Is it game time yet?

OK, OK, the blog has been quiet of late. This is what you can get at a university that specializes in basketball. Specialization rules.

While things are relatively calm right now, the intensity and anticipation are building as MU prepares for not-so-midnight madness in just a few weeks. The open gym last weekend at The Al served its purpose -- fans are excited about a team that enters a great new league, with a roster laden with more talented newcomers than MU has seen in years. Newcomers Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, Jamil Lott and Dan Fitzgerald all figure to command big minutes in the MU rotation. And Matt Mortensen and Dwight Burke might just surprise us all (the message boards raved about Burke's play at the open gym).

We're just a few weeks away from what will be one of the more intriguing seasons in recent memory. MU is coming off of two lackluster seasons, and the fandom is hoping to see the trajectory of the program re-established as indisputably onward and upward. To do that, the newbies will have to quickly deliver for MU -- and hopefully bring a quicker, more aggressive style of play than MU has been able to demonstrate in recent years.

The clock is ticking and practice begins soon......I for one can't wait.

UPDATE
Sportsline's Gregg Doyel takes a look at MU in his most recent column - - check it out.