Monday Grab Bag: Swing low, sweet chariot...

Another football Saturday wedding, another bride walking down the aisle to the chorus of a Buff collapse.  That's now two marriages I will forever associate with losing.  Ladies of BuffNation, let this be a lesson to you: don't schedule a wedding on a game day.

--

This is about as low as it can get.  We're living it right now.

If there's any doubt, let me assure you that this is worse than '06.  At least in that year, BuffNation could comfort itself with the knowledge that it was the first year of a new regime, and that improvement, microscopic as it came to be, was assured.  Nope, this is the Buffs4Life crew's second year at the helm.  Disasters of this proportion shouldn't be possible.

I'm almost afraid to ask, but how much deeper can this rabbit hole go?

Today in the bag, I'll get through this as quickly as possible so I can get back to daydreaming about basketball season.  I'll also talk about some football notes from teams/programs who know what they're doing.  60 days...

Click below for the bag...

Monday Grab Bag: Butthurt Monday

And a happy Butthurt Monday to you all!  Today I'll be talking a truly awful performance by the CU basketball team, My Bears trying desperately to lose (and succeeding!), and the goings on the the rest of the college basketball world.

Click below for the bag...

Monday Grab Bag: OH NO, WE SUCK AGAIN

Not a good weekend for me.  First CU loses, and then the Bears finally prove to be "who we thought they were."  Hell, even my first attempt at a cheesecake came out all fucked up this weekend.  Just overall bad Juju.  In the bag today I'll take a look at the CU and Bears losses, size up CU's remaining Tourney hopes, quickly glance at the Superbowl match-up, and, to wash away the losing taste in my mouth, briefly touch on Soxfest.

Click Below for the bag....

Monday Grab Bag: Special First Post of the Year Edition

Hey, I'm back!  After being damn near screwed with my pants on by Frontier Airlines, I've found my way back to dear old Colorado, and I couldn't be happier.  Time to get back to the old grindstone and comment on the always confusing world of sports.  This is a special edition of the grab bag; special in that it's coming to you on a Tuesday.  Either way, Happy New Year to all!

Jump below for the first post of 2011...

Monday Grab Bag: Lulz all around; it's Tebow time!

Basketball is on finals week hiatus, the hyper-storm of press over Jon Embree's signing has died down, and baseball's Winter Meetings have concluded; i.e. not much to talk about.  Oh, Wait!  The Broncos suck!  Thank the heavens!  On to the bag...

Tim Tebow is coming to town, so be good for goodness sake - The Broncos got humiliated (were you expecting anything different?) 43-13 yesterday; therefore Tim Tebow will solve the franchise's problems.  What stage of grief is Broncos Nation currently experiencing?  Is insanity an option?  I've seen them hack through Denial back when fans couldn't believe that the team was this bad, and Anger during the whole "Fire J-Mac NOW" thing, so that must mean they're on to Bargaining.  Sit back and watch the fun as Broncos fans actually clamor for Tim Tebow to lead their team onto the field.  Accordingly, I fully expect Broncos brass and interim head coach Studesville to cave to fan pressure and start the Jesus-back sometime over the next few weeks.  What's amazing is that grown-ass men in the front office and in the media, who should know better, are listening to religious-ly induced crazed hordes wanting a glorified 3rd string washout to run some form of the option in a meaningless NFL game next Sunday.  Holy Hell this can only end up being hilarious.

 

(Should they really turn to this random woman and her ilk for football advice?  She looks totally knowledgeable in the ways of building a championship football team.  Much like free candy vans, this seems legit.  From: the post)

What's even more perfect is that the Broncos have a built in excuse when he fails.  Not only was Josh McDaniels the one who drafted him (He, and only he, was the problem!), but the fans backed the 'Cos brain trust into starting Tebow before he was ready (We gave you what you wanted!).  Pat Bowlen and the rest of his John Elway coat-tail riding wannabe's will get off scott-free in this whole fiasco (He's coming back, this will solve all of our problems!).  Please remember, it wasn't just J-Mac that lead to the impending Tebow disaster (where-in not only will he fail to impress, but he will also cause the Donkey's to spend yet another draft pick on a QB next year).

BTW (and completely sarcastic), where are the hordes screaming for Brady Quinn?  At least he's taken some meaningful snaps in the NFL.  If Bronco nation is going to bray and kick for a young QB to play the final few games this year, why not scream like a jackass for the other J-Mac QB flop.

(He's the one of the right)

Just how similar is the Broncos Situation to the Buffs? - Think about it.  Team hires young up and coming "offensive mind" to lead team.  He shows up with a lot of promise, completely remaking the team in his own image; even bringing in a QB who may not exactly have the talent to succeed at the current level.  Nepotism is involved.  While there is a little success early, and the accompanying fan-base hype, the whole thing eventually comes crashing down to the point where the fans desperately want to see the young coach get fired.  When he does, the fanbase turns fervently to legends of days gone by to "bring the program back to glory."  Hype machine builds up again...

The situations are eerily similar.  Obviously the Denver sports base has pissed the Football Gods off somehow... I blame Betsy Hoffman (somehow she's behind all of this).

Embree lands his first recruit - I don't like to talk recruiting news before signing day, but I would like to mention Jon Embree's first "get" as Buffs head coach.  Sticking it to future conference rival UCLA, Embo nabbed Arvada West's OL Marc Mustoe who had previously committed to the Bruins.  Mustoe is the 5th ranked prep from Colorado and 2nd best lineman in the state.  Mustoe's a big dude; 6-7, 270.  The Buffs now have 3 of the top 10 recruits from the state of Colorado on their commit list.

Bears stink - Are the Bears leading their division with a 9-4 record?  Yes, but that doesn't mean that they don't secretly suck.  This team has "first-round playoff loss" written all over them.  Playing at home in adverse conditions, the Monsters of the Midway managed to have the worst first-half in franchise history en route to a 36-7 loss to the Patriots yesterday.  Sigh.  The worst part is the Bears will be just good enough for Lovie Smith to keep his job.  The good-ish news was that the Lions knocked Packers QB Aaron Rogers out early enough Sunday afternoon to escape with a 7-3 win, thereby keeping the Bears in first place (for now).

 

(That's a very sad Urlacher; he must have just come to the realization that '06 was his only shot at a ring.  From: the Trib)

Metrodome Collapse - Speaking of the Bears, the location of next week's Monday Night Football tilt with the ViQueens is up in the air after the Metrodome roof sprung a leak.  Seriously, take a look at this:



Good God, that coulda killed someone!  Domes are a threat to humanity and should be banned! 

Happy Monday, and stay out of domes!

Monday Grab Bag: Like in the before time, the long-long ago

While watching the Buffs put a cap on one of the best defensive performances I've ever seen a Colorado team produce, my friend commented that "this is like it was in the before time."  Indeed, that was vintage Buffalo football, replete with a crushing defense and a punishing run game.  It's morning in Boulder again.  On with the bag...

Shoulder to Shoulder we will fight, fight, fight-fight-fight! (and win) - It's always nice to win, but, with everything going on with the program this week, I was overjoyed for the players.  They played with heart and earned a much needed win to keep bowl hopes on life support.  It was an all encompassing victory; dominating defense and strong offense combined with an uptick in emotion to push the Buffs back towards respectability.  It was the type of performance that most people expected with the current talent level, and their effort showed the benefits of a coaching change; they played free and seemed to enjoy playing football again.  Let's not get ahead of ourselves, with two tough games left this team is still a very long shot to make a bowl.  However, it's good to see the Buff pride back on the East Sidelines.

 (The pride is back!  From: The BDC)

Defense - I've been racking my brain since Saturday afternoon, and I still can't come up with a more dominating defensive performance in the past 8 years.  Sure, we've shut out a team or two during that time-span, but nothing can compare with an 8 sack shellacking of the opposing quarterback.  Just utter domination.  Not only did the D have 8 sacks, but those 8 came from 7 different players.  This wasn't a one or two man show, it was the whole team, and they killed it out there.  CU held ISU to negative yards rushing and to less than 230 total yards; they even forced 6 three-and-outs and scored a touchdown.  Damn was that an awesome thing to watch.

 

(Sipili, and his defensive mates, made life hell for ISU Saturday.  From: The BDC)

Cody - While many doubted him in the wake of his fathers termination, Cody Hawkins went out there and had one of his best games in a CU uniform.  His second quarter TD toss to Toney Clemons may have been the single best throw of his career; rolling to his right he launched a strong, tight spiral to the back of the end zone to find a falling Clemons.  It was a thing of beauty.  Overall, he finished with a very strong line of 16-24 for 266 and 3 TD's.  Just a great performance from the much maligned Buff QB.

Rodney Stewart - There was some rumblings in the press that the reason Speedy wasn't pounding the rock in the 4th quarter of the KU game was that the coaches were worried about his durability.  Really?  I know he's had a little injury issue here and there, but the guy is a horse.  He certainly erased any doubts by putting the team on his back Saturday.  Speedy has 39 total touches for 148 yards.  While he didn't find the endzone, he was consistently running between the tackles and wearing the defense down.  Yeah, he did have a few problems holding onto the ball, which I'm sure Coach Hagan will be all over for, but give credit where credit's due; he was a workhorse out there.

Coach Cabral - I don't want to hyperventilate and start demanding his inclusion as a serious candidate for the head coaching job, but doesn't he deserve consideration to be the next defensive coordinator?  I understand that, more than likely, the next guy will bring his own DC, but damn does Cabral get his guys going.  He brought back some of the passion and tradition (we're banning red again!) that had been missing the last 5 years.  He didn't hold his guys back from "getting too pumped up," and he allowed the players to play by not over-analyzing key situations.  Hey, look, a kick on a 4th and short!  A 12-2 run-pass ratio in the 4th Quarter when up by 20+ points!  Hawk sometimes tried to re-invent the wheel when it came to game management; Cabral kept to what works.  It's a well deserved 1st win for the man who best exemplifies what it means to be a Buff.

(The man cares about what it means to be Buff, and I love him for it.  From: The BDC)

Basketball season of to a so-so start -  It was an up-and-down affair Friday evening.  While the Buffs came away with an 88-80 win, they allowed a team returning only 4 players from their roster to hang around all evening.  They even allowed speedy Idaho State point guard Broderick Gilchrist to damn near steal the game with his 39 points; if not for his stellar performance, it would've been a blowout.  It was worrying that, while we tried 7 different guys guarding him, we just couldn't stop Gilchrist.  At least this gives Boyle something to focus on heading into the Georgia game tomorrow night.  On the plus side, CU spread the ball around (4 players ended up in double figures), the new video boards looked awesome, and the hot dogs were as good as ever; I guess you take the good with the bad.  Burks also had the slam of the year in the first game.

( "This is Air Buffalo, Flight #10, requesting clearance to land."  From: The BDC)

Andre Roberson - He looked ready to contribute.  The rangy 6-7 freshman guard from Texas provided 11 big rebounds and 6 points in only 21 minutes.  Yes it came against a team picked to finish next to last in the Big Sky conference, but he looks ready to contribute.  He even had a spectacular pass inside the paint, and he looks solid at both ends of the court.  He may not set the world on fire as a freshman, but, if he keeps this up, could prove to be an important cog in the Buffs wheel.

Bears game, Devin Hester, and Brad Childress - There were a couple of interesting story lines that emerged from the Bears 27-13 win on Sunday over the Vikings.  First and foremost, it was an important home win over a divisional foe for a team looking to cling the division lead.  While I still think the Packers will eventually come out on top, the Bears somehow keep winning games while their offense keeps stubbing its collective toe, and, with a win in hand over the Pack, control their own destiny. 

Devin Hester even made a return to the special teams highlight reel with his 147 return yards.  Hester hasn't returned kicks in 22 of the Bears last 24 games.  Why?  He's clearly the best option on the team.  Why can't he both return kicks and run routes with the offense?  I've always thought the object of offensive football is to get the ball into the hands of your best offensive player as many times as possible.  Getting the ball into Hester's hands just makes winning easier, and having him return kicks is a great way to get him an extra 5 or 6 touches a game.

 

(Hester needs the ball in his hands, and kick returns are a great way to get him the ball.  From: The Trib)

Poor, poor Brad Childress.  His team hates him, his owner is looking to fire him, and he had to stand on the sidelines and watch his team throw away it's dying playoff hopes.  He's certainly not going to keep his job past the end of the season (you just don't get away with going over you boss' head like he did while releasing Randy Moss), but the question remains weather he'll stay employed through season end.  Sure, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf says he won't fire him during the season, but isn't that exactly what Jerry Jones said about Wade Phillips?  Put me down for Childress being fired in a few weeks.

Happy Monday!

UPDATED: Monday Grab Bag: I ain't gonna work on Dan's farm no more

I woke up this morning, folded my hands and prayed for rain. I got a head full of ideas that are driving me insane. No I ain't gonna work on Dan's farm no more. Seriously, he has to go, NOW. On with the bag.

Buffs Lose Winnable Game... Again - The Buffs coulda, shoulda won on Saturday. Up 10 points at home at the end of the 4th quarter, you should never drop a game. (Bob Bell at TRR had nearly the same phrasing. Swear to God I didn't take that from him) Yet, with the injuries to Tyler Hansen and Jon Major, the Buffs just couldn't put enough talent on the field to keep the Red Raiders at bay. Surprisingly, Cody Hawkins entrance into the game also brought with it a momentary spell of vertical passing. Seriously, it looked like Bob Hodge to Jeremy Bloom on every play. However, that series of deep passes in the 3rd quarter would give way to offensive ineptitude in the 4th. After a promising drive ended on another Aric Goodman field goal miss (great to see him out there, btw), the Buffs went 3-and-out on their final 4 drives. The run game: forgotten. The defense: breathless, and left alone to defend the gates of Folsom. Cody: bravely screaming at freshmen wide receivers to cover up for his own ineptitude. It was a disaster, and one that drives the nail into Dan Hawkins coaching coffin.

(I hate Dan Hawk.... OMG THAT'S THE CUTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN)

I would've rather been beaten 59-14 over the weekend (I'll get to the Broncos in a bit) than lose a game like this at home. A shameful performance that proves the current coaching staff has no imagination or spark of life left in them, and no care for how the rest of the season plays out. If they have cared, maybe they would've tried adjusting to the 4th quarter defensive schemes Tech was throwing at them. If they cared maybe they would've tried to run the ball to keep the short-handed and exhausted defense off the field. If they cared maybe Aric Goodman wouldn't have been relied on to save the season. The rest of the coaching staff has checked out and is already thinking about their next job, and Hawk is an empty coaching polo as it is. Why are we keeping this guy around for another 45 days again? We might get 1 more win the rest of the way...

(He's got to go, now. From: the BDC)

Season's over *clap* *clap*, *clap*-*clap*-*clap* - The students couldn't even muster a half-hearted "Fire Hawkins" chant at the end of the game. No one cares, and the whole situation is starting to get damn depressing. There are 5 games left on the schedule, and no one gives a damn. Yet, I hear idiots like Neil Woelk telling me that we need to keep Hawk around for 6 more weeks cause it would would do no good to make a change now; that we owe it to the seniors to play it out as is. Horseshit. Not only would the jump start on the public coaching search be beneficial, but I know anecdotally that seniors like Nate Solder have already checked out and are focusing on life after Dan Hawkins. At least Neil, the man who repeatedly compared Hawk to Coach Mac, now admits that Hawk is surely fired.

As to recruiting, what difference does it make between recruiting with a coach who's surely fired and one who's non-existent (essentially the same thing?). Hell, how hard is Hawk really recruiting right now? We already threw away one recruiting class (last year's class when Hawk thought he was fired only to get a last minute reprieve from Oil-man Bruce), shouldn't we at least try and save this one? The thing is done, we need to move on; the sooner the better. (That's not an OU pun, but it's going to sting next Saturday... on national TV too.)

(That's the face of a man who knows his fate. From: The BDC)

Cody, just stop talking - Speaking of the problems with Boulder and the family Hawkins, Cody went and opened his mouth to the media after the game. I never want to criticize the kids who play; they're pouring their hearts on souls out for the paying customers, and deserve nothing but appreciation. (I bash Goodman from the perspective of why does Dan keep subjecting this kid to further humiliation, rather than a personal attack on him as an individual.) However, on Saturday Cody started throwing his teammates under the bus and whining to the media like a little school girl. His petulant temper tantrums on the field after 4th quarter incompletions pissed me off to no end. To make matters worse, he goes into media interviews with his "you're being mean to my daddy" attitude. I don't want to hear how mean the media is, and I don't want to see a senior QB throw his promising freshman receiver under the bus for miss-running a route (especially after he did such a good job earlier int he game). Freshman will make mistakes, the media is going to pile on a losing coach, and those same losing coaches will be fired; it's how this shit works.


Sometimes I feel bad for the kid; his father's success or failure at his job was partially resting on his young shoulders over the past 4 years. It's a heavy burden, and I've given him a lot of passes over the years (excusing him in the on-going feud with Ringo, supporting his a starting QB for far longer than I should've). A part of me even wants to let this weekends indiscretions slide; with his father's job on the line, Cody went 6-19 in the 4th quarter for 25 yards and essentially sealed his father's fate, that can't be easy to live with. However, I just can't excuse petulant attitudes in the face of necessary criticism. If he can't handle it, he shouldn't be on the roster. He needs to be quiet the rest of the season and understand that this is how the world works. Hell, since poppa Hawk is going to walk away with $2 million, the family Hawkins will walk away from this fiasco in decent shape. (speaking of being petulant... that's the last time I'm going to bitch about Cody)

M*A*S*H unit - As for on the field shit, with the injury total piling up (Major and Hansen are done for the season) it's starting to become difficult to field a credible team. With the injury to Hansen the Buffs are one play away from having to burn the redshirt on yet another promising young QB (Hirschman); they're so desperate to keep that redshirt intact that they are openly talking about using WR's Kyle Cefalo and Scotty McKnight as QB's in a pinch. Defensively, with Major out for the season, the Buffs are further short-handed. We'll have to rely on Liloa Nobriga and other young, untested LB's to fill Major's shoes. At least Terrell Smith looked good on Saturday (albeit with the usual spate of freshman mistakes).


(Update 10/25) I forgot to add my thoughts on the Hansen injury. After getting dicked around by the Hawkins family for 2 and a half years (burning his redshirt twice, and pulling him twice), I was happy to see him take over the team. It was his job, and he deserved it. Now he's done for the year. The kid doesn't deserve this. The football gods are spiting the hell out of the good people on this team, and it just aint fair.

The whole state sucks at football - Collectively, the State of Colorado (Broncos and the 3 D-1A schools) lost 183-51 over the weekend. Woof. The Broncos especially, who carry the hopes of everyone in the State, shit the bed. Rival in town, they lost 59-14, showing absolutely no fight. How long before McDaniels is seriously on the hot seat? Since starting his coaching career with 6 wins, the team has gone 4-13.... not good. Bad football all-around; maybe we should become a baseball state? How would that suit everybody?

(The natives are getting restless. From: the post)

Dolphins game - Interesting play in the fins game. With the fins leading late int he ballgame, Ben Roethlisberger dives for the endzone and gets awarded the touchdown. On replay it was shown that he actually fumbled before the endzone, but because the Dolphins didn't immediately recover the ball, the ref couldn't award them the ball. Instead the ball was placed at the half-yard line and the Steelers went on to win. I was actually impressed with the ref; it was a brilliant interpretation of the rule, regardless of the fact that it screwed over my team. I'm just frustrated with the linesman who originally called the play a TD; what was he looking at?

Bears also suck pretty hard - Jay Cutler's favorite target Sunday was DeAngelo Hall. Unfortunately, DeAngelo plays for the Washington Redskins. You would think that after the first 3 picks that Cutler would stop trying to force the ball into Johnny Knox, but nooooooo, he tried it again and got picked for a 4th time. Sigh... another team that I root for drops a winnable game; maybe I'm just a jinx.

("Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three time, shame on you. Fool me four times, shame on the Bears for trading a bajillion draft picks for me. From: the trib)

Happy (lol) Monday!

Monday Grab Bag: 1990 remembered in style

Well, that was one hell of a weekend. It's ended up with me sick at the office on Monday; C'est le vie. On to this weeks bag...

Buffs Beat Georgia: OK, fine, this team is sort of decent. Sure, Georgia is in the Football Gods doghouse (no pun intended), but that was an important win to both the program and the fan base. Folsom Field was in fine form Saturday night, and the team played up to both the situation and the atmosphere. It was a great game to be at from a fans perspective, and it was a great evening to be a Buff. CU is an impressive 3-1 heading into the traditional shellacking in Columbia, MO this weekend. But, for now at least, the team and the fan base can hold their heads high and forget about the Cal disaster.

(It was a great evening as we recognized the '90 team and whupped Georgia's ass (by 2). From: The BDC)

RUN THE FOOTBALL!: I even liked the play-calling Saturday Night(!); CU has turned the corner and has legitimately turned into a running football team, and I like it. Even when down 10 points in the 3rd quarter CU stuck to the run and ended the night with 235 yds and 3 touchdowns for their efforts. At altitude, especially against sea level teams, staying committed to running the football is the path to victory. The push from the O-line gets them into the game and tires out the D-line. Just look at the holes that emerged in the 3rd and 4th quarters; Georgia was exhausted, and CU took full advantage. Also of note: Rodney Stewart regained the #1 tailback role with his performance. He ended up with 149 yards on 19 carries (7.8 per rush!) and a gigantic 65 yard scramble to set up the Buffs comeback. While I was enthused to see B-Lock start the game with 9 straight carries, he just couldn't make it work for him, and only ended up with 2.2 yds per carry. While it probably helped that he was fresher later in the game, Rodney found more running room when it mattered, and was the better overall back on Saturday (even making a spectacular 3rd down catch to keep the chains moving).

(Rodney had it going on Saturday night. From: the BDC)

Defense: They are fun to watch. The defense stepped up when the team needed them to, and boy do I mean that. Right before the game clinching fumble recovery, I turned to my friends and said, this game is over. Georgia has an outstanding kicker (even if he missed an easy-ish field goal right before half), and to have the ball on the CU 27 with under 2 minutes to go should've been game over for CU. Instead, B.J Beatty comes off the edge like a man possessed and disrupts what looked to be a flea-flicker in the making (or else the slowest spin move of all time). Jon Major falls on the ball, and Folsom erupts. That effort combined with the 2 huge sacks by Josh Hartigan showed the Buffs to have a clutch defense.

(BJ Beatty and the rest of the defense were fired up, and played like it, Saturday night. From: the BDC)

I was also excited to see the play of Jimmy Smith. While Jalil Borwn had an off day (CU got real lucky with AJ Green missing chunks of the game with injuries; he was the real deal, and Georgia was a completely different team with him on the field), Jimmy began earning his future NFL paycheck by having a good night, even making a spectacular recovery effort to break up what should've been an easy TD pass. Which brings me to my last defensive point: Georgia QB Aaron Murray had a bad game. On that Jimmy Smith play, if Murray gets the ball out on time Smith has no chance to recover. On the 2 clutch sacks by Hartigan, he had poor pocket presence, and didn't feel the rush till too late. All-in-all he played like a freshman, and CU capitalized in key spots.

Cinching: Did we finally see results from all of that cinching? CU only had 3 penalties, and none of them mattered. One was a defensive hold that didn't really change the situation too much, and two were holds on a kick-return. Not a single penalty was committed by the offense (!). It was apparent that the offense had learned their lesson. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the special teams unit. Outside of the two holds they had a missed field goal, 148 return yards put up against them, and gave the defense a short field on numerous occasions. This a continued weak spot, and it's lucky that they didn't cost CU the game.

Hawks job not safe yet: Some pundits think that Hawks job is safe after yet another signature win at home. In the style of Lee Corso: NOT so fast my friend. Yes, going 3-1 in non-con play is nice, and that win against Georgia was spectacular, but there has been a "signature" home victory in each of Hawks years in Boulder. '06: Texas Tech, '07: Oklahoma, '08: West Virginia, '09: Kansas, and '10: Georgia. One victory does not a year, or a career make. Hawk still needs to find a road win, a program just simply cannot rely on home wins to sustain itself. Yes, the soft home schedule does set up nicely for a 6 or 7 win season, which would be cool, but is 7 or 6 wins really where we want to be? Sure it would be a start, but I still feel Hawk needs to go if we can't crack 8 wins this year; especially if we keep getting embarrassed on the road.

Side note: Why did we go for two after the 3rd touchdown. It was awesome to see the A-11 offensive set go to work, but it was a high risk/little reward situation. If we don't convert we're down 4 and a field goal is useless, with a 2 point deficit, the nature of the game doesn't significantly change, a field goal potentially wins rather than ties. While it didn't end up mattering, it was a weird decision at the time. I rationalized it as a momentum play: Hawk wanted to keep the energy and momentum going. But wouldn't a miss in that situation stunt momentum? Additionally, Hawk called up the A-11 on two other point afters, with each being stunted with reviews of the scores. This was obviously something the team wanted to show off, hell-or-high-water. It is fun to watch....

Rushing the Field: I've heard some rumblings about the students predilection to rush the field after seemingly any home win (at least we didn't rush against Hawaii). I have no problem with the students rushing the field. Sports commentary society takes itself too seriously; it's just kids having fun. Rush the field damnit; I don't care who we just beat.

(Doesn't that look like fun? From: the BDC)

Bears Stink: I commented over the past week that the Bears were an awful soft 3-0 team. With ugly home wins over Detroit and Green Bay, combined with a decent performance against Dallas, the Bears had yet to play "well" in victory. It finally caught up with them last night. Facing a tough road test in East Rutherford, NJ last night, the Bears allowed Jay Cutler to be sacked NINE TIMES in the first half alone, eventually sending him to the bench with a concussion. Woof. The Bears would go on to lose 17-3, and lose half of their bandwagon. I still like the Bears to be a one-and-done playoff team this year, but last night was plain awful.

(Principal Rooney thinks the Bears O-line sucks)

White Sox and Rox end season on outside of postseason: Finally,the portion of the baseball season that I genuinely care about (The one with either the Sox or Rox playing) ended Sunday afternoon. The Sox had long been finished with the competitive portion of their season, but the Rox stumbled to the finish line losing 13 of their last 14 games. It's always a sad end to a baseball season, but especially sad when you could've (should've) been better. While the Rox have a promising future (that Dan O'Dowd youth base is sure paying dividends) my Sox are running up against an age wall. Sunday was possibly the last game in southside pinstripes for heroes AJ Pierzynski and Paul Konerko, and a youth movement is probably (necessarily) on the horizon (especially if Kenny Williams doesn't return as GM).

(Hopefully Cap'n Paulie will be back next year. If not, it's been a great ride. From: the Trib)


Happy Monday!

Monday Grab Bag: Oscars, Buffs Win!, and Bears spending a lot of money

After a pretty solid weekend, there's plenty in the bag to discuss...

Oscars: While not necessarily germane to the blog, I am a major movie fanatic and I watch these every year. "The Hurt Locker" rightly smashed Avatar last night. A major technical achievement does not mean it was a great movie. I would've liked to have seen a little more payoff for "Inglourious Basterds," but I recognize that Tarrantino is caught in that nebulous place where he is too established to get the fresh face love, and not long-toothed enough to get the "achievement" love. Also, J-Lo looked like she was wearing bubble-wrap.

(How did she go all evening without popping it all? From: some blog via google image search)

Big CU win vs Texas Tech: Let me start out by saying that Saturday's win vs Tech was great to be at. Dwight Thorne closed out the Ricardo Patton era out with a win (he was the last RP recruit still playing), CU clinched the 8th seed and a rematch vs Tech in the conference tournament on Wednesday, and a nice crowd got a good show as Cory Higgins dropped 30 (vaulting into the top ten of all time CU scorers) and Al Burks threw in 24 (becoming the highest scoring freshmen in CU history). There were a few defensive lapses, but CU held strong in the 2nd half and wound up scoring 101pts, which was pretty cool. It's going to be hard to repeat this type of performance on Wednesday (usually teams struggle to win in the tournament against teams they just saw and beat), but I expect Coach Bz will get the team ready for the biggest game of their season. A win on Wednesday, and the NIT should call (Not to mention, another shot at Kansas).

(I'll miss ya, DW. From: BDC)

Texas Tech has 8 coaches: That's right, 8 coaches. They don't even list them all on their website, but there they sat on Saturday, 8 strong. It looked like a clown car was emptying when they came out of the locker room. All-in-all, Tech brought 8 coaches, 2 trainers, 3 broadcasters, and a towel boy (In addition to, you know, the players). I'm not entirely sure what they all do, after all, there's only so much coaching one person can provide. Hasn't Pat Knight ever heard of diminishing returns? Think of it this way: Tech scored 90 points on Saturday, so that's an average of 11.25 points per coach. Not very spectacular, especially when compared to CU's 20.2 points per coach (CU had 5 coaches on bench). Tech's 8 coaches sure haven't helped them much this year: Tech went from being ranked in the pre-conference season, to barely finishing over .500 overall. Just saying...

(That'd be them in the red polos. From: Me)

Cory shows his inner MJ: It's widely known that Cory Higgins practices over the summer with his father's friend and boss Michael Jordan. Knowing this, it's easy to notice a little of the MJ has rubbed off on him. On two occasions on Saturday, Cory drove down the baseline, and dunked over a defender that had been grabbing onto him. He'd hang on the rim while glaring at his opponent, as if to say "keep grabbing". Those were two spectacular FU dunks (The Jordan special). Usually, Cory appears to be a little laid back on the court. But, if you piss him off, he's got a fire and a glare that only MJ could've taught him.

Cubs Tax: I don't want to get to heavily into this topic, but essentially the Cubs are close to getting the State of Arizona to impart a tax on tickets for the rest of the Cactus League to keep them in Mesa, Arizona and build a new spring training facility. This past week, 4 teams (The White Sox, Reds, Angels, and Dodgers) boycotted some league-wide kick-off breakfast to protest this tax. You'd think that I'd be ready to burn down the Arizona Capitol over this, but, honestly, I don't care. My beloved White Sox already screwed over Tucson to move closer to Phoneix, and then had the gall to massively hike ticket prices (which, in turn, will keep me from attending Spring Training in the near future), so they don't have much of a leg to stand on. The only problem I have is the Cubs forcing the fans of other teams to pay for their new facility, rather than the other clubs. (The other clubs reap a big benefit from the traveling Cub fans going to the "road" spring training games). Do notice that now the Cubs are screwing over other fan bases, and not just their own.

The Bears sign every free agent: Over the weekend, the Bears made a big splash in the free agency market by scooping up TE Brandon Manumaleuna, RB Chester Taylor, and DE Julius Peppers. Lots of money going out of Virginia McCaskey's pocket there. It's nice to see the normally frugal Bears try to utilize free agency to actually improve the team (after trading away their entire draft last year in the stupid Cutler trade, did they have any other option?), but where's the wide receiver that is so badly needed? I guess getting a new receiver would just get Cutler to sulk some more, as he would surely throw even more interceptions trying to find his new play-thing down field.

(Someone's got a case of the Monday's)

MLB 2k10: I only have a x-box 360, so my sole baseball video game option is the 2k series. (Widely regarded as the superior baseball sim, MLB: The Show is a PS3 exclusive) I haven't been buying baseball video games over the past few years, but I decided to give this one a shot. I really like the pitching mechanics (you use your right stick to perform pitch specific motions), and the hitting system is O.K (I prefer the stick version to the button mashing of other series). The "My Player" mode (where you create a player and them try to take him from minors, to majors, to the HOF) is also kind of nifty. The opponent A.I, however, is a disaster. You have hitters swinging at 3-0 breaking balls, fielders not covering the line with 2 outs, and pitchers swinging away all the time. It's as if the makers of the game have no idea how baseball is actually played. I'm sure the game will provide hours of enjoyment, but, honestly, it's crap until they can make an A.I. system that actually plays professional baseball, and not sandlot crap.

Have a happy Monday!