Monday Grab Bag: Best Buffs Draft in 14 years

The biggest news today is obviously the end of Osama bin Laden's 10 year run from justice.  That it took nearly a full decade to silence the mass murder is not the point: we eventually got him, and he can no longer plot against our collective safety.  As in all times, I turn to the words of Trey Parker and Matt Stone: America, Fuck Yeah!

In a jolting shift of gears to get back on topic, in the bag today I'll wrap up the best NFL draft for CU in years, touch on the stateside reappearance of a CU basketball great, and mention an item from the NBA playoffs.  Oh, and my White Sox are worse than ever.

Click below for the bag...




Jalil Brown and Scotty McKnight get drafted - With all the publicity being thrown at Nate Solder and Jimmy Smith, it would be easy to forget that there were 2 other "draftable" Buffs this year.  Jalil Brown and Scotty McKnight had also proven to be worthy of NFL consideration, and their selection in the 2011 NFL Draft rounded out a pretty sweet 3 days for CU.

Jalil was almost a shoe-in to be drafted, and I wasn't at all surprised to see him taken by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 4th round.  Scotty, however, was a different story.  If Scotty hadn't have started all 4 seasons in Boulder, rocketing his way up the record books, he wouldn't have even sniffed an NFL roster, let alone the draft.  It was prolific collegiate career, combined with an impressive timing day, that allowed the undersized wideout to be selected by the New York Jets in the 7th round.  Sure, I had a feeling that one way or the other Scotty would end up with buddy (and Jets starting QB) Mark Sanchez in NYC, but I had assumed it would be as a undrafted free agent.

Scotty high-stepped his way into the 7th round, becoming the 4th Buff taken this year.

All told, the 4 selected players mark the most Buffs picked into the NFL since 2006, and CU hasn't had this many taken in the first 4 rounds (3; 2 in first, 1 in fourth) since 1997.  Just think, this time last season exactly no Buffs were being selected.  There was some great talent on last year's team, and now they get to strut their stuff at the next level.  Way to go Nate, Jimmy, Jalil, and Scotty; I'm sure you'll do us all proud in the pros.


A Richard Roby Sighting - If you're even more of a hoops junkie than I am you may have stumbled across the NBADL's finals over the past week. Naw, I'm just kidding, no one watches the NBADL other than some desperate scouts.  However, if you had tuned into to Versus' coverage of the series, you would have seen CU's all-time scoring champion Richard Roby shining brightly for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.  While his team ultimately fell to the Iowa Energy, Richard averaged 19/6 over the 3 game finals.

Richard still has that boyish look on his face when he blows past defenders.  Good to see it again.  From: the BDC

Richard had been plying his basketball trade internationally, having an extended stop in Israel, before a brief stint in Mexico.  Glad to see him back in the States.

My Sox are officially worse than Ebola - Not to be contented with setting a franchise record for losses in the month of April, my Sox went on to start the month of May with a rousing 6-4 loss to the vaunted Baltimore Orioles.  The team is well on its way to their 3rd sweep in the last 5 series. And look, the Twins are coming to town!  *Sigh*

Not a lot of happy campers so far this season.  From: the Trib

I'm starting to realize that I may in fact be watching the worst Sox squad in my lifetime.  To win the honor, this team will have to stink more than the strike-shortened '95 squad (who finished a whole 32 games back from the Central winning Indians).  Others have lost more (looking at you '99 and '07), but that '95 squad was out of shape, lazy, and pathetic; basically only serving as a reminder of how devastating the '94 strike was.

Sure, it could just be a bad month, but with the financial strain of going "all-in" looming over the club, a sell-off is not far over the horizon.  When that happens, since there is next to nothing in the system, losses will pile up.  At the very least I will be comforted by the firing of Greg Walker.


Memphis may actually be decent - In developing news, the Memphis Grizzlies may actually be decent.  After their handling of the Spurs in the first round, the Grizzlies have jump-started their Conference Semi's to the tune of a 114-101 whupping of the OKC Thunder in Oklahoma yesterday afternoon.  I've routinely chuckled at the lazy turd that is Zach Randolph, but he chipped in 34/11 for his 4th double-double of the playoffs, and the rest of the squad is playing like men possessed.  Hell, I actually found myself rooting for them against the obnoxious Thunder.

The Grizzlies, and Randolph, have looked pretty decent so far in the playoffs.

While the Nuggets were flailing uselessly against the Thunder in the first round, I blithely moved OKC into the conference finals, since the Grizzlies were obviously going to be a pushover.  Maybe I should've taken the series victory over the Spurs more seriously, as they now hold home court advantage over a shaken Thunder squad.


Happy Monday and Go America!