Tuesday Grab Bag: Football?

Another week, another snow storm.  I can now set my watch by these things.  Upwards of nine fresh inches of powder for Boulder by tomorrow afternoon.  *sigh*

Today's grab bag is filled with... wait, this can't be right... football talk?  There must be some mistake, as this is clearly still April.  Regardless, I'll also be talking sinkhole, and touching on basketball recruiting.

Click below for the bag...


Draft Wrap -

Former CU OT David Bakhtiari took what many called a big risk when he decided to forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.  The payoff for that risk came Saturday when the two-time All-Pac-12 second team selection was picked in the 4th round of the 2013 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers.

It's a great spot for David, particularly because of the importance the Packers have traditionally placed on developing and playing their own draftees. I'm not sure why the big man fell to the fourth round (he had been projected to go as high as the 2nd round), but if you're going to fall, it might as well be to a successful team that is actually interested in playing you.

Bakh found a home.

In the end, while a fourth round result may strike as slightly underwhelming, I still think it was a good decision for Bakhtiari to turn pro early.  I cannot in good conscience blame someone for running away from the dumpster fire that is the CU football program when I wouldn't watch the disaster myself.

I wish David the best of luck for 14 out of the 16 games each year (go Bears)!

The long suffering 2012 football senior class also got a little recognition over the weekend as five of the eight graduates were chosen by NFL teams to continue their careers.  While the group only features one draftee (TE Nick Kasa, 6th round, Oakland), I couldn't be happier for the four others who piqued the NFL's interest as undrafted free agents.  Congrats to Kasa, Will Pericak (Baltimore), Doug Rippy (Denver), Ray Polk (Seattle), and Jon Major (Chicago)!  Good luck in minicamp!


More on Hirschman -

Last week, I touched on the departure of QB Nick Hirschman. The 6-4 Californian had been in the running for the #1 QB job throughout spring camp, and was poised to enter fall practices as one of two probable choices to start under center in September. In a shocking move, he decided that chance wasn't enough, and took his exit stage right.

A little more information has since come out about how Hirsch made his decision. He was quoted in the Post as saying:

"I made the decision (before) spring that I'd come in this spring and work my (rear) off to try to become the starter, and I said if a decision wasn't made by the end of spring, it was my time to go. [...] The coaching staff didn't force me out. I wasn't forced out by anybody. It was a decision I made, and it's the way it turned out." -link

I'm frankly a little stunned by the answer. What exactly did he expect would happen? Did he honestly think that a brand new coaching staff would pick a starter after only a few weeks of spring scrimmages? That's like rolling up to the roulette wheel, putting everything on 17, and being pissed that any other number came up.

Just a weird rationale.

If you wanted to leave, that's one thing. I hear he's looking into Ivy League schools, which would be yet another instance of an athlete using their abilities to leverage the most out of the NCAA's exploitative system. But to hold out hope that this neophyte coaching staff would make a choice, one way or the other, by the end of the Spring Game was simply naive

It's not as if Coach MacIntyre wasn't upfront about the whole thing. "Like I told Nick, not one time did I say I'd make the decision at the end of spring."

Weird.


3 in final 150 -

The Post's Tom Kensler helpfully pointed out last week that all three of the basketball team's incoming freshmen have wound up in the final Rivals Top-150.  Besides CU, only Arizona can make the same claim in the Pac-12.  The class isn't nearly as flashy as the top-25 juggernaut signed in 2012, but it's yet another notch in Coach Boyle's recruiting belt.

That doesn't mean the show is over, however.  With the early departure of Andre Roberson, Colorado finds itself with an extra scholarship to spend.  The rumor has long been that it would be spent on a transfer, probably traditional, but there is always the prospect that the coaching staff may still be able to find a 2013 freshman that they like.  Late last year, when everyone thought the 2012 class was done and dusted, Coach Boyle went out and found Eli Stalzer as a late add, so it wouldn't be unprecedented.

Could there be another Eli Stalzer waiting in the wings?

Personally, I'm far more interested in replacing the minutes of Jeremy Adams.  It may seem a little absurd to focus on someone who only posted 2/1 over 11 minutes per game, but next season's roster, as talented as it is, will be devoid of upperclassmen minutes off the bench.  A senior transfer would help out in that regard, and I'd be far more excited by that proposition, than another freshman added to the bloated underclassmen ranks.


Sinkhole on Folsom -

From the metaphorical department, a 15'x30' sinkhole opened up on Folsom St last week, just down the hill from campus and Folsom Field.  A water main burst in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday morning, sending runoff and debris running throughout the area, and completely shutting off the road in both directions.

Yep, that's a big hole.  From: the BDC.

Yeesh.  I knew the foundation of the football program had decayed significantly, I just never realized how wide-spread the devastation was...

The road was patched up, with traffic allowed to flow over the weekend.  I only hope the patch-job up in Folsom Field goes as quickly.


Happy MondayTuesday!