I arrived in Houston today and attended both the Missouri and Navy practices. Missouri is practicing at the Methodist Athletic Center, located across from Reliant Stadium. That is the Houston Texans practice facility and the Tigers put in a solid two-hour workout on the artificial surface inside the giant bubble.

   I was there for more than an hour and stood next to several Missouri players, including starting defensive tackle Dominique Hamilton (6-foot-5, 290 pounds) and starting defensive end Aldon Smith (6-5, 255). Hamilton and nose guard Jaron Baston (6-1, 305) are both monsters while the freshman All-American Smith has NFL written all over him.

  While I was down on the offensive side of the field, a wide receiver came over to the sidelines and started giving high fives to several Missouri boosters who were watching. It was none other than standout senior and second team All-American Danario Alexander and I was taken aback when the nation's leading receiver attempted to slap five with me. I guess he presumed I was also a Missouri fan and was probably surprised when I showed no interest in exchanging greetings.

   I interviewed Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel for a feature story that is slated to appear in the Tuesday edition of The Capital. Pinkel seems like a first-class person with a good value system and strong understanding of what it takes to run a top-notch program. His father served in the Navy during World War II so Pinkel can't be too bad.

   I then headed down to Rice University to watch Navy practice. It is quite a startling contrast to go directly from a Big 12 Conference school practice to a Navy practice. Those of us who cover the Midshipmen on a regular basis are reminded just how significant a size difference there is with BCS schools when you see the players together on the field or on separate practice fields within a half hour's time.  

  Navy did not practice llong (a little over an hour), but it was a high-intensity workout that moved crisply. Head coach Ken Niumatalolo was sort of forced to cut things short since Navy and Missouri were due to attend the "Rodeo Bowl" at the George Ranch Historical Park. I had to work and could not get out to see the teams go head-to-head in rodeo-inspired activities, but I did ask defensive coordinator Buddy Green if he would be riding a bull. Green said he had no intention of attempting such a thing and didn't want to see any of his starting defenders doing so either.  

   I'll post some quotes from both press conferences in a little bit.