My # 1 favorite movie is Rudy. I first saw Rudy when I was about 10 years old when a former teammate let me borrow it. I was immediately inspired by Rudy's work ethic and persistence. That movie taught me at a very young age that if you put your mind to something and work as hard as you can, you can accomplish anything you want.

2. Miracle. What I like about Miracle is first, how the team bonds through intense workouts and in their time off the ice and second, how the athletes had to learn to trust their coach and his methods and coaching techniques in order to become Olympic Gold Medalists. My favorite quote from Miracle is "The name on the front (of the jersey) is a heck of a lot more important than the name on the back." It just proves that you must always put your team before yourself.

University of Missouri senior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (Jasper, Texas) has been named one of five finalists for the Butkus Award, which goes annually to the nation’s top collegiate linebacker, as announced today by the Butkus Foundation.

Weatherspoon enters this Saturday’s home finale against Iowa State with a team-best 93 tackles, including 12.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 quarterback sacks. His 9.3 tackles-per game average is currently 2nd-best in the Big 12 Conference, and 30th-best in the NCAA, while he also ranks 29th in the nation with his 1.25 tackles for loss average.

The Mizzou volleyball team was recognized for its work in the classroom as six members of the team were honored as Academic All-Big 12 selections, announced by the Big 12 Office on Tuesday (Nov. 17). Five student-athletes from the Mizzou volleyball team were selected to the first team while one landed on the second team. The five first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections are the most for the Tigers since the 2005 season when they also had five members selected to the first-team.

The five first-team honorees are Priscilla Armendariz (Blue Springs, Mo.), Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa), Annie Lopez (St. Louis, Mo.), Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) and Lei Wang-Francisco (Shanghai, China). Wang-Francisco becomes a four-time honoree as she has earned first-team laurels in each season since 2006 as she is in her fifth year with the program. Wang and Klein are also repeating performers as both landed on the first team in 2008 as well. Armendariz and Lopez were both named to the first team for the first time in their careers. Lopez led all Tigers this season with a 3.81 grade-point-average as an undeclared arts and science major.

Junior Catie Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) was named to the second team as she just missed the 3.20 GPA cut-off with a 3.19 cumulative mark in health science. The second-team award is the first of Wilson's career.

Check out the new ad from the Children's Hospital featuring Mizzou basketball player Keith Ramsey.

Early on in the semester Eddie Eckles, who is a third grade teacher at Lee Britain Elementary in Irving, Texas contacted Mizzou about the possibility of hosting his elementary school. Eddie wanted to facilitate an environment for his students built on a commitment to creating a community of learning without limits so that all Britain Students, without exception or excuse, will be exemplary in language arts, math and science. In trying to achieve his goal, each classroom has adopted a university that will promote or sponsor a classroom. The reason Lee Britain Elementary school started this program is to help their students believe that a college education is something they can all achieve! Luckily, Eddie chose the University of Missouri to represent his classroom because of the many opportunities that Mizzou offers.

Below are pictures from Lee Britain Elementary School.

Six new inductees for the MU Athletics Hall of Fame were selected on Thursday to represent the 20th induction class since the Hall's inception in 1990.

Click below to check out a wonderful article from the Missourian.

My name is Jordan Hawley and I am a member of the Men's Swimming and Diving program here at Mizzou. My hometown is Dallas, Texas but I have lived all over the country from Tampa Bay, to San Fransisco, to smack dab in the middle of the two, good ole’ St. Louis, Missouri. During my recruiting process my senior year of high school I looked at many schools but could not find a school that rivaled everything that Mizzou had to offer. With state of the art facilities, premier professors, and an amazing coaches and support staff its hard to want to go anywhere else.

I am also in my third month as the acting SAAC president. Crazy acronym I know but it stands for the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. So the next question may be “what is SAAC and what do they do?” The SAAC group is comprised of two student athletes from each NCAA team here at the University, along with some at large members. We work very closely with the athletic department and the University to act as a liaison between the 502 student athletes at Mizzou and those who work within the athletic department and the on campus faculty. Through our communications between these groups it is our goal to promote a better place for the student athletes. This includes improving our student athlete study hall, dining hall, weight room and other facilities. We also have an integral part in current and future policies within the athletic department. Also it should be noted that when concerns are expressed within the athletic department or on campus those concerns are communicated to SAAC. In turn the SAAC representatives will communicate to their teams the action steps that need to be taken in order to remediate the problem occurring.

SAAC is very involved in promoting community service opportunities to student athletes. Columbia shows us great support throughout all of our seasons and it seems only fitting to try to show our gratitude. Projects such as each team adopting a local family to help over the holiday season, to working the phones at the children's hospital radiothon, to even hosting a lemonade stand to help support big brother big sisters are all ways that we are trying to give back.

SAAC comprises of many who are leaders on their team and throughout the community. As a result we feel as leaders it is our responsibility to act with respect and integrity in all situations. To help encompass what it means to be socially responsible the phrase “We Are Mizzou” was coined. “We Are Mizzou” m eans holding yourself and your teammates to a higher standard. It means being a leader in the classroom and on the field. It means being the best we can be and not compromising one bit. “We Are Mizzou” plays a major role in the entire athletic department and at SAAC we are leading by the “We Are Mizzou” standards.

SAAC in a nutshell are leaders committed to constantly changing and adapting for the better. I look forward to keeping you updated as to what is going on in SAAC and the athletic department and thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day for reading this post.

Have a great day!!

Check out Pictures from last Saturday as the C.A.R.E group visited the Central Missouri Food Bank.

Last Wednesday Tami Chievous of Total Person Program hosted MU faculty/staff by touring the honorary coaches around the Missouri Athletic Training Complex and Mizzou Arena. The day started with lunch in the dining hall and continued with a tour of the MATC that included the men's basketball staff and concluded with the honorary coaches watching the men's basketball team practice in Mizzou Arena.

MU Women's Golf scholar-athlete Madison Marcolla was recognized by the Big 12 as the 2009 Fall Chick-Fil-A Community of Champions award recipient. The award is based on academic success, community involvement, and leadership/sportsmanship. Madison is an outstanding student-athlete who is on schedule to graduate with honors from the Journalism school.

Two University of Missouri standout football student-athletes were rewarded today for their efforts in the classroom, as each was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team for CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) District 7.

Senior offensive lineman Kurtis Gregory and sophomore placekicker Grant Ressel were cited for their outstanding academic achievements, with Gregory landing a spot on the All-District 1^st-Team, while Ressel made the All-District 2^nd-Team. Based on attaining All-District 1^st-Team status, Gregory now has a chance at winning Academic All-America honors. Voting for national honors begins next week, with winners to be announced Nov. 24^th, after voters consider all-district members in eight districts across the nation.

Click the Picture below to view a great article on MU Men's Basketball player Laurence Bowers' impact on and off the court.

10 members of the University of Missouri women's soccer team were given Big 12 All-Academic team honors, the conference announced on Tuesday. Among those 10, seven were named to the conference's All-Academic first team.

Seniors Bree Thornton (Lake View Terrace, Calif.), Crystal Wagner (Houston, Texas), and Meghan Pfeiffer (Chesterfield, Mo.), junior Alysha Bonnick (North Gower, Ontario) and sophomores Kelsey Blincow (Lewisville, Texas), Kendra Collins (Naperville, Ill.), and Jessie Crabtree (Marion, Ill.) each earned Academic All-Big 12 first team honors. Senior Michelle Collins (Naperville, Ill.), and sophomores Brittany Hopkins (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Mallory Stipetich (Liberty, Mo.) were named to the second team.

Thornton was one of 11 players in the conference nominated with a 4.00 grade point average, as she earned first team honors for the second consecutive year. Wagner and Pfeiffer are making their first appearance on the conference's All-Academic first team after being nominated to the second team the past two seasons. Michelle Collins is making her second consecutive appearance on the conference's second team.

Below are pictures from the Win a Date with a Player auction Mizzou Volleyball held for VolleyZou. Please be on the lookout for the next auction on November 7th. Students can enter at the match vs. Texas on November 7th and a winner will be chosen at the match.

The GOBCC will be hosting Black Culture Awareness Week November 8-13, 2009. This week will provide several opportunities for the student-athletes to socially get involved with more campus activities and interact with other students. It would be nice if some of the student-athletes could make it out to some of the events especially Black Friday. Some events to highlight include:

Nov 8th
"Soul Food Dinner" 4-6pm
A FREE dinner for everyone to kick off the week. Your taste buds and stomachs will not be disappointed.

Nov 9th
"Play the Part" 630-9pm
Students will have the opportunity to play the part of some of their favorite musical artists. Participants are required to get into character as they dress and perform a favorite song. Prizes to the top three include $100, $50 and $25 gift cards to Columbia Mall. The deadline for entering this event is Thursday November 5th, 2009. For more specific information visit the event page: Play The Part

Nov 12th
"Negative Depictions of African Americans in U.S. History" 7-9pm
A historical presentation of "Black Face" images and depictions of African Americans from across the globe. The discussion will focus on how this impacts race relations globally. An example image.

Nov 13th
"Black Friday"
This will be fun social event featuring spoken word, music and great food. Students interested in performing spoken word should contact Marcus @ mbmwv5@mail.missouri.edu.


For more information visit Black Culture Awareness Week and Become a Fan of the GOBCC

Thanks,

Marcus Mayes

In this episode of Mizzou Moments, Madison discovers the key to success from all 7 Mizzou Soccer seniors.

Watch as Mizzou star volleyball player Caitlyn Vann takes you through a day in the life.

The MU Men's Basketball Team has been voted the "Community Service Team of the Month" for its outstanding efforts to volunteering in the Columbia area. They lead a clinic for youth basketball players at Douglas Park, hosted a boys and girls club clinic before the Black and Gold game and are set to host a clinic for the Special Olympics on November 14th.

Way to go Men's Basketball team!

Eleven members of the 2009 Mizzou cross country program have earned a spot on the Big 12 Academic All-Big 12 teams, as announced by the league office on Wednesday (Oct. 28). Men's runner Kevin McKee (Kansas City, Mo.) was one of seven student-athletes on both the men's and women's sides to earn a perfect 4.00 grade-point-average. All six of the men's selections landed on the first team while three of the five women selected were represented on the first team - the other two were second-team honorees.

Joining McKee on the men's team is Ben Brammeier (Ballwin, Mo), Phillip King (Columbia, Mo.), Michael Pandolfo (Lone Tree, Colo.), Dan Quigley (St. Louis, Mo.) and Ben Wade (St. Charles, Mo.). With the honor, Wade becomes a three-time first-team honoree during his stint at Mizzou while King and Quigley are both repeat first-team selections. Pandolfo and Brammeier earn their first career Big 12 academic honors.

The women's first-team selections are Aimee Bonte (Fenton, Mo.), Kinsey Farren (Dallas, Texas) and Ellen Ries (Ryan, Iowa). Both Emily Baker (Wildwood, Mo.) and Laura Roxberg (Overland Park, Kan.) were selected to the second team. With the first-team distinction in 2009, both Farren and Ries earn their second career first-team honors while Baker earns second second-team honor. Bonte and Roxberg are both first-time selections.

Go Tigers!