Every story needs a conclusion

"Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."

- Ron Swanson

"There is a big difference between being interested in something and being committed to something."

- Tad Boyle

I've been thinking a lot on that first quote lately.  It lead off my Massive Preview last year, more as a reminder of purpose than anything else.  "Stay on task, Rumblin," it seemed to speak to me, "don't let your focus wander." 

Well, embarrassing as it is to admit, my focus has wandered.  It's to the point that I no longer feel that whatever I'm putting down in virtual ink is up to my personal standard (please do take that with a humble grain of salt).  That's why the second quote, from His Tadness the other day, falls like a hammer-blow.  There is a big difference between being interested in writing and being committed, and it's a reality I'm now forced to face. I'm just not committed anymore.

It's with that in mind that I pull the plug on writing this season, and maybe this blog.  I tried, I really did, but writing in the Year of our Tad 2017-18 just isn't in the cards, and it's hard to see a path to my return.  If you were looking forward to what I had promised to produce this season, I am sincerely sorry.  If you don't care, I respect that as well, and look forward to joining you in this indifference.

Oh, don't get me wrong.  I'm still a passionate BasketBuff, and I'm really looking forward to this season.  It'll be a season of rebirth, renewal, and, hopefully, a return to the NCAA Tournament.  But it will also be a season with me decidedly away from the keyboard.  Back to being a faithful, muted fan.

Regardless, if this is, indeed, my farewell from long(ish)-form basketball bullshit, I would like to thank everyone who ever found this space and spent some of their time here.  If I can walk away from seven years having given even one heartbeat of meaningful substance away, I will consider it time well spent.

Good luck, and #RollTad.

-Ben

Quick Post: Taking a break

OK, so, as you may have noticed, this isn't a grab bag.  I've decided, after much consideration, to call a time out in my writing habit, and take a step back.  That means regularly scheduled programming is on pause for the time being.

Never fear, however, I do plan on being back this fall.  What's more, I'll still be on call, waiting for breaking basketball news to strike.  Maybe some early summer transfer drama will catch my eye. Wouldn't that be interesting?  Or how about some cool dispatches regarding Tad Boyle at the U19 World Cup?  Of course, there's always the looming run of Team Colorado at The Basketball Tournament (This year, they earn the money!). When something worth commenting on pops up, there I'll be, dousing the fire with a furious stream of words.

Till August (or thereabouts), however, I'm cranking the dial down to reserve power.  In my stead, please enjoy the sunshine, the outdoors, and the long afternoons.  And, as always, #RollTad.

Monday Grab Bag: On cruise control

Christmas break is just around the corner, which means a slight disruption to my already abbreviated blogging schedule.  I'll have a preview up later this week for the Oklahoma State game, and a short recap Sunday morning, but there will be no Grab Bag next week, as I will be out and about for the holiday.  After coverage of the OSU game, my next post will be a teaser for the Georgia game on or around December 27th.

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Today in the bag, I'm wrapping up the Elon game, talking expectations, and taking a stroll around the nation of basketball.

Click below for the bag...

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...

Site News: Yet another vacation

I'm burning through my time off at what has to be a record pace.  This time, I'm headed to Vegas for a Bachelor's Party.  I plan to spend my time placing totally legal bets on the Sweet Sixteen.  That and get hammered.

The point of the matter is that I'm going dark again.  I'll be back next week with some season wrap-up stuff.  I might also find it in myself to talk football in March, but I doubt it.

UPDATED: Site News: I'm on vacation

Starting tomorrow morning at 3:37AM, I'm going on vacation.  Since I take the full 'City Slickers' approach to taking time off, I'm getting away from it all, and headed far away from things like computers and websites.  Specifically, I'm going here:

That's right, Hawai'i bitches!  And on Kauai, away from everyone.

I'll just have to trust the Buffs to wax Cal State Bakersfield and Texas Southern in my absence.  If they can't, I may never come back.

Barring a home loss disaster of epic proportions, which then causes me to question my loyalty, I'll be back in action around December 27th, ready to preview the exciting matchup between CU and the soon to be Division III New Orleans Privateers.

A Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season to you all!  Go Buffs!

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(Update 12/15/11) - I found out that UNO is going to Div II, rather than Div III.  They had originally planned to drop to the non-scholarship Division III, but re-considered after adding football.  I don't know why I find that so interesting, but I do.  Still, they won't be D-I any more after this season.

Site News: Vacation

Starting tomorrow I'm on vacation for 9 days.  It's much needed, I assure you. 

On the road again...

There won't be any new posts in this space til the 17th, but you can keep up with me on Twitter (@Rumblinbuffalo).  If anything cool happens, be sure to check there for my rumblings.  Hope you all have an excellent middle of May!

Enough to make a basketball fan cry

The headlines may read that UCONN won a national title last night, beating the Butler Bulldogs en route to Huskies coach Jim Calhoun's 3rd championship, but the story in my eyes was them doing so in the worst single game of basketball I've ever seen.  94 combined points (good for lowest combined title game score in 61 years), Butler shooting 18.8% from the field (worst ever in a title game), and UCONN shooting 1-11 from 3 (worst ever from a winner).

Hey, look, another missed shot in the paint.

 Woof. 

This wasn't good defense as some would have you believe, this was two under-talented squads, exhausted from having played 6 games in 3 weeks, being seemingly unable to hit an open bunny layup.  Yes they were playing hard, but playing hard doesn't mean two teams combine to score under 100.  Time and time again I found myself saying "they can't screw this up," yet there the two teams would be, flailing about like they had just discovered this whole "basketball thing."   They knew this was a game for the national title, right?

U-G-L-Y, you aint got no alibi: you're ugly... you're ugly.

Butler was especially pathetic; their beautiful carriage turning back into a rotting-ass pumpkin in front of the whole nation.  Before Matt Howard put back a seemingly easy offensive rebound with 6:15 remaining in the second half, the Bulldogs had yet to score a basket in the paint.  They finished to shoot 3-31 from inside the arc (that's 9.7%).  High-school teams, playing in the same stage, could've shot on accident better than that.  Besides the fact that no one has ever shot this poorly in a title game, teams haven't shot nearly this bad since the '40s.  I'm not even sure they had invented the jump-shot back when Washington St and Wisconsin combined to shoot in the low 20%s in 1941.  Are you kidding me?  This was a team in our national final?  Normally I would feel bad for kids who lay an egg this bad, but shit was that painful to watch.  For 40 minutes of play I learned to hate the game of basketball, and it's all Butler's fault.

Hand UCONN the trophy, and lets never, ever, talk of that game again.

I have never been less convinced that the winner of the NCAA Tournament was the best team in college basketball.  A win is a win, however.

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Site-News note: With the end of basketball season, and the impending end of spring football, comes the long wait til fall for relevant Buffs news.  Unlike last year, I will continue to update my blog through the Summer, just a lot less frequently.  Every week I will have up a Monday Grab Bag and a Friday Beer Post, but Tuesday-Thursday will only feature sporadic updates as warranted.

Additionally, over the coming months I'll be putting together a series of longer wrapups and previews of Buffs basketball.  I'll be looking at the season that was, the players that are leaving, the team going forward, and what we can expect from the offseason.. In addition, I'll be covering the opening of the new practice facility, the future of Alec Burks, and the evolving 2011 and 2012 recruiting classes. 

I hope you'll stick with me.  Go Buffs!

Site News: No Live-Blog Today

So good news and bad news.  Bad news: no live-blog today.  The CU/KU semi-final game is after I leave work, and I'm not going to even try to write while I celebrate (read: drink a lot of beer at a sports bar) the Buffs first ever Big XII semi-final appearance.  The good news (at least for me): no live-blog today.  That shit's exhausting, and I miss a lot while trying to keep up with the flow of the game. 

I will have a full wrap-up and finals preview up tonight/tomorrow morning, and I'll have some abbreviated coverage Sunday for the Tournament selection.  Speaking of the Tournament, I was listening to 87.7 this morning, and, contrary to conventional wisdom, this guy thinks CU needs a win today against KU to even make the Tournament.  While I'm not as sure as Lunardi that CU will get a 1st-round bye, I think, at minimum, CU is headed for Dayton regardless of today's outcome. 

It would take a whole lot of bubble nonsense at this point to keep the Buffs out.  Talk about the non-con schedule and 3 bad losses all you want, but those losses were all on the road, and CU has won 5 of it's last 6 games.  I know from years past that the committee weighs your final few games higher than games earlier in the season, and a loss at San Francisco in November shouldn't keep the Buffs from playing in March.

Anyways, for good luck today I'm wearing my Chris Copeland '05-'06 game-worn jersey.  It's even got the Sox Walseth memorial patch on it; I'm sure Sox is looking down with pride at his Buffs right now.

Go get 'em guys, you've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

AllBuffs Recruiting Round Table

AllBuffs was once again gracious enough to lend me space on their site for my ramblings.  This time, I'm included in a round table discussion about the recently completed 2011 draft class.  Thanks to everyone over there for inviting me!

Joining me are Stuart from CUatthegame.com and David Gebhart from the Ralphie Report.  Head on over to check out the discussion!

Site News: New Logo is live!

The new logo is finished!  Bask in its awesomeness!  Big thanks to my buddy Cameron and his brother for putting this together for me.  Fucking fantastic effort!

Hey, Look! I'm featured at Allbuffs!

The supercool-fantastic-awesome guys over at AllBuffs are giving me a little publicity.  I'm even on the front page!  Thanks to Absinthe and TheJunta for putting this together!

Click here to head over there and read my interview; there's another link here with a discussion thread going.  There's also a poll where you can vote over who gives better interview: me or MontanaBuff from CUatthegame (I voted for him, FWIW). In the interview I talk about how I got hooked on CU sports, how I stay motivated, and even share a completely wrong prediction about the K-State game! 

Site News: Chrismachanukwanza Break

I'm out til after New Year's.  I wish everyone a happy and safe Holiday Season (I'm Boulder like that).  Safe travels to those who are venturing forth into the end-times weather the rest of the country is experiencing.

Look for my return around Jan 3rd, by which time, hopefully, the staff will be finalized.

Also, be sure to check out the basketball team in Vegas tonight and tomorrow.  The games will be on CBS College Sports if you get that random channel.

Peace be to journey, and Go Buffs!

Quick Post: Site-News; Thanksgiving break

Tomorrow I'll be posting my (probably) massive, 100% biased, Husker Preview.  It should be fun...

There will be no Friday Beer post, since I'll be at the game Friday.  If you're looking for a beer suggestion, then you have to go with Buff Gold.  No other beer is acceptable for Husker week.

Fuck 'em up, Fuck 'em up, Go CU!

Hey, Look! I have free time!

Wow, this is awkward. So, um, how's it been over the last 4 months? Good?

So, my work schedule has, finally, lessened (albeit slightly), and I can get back to my pet blogging/self-psychoanalysis project. And none too soon I might add. It's September 1st, which means: September Baseball and the dawning realization that 5 months of caring about my White Sox is shortly about to go to waste, the start of football and the dawning realization that the next 3 months of caring about my Buffs will go to waste, and basketball season is around the corner (which is legitimately awesome).

I won't even try to pick up where I left off, but things like the grab bag and the Friday beer post, still seem like good ideas. So sit back, relax, and strap it down; the rumbling's have returned

Site News: Time-out!

So yeah.... there's been a change in my work schedule.... At least for the foreseeable future, I wont be able to blog-'n-stuff.

I may be back....

Site News: An experiment sure to go wrong

So tomorrow, for the late morning Tech game, I'm going to try something new: a live blog/live diary! Oh my is this going to be a disaster...