Does “CLOSE” count? I’m not talking about your younger days in the front seat with your honey…I mean in the sports world?  Take a look @ when it COUNTS and when it DOESN’T!

…Mizzou, striving to get national recognition, came CLOSE but fell short in another CLOSE GAME. The 17-10 loss to #10 ranked Vanderbilt was a tough one in several ways. In the 3^rd quarter, CLOSE to the goal line, Mizzou tried using a QB keeper after faking a pitch outside, he headed up the middle.

On that play, QB Bo Pribula suffered a serious ankle injury. The medical staff had to pop his ankle back in place (man, it makes me grimace just thinking of it). He’s out for the year now. It DOESN’T look good for Mizzou. Several SEC games ,that really COUNT for a lot, are on the horizon.  

…Late in the game, Vandy scored a TD with less than 2 minutes to grab a 17-10 lead. This CLOSE game wasn’t over. With no timeouts and facing the final seconds of the game, Mizzou’s freshman backup quarterback Matt Zollers threw a 36-yard Hail Mary pass. The pass was caught by wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., but he was tackled less than a yard short of the end zone. Time expired, before another play could be run, sealing the 17–10 loss for the Tigers.

… In addition to the 2 losses, the early Mizzou meaningless wins against a weak 3-some of Cen. Arkansas (D-2), Louisiana & U Mass coupled with the narrow OT win over Auburn as well as a 4^th quarter come-from-behind win vs S. Carolina probably doesn’t do much to strengthen the Tigers’ hopes of reaching the NCAA 12-team playoffs. With the loss, MU has dropped to being tied for 8^th in the SEC standings currently.

…But, Mizzou isn’t the only NCAA team that is disappointed now. In the pre-season polls, Missouri wasn’t picked to be in the TOP 10 or 15 by most polls. But, some teams who were chosen in the 20, have fallen badly and no longer are in the Top 20..For example, No longer in the Top 20 is Penn State (who some had @ #2), Clemson (rated as high as #4 in pre-season) is gone, Arizona St (chosen For #11 slot) can’t be found in top 20, Illinois 5-3 record has the them out of the top 20.

…On the other side of the ledger, the SURPRISE good teams have arrived on the scene also. For example, expectations were nowhere CLOSE to the outstanding play of Indiana football (8-0 & 5-0 in conference) this season. The Hoosiers obliterated UCLA 56-6 last Saturday.  Indiana is now ranked #2 in NCAA Football polls. It was 49-6 after 3 quarters so the Hoosiers could have made it worse but apparently emptied the bench!  Indiana is now 4-0 in conference.  

…One NCAA game that seemed CLOSE to having NO defense in the game was the Texas-Mississippi State game. There was 872 total offensive yards in the exciting game. While Texas is not even CLOSE to living up to their pre-season hype where several polls had them ranked @ #1 ranking, they are still a good team. Now @ #22 the Longhorns scored 24 points in the 4^th quarter to come-from-behind to beat Mississippi State 45-38 in Overtime!! Texas’ Ryan Niblett returned a punt 79 yards to tie the game with 1:47 to play in regulation as Texas erased a 31-14 deficit after 3 quarters. The Longhorns (6-2, 3-1– Southeastern Conference) still trailed 38-21 with 12:29 remaining in regulation.

…This game really belonged to Mississippi State for most of the game. The Bulldogs (4-4, 0-4) were led by quarterback Blake Shapen, who had a career game, as he threw for 26 of 42 for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Bulldogs piled up 445 yards of total offense. If the Bulldogs can hold that .500 or higher mark, they’ll be an attractive bowl team with their powerful offense that piles up points.

…Ironically, Texas QB Arch Manning left the game after 1 play in the overtime, after diving for extra yards and absorbing huge hits from two Mississippi State defenders at the end of a 13-yard scramble. As he was brought down, Manning’s head appeared to bounce off the turf. Backup QB Matthew Caldwell came in and threw a 10-yard touchdown to Emmett Mosley V to finish the Longhorns’ stunning comeback, in which they rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. Texas kept the momentum and Manning on the bench, as they rallied over Mississippi State 45-38

…The dominance of the top 2 conferences (SEC & Big 18) is evident in the weekly football polls and it’s not even CLOSE and IT DOES MATTER in this case! This week, 8 of the top 10 teams were from those 2 conferences!

…St Louis sports fans continue to keep the St Louis U Mens Soccer Team CLOSE to their hearts as they follow their success. Again this year, SLU clinched a share of the A-10 Soccer Championship. They’re 8-2-4 overall record along with their 5-0-1 conference record which provided plenty of CLOSE SCORES as four of the Billikens wins were by 1 goal in 2025.

…In the World Series, yes, we’re in the last week of October and we’re still having MLB games! The Dodgers won last night in an unbelievable 18 inning 6-5 game. Freddie Freeman’s walk-off home run ended this terrific game. Shohei Ohtani continued his unbelievable series as he reached base 9 times (that’s not a typo)! Of course, he was walked each of his last 5 at-bats.

…. Some observations—the Dodgers have been “saved” by starting pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. His Game 2 might have saved the Dodgers’ championship hopes. He was utterly dominant again, becoming the first pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2001 to toss consecutive complete games in the postseason.  There hadn’t been even 1 complete game in the postseason since Justin Verlander threw one in the 2017 ALCS, much less a superior outing like this one. The Dodgers must avoid overexposing their bullpen, since it isn’t a strong point for them. Yamamoto ensured that happened in Game 2.

…the Dodgers batting leaders have not even been CLOSE to their usual batting marks that were expected (I’m being kind). After 3 games, the Dodgers hold a .219 team batting average, have struck out 33 times with a woeful on-base-% of .324.  Some key players are also suffering at the plate. Mookie Betts holds a.133 average; Freddie Freeman .221, Max Muncy .143.

….Ohtani’s  has 3 home runs In the Series, and he’s a  red-hot 6 for 12 in his total at-bats. Meanwhile Mookie Betts is 2 for 15, a paltry .133 mark. Last year, Freeman entered the World Series with one RBI — and then drove in 12 against New York. This year, Freeman entered the World Series with one RBI in the post-season – but he seems to be warming up with his walk off home run in Game 3.   

…The Cardinals were blessed by having Stan Musial excel for such a long period of time. No Cardinal, in my opinion, has come CLOSE to Stan in batting performance over a long period of time.  Stan’s year-by-year batting numbers show a consistent career of 22 years with a long peak performance time from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s, including a .426 batting average in 1941 and a .357 average in 1943, which were the first of his seven batting titles. His performance remained strong for years, with his average dipping below .300 for the first time in 1959 (when he was 39 years old!!!), but he still had strong season down the road with his .330 average in 1962. He retired after the 1963 season with his lowest batting average of HIS career–.255. But, he finished his career with a batting average of an incredible .331.

…To give you an idea how good that is…this year, 2025, Trea Turner won the NL batting title with a .304 average. It must be noted, that that .304 mark is the lowest EVER for an NL batting champion! Not too many years ago, that .304 mark wouldn’t have been anywhere CLOSE to the Batting Title, probably not even in the Top 10!!

…Well, I’m CLOSE to the end now. If you enjoy it, please pass the words to family & friends. I’m past 10 years of the REWIND (the new name) now. We still want to keep growing!