C
Chris Gillespie
Guest
Sitting in DFW Airport with fellow Group 6-er @Collyn Taylor and thought I'd add my $0.02.
The city of Columbia, MO took some getting accustomed to, but after having a moment to walk around, it has a good college vibe. Coming into the regional airport there, I was humored to be landing in the middle of a field. Got a good chuckle out of that. The campus area of town, though, is really nice, with a lot more history than I realized.
The atmosphere was a little like Vandy, but bigger. Nice press box, but the photo "room" was amazingly inadequate. However, they did provide us an overflow area which ended up working out pretty well considering. For those that have never experienced games as a photographer, you'd be amazed at how overlooked an item this is in most stadiums (I'm looking at you, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium). I was very disappointed that Mizzou pumps in crowd noise. In the northwest end zone, there were stacks of speakers connected to mics around the stadium. The stadium is not really built for acoustics, but still disappointing. On a side note, this was the restroom closest to the photo "room". Good for the "close" people in your life.
Going into the game, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Usually I have a feeling how the game's going to go, but this time I had none...that is, until the team came out of the tunnel to take the field. Dante Sawyer, Ulric Jones, Chris Lammons, Skai Moore, BAW, and more made it known that they heard the guarantees and predictions made by Missouri players. There was no lack of confidence, and the guy in the middle of those guys?...none other than Will Muschamp. This guy knows how to get his players motivated.
Without sounding like a broken record, the two guys who are on a different level are Deebo Samuel and Hayden Hurst. Hurst easily could have scored on two other plays. Deebo didn't even look like he was trying on the end around for the score. These guys knew they had Mizzou's number. When Hurst took the handoff, he was going to score, and nobody was going to stop him. I really felt for Mizzou's Terez Hall who had visions of stopping Hurst at the goal line. When Hurst put his shoulder down, I heard Hall's soul leave his body with an audible gasp...and Hall is 6'2, 230lbs.
Two players I enjoyed watching from a growth standpoint were Javon Kinlaw and Ty'Son Williams. Both of these guys proved why there is hype surrounding them. Kinlaw is more athletic than I originally thought, and Ty'Son Williams runs with a purpose. Both of those guys stand to make major contributions in their careers.
My gameball goes to Jeff Dillman. The difference in the conditioning and durability in the players is, without a doubt, the biggest team improvement. Hopefully he'll stick around a while.
The city of Columbia, MO took some getting accustomed to, but after having a moment to walk around, it has a good college vibe. Coming into the regional airport there, I was humored to be landing in the middle of a field. Got a good chuckle out of that. The campus area of town, though, is really nice, with a lot more history than I realized.
The atmosphere was a little like Vandy, but bigger. Nice press box, but the photo "room" was amazingly inadequate. However, they did provide us an overflow area which ended up working out pretty well considering. For those that have never experienced games as a photographer, you'd be amazed at how overlooked an item this is in most stadiums (I'm looking at you, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium). I was very disappointed that Mizzou pumps in crowd noise. In the northwest end zone, there were stacks of speakers connected to mics around the stadium. The stadium is not really built for acoustics, but still disappointing. On a side note, this was the restroom closest to the photo "room". Good for the "close" people in your life.
Going into the game, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Usually I have a feeling how the game's going to go, but this time I had none...that is, until the team came out of the tunnel to take the field. Dante Sawyer, Ulric Jones, Chris Lammons, Skai Moore, BAW, and more made it known that they heard the guarantees and predictions made by Missouri players. There was no lack of confidence, and the guy in the middle of those guys?...none other than Will Muschamp. This guy knows how to get his players motivated.
Without sounding like a broken record, the two guys who are on a different level are Deebo Samuel and Hayden Hurst. Hurst easily could have scored on two other plays. Deebo didn't even look like he was trying on the end around for the score. These guys knew they had Mizzou's number. When Hurst took the handoff, he was going to score, and nobody was going to stop him. I really felt for Mizzou's Terez Hall who had visions of stopping Hurst at the goal line. When Hurst put his shoulder down, I heard Hall's soul leave his body with an audible gasp...and Hall is 6'2, 230lbs.
Two players I enjoyed watching from a growth standpoint were Javon Kinlaw and Ty'Son Williams. Both of these guys proved why there is hype surrounding them. Kinlaw is more athletic than I originally thought, and Ty'Son Williams runs with a purpose. Both of those guys stand to make major contributions in their careers.
My gameball goes to Jeff Dillman. The difference in the conditioning and durability in the players is, without a doubt, the biggest team improvement. Hopefully he'll stick around a while.
