I've seen some shit - Early in the KU game, we were joking at my house that our 4 score lead was a ruse, and that in reality we were losing and that Mark Johnson was just making shit up to lift the fanbase's spirits. If only it really was all some elaborate prank. Instead Buff Nation is smacked with the 2nd largest 4th quarter collapse in history. It's the 2-ton weight that broke the camel's back. There is nothing lower than this; we have reached the bottom of the bottom-less pit. Over the past 8 years I've seen some truly depressing CU performances: Washington St. in '03, Oklahoma in the Big XII championship in '04, Texas and 70-3 in '05, Montana St. in '06, and Missouri in '09 spring the easiest to mind. This loss, however, takes the cake. It is, by far mind you, the worst loss I've ever seen (heard) us take.
The loss broke my puppy picture finding skills - Kansas is so bad that they allowed a far below-average CU team to build a 35-10 lead at halftime. CU even lead by 28 points with just over 11 minutes left. You would think, with the recent road struggles and the season needing this win to retain it's pulse, that the game plan for the 4th quarter would've been conservative. Had they just sat on the ball, simple running plays and easy screen passes, CU would surely win, and the season could still have been salvaged. Instead, the team begins running trick plays and throwing multiple passes into a strong wind. No great comeback can occur without the other teams obliging actions, and this one was no different. Hell, had we just kneeled the damn ball for the entire quarter it probably would've ended in a Buffaloes victory.
(Speedy's awesome day was wasted because we wouldn't give him the ball in the 4th quarter: from KUSports.com)
This is a coaching loss - Hawk didn't even try to defend his actions. 10 seconds into a contractually obligated post-game interview with 850 KOA, Hawk cut the interview short rather than answer questions as to why he didn't just run the damn ball. There are 5 year-olds playing Madden who know how to sit on a lead, and Hawk won't even try to defend the game plan. Why? Because he knows there is no defense. This team needed that win, real bad, and Hawk did nothing to stop the oncoming collapse.
Hawk, and his coaching staff, let the team down. Sitting with a comfortable lead, they made no adjustments, and instead allowed a reeling Kansas to get back on their feet. It was instead the beleaguered first-year Kansas coaching staff who was making adjustments and fighting to the last whistle. They never gave up on the game, and it showed. The CU coaching staff just lay there like a beached whale, waiting for the coast guard to come by and push them back into the water. No one over there cares anymore; they're just going through the motions. It's fucking disgusting. The kids had their effort (Speedy and Paul Richardson had stellar performances) thrown away all because the CU coaching staff is acting like a bunch of seniors on skip day. If they don't want to coach anymore, then Mike Bohn should oblige them and send them all packing. (I don't really want the entire staff fired tomorrow, I just want them to realize that you can't just mark time and get this shit done. Regardless of what's happening in the near future, you still have to fucking work do your job!)
(Hawk and the coaching staff let this happen. From: KUSports.com)
Audio/Visual presentation - I came to class today prepared with an audio/visual aide! The following is my hastily thrown together tribute to the oncoming end of the Dan Hawkins era.
Listen, I don't really hate the man, or want to do him physical harm, but it's a visceral reaction to the depressing shit foisted upon Buff Nation each week. I'm sure over the course of his tenure with CU that DH has only done what he thinks is best, but it simply hasn't worked, and he needs to go. Honestly, the sooner the better.
What now - Alright, time to take a deep breath. We've known for weeks that CU is done with Hawk. They've even been silently fleshing out coaching candidates. Hawk will be fired by the end of the season; and even a victory Saturday wouldn't have changed that fact. The question is, and should be, does he get to coach the remaining 19 days. Mike Bohn has always been of the mind that you don't fire coaches in the middle of the year. He has his reasons, and some of them I even agree with.
In the wake of the KU debacle, the flames on Hawks hot seat were turned up to 5,000 degrees, and most everyone has demanded DH's head on a platter. Surprisingly enough, I don't think now is the time to fire him. However much firing Hawk this moment would make me feel better, there are only 19 days left. There is near nothing left to salvage this season, and firing him would not improve recruiting or team performance in any meaningful way. The only way to change things would be to get a full new coaching staff in here, and that can't happen until after the season ends on Nov 26th. 19 days.... it's not that long of a time, when you think about it. Having Cabral coach the final 3 games would make everyone feel better, but would it actually make a difference? I don't think it'll put butts in the seats, and I don't think it'll translate into victories, either. Vengeance can't be the only reason to make a decision, and I'm starting to come around to the idea of letting him stay; if you keep him after Cal, and Mizzou, and Baylor/Tech, and OU.... does firing him now to speed the clock up by 19 days make any difference?
Prudence and patience should be the order of the day; we shouldn't act like some unruly mob going after Frankenstein. The man deserves to be fired, and he will be... in 19 days. At this point all the damage has been done to CU and the only shit left to burn in Hawk's reputation and future employment opportunities. He's going off the rails; cutting off interviews early, showing poor class and effort in how he closes out his tenure. Really the only person he's hurting right now is himself. Who would hire a man who gives up and coasts through tough scenarios?
Why do they keep putting the Cowboys on National TV - In non-CU-Suckitude news... the Cowboys were in the national spotlight again last night. The only team in America who needs a new coach more than the Colorado Buffaloes is the Dallas Cowboys. They're fucking awful, yet the NFL keeps shoving them down our throats. I've never bought into the whole "America's Team" bullshit, but this is getting pathetic. The Cowboys were never going to be good this year, yet 5 of their 16 games will be on "national" TV (i.e. Sunday night, Thursday night, or Monday night). Now, they're abysmal and America has to suffer through games like last night. I couldn't even keep that game on in the background.
Basketball starts Friday - Basketball starts Friday (everyone in the Boulder-metro area should attend), and I couldn't be happier. Besides the fact that it gets my attention away from the pathetic football team, it's also my favorite winter past-time. I really wanted to go to the tip-off event this past weekend, but I was still too shocked by the KU loss to leave the house. I'll have the first part of my massive preview probably up tomorrow, and I'm simply bubbling over with excitement for Friday night.
(Tad Boyle greets fans at Sunday's tip-off event. From: The BDC)
Happy Monday (such as it is)!
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