Monday Grab Bag: We've got our guys, now it's time to go to work.

Better late than never, right?  Besides the new coach there's a mea culpa, some White Sox news, and the Bears saving my ass in my suicide pool in the bag.  Let's get to it...

The good ship CU Football has a captain at the helm once again - Jon Embree arrived last night, along with his good buddy and Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy, to officially accept the job as CU head football coach.  Among other things, he promised at his press conference this morning to "restore the luster" that had faded from the program.  I'll say this, after hearing him talk this morning I can say that he certainly does love his university.  Now we get to the meat of the matter; can he actually do the job?

(We'll, we've all gotten our wish; a Buff is leading the team.  From: the BDC)

Recruiting - Hawk's career uncertainty had put a damper on recruiting over the last few years, and Embree's first job has to be shoring up the weak 2011 recruiting class.  I was pleased to read him immediately talking recruiting last night.  Fresh off the plane he referred to:

"[...] a certain kid in-state that I want to go see at his house.  I'm anxious. I've heard he is a very good player and had a very good season. I'd like to go see him and other in-state kids who are committed and the ones aren't. I want to go see them and see if they want to be a Buffalo." -link

I'm betting he's talking about Mullen standout RB Adonis Ameen-Moore who had been holding off on a decision on college until after his senior season concluded.  It's good to see that Embree recognizes that love of university alone won't bring wins to Folsom, and that he needs to work quickly to salvage this years recruiting class to shore up the cupboard for future years.  Grabbing Ameen-Moore would be a great first step...

Bieniemy is along for the ride - After nabbing over $500,000 and a signing bonus, Bieniemy is along for the ride.  I knew we'd have to pay him big bucks, but daaaaaaaaammmn that's a big financial step for a university used to short changing their assistants.  It's also a 5-year deal (same as Embree's) which hopes to guarantee some stability in the coaching staff.  This sort of move is unprecedented in CU's athletic history and is an example of Bohn putting the cash where his mouth is.  Earlier this year he promised to actually spend on assistant coaches, and he came through in a big way.

(Bieniemy got paid, and is ready to help get this thing back on track.  From: the BDC)

My apologies to Austin Dufault and Levi Knutson - I've hammered Dufault and Knutson quite a bit over the last few years, but they're having pretty good season so far.  Knutson is grabbing 11.5 points per game, shooting near 55%, and is providing some greatly needed on-ball defending for a team that has struggled with its defense at times.  Coming off his disastrous sophomore campaign, Dufault is both scoring more, and rebounding more than in previous years; adding a much needed post-threat.

(Levi provided 22 big points Saturday night, and is looking better than ever this season.  From: the BDC)

Knutson, who I would swear missed every shot in conference his sophomore year, dropped 22 points (6-8 from 3!) in Saturday night's blowout win against future Pac-12 foe Oregon St, and has earned my biggest mea culpa.  I'm sorry Levi, I was wrong.  I didn't think you could hack it at this level, but you've consistently been an offensive threat this year.  CU needs you to knock down open looks off of kick-passes, and you've been there to answer the call this season.  I wrote you off too soon, my bad.

Kenny Williams gets his man... again - White Sox GM Kenny Williams always gets his man.  No matter how long it takes, if he wants you on the White Sox roster, he'll get you.  You may be old a decrepit by the time you arrive (see Alomar, Roberto and Griffey, Ken Jr.), but he'll eventually find a way to land you.  Luckily this time, the player Kenny grabbed isn't nearing the end of his playing days.  Late last week, the White Sox signed their first big name free agent in years as they inked slugger Adam Dunn to a  4-year, $56 million deal (great write-up by the excellent Jim Margalus here). Kenny has been after Dunn for quite a while.  Specifically, this past summer Dunn had been part of a rumored 3-team deal which would eventually send him to the southside.  The Nationals GM ended up playing hardball (read: went back on a deal) and kept Dunn, so the Sox got "stuck" with flame-throwing Edwin Jackson.  Now we get Dunn and Jackson, and the Nationals GM get's a couple of lame draft picks instead of field-ready talent (i.e. he's about to lose his job).  The Sox now head into the season with a coveted left-handed power bat.  Regardless of what Sox legend Paul Konerko decides to do, my Sox are looking like they're headed in the right direction.

(Big Adam Dunn should love the cozy dimensions of the Cell.  Welcome aboard, Donkey!)

Bears save my bacon - We're getting down to the end in my NFL suicide pool, and I'm forced to start taking some risks; like taking the Bears on the road.  Some might say playing the Detroit Lions, when they haven't won a divisional game in 3 seasons, would be a lock, but I know my Bears.  Hell, they even trailed 20-14 in the 3rd quarter.  With my season on the line, the Bears scraped and clawed their way to a 24-20 victory, and thereby keeping me alive for another week.  There is only 51 people still alive in my group which started with thousands on the board.  This one's gonna be close....

Happy Monday!

Monday Grab Bag: Breaking News! Buffs to hire Long-thought-to-be-dead Vince Lombardi at 3pm News Conference!

Over the Thanksgiving Break the Buffs went on the road and got horse-whipped by a team wearing red; the primary culprit was a piss-poor defense, however turnovers also helped lead to the crushing loss.  I'm not talking about the football team, I'm of course talking about the basketball team's shit-tacular effort in Boston yesterday morning.  That story, and more, as I dive into this week's grab bag....

Nebraska Loss - As the song goes "there is no place like Nebraska."  Thank God, cause I don't know if I could stand another joint like that one.  I have some pictures from my final trip to Lincoln (oooo, travel pictures!), but suffice to say any good times to be had were squashed by the team's let-down performance Friday Afternoon.  The Buffs wound up losing by 28 points, which can easily be attributed to 3 costly turnovers and a questionable onside kick which led directly to Husker scores.  All-in-all, CU never got going, and the Husker offense just pounded the Buff D into the ground.  When your offense only has the ball for 9 minutes in the first half, there's eventually going to be some defensive issues, and, while the unit played admirably, they looked tired and over matched all game long.  This loss kills any Cabral-for-coach plans, and ends the Buffs season and Big XII career on a low note.

Quickly on my trip: it wasn't all that bad.  The Husker fans were actually kind of nice this time.  Everywhere I went people would shout "Fuck the Big XII" and "Fuck Texas."  No animosity was thrown my way, and I even got some free beverages out of the thing.  Sure, Husker ugliness is usually reserved for when they lose, but the friends we met up with actually directed us to a pretty decent time.  Now if only it wasn't in Lincoln....

Pictures! - I admittedly suck at taking pictures, but it is what it is.  I've selected 5 pictures from the 5 I took during the trip; enjoy!

This is the view from my hotel room.  Awww, but I paid for ocean view!

A happy pregame tailgate moment

The precipitous drop from my seats. It was a full 4 or 5 stories straight down.  I'm surprised no one has died during a windy game before. 

The sun was in my eyes for most of the game, so this is the best crowd shot I could take prior to halftime.  THAS A LOTTA RED!

After the sun went down, Cody started throwing tipped interceptions, and all was lost.

The stadium had some lame fireworks display post game for the end of the Big XII era, or some such crap, but it wasn't worth my time to capture.  You may be asking yourself "Where's the picture of the traditional border crossing bathroom break?"  Well, for one, it was reaaaallllly cold when we crossed, and two, do you really want a picture of me pissing on a sign?  Other than that, when we got back to the hotel the others went swimming and I went to sleep because I'm old and lame; and so thus ends the pictography.

Coaching Rumblings - If you are following the search as closely as I am, you may have been slightly concerned when the inter-tubes lit up with the bogus news that Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt was going to be announced as the new Buffs head coach at a 3pm news conference today.  The rumor was started by some random website who couldn't even get Coach Mac's name right.  A whole bunch of people freaked out, assuming the worst.  It was bullshit, and all is back to normal.  It's not going to move that fast; we'll know when the guy is selected, and it won't be some random SEC blog breaking the news to us.  Hell, half the viable candidates haven't even been interviewed yet.  If it aint from a Colorado based source, I'm not putting to much stock in the information.

On that front, Bohn took the opportunity the Vikings/Redskins game provided to interview two of the leading "family" candidates.  Eric Bienemy and John Embree both got looks over the weekend, and certainly Bienemy is on the short list.  I've also heard Air Force Coach Troy Calhoun's name a lot, although I haven't talked to many fans who would want him as their top choice.

Basketball team loses to the smaht kids from Hahvahd - Sigh.... for the first time ever the Harvard Crimson have defeated a Big XII basketball team, and of course it was the CU Buffaloes.  The Buffs continued to stumble out of the gate, losing their 3rd road game in as many tries.  I listened to exactly 3 minutes of the first half before realizing what was going to happen and falling back asleep.  The same poor team defense that was present last season continues to plague the team this year, the difference is that the stellar offensive efficiency seen under the Bzdelik Hyper-Princeton offense is missing.  CU shot only 34.5% from the floor and had only 5 assists on 19 made baskets.  CU even managed to be out-rebounded by the small conference Harvard team.  Alec Burks was non existent in the first half, and the team struggled all second half to remain within 20 of the Ivy League Crimson.  In all reality any hopes of the NCAA Tournament have been flushed, and the team can only hope to make the NIT now.  The season's been a massive disappointment so far, and it's become clear that the dramatic change from Princeton-style to traditional offense is having a profound affect on this team.

TCU joining Big East - About that MWC move Boise St... it's not looking so good.  TCU has just announced planes to jump to the Big East of all places for the 2012 football season.  The move will be for all sports.  As of then the "new" Mountain West will be Boise St plus the left overs of the old MWC and the WAC; all the marquee names have jumped ship.  Imagine if the Utahs, TCU, and BSU had joined forces with Nevada, Fresno St, Hawaii, and Air Force.  That'd be a hell of an 8 team conference, probably even worthy of a BCS bid.  Instead, the powers all went their separate ways, leaving Boise holding the bag of shit at the end.  Let's all give Boise St the ole' sad trombone for effort!

Peyton Hillis - On the brighter side of life, I'd like to take a moment to trumpet the accomplishments of my man Peyton Hillis.  The bruising runningback we're apparently calling "the dumptruck," was plucked off the Josh McDaniels scrap heap (one man's trash is another's treasure) and is now diamonds in the hands of the Cleveland Browns (and my fantasy team).  Dude had another 3 touchdowns Sunday, and is reminding everyone of Mike Alstott.  Best fantasy pick-up ever!

 

(Your running back is now DIAMONDS!)

Josh McDaniels - Speaking of Josh McDaniels; it's probably not the best time to be giving your owner a convenient excuse to shit-can your ass.  As the Broncos continue to be consistently inconsistent, the revelation comes out that a member of McD's staff went and taped a 49ers practice in London.  After 15 loses in 20 games, you can't let something like that happen.  While I'll buy that Josh had nothing to do with it, and that his apologies were genuine, it's not a good time to be giving your detractors ammunition.  With Hawk gone, the Colorado sports constituency needs fresh blood, and it looks like J-Mac's going to give it to them.

Happy Monday!

Monday Grab Bag: Well, it could've been worse

Halloween's over, which means we can move on to the 2 month's long Christmas season. Egg nog for all! On with the bag...

Buffs Lose: What did you really expect from this game? If not for us playing in prevent defense from the opening kickoff, and Bob Stoops displaying some mercy by calling off the dogs early in the 3rd Quarter, OU could've racked up 75+ points and 700 yards of passing. I'm not kidding, we're that much worse than they are. As it was, OU racked up 488 yards through the air and 635 yards overall. The Buffs seemed reluctant to try and stop the Sooner offense, instead preferring to sit back and try not to be broken over the top. Time after time to Sooners ran the same swing pass to the running back to keep drives moving down the field (OU RB's combined for 14 catches) wihtout an adjustment by the CU defense, and, when they grew tired of that, our 4 quarters of prevent defense couldn't keep All-World WR Ryan Broyles from getting 9 catches for 208 yards and 3 scores.

While the defense was looking tired and indifferent, the offense was looking impotent. Finding less than 300 yards of offense on the evening, the Buffs were inefficient and non-threatening against a Sooner defense that had been the team's lone weak spot. Rodney Stewart was a singular bright spot gaining 90 yards on 19 carries, even keeping drives alive on some nice runs between the tackles.

I guess my point on this game is that it could've been worse. We knew it was going to be bad, and were in damage control from the opening kickoff. From what I saw, our gameplan was not to even attempt to win, but to keep the Sooners from completely embarrassing us; such is the state of CU football. We know from logical assumptions, press insinuations, and information from reliable sources that Hawk is gone at the end of the year; the decision is already been made, and that we are just waiting for the clock to run out. At this point all we are doing by keeping him around is getting the program embarrassed and kids hurt. With firing him, I think it takes the weight of his impending doom away from the season, and allows the kids to handle their own destiny. If we're going to fire him in 26 days, what good does it do to keep him around any longer?

(Hawk, staring metaphorically at his bleak future. From: The BDC)

Coaching Situation: I'm told that by keeping Hawk we're preventing terrible things from happening; that firing Hawk today, and not November 27th, would damage recruiting, and end any chance of getting to a bowl game. I would respond by saying that as currently coached the team will lose at least 3 more games, if not all 4, and that recruiting is certainly not helped by a man who knows he doesn't have a job come two days after Thanksgiving (In fact he could permanently damage the current recruiting class, if it hasn't been damaged already). If Hawk was delusional, running to the press with hyperventilated rantings of turning the ship around, never say die and all of that, I might buy that there is something to be gained from his continued employment for one more month, if only from the power of crazy. As it is, he's a beaten man who can't even get through a press conference anymore. I think Hawk hurts, both for his situation and for his team. He cares, a little too much, about the kids he coaches, as has been evidenced by his sticking with Goodman yet being too worried to watch his kick Saturday. (He couldn't bear to watch another Goodman failure because he truly cares about the kid; he knows Goodman is not up to the job, but sticks with him out of loyalty.) The overall situation cannot be good for him; as it is he has a hollow look to his eyes. This needs to end now, for everyone's sake.

I know Mike Bohn dislikes the idea of firing coaches in mid-season; his perspective is that it hurts the kids, and part of me wants to agree with that. But, in my opinion, the kids are being done a disservice by their current head coach. The team is spark-less and directionless; like a 18th Century Frigate with no "wind in 'er sails." That "wind" isn't going to come from a head coach that has nothing to coach for. Perhaps an interim coach could spark something, possibly even a true effort to get to a bowl game. Perhaps an interim coach would fight to gain some attention for the talent there is on the team. As it is, the 2010 CU Buffaloes are just going through the motions, and that is doing no one any good, and is only going to result is more losses and injuries.

Bowl!? I just hope we can win another game...: Former NFL head coach Jim Mora once had a famous rant where he mockingly disagreed with the insinuation that his team could still make it to the playoffs. It's similar to this current CU team; we ain't making it to a bowl, and I mockingly scoff at any insinuations to the contrary. While I love the talk of a bowl game for the simple fact that it shows that the players and Buff nation still have spirit, the fact remains that this team is going nowhere. Yes, there is still something to play for, but do you really expect this team, coached in this way, to win 3 of 4 games against Big XII opponents? I think we still have one more win in our bag of tricks, but that's about the extent of the fight left in the dog.

Lebron James rethinks decision: Hey, look, Lebron James has finally conceded that he made a mistake in dedicating an hour-long telecast to ripping the heart out of an entire city. I'm honestly surprised it's taken him this long to admit his mistake in playing-up his vicious backstabbing of the entire city of Cleveland. He's a good marketer, and I know he's noticed the decline in his nation-wide favorability, but shouldn't he have noticed this right away? I'm sure "The Decision" sounded great to him at the time, but any non-biased entity would've told him that it was a bad idea. ESPN certainly wasn't going to tell him no since they would reap rewards regardless how it was perceived by the public. That Lebron admits his mistake is a good step, I just think that it's a little late and the the damage to his public perception has been done. Viciously tweeting about your retribution schemes certainly doesn't help, either. Expect an apology for his twitter account in 3-4 months.

World Series: I've been pleasantly surprised by the Giants play. Lincecum beat the suddenly mortal Cliff Lee in game 1, and, after the awesome performance of Madison Bumgarner (!) last night, they are one win away from walking off with the franchise's first title since 1954. Besides the good pitching performances, they've played good D and have hit very well. I thought the Rangers would win for sure, but, with the Giants on the brink of a title, I'm moderately happy for them.

(These Giants are one win away... From: Fox Sports)

The NFL and Suicide Pools: I was glued to the Chiefs-Bills game yesterday; weird, I know. Had the Bills pulled the upset, I'd be sitting quite pretty in my NFL Suicide Pool (In a weak week, Most people had the Chiefs as their pick); as it is I am one of 117 left out of the original 1500 entries in my pool (big prizes on the line, btw). I think NFL Suicide Pools are the best fantasy game available; it's all up to you. In regular fantasy football, if you have a bad draft, your season is essentially over. With suicide pools, it's all on your shoulders to pick a winner each week, while saving strong teams for the rest of the season. Strategy, football knowledge, week-to-week intrigue; it's all there. Best. Fantasy. Invention. Ever.

Happy Monday!

Monday Grab Bag: Yay, it's game week again!

Ah, a nice and relaxing weekend of essentially nothing of consequence. Now on to a surprisingly full bag...

Georgia Stinks - I sat down Saturday night to watch the Georgia/Mississippi St game. Ohhhh boy is Georgia awful. Besides this being their 3rd straight loss, they lost in Starkville, MS for the first time since 1951. Woof. They couldn't move the ball at all on offense, only finding the end zone after the game had been decided, and their new and improved 3-4 defense couldn't stop an impotent version of the zone-read spread option. Whats more the 10th Bulldog (Georgia, not Miss St) arrest of the season took place Sunday when Demetre Baker was caught under suspicion of DUI and "other charges." This is a team full of bad mojo right now, and CU couldn't be catching them at a better time. Coach Mark Richt is the SEC's version of Dan Hawkins, and had the "I know I'm fired" look going Saturday night. ("The loss at State seems a tipping point. It seems the game in which the majority of Georgia fans stopped seeing Mark Richt as the answer and came to regard him as the problem." -link) I really don't know how much A.J. Green returning will help this team. Listen, CU is still facing an up-hill climb against Georgia on Saturday night, but I like our chances much more than I did 2 or 3 weeks ago.

(All the 5-star talent in the world won't help you if you're out-coached)

Dolphis v Jets - I've been a Dolphin "fan" since I was 5, and the Jets game is always on fraught with drama and consternation. While I don't care as much as I did when I was younger, I still cared just enough to use the Fins game as the "commercial flip-channel" from Mad Men Sunday night. While the Fins eventually lost, their 2-minute drill in an attempt to tie the game was exciting, but it never should've happened. With a 1 point lead with just under 2 minutes to go, the Jets scored a TD. They then kicked the extra point to go up 8.... why? Why don't they go for two in that situation? If they convert the game is, for all intents and purposes, over. If they miss, the Dolphins still have to go the length of the field just to tie the game. You essentially risk nothing. Getting 8 points with under 2 minutes left is only slightly more difficult than getting 7. Getting 9 is damn near impossible. It was negative coaching from Rex Ryan, and just one more example of chicken-shit NFL coach decision making.

Braylon Edwards - Speaking of Fins/Jets, the Jets trotted out Braylon Edwards after his 1 quarter suspension for arrest on suspicion of DWI. 1 quarter? Seriously? Just don't punish him at all. I was all fired up to talk about cultivation of a culture supportive of miscreants, but Deadspin stole my thunder. What I will mention is that driving into work today I heard some idiot talk about the fact that getting arrested isn't necessarily against team rules, and so he shouldn't have been suspended, even for one quarter. That's bullshit. It's the same dumb-ass excuse that baseball players gave when they were caught doing steroids (well, It wasn't against team or MLB rules...). Violating the law supersedes team rules, dumbass. A professional organization shouldn't need to hold their employees hand and explain that committing a felony is against team rules. I know for damn sure that If I go out and commit a felony on Saturday night, that I will not be welcome at work Monday morning; no one from HR has to tell me that. Yes, yes... due process and all of that. He'll deserve a 2nd chance once that process has run its course, but he needs to sit his ass on the bench until then.

Ozzie and the Cubs - Hey, look kids, Ozzie Guillen is threatening to quit/retire/join the Cubs again. That must mean the end of the season is upon us. He does this every year, and yet people still report on it. I imagine it's easy for a reporter to get Ozzie Guillen to say just about anything. Ask him "Hey Ozzie, would you like an extension?" and you get a story about how he wants "assurance that are firmer than his current contract." Ask "Hey Ozzie, would you ever manage the Cubs?" and you get a story about how he would consider it "if pursued." Ozzie will say the honest truth (or whatever pops into his head at the moment) to whatever you ask him; he's just that type of guy. He's a beat reporters dream: don't have a story for tomorrows paper, just ask Ozzie some leading questions and there he goes. I just don't understand how people haven't caught on to this yet. Yes, Ozzie will be back next year; no, Ozzie won't manage the Cubs; no, he won't retire any time soon; yes, he is a pain in the ass, but he's a pain that usually wins ballgames despite predictions to the contrary. He's a circus act, and I'm surprised that people still hang on every word that comes out of his mouth.

Winning my fantasy baseball league - On the lighter side "Lou Brown's Tire World" (my fantasy baseball team) won my league's title yesterday. It was a hard fought season, but my fantasy superiority shone through in the end. Pitching, hitting; my team has it all. Sure, only 5 of the 10 teams had owners who paid attention, but the point is I WON. WOOO HOOO, bring out the champagne! If the Sox and Rox don't want to win something, I guess I'll have to take up the slack.

(Way to bring home the title captain Lou!)

Happy Monday Everyone!

Monday Grab Bag:

Was that the last victory cigar of the season? Can the Buffs run the ball against good competition? Can a Hawk lead team continue to show that level of fight and emotion throughout the rest of the season? Did Hawk really headbutt a dude? Lots of unanswered questions left after the Hawaii game; could there be answers in this weeks bag? No, probably not, but lets dive in anyway!

Yes, that whole running the football thing - Last week I said CU would have to run the football against Hawaii, if only to prove they they can properly take game film study and apply it to game week prep. Good news; they properly prepared for Hawaii! Despite falling behind early, the Buffs continued to pound the ball; ending up with 52(!) rushes for 252(!) yds. They actually got a little lucky by only falling behind 10-0 at the half; it could've (should've) been much worse. Had the defense not stepped up (like men!) in the first quarter when the offense couldn't hold onto the ball, the Buffs easily could've been down by 3 or 4 scores. Imagine how different the game would've been if Jimmy Smith hadn't run his ass off from the other side of the field to make the TD saving tackle on the second play of the game, allowing for the first of 2 goal-line stands; if CU goes down 7 right away, it could've gotten ugly. Thankfully, that was not the case, and the CU offense was able to stick to the gameplan and smack Hawaii around with the O-line. Great job by all involved as Speedy and B-Lock became the first RB duo since Bobby Purify and Chris Brown to each go over 100yds rushing.

(B-Lock doing whatever it takes to run the football. From: The BDC)

Passing game still not there - The success on the ground almost makes up for the struggles through the air. While Tyler ended up with 200 yds passing and 2 TD's, 106 yds and both touchdowns came on 2 "lucky plays;" the 72yd busted Toney Clemmons catch (great job sticking with the play, though) and the 23 yd "volleyball" TD thrown to Scotty (his 2nd one of those btw). Of course you'd rather be lucky than good, but the passing game just isn't what I expected. Tyler's new-found inhibition against scrambling is actually hurting CU. When Tyler is not only a threat to run but actually running the defense opens up that little bit. Just look at that pass to Clemmons. When Tyler is "out-and-about," the defense can let a WR or two sneak behind them. A similar thing happened in the first half; Tyler just overthrew Kyle Cefalo. If Tyler is going to succeed as the starting QB he has to get out of the pocket and become a dual-threat.

(We need to get Toney Clemmons the ball more. From: The BDC)

Momentum into the bye week - CU now has 2 whole weeks to think about how awesome they are. With the bye next week before Georgia, the team has the unique opportunity of sitting at home and physically watching their opponent play live (and in color!). Georgia has stubbed its toe a few times already the year, and that combined with the second half output against Hawaii should give the Buffs some much needed confidence headed into the matchup. Imagine that, after all of that doom-and-gloom CU is not only guaranteed to not go into conference play with a losing record, the Buffs could (I said could) go in at 3-1. Think happy thoughts Buff nation.

That crowd is why Bohn is a great AD - The crowd of over 47,000 shocked the hell out of me. Yes, it was the home opener, but I was sure many people would bypass that game for the Georgia one. The weather was even lousy, yet the people still turned out for a game against a middle-of-the-road WAC school. It was a lively group, and they didn't even turn sour when things looked bad early. Kudos once again to the AD's office for getting butts in the seats.

(Surprisingly good crowd. From: The BDC)

Emotion: it's a good thing - You could tell the players were fired up starting the second half. Those first two drives were things of football beauty; 14 plays/80yds and 10 plays/60yds. Throw in a safety and a two-point conversion, and Hawaii was knocked back on its feet with 17 quick points out of the gate. By all accounts, Kiesau really tore into the offense at halftime, and the offense responded by coming out intense and ready to go. CU finally looked like a football team on a gameday. In a game built around intensity I've never been too sure about Hawk's "even-keel" philosophy, and I think CU has suffered as a result. But Saturday they were fired up, and it showed.

Hawk's nose - Speaking of being fired-up; Hawk got a little too fired up and head-butted a player who already had his helmet on (or got punched in the face if you believe baseless internet rumors). LB B.J. Beatty said "He was ready to go today, I think he wanted to play." (-link) Good to see some fire from Hawk, I guess he does want to keep his job. The vultures were circling on Saturday, and Hawk gave em an intense middle finger. Way to go, I guess...

(I know it's a bad picture, but it's the best I got.)

Bears and Dolphins 2-0 - Shockingly, my two favorite NFL teams have decided to go 2-0. The Fins have gotten their two wins by showing off their great defensive unit. The Bears have gotten to 2-0 by getting lucky against the Lions and playing a terrible Cowboys team. Not much analysis to go around here; all I'm going to say is Lovie Smith sucks and still needs to be fired. Sparano: you're still doing good work, keep it up!

Brett Favre and Vince Young suck terribly - A special "I hope you get ass cancer" message goes out to Brett Favre. For the 4th year in a row, I have somehow ended up with Favre on at least one of my fantasy teams (not for lack of effort trying to keep him away, either). While he was decent last year, severely reducing his turnover numbers, he has now reverted to what I call "one-eyed gunslinger" Brett. You see, Brett just can't see that 4th defender covering his intended receiving target, what with the cataracts and all. Good thing you came back this year Brett. At least with Tavaris Jackson you know that shit will fly. And you football Jesus (Vince Young): WTF, dude? All I needed was 4 weeks out of you, and I could've plugged Roethlisburger in. Now I have to scramble to find another option. FUCK YOU AND YOUR DAMN TURNOVER ISSUES!

(Fantasy Football Bitch Session now concluded)

Sox stagger drunkenly toward the finish line - Fuck me they've been terrible. Last week I thought they had a decent shot at 90 wins, now I'm wondering if they'll fuck up enough to hit break-even. Someone needs to take this team out back and put it out of its misery. 0-6 since that last post (at home, mind you). Damn, that's awful. I know they've been "sad-faced" by the end of the division chase, but they can at least try for the paying fans. At least they made it to football season before completely shitting the bed.

(Even Ozzie knows that's bad baseball. From: The trib)


Happy Monday!

Monday Grab Bag: Is it basketball season yet?

Woof, my ass still hurts after the Cal drubbing. Be sure to count the number of ways I call Hawk an asshat in this weeks bag....

Cal whups CU by 45 points - (I don't have the heart to write a full writeup tomorrow, so this will have to suffice). A senior laden team lead by a man fighting for his job and respectability shouldn't lay this type of egg, yet here we are. The Buffs came out ill prepared; the offense seemed absolutely befuddled by the aggressive 3-4 Cal defense, yellow flags flew all over the field, and, once again, the team seemed a step slow all day. By the time the Buffs looked up, they were in desperation mode. Tyler Hansen even tried to play Brifar by throwing a left-handed shovel pass that turned into 6 Cal pts; and thus the competitive portion of the game concluded.

It was the same performance as against CSU, only against a much better opponent.

It's the same old story; penalties, turnovers, and no preparation. Whats even more depressing is that the loss was almost entirely self inflicted. The Buffs gave Cal short field after short field to work with (through a series of poor special teams work, poor offense and penalties) and, if that wasn't enough, threw some penalties and turnovers-for-touchdowns in for good measure. The defense nobly tried to hold back the oncoming flood, but by the 7 minute mark in the 1st quarter, they were spent. With nothing left in the tank, the floodgates opened and the rout was on. Honest-to-God, by halftime my watch party had devolved into a games of Clue and Scrabble.

We may never know what would've happened if CU had shown up ready to play. While we looked slow and sluggish, how much of that was due to being morally defeated within 5 minutes? We probably still would've lost, but not by 45 points, and not in such an embarrassing fashion. None-the-less, we shouldn't be talking about wishing to have hung with a middle of the road Pac10 team

Devastating Performance - This is undoubtedly the most depressing performance by a CU team that I have witnessed since arriving on campus in 2002 (and believe me, I've seen some shit over that time). This isn't like losing to a legit outstanding Texas team in Houston when our coach had quit, or losing to Montana St cause no one knows where to line up; this is far, far worse. This loss may have erased all the goodwill that the athletic department had scratched and clawed to get over the last 6 months. Attendance will plummet and any enthusiasm or momentum that the move to the Pac12 would've brought may well have been washed away. It's going to be a long Fall....

(Talk about pictures being worth a thousand words, this one just about sums it all up. Head down, we trudge through a long dark corridor. Yeesh, this shit is depressing. From: TRR)

I cannot begin to tell you how glad I am that I didn't spend the money to travel west. To have spent $350-$450 on a weekend getaway only to get egg-on-the-face embarrassed like that would've been devastating to my already fragile psyche. It's not just that they lost big, it's the combination of factors; being embarrassed before our new Pac12 brethren, being embarrassed in front of over 7,000 CU fans who had circled this as the Western coming out party for the California fan-base, being embarrassed on national television, and being embarrassed when we're trying to negotiate a lower buy out from the Big XII. This is beyond bad.

You could hear the pity in the announcers voices; this is a devastating loss, and everyone knows it. At least we can now make the argument with a straight face that CU leaving the Big XII won't cause any lasting damage cause our exit will strengthen the league.

Could we still recover? - Sure. It's not the first time a football team has gone on the road and Wile E. Coyote'd it into a brick wall. Teams (including the '01 Big XII championship team) have recovered from devastating road losses before. Sometime shit just happens. However, I have absolutely no faith, given what the coaching staff has shown over the past 4 years, that we will see such a thing this year. Before the season started I figured a 4-8 season, and that prediction seems as likely as ever.

What happened to all the touch-ups? - We've heard time and time again over the past 12 months that all the team needed was a little touch up here and there; that CU was "this close" to being good. Instead we see the same penalties, the same lack of offensive game planning, the same lack of mental toughness. What little things have the coaches been working on?

I refuse to blame the players - I say coaches, cause that's who let Buff nation down Saturday. Sure, it's the players who have to execute, but preparation is the coaches responsibility, and its consistently lacking. It's not up to the players to game plan for an aggressive 3-4 defense. It's not entirely up to the players to mentally prepare for a BCS road trip. It's not entirely up to the players to fix mistakes like procedural penalties. That's on the coaches. Time and time again we've seen evidence of a lack of preparation; that the players aren't mentally prepared to face game day. These are 20yr old kids, it's not on their shoulders; it's up to the highly paid grown-ass men who "lead" them to get their heads in the right place, and the current staff has shown itself to be absolutely incapable of doing so.

Hawk has 2 and a half months left in Boulder - Well at least we now know that Hawk is finished. Barring a miracle run to the north title and a trip to the last Big XII championship, his ass is canned. Because of the coming general election, I highly doubt that Hawk will be fired mid season if it can be avoided. Bruce Benson and Phil DiStefano would rather eat a plate of brillo pads than make the amount of Hawk's buyout (and therefore athletic spending at the state's flagship university) an election issue. If anything, Hawk could be fired the day after the K-State game, giving the team a full two weeks to get over it and prepare for the final game. This would be an ugly move, and one I highly doubt Mike Bohn would go for. So, 5 minutes after the Nebraska game is more than likely the expiration date on Hawk's stay in Boulder. But that immediately brings me to the next question: who would want his job?

(I realize this shit is depressing, so here's a picture of bulldog puppies to cheer you up! They're so cute I almost forget how bad we lost this weekend!)

Hawk talked last year about arriving to find scorched earth where there should have been a football program. Most people rightly dismissed his ramblings as a desperate attempt to put his piss-poor record in better light. Well, the program certainly is starting to take on a scorched look now, and I wonder who would want to jump head first into this mess. If we can't find a real replacement, the Dan Hawkins hiring disaster may take decades (if ever) to recover from.

Pac10 commish says we're probably stuck in limbo for another year - More bad news: Pac10(12) commissioner Larry Scott puts the chances of CU entering the Pac10(12) conference next year at "worse than 50/50." And the hits just keep on coming. That was supposed to be the light at the end of the tunnel. Next year would be a whole new start, and whatever happened this year would be forgotten. Now, it looks like a long, dark road. Hopefully this is still just posturing, and that Beebe and the Big XII(X) will fold, but I'm starting to doubt that.

Sox season essentially over - In news that matters only to me: after last weeks stumbles in Detroit, and barring a 3-game sweep of the Twins and a minor miracle over the final 2 weeks, the Sox season is over. It's not that big of a shock, we were never that great of a team anyways, but it's still kind of sad to see the plucky southsiders crash at the end like this.

The problem is that with all of the win now attitude of GM Kenny Williams we have severely mortgaged our future with expensive veteran players. With the cheap control years of players like Floyd and Danks quickly coming to an end, how solid and financially viable will the Sox be in future years? The even more pressing issues of weather to re-sign WS heroes Buehrle, Konerko and Pierzynski are hanging mightily over the team, and the direction, and fortune, of my southside boys is in doubt. God only knows how all this is going to play out.

(Are these the last days of Cap'n Paulie in a Sox uniform? From: The Trib)

Calvin Johnson game winning catch that wasn't - Finally, in pro football news, yesterday a game winning catch by Detroit Lion Calvin Johnson was overturned because of a poorly constructed NFL rule. I understand that the rule states that he has to maintain control of the ball til he essentially gets on the bus (keeping two hands on it through the post game shower, buffet, and interviews); my issue isn't with the enforcement of the rule. My issue is with the construction of the rule. The purpose is sound (making sure the receiver "completes" the catch), but doesn't a receiver catching the ball cleanly, getting two feet, an ass, an arm, and a leg down while maintaining complete control of the ball show a "complete" catch? Only when he start to get up to celebrate did Calvin lose control of the ball. It's a cheap way to rob an outstanding receiver (and his teammates) of a cleanly caught game-winning touchdown. Also it cost me 9 fantasy points.


(Calvin deserved better. Chin up Megatron, you're still one of the best in the league. From: the trib)

Happy Monday! I hope everyone has a great week!