Monday Grab Bag: The pseudo-start of basketball season

My sporting weekend was over before Saturday even rolled around.  Through the football game Thursday evening, and BuffsMadness Friday night, I had more than my fill of sports by Saturday morning.  That left plenty of time to pursue other leisure activities like playing video games, drinking beer, and otherwise rarely leaving my house.

*sigh*

In retrospect, I probably should've taken advantage of the open weekend.  My bad.

Today in the bag I'm talking BuffsMadness, the loss against ASU, and my typical trip around the world of football.

Click below for the bag...

Quick-Post: I am at a loss for words

Posted without comment:

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Seems like a convenient time to remind everybody about BuffsMadness: Friday night, 8:30pm at the CEC.

Monday Grab Bag: Bye week in the rearview

I hope the Buffs made good use of the bye week, because the next four games should make for a harrowing slog through October.  I certainly did, using the weekend to expand my sporting horizons by watching a few hours of cricket.  I don't really know what I was watching, or for that matter why I was watching it, but it was a fun change of pace during an other-wise football-filled weekend. 

No Columbus Day for me, I've got work to do.  This week I'm talking umpiring, some site news, BuffsMadness, and a slew of football notes.

Click below for the bag...

Quick Post: #BuffsMadness flyer

Take a look at this BuffsMadness flyer:

Someone's going to win a trip to the CU/KU game this December!  If that doesn't interest you in the least, you don't have a pulse.

Quick Post: #IsItOctober12thYet

The line throughout the summer from the die-hard hoop fanatics in BuffsNation has been #IsItNovemberYet.  I think it might be time to change it to #IsItOctober12thYet.

Official opening night for basketball season may still be over a month away (although it's getting closer...), but the unofficial start is actually next weekend.  After a tireless campaign from players, the C-Unit, and BuffNation at large, the athletic department granted the program a Midnight Madess-style event, labeled #BuffsMadness for marketing purposes, to celebrate the start of fall practice.  And it's right around the corner!

The push to repeat begins next week.

Friday, October 12th, the night after the CU/ASU football game, both the men's and women's hoops teams will hit the hardwood for a night of scrimmages, specialty contests (3-point, dunking, etc), giveaways, and ephemera (Skit night?  I hope there are skits).  Tentatively scheduled to start at 8:30 pm (following the volleyball game, which starts at 7pm), the whole night is free.  This will be Boulder's first opportunity to thank the Pac-12 champions for their efforts last March, and we in BuffNation need to pack the house in support.

Yesterday, in his weekly Twitter chat, Daily Camera scribe Kyle Ringo said he doubted that the Buffs could draw 5,000 for this event.  I say we can beat that number.  Everyone needs to grab a friend, hell, make that four of them, and make them commit to attending on the 12th.  It's free, it's an easy excuse to start your Friday evening out in Boulder, and it's a great way of showing support for the best basketball program in the Rocky Mountain region.

Coach Boyle doesn't understand why you wouldn't be there.

If you care about CU basketball, and are in the area, then you need to be there next Friday.  No excuses.

Quick Post: #BuffsMadness is on!

#BuffsMaddness, #CUMidnightMadness, #MidnightTadness... whatever you want to call it, BuffNation got what it wanted.  A few months ago this wasn't even a possibility, but thanks to a relentless campaign from key CU fans, including @CUGoose, @TZiskBuff, @JGisland, @BupsJones, and @CUnitBuffs, we got it done.  If you aren't planning on being at the CEC on Friday, October 12th, we just can't be friends any more.  Check out the pop video below:

Quick Post: #CUMidnightMadness update

There were some rumblings last night that #CUMidnightMadness was a go.  Twitter started to light up after a since deleted tweet from star forward Andre Roberson all but confirmed that the event was on.  The gun seems to have been jumped, however, as the athletic department has since started looking for more outward signs of support before committing to host a pep rally to mark the start of fall practice.

The call went out as follows:

We are very close to getting #BuffsMadness but may just need one more push. We have a few ideas for you to help. Pay attention! #GoBuffs
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) September 11, 2012

#BuffsMadness We need more love for MBB and WBB on Facebook. Show us how bad you want it by getting us some more likes. #GoBuffs
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) September 11, 2012

We have only 1.1K combined likes for MBB and WBB on Facebook. Help us get to 2K and that will convince people we can fill Coors in October!
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) September 11, 2012

Well that's pretty damn simple. You mean all we have to do is go here and here, click "like," and BuffNation gets its Midnight Madness?  We got this. 

For the minimum amount of effort possible, we can show the athletic department that we're serious about being a basketball school.  Currently, CU football (you know, that one team that stumbles about like a drunken bum every Saturday) has over 30k "likes."  30-thousand!  For sure, we can get at least 4% of those likes to also approve of both the men's and women's basketball teams.

The players want this, the students want this, and the fan base wants this - it's a no-brainer.  Get your ass to Facebook, and bring along your friends, your spouses, your kids, your mere acquaintances... get everyone you can!  There's no reason to fall short of the goal now.

Go Buffs!

On #CUMidnightMadness

As if I need an excuse to talk CU hoops...

Midnight madness is a time-honored tradition for college basketball powers.  It's easy to think of the events featuring schools like Kentucky and Kansas, for which the first second the team can practice is a cause for celebration.

Some take the name to heart, having a practice shortly after midnight on the first allowed day of practice; others simply wait for the following evening, making for appointment viewing on ESPNU.  At the giants, the events are storehouses of antics and showmanship, designed more as pep rallies to get fans pumped up for the season.  Smaller schools participate as well, showing that the start of basketball is a nation-wide holiday.  Of course, some programs, like UCLA under Ben Howland, stay away from the practice, but most see it as a chance to fire up the fanbase, and announce that hoops is back in session.

Places like Kentucky do this right.

CU has had Madness-like events in the past.  Even last year, there was a "Meet the Buffs" program about a week after the start of practice. But attendance has usually been as poor as the promotion, and recent attempts seem disproportionate when considering the new heights of the program.  It's just never been a true Midnight Madness, either in atmosphere or execution.

But it's a new mindset in Boulder.  There's a passionate fanbase desperate to see CU basketball anoint the coming of a new season the same way other programs around the nation do. Over the past few months there has been a concerted effort by the fans, particularly on twitter (lead by friends of the blog @CUGoose, @jgisland, and @TZiskBuff), to get a more high profile kickstart to fall practices.  Even the players have been eager to talk about it.  It's fun for them too, afterall.

They also make for convenient times to raise banners... hint, hint.

The visions of a true Midnight Madness event at the CEC are powerful, and I'd be eager to see what sort of antics the team can get up to when pumping up the C-Unit.  The plan as I've heard it would be to hold the event the evening of Friday, October 12th (not actually at midnight).  It would coincide nicely with a home football weekend, as the Buffs host ASU the previous evening (the Great American Beer Festival also takes place that weekend), hopefully making it easier for a larger portion of Buff Nation to fit it into their schedule. 

It's not a slam-dunk decision to get the ball rolling, however.  Coach Boyle has been asked repeatedly about the concept, and always has the same answer.  He loves the idea, and wants to see it happen at Colorado, but just wants to make sure the event is well attended.  The caution is understandable, no one wants to spend countless hours and thousands of dollars creating the event just for the team to run out of the tunnel in front of 2,500 people.  While the support for the event has, so far, been extensive, it's not yet to the level that Coach Boyle would be comfortable giving it his go-ahead.

Coach Boyle just wants to make sure this thing lives up to the high standard he's setting on the court.

That's where we, the fans, come in.  The movement behind #CUMidnightMadness needs more from BuffNation.  As Goose pointed out on AllBuffs, you've got to be proactive in letting the athletic department know that there's a solid foundation of supporters willing to make this event happen properly.  Call or email Mike Bohn, vote in this poll, and tweet with the hashtag #CUMidnightMadness.  Make it known that you're dedicated to making the BasketBuffs a legitimate basketball power, and understand that holding a Midnight Madness event is an important step in that process.

LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN!