Special post: Mizzou vs Kansas.

Despite a pretty ugly and deflating Mizzou loss to Kansas (final score was 77-56), today was a pretty exciting day.  The atmosphere was terrific at Mizzou Arena and the first few minutes of the game, where Mizzou built a seven point lead over the hated rival Jayhawks, were full of energy.  This was my first time actually attending a Mizzou basketball game, and I look forward to many more.

Even standing in line was fun. About an hour before they opened the doors, for whatever reason, every went stampeding to the doors, creating a big glob of fans gathered in front of the entrance.  You would think people were rushing there because the doors were finally opening, but as far as I know, it was completely pointless.  The highlight of the waiting in "line" period (it was nothing like a line at this point) was when people started throwing doughnuts into the crowd, and there were tons of them.  Where they came from, I have no idea.  There were also Twislers and other treats being tosses around.  It was probably the most fun I have ever had waiting in line.

All in all, it was a memorable day.  Obviously, it was hard to watch Mizzou take the beating that they did.  The end of the first half was probably the most miserable part of the game.  Kansas had a 16-0 run going into halftime.  Everything was going in for KU and nothing was going in for the Tigers.  It was brutal to watch.  Nonetheless, college sporting events are always a blast.

Moving on, though... 

I guess I should talk about the Cardinals now.  After all, this is a Cardinals blog.  Of course, being Spring Training, there isn't much to say.  Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost again today, 6-5 in ten innings to the Florida Marlins.  That first win of Spring has been pretty elusive thus far.  Of course, I could care less about the wins and losses at this point of the spring.  Like I always say, win or lose, there's always something positive to take away from a Spring Training game, and there appeared to be something very positive to take away from this afternoon's game.

Closer Ryan Franklin saw his first bit of action today, and had a very encouraging two innings where he only gave up one hit and recorded a strike out.  Obviously, Franklin is a huge concern for the Cardinals, specifically from the perspectives of Redbird Nation after watching his 2009 season end in a downward spiral leading up to that disasterous loss to the Dodgers in Game 2 of the Division Series.  The closer position is Franklin's to lose, and if he can consistantly perform at least close to par with what we saw for most of last season, it will be very difficult to find any glaring weaknesses on this Cardinals team.  Remember, this is a guy who pitched in the All Star Game last season and retired Derek Jeter, Joe Mauer and Mark Teixeira all in a row.  People say that Franklin was a fluke, but I'm not going to accept that.  Not yet.

Anywho, here's the boxscore from today's game.  Colby Rasmus had a good game, going 2 for 2 with a home run.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Kyle McClellen and Rich Hill can do tomorrow, as they're both scheduled to pitch.  And let's come away with a WIN this time!

Peace.

Boxscore courtesy of MLB.com.