tebow breathes during camp, viewers hear about it. Wait, hold on, Tebow just blinked.

Enough is enough.At least one person at ESPN is as out-

raged as thousands of people claim to be with the absurd amount of coverage Tebow and the Jets are getting.

On Scott Van Pelt’s radio show earlier this week, ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon went out of his way to criticize the network that employs him for the job they are doing.

“People out there don’t give a damn,” Wilbon said. “The Jets are not a national team. They aren’t the Yankees or the Red Sox.

He continued:“Do you think the people in Los Ange-

les, or Chicago or St. Louis are talking about the Jets camp, because they’re not.”

Just a hunch, but you could probably add Jefferson City to that list.

Wilbon continued to talk about other pressing issues in sports that need to covered, including how many people in St. Louis are worried the Rams may not be in town in three years. He said there are more than 100 stories more impor-tant than what’s happening with Tebow at Jets camp.

I understand Tim Tebow is a polariz-ing figure. People are interested in what he does. He’s in many ways at this point more of a celebrity than an athlete, one who many parents would like their kids to look up to. Maybe he is as good of a person off the field as he is portrayed to be. All that is fine.

But part of being a news organization is reporting on news, and understanding what is important and what’s not. Wilbon is 100 percent correct in his assessment. Most people don’t care about the Jets. Most people don’t care when Tim Tebow breathes, or if he has a girlfriend or if he is on the cover GQ. ESPN has been towing the line of refutable news orga-nization and shameless self promoters for several years. On Thursday it finally crossed the line.

The other team in New York, the Giants, are the defending Super Bowl champions. Yet there is little to no buzz around the Giants this year. The Jets didn’t even make the playoffs last year. The Royals haven’t made the playoffs since 1985. Where’s their around-the-clock coverage? I guess someone is big-ger than the game after all.

I’m not naive and realize ESPN is not alone in the excessive coverage, but it certainly appears to be setting an unprecedented pace.

It’s all a lot of hype for a now backup quarterback who completed 46 percent of his passes last season.

If Tebow gets on the field this year at quarterback, or worse, beats out Mark Sanchez for the starting job, get ready. It appears inevitable schools and the gov-ernment will shut down that day to gear up for Tebow’s big game. I can only hope it’s a Monday night game so everyone gets an extra day off work.

It’s waytoo much

Brent Foster

Evan Boehm

AP

Rams wide receiver Danny Amen-dola yells as he catches an 8-yard touch-down pass in front of Chiefs defensive back Javier Arenas dur-ing Saturday night’s pre-season game at the Edward Jones Dome.

Kris Wilson/News Tribune

Lincoln tailback Donald Malone follows his blockers after taking the handoff from quarterback Percy Turner during Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage.

Lincoln holds first scrimmage

By Adam Stillman

[email protected]

It’s all about how you look at things.The Lincoln Blue Tiger offense turned the ball over

five times in the team’s first intrasquad scrimmage Saturday morning at the campus practice field. It also scored two touchdowns.

The Lincoln defense intercepted three passes and recovered two fumbles, yet it let the No. 3 quarterback orchestrate the only scores of the 64-play scrimmage.

After it was all said and done, the Blue Tigers were left with plenty of positives and negatives as they pre-pare to embark on their second season of Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play.

“Offensively, we moved the ball but turned the ball over a couple times,” Lincoln coach Mike Jones said.

Matter of perspective

Please see Lincoln, p. 8

Molina helps Cardinals to 5-4 win

over Pirates

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals needed a lift. Lucky for them, Yadier Molina was ready to return to the lineup.

Molina had three hits and two RBI, leading the Cardi-nals to a big 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sat-urday.

St. Louis bounced back from Friday night’s 2-1 loss in the series opener and pulled within a game of Pittsburgh for the second NL wild-card spot. Jaime Garcia is expected to come off the disabled list to start today’s series finale against Pirates right-hander Jeff Karstens.

Molina also scored a run after missing the previous three games with a sore back. The All-Star catcher hit a tie-breaking two-run double off Erik Bedard (7-13) in the fifth inning to give the Cardinals a 5-3 lead.

“Not just his presence but his production,” St. Louis

Happyto beback

Please see Cardinals, p. 3

Moustakas homers as Royals beat White Sox

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Mike Moustakas hit a three-run shot and the Kansas City Roy-als beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Saturday night, overcoming Adam Dunn’s 400th career homer.

Moustakas connected in the eighth and drove in four runs for the Royals, who have won four of five. Alcides Esco-bar had four infield singles, scored three runs and had his team-leading 24th steal.

Chicago trailed 5-2 before Dunn drove a 2-2 pitch from Tim Collins over the wall in left-center in the eighth. Kevin Youkilis, who singled with one out for his 1,000th career hit, was aboard for Dunn’s major league-best 35th homer of the season.

Dunn is one of 11 active players with 400 homers and No. 50 to reach the mark over-all. The burly slugger and Paul Konerko are the first team-mates to reach 400 career homers in the same season.

Kansas City responded with four runs in the bottom half. Billy Butler, who finished with three hits and three RBI, singled in Escobar before Moustakas hit a drive to right for his 19th homer.

Big shot

Please see Royals, p. 3

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Sam Bradford threw touchdown passes on his first two drives, and the St. Louis Rams made improvements on the other side of the ball in a 31-17 preseason victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the annual Governor’s Cup game Saturday night.

Lance Kendricks and Danny Amendola scored on catches of 23

and 8 yards, and Steven Jackson ran for 49 yards on seven carries in a 151-yard first quarter that hand-ed the backups a two-touchdown cushion.

The Rams (1-1) totaled 215 yards in a 38-3 loss last week at India-napolis.

Bradford was 6-for-9 for 102 yards for St. Louis. Matt Cassel played the

first half for Kansas City (1-1) and was 13-for-18 for 142 yards.

Rookie Greg Zuerlein’s 52-yard field goal capped a 17-point first half for the Rams, who trailed the NFL with a 12.1-yard scoring aver-age last season while going 2-14. They scored 13 or fewer points in 12 games.

Rams claim Cup with win against Chiefs

Please see Cup, p. 8

Page 3: Brent Foster best column press box

Another underwhelming non-conference schedulefor Missouri basketball

In case you missed it, and you prob-ably didn’t, Missouri’s first season in the Southeastern Conference is in full swing.

From football, to soccer to volleyball, the university’s PR machine is touting it with all its might.

In case you missed it, and you prob-ably did, Missouri’s men’s basketball schedule was released a few weeks ago.

C o n v e n i e n t l y released the week of Missouri’s first foot-ball game, the sched-ule seemed to slide under the radar, and the school is prob-ably fine with that. Once again, Missouri has an underwhelm-ing non-conference schedule, especially

the guests coming to Mizzou Arena.

Not counting exhibition games against a pair of Division II schools, the Tigers play host to Southern Illinois-Edwards-ville, Alcorn State, Nicholls State, Appa-lachian State, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee State, South Carolina State and Bucknell. Those aren’t exactly col-lege basketball blue bloods.

The eight teams combined to go 108-152 last season. Bucknell, whose most famous win was knocking Kansas out of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, accounted for 25 of those wins.

Six of those teams had a Ratings Power Index (RPI) last season below 250. BELOW 250. Four teams were sub-298. That means these teams are the worst of the worst in college basketball.

For a team that was chastised by the NCAA selection committee last year for not playing a tough schedule, this isn’t exactly a step in the right direction.

It also is somewhat of an insult to fans who shell out hundreds, and in some cases thousands of dollars every year for season tickets. Attendance is often sparse at midweek games during the non-conference season anyway because many fans drive from Kansas City and St. Louis. I’m sure even fewer fans will come see the Tigers play these teams on weeknights.

“Hey boss, I need to leave work two hours early to see Missouri play Alcorn State.”

While there is some criticism to be had here, the Tigers did a decent job schedul-ing teams away from home. Missouri opens a series against UCLA and has its annual game against Illinois in St. Louis. Missouri will also play three games in the Battle for Atlantis Tournament in Nassau, Bahamas, during Thanksgiving weekend. Other teams in that tournament include Stanford, Louisville, Memphis, Nothern Iowa, Minnesota, Duke and VCU. Those are perennial NCAA Tournament teams.

But this was sort of how Missouri did things last year. The Tigers had games that looked good on paper early in the season against Notre Dame, California, Illinois, Villanova (all four neutral sites) and Old Dominion (road game).

But it didn’t work out well for Mis-souri because Illinois, Villanova and Old Dominion had off seasons, and Notre Dame and California were average by their standards.

Missouri’s dreadful non-conference schedule got an obvious bump when the Tigers hit Big 12 play.

But moving to the SEC doesn’t exactly create the same buzz for basketball fans

More ofthe same

Please see Foster, p. 4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2012 CINSIDE

SECTION

C2 Statistics

C6 Area

C6 Outdoors

UP FRONTJimmie Johnson claims the pole for today’s Chase opener.

■ NASCAR C7NEW

S T

RIB

UN

E

PRESSBOX

Brent Foster

Sarah Hoffman/News Tribune

(At left) Marcus Lucas of Missouri reaches out to catch a pass during Saturday night’s game against Arizona State at Faurot Field.(Above) Missouri running back Kendial Lawrence wraps up the football after scoring a touchdown during the sec-ond quarter of the game.

Kris Wilson/News Tribune

Helias coach Phil Pitts makes a point to an official in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game in Columbia.

Film shows Hickman had extra defender late against Helias

By Tom Rackers

[email protected]

COLUMBIA — The first time, it didn’t make a difference.

But it should have been a penalty.The second time, it may have been a deter-

mining factor in the outcome of the game.And for the second time, it should have

been a penalty. And for the second time, noth-ing was called.

Game film shows the Hickman Kewpies, holding a tenuous

21-14 lead, had 12 defensive players on the field Friday

12th man

Please see Helias, p. 3

Kris Wilson/News Tribune

Lincoln defensive end Cecil Frison gives the thumbs up after sacking Missouri Southern quarter-back Kellen Cox in the second quarter of Saturday’s game at Dwight T. Reed Sta-dium.

Lincoln falls to Mo. Southern

By Adam Stillman

[email protected]

Lincoln was this close to notching its first victory of 2012.

In fact, it was probably a game the Blue Tigers should have won. Too bad for the Blue Tigers that close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

“They made one more play than we did,” Lincoln coach Mike Jones said following his team’s 21-14 loss to Missouri Southern on Sat-urday afternoon at Dwight T. Reed Stadium. “I’m happy with the way we played, but like

I told those guys, we can’t accept moral vic-tories. We’ve got to work on winning football games. We’re getting close, but close isn’t good enough.”

Lincoln had a chance to tie the game in the waning seconds, having the ball on the Lions’ 28-yard-line with 3 seconds remaining. Backup quarterback Lewis Larson was sacked on the final play, preserving Missouri Southern’s vic-tory.

“We’re lucky to get out of here with a win,” Missouri Southern first-year coach Daryl Daye, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, said. “It’s a character builder for us to win in the fourth

Inching closer to a win

Please see Lincoln, p. 5

Walker’s interception ices Missouri’s win

against Arizona State

By Brent Foster

[email protected]

COLUMBIA — Missouri defen-sive back Kenronte Walker was so excited after he intercepted a pass in the end zone, he just kept run-ning instead of kneeling down for a touchback.

“I was telling the team ‘Get

down, because he knows he’s not supposed to run with the ball, he’s supposed to get down,’” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “He got out of bounds. He didn’t get hit there. I was going to go tackle him myself.”

The truth is, Pinkel probably would have grabbed him in a big bear hug.

Walker, who also made a key pass breakup in the final minutes, sealed Missouri’s 24-20 win against Arizona State on Saturday at Faurot Field.

It was a game the Tigers (2-1,

0-1 SEC) tried their hardest to give away on a night redshirt freshman Corbin Berkstresser made his first career start for an injured James Franklin, who missed the game with a shoulder injury.

Walker saved the day though. After the Sun Devils (2-1) had cut Missouri’s lead to 24-20 in the final minutes, they had three shots at the end zone from inside the Missouri 2-yard line. After a pair of rushes that totaled a 2-yard loss, Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly’s pass on fourth down was broken up

by Walker.“We had the play we wanted and

had the quarterback power there most of the night,” Arizona State coach Todd Graham said.

After a three-and-out, Arizona State got the ball at the 21-yard line with 1:58 left thanks to a 25-yard punt return by Jamal Miles.

On third down, Kelly overthrew his pass and Walker intercepted the ball in the end zone. The receiver appeared to be open on the play.

“I was just running,” Walker said

Making the necessary play

Please see Tigers, p. 4

Page 4: Brent Foster best column press box

C4 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2012 MISSOURI TIGERS/MLB

www.newstribune.com

as it does for football. And it doesn’t exactly create the same strength of schedule increase the Tigers had in the Big 12. Exactly three NCAA Tourna-ment teams from last season come to Mizzou Arena this year in Alabama, Vanderbilt and Florida.

The SEC couldn’t even throw the Tigers a bone by letting defending national champion Kentucky play at Mizzou Arena this season.

I’m not an expert on sched-uling, and I don’t know the ins and outs.

When pressed about the issue last season, Missouri coach Frank Haith said it was

tough to work on a schedule because the coaching change left a short time to fill the schedule.

But it’s tough sell to get fans excited for this slate of games. I remember the days when Indiana, Gonzaga, Iowa, Memphis, Purdue, Virginia, UNLV, Saint Louis, Arkansas, Vanderbilt and DePaul made trips to Columbia.

This year, fans can look for-ward to Bucknell as the mar-quee game.

At least Missouri fans will be able to crack plenty of KU jokes at that game.

Continued from p. 1

Foster: Tough sell to fans

Sarah Hoffman/News Tribune

Cameron Marshall of Arizona State is surrounded by a trio of Missouri players — Kip Edwards (1), Randy Ponder (7) and Michael Sam (52) — during the first quarter of Saturday night’s game at Faurot Field.

MU 24, Arizona St. 20Arizona St. 0 7 0 13 — 20Missouri 10 7 7 0 — 24

First Quarter

Mo—FG Baggett 46, 11:25.

Mo—Berkstresser 6 run (Baggett kick), 6:55.

Second Quarter

Mo—Lawrence 7 run (Baggett kick), 4:51.

ASU—Foster 33 pass from Kelly (Garoutte kick),

2:31.

Third Quarter

Mo—Lawrence 1 run (Baggett kick), 4:08.

Fourth Quarter

ASU—Grice 2 run (Garoutte kick), 14:00.

ASU—Grice 9 run (run failed), 11:10.

A—71,004.

———

ASU Mo

First downs 18 18

Rushes-yards 37-113 46-126

Passing 183 192

Comp-Att-Int 16-27-2 22-42-1

Return Yards 36 121

Punts-Avg. 7-43.3 5-44.2

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0

Penalties-Yards 7-54 10-85

Time of Possession 25:09 34:51

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Arizona St., Kelly 15-59, Grice 6-24,

Foster 5-22, C.Marshall 4-15, R.Smith 1-(minus 3),

Eubank 6-(minus 4). Missouri, Lawrence 16-62, Berk-

stresser 18-25, Green-Beckham 4-19, Murphy 5-18,

Moe 1-6, Team 2-(minus 4).

PASSING—Arizona St., Kelly 14-23-2-178, Eubank

2-4-0-5. Missouri, Berkstresser 21-41-1-198, Barrow

1-1-0-(minus 6).

RECEIVING—Arizona St., Coyle 5-43, Miles 4-

25, Ozier 3-21, Grice 2-45, Foster 1-33, Ross 1-16.

Missouri, Moe 8-88, Lucas 4-35, McGaffie 4-25,

Washington 3-34, Lawrence 1-14, Green-Beckham

1-2, J.Franklin 1-(minus 6).

Tigers: Rare non-conference sellout

AP

Missouri quarterback Corbin Berkstresser throws during the third quarter of Saturday night’s game against Ari-zona State at Faurot Field.

about the interception. “I was eventually going to run out of bounds. But if I had a chance to score for the team, I was going to do it.”

Walker and the Missouri defense saved a game that was slowly slipping away.

Missouri led 24-7 entering the fourth quarter when the Sun Devils made a furious rally. To that point, Arizona State’s offense had been somewhat stagnant. But it ratcheted it up in the final quarter.

Following a bad snap on a punt, Arizona State took over at the Missouri 36-yard line. The Sun Devils scored on a 2-yard touchdown run by Marion Grice to make it 24-14 early in the fourth quarter.

After a Missouri three-and-out, Arizona State marched down the field in five plays and 59 yards, capped off with a 9-yard touchdown run by Grice.

A game the Tigers looked to have in their grasp was fading when Missouri kicker Andrew Baggett missed a 48-yard field goal with 7:01 left in the game. It was Baggett’s third missed field goal.

Pinkel did not say if there would be a kicking change this week. Baggett also missed two field goals against Georgia. There were several bad snaps on kicking, which did affect the kicks.

Baggett said after the game he doesn’t see the ball when it’s snapped and said he would never blame anyone else for his missed kicks.

“It throws everything off,” Baggett said. “We can’t specifi-cally blame the snaps. I mean, I still missed the kick. I’m mad

at myself. I’m not really mad at anyone. I’m mad at me.”

Pinkel didn’t just point to the missed field goals, but to mistakes in general. The Tigers were whistled for 10 penalties for 85 yards.

“If we want to be a good football team, we have to quit doing things in the kick-ing game, penalties, and have wasted scoring opportunities,” Pinkel said.

The missed field goal set up the Sun Devils for their next to last drive, which Missouri’s defense snuffed out.

“We had two chances to score right there and we should have scored on both series,” Graham said. “That’s our job as coaches to get those guys ready to play.”

The Tigers jumped out to a 17-0 lead behind a serviceable effort from Berkstresser, who finished the game 21-of-41 for 198 yards and an interception. He made few mistakes and did exactly what was needed of him to lead the Tigers to vic-tory.

Field position helped set up Missouri’s first three scor-ing drives. Berkstresser led Missouri on three touchdown drives, the longest being 33 yards, the other two were 18 yards each. He ran the ball 18 times for 25 yards.

Missouri’s defense tried its best to become the game’s story in the first half. The Sun Devils had a dismal first half on offense with just 93 total yards. It was a tough start for an Ari-zona State offense that was averaging more than 50 points a game after wins against Northern Arizona and Illinois. It would have been even worse

for the Arizona State if it hadn’t been for a 66-yard touchdown drive that cut Missouri’s lead to 17-7.

Missouri outgained Arizona State 318-296. Taylor threw for 178 yards, but had a pair of costly interceptions.

Pinkel seemed frustrated after the game, but was quick to point out the inexperience at quarterback and offensive line had a lot to do with the mistakes.

“The bottom line is we did the things necessary to win it at the end,” Pinkel said.

The Tigers hit the road Sat-urday for the first time this sea-son when they take on South Carolina (2:30 p.m. kick).

Notes: The game was sold out with an announced crowd of 71,004. The last Missouri non-conference sellout was in 1984 against Notre Dame. The Tigers finished with three sacks, led by 1.5 from Michael Sam. … Linebacker Zaviar Gooden did not play with a hamstring injury. Offensive lineman Jack Meiners did play after being questionable with a knee injury.

Continued from p. 1

Berkstresser posts win in starting debut

By Josh Mosley

For the News Tribune

COLUMBIA — Despite practicing with the starting offense for the last two days and being told there was a chance he’d start against the Arizona State Sun Devils, Mis-souri redshirt freshman quar-terback Corbin Berkstresser swore up and down he didn’t know if he’d be getting the start.

Even when the starting lineups were announced and junior quarterback James Franklin’s name and image came across the video board?

“Game-time decision,” Berkstresser said with a grin.

The last-minute possible wait didn’t affect Berkstresser too much it seems. The red-shirt guided the Tigers to a 24-7 third-quarter lead, a lead that stuck as Missouri upend-ed the Sun Devils 24-20 Satur-day night at Faurot Field.

Berkstresser finished his first collegiate start 21-of-41 for 198 yards and interception, while carrying the ball 18 times for 25 yards and a touchdown. He got the starting nod in place of Franklin, who is suffering from a irritation/inflamma-tion in his throwing shoulder, which he had surgery on that kept him out all spring.

“I thought he did a lot of great things,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “It was a tough environment and we watched what we did with him.”

Word leaked Friday after-noon Franklin might not be available this week, but the staff kept the news under wraps until the second Berk-stresser stepped on the field for the first snap. Pinkel said Franklin could have played for a few snaps if he was needed and that, if Berkstresser were to go down, true freshman quarterback Maty Mauk would be there in relief.

Berkstresser worked with the starting offense for most of the spring football season while Franklin recovered from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.

“We harp here that you

should play like you’re going to start,” Berkstresser said. “It wasn’t really different prepara-tion-wise as it was thinking-wise.”

Berkstresser’s first offensive drive began at his own 42 and was aided by a 15-yard per-sonal foul on the Sun Devils on a third-and-10.

The drive ended on a 42-yard field goal from freshman kicker Andrew Baggett.

“It calmed me down a little bit getting points there,” Berk-stresser said. “I would have liked to get six, but we had to leave it to our kicker and I had faith there.”

His 6-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, as it turns out, was run the wrong way, giving Berkstresser extra incentive to get the ball in to cover up his goof.

“I actually called the play to the opposite way so I knew I had to fix it and I fixed it,” he said.

The Tigers play-calling didn’t change much with Berk-stresser controlling the offense. Berkstresser’s 18 carries were just two less that Franklin’s 20 totes in last week’s 41-20 loss to No. 7 Georgia.

Franklin, relegated to the sidelines, made sure he was there to help Berkstresser whenever he came to the side-line, either with praise or criti-cism.

“It was kind of a race to see who could get to the other first,” Berkstresser said of his post-possession chats with Franklin. “It was either ‘You’re doing a good job with this’ or ‘You need to watch out for that.’”

Throwing the ball, Berk-stresser saw pressure from the Sun Devil front, but his ability to handle it impressed Arizona State coach Todd Graham.

“He seemed really com-fortable especially with all the pressure we put on,” Graham said.

The quarterback situation hasn’t been decided for the Tigers’ trip next week to South Carolina. And Berkstresser won’t wonder too much about it.

“I know as much as you guys do,” he said.

After all, he had no idea this week and that turned out pretty well.

Getting his shot

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luis Cruz came up with his second clutch hit in two nights, a tying two-out RBI double in the ninth inning, and pinch-hit-ter Juan Rivera followed with a run-scoring single Saturday night to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jason Motte (4-5) came in trying to protect a 3-2 lead for Jaime Garcia and retired his first two batters.

But Andre Ethier kept the Dodgers alive with a single and pinch-runner Dee Gordon stole second before Cruz drove him in with a drive that center fielder Jon Jay barely missed on a diving attempt in front of the warning track.

Rivera then lined a single off the tip of second base-man Daniel Descalso’s glove, enabling pinch-runner Elian Herrera to score the winner.

The Dodgers’ third victory in 10 games tied them with the Cardinals for the second wild card spot with 16 remain-ing for both clubs. After this series concludes today, the

Cards will play their next nine games against the Astros and Cubs — who are a combined 83 games under .500 and 691⁄2 games out of first place in the NL Central.

Cardinals fall in ninth

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Ernesto Frieri needed just four pitches to ruin a spectacular start by Zack Greinke, giving up two home runs in the ninth inning as the Kansas City Roy-als rallied to hand the Los Angeles Angels a stunning 3-2 loss Saturday night.

Frieri (3-1) replaced Gre-inke with one out in the ninth after Alex Gordon singled. Billy Butler homered to cen-ter on Frieri’s first pitch to tie the score. Three pitches later, Salvador Perez homered off the left-field pole for his first career walkoff homer.

Royals rally

GIRL’S BASKETBALLLil’ Dribbler is for girls in kindergarten-2nd grade. Kids will play 3 vs. 3 half court with coaches helping ����������� �Registration: through September 30 Fee: $30 Y-member; $40 Non-member

YBA is for girls in 3rd-5th grades. Kids will play 5 vs. 5 full court.Registration: through September 30 Fee: $30 Y-member; $40 Non-member

������������ ����������� ���� is for teams who wish to play against other select teams. Teams are for girls in 3rd-8th grades. Leagues will be formed by grade.Registration: through September 30 Fee: $230/team

BOY’S INDOOR SOCCER����������������� is for boys in Pre-K-4th grade with games being played on the indoor tennis courts at the Firley YMCA. Registration: through September 30 Fee: $30 Y-member; $40 Non-member

JEFFERSON CITY AREA YMCAwww.jcymca.orgFirley Center – 525 Ellis – 761-9530Knowles Center – 424 Stadium – 761-9531West Center – 3507 Amazonas – 761-9532

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