A hearty congratulations to the Volleyball team for their well-deserved selection to the NCAA tournament. It was a program-defining season for ladies that saw them upset three ranked teams and finish seventh in a league that sent 75% of its members to the dance. For their efforts, they were awarded the equivalent of an 11-seed, and will play old Big XII rival Iowa State in Minneapolis on Friday at 3:30 MT. Not too shabby.
Go Buffs! Beat those Cyclones!
--
Today in the bag, I'm recapping the basketball win over Air Force, putting the 2013 football season to bed, and taking a look around the nation of football.
Click below for the bag...
Showing posts with label trying to pretend football doesn't exist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trying to pretend football doesn't exist. Show all posts
Monday, December 2, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Monday Grab Bag: Basketball season is off and running
It's damn good to have basketball back in my life. I spent all weekend on the couch, watching a myriad of games from across the nation. Not all of it was perfect, in fact some of it was outright unwatchable, but I enjoyed every second, none-the-less. Welcome back, basketball, you were sorely missed.
--
Today in the bag, I'm talking the Buffs' win over UT-Martin, basketball notes from around the nation, and the football team's big loss in Seattle.
Click below for the bag...
--
Today in the bag, I'm talking the Buffs' win over UT-Martin, basketball notes from around the nation, and the football team's big loss in Seattle.
Click below for the bag...
Friday, June 7, 2013
Watch as I react to the news that CU is 3.5 point underdogs to CSU...
*Golden Nugget releases lines for over 200 college football games*
*Installs CSU as 3.5 point favorites over CU*
*Installs CSU as 3.5 point favorites over CU*
...
...
...
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Quick Post: Dustin Thomas Video
... blah, blah, football...
Wait a second, Dustin Thomas finally has high school highlights available for all to see? It's time to break out the breaking news bell!
Thomas, one of three signees in the 2013 basketball recruiting class, had been mostly an unknown quantity to this point. As far as I know, no one outside of the coaching staff had seen film on him. It just didn't exist. (insert Manti Te'o joke here)
When I asked rivals.com basketball guru Will Whelan about getting some film on the kid, he suggested I fly to Thomas' home town of Texarkana myself. Heaven help me, that's never going to happen. (I have an explicit "mess with Texas" policy, and am probably no longer welcome in that state.) Thankfully, the internet enables laziness, and has provided BuffNation with it's first true glimpse of the 6'8" forward.
A big hat-tip to @TZiskBuff for bringing this to the world's attention. I doubt he flew to Texarkana for this, but if he did, someone needs to buy him a beer or 20.
Wait a second, Dustin Thomas finally has high school highlights available for all to see? It's time to break out the breaking news bell!
Thomas, one of three signees in the 2013 basketball recruiting class, had been mostly an unknown quantity to this point. As far as I know, no one outside of the coaching staff had seen film on him. It just didn't exist. (insert Manti Te'o joke here)
When I asked rivals.com basketball guru Will Whelan about getting some film on the kid, he suggested I fly to Thomas' home town of Texarkana myself. Heaven help me, that's never going to happen. (I have an explicit "mess with Texas" policy, and am probably no longer welcome in that state.) Thankfully, the internet enables laziness, and has provided BuffNation with it's first true glimpse of the 6'8" forward.
A big hat-tip to @TZiskBuff for bringing this to the world's attention. I doubt he flew to Texarkana for this, but if he did, someone needs to buy him a beer or 20.
On Signing Day 2013
It's National Signing Day. All across the country, college football fans are collectively drooling at the meat-market parade of new talent lining up to join their favorite programs. In Boulder, however, the reception is, well, rather muted.
Not once since the rise of the recruiting age has the first Wednesday in February landed with such a thud in Chief Niwot's valley. There will be no televised signing extravaganzas featuring Ralphie this afternoon, no Black and Gold hats being plucked off of tables on ESPNU. A product of the program's declining fortunes, a harried transition class, and a lack of nationally ranked recruits, Signing Day has been reduced in the eyes of many in BuffNation to mild distraction worthy of only a shoulder shrug.
Coach Mike MacIntyre is expected to put the finishing touches on a class considered by most to be the worst in the Pac-12 by signing 17 or 18 kids today. Of that group, none are rated higher than 3-stars by Rivals, and only three are nationally ranked amongst their position. The Buffs famously failed to even get a visit from a four or five star recruit this cycle, with even in-state talent taking a pass. This underscores not only who was (or, more importantly, wasn't) listening, but who the coaching staff was targeting.
Sure, recruiting services are in the business of selling an image circle-jerk, but image has an unhealthy habit of influencing reality over a large sample size. If recruiting were fishing, this would be a haul of minnows and guppies.
That's not to say these bait fish can't eventually grow up to be whoppers. Plenty of unheralded recruits have come to Boulder and done well in recent years - Scotty McKnight, Jordan Dizon, Rodney Stewart, Jalil Brown, David Bakhtiari to name a few. I'd rather not have to depend on a diamond-in-the-rough crapshoot, but it is what it is.
Despite the lack of national attention, there are a few commits who catch my eye. WR Devin Ross, QB Sefo Liufau, WR Bryce Bobo, DE Markeis Reed and OL Gunnar Graham all look promising on paper. Local (Denver South) RB product Phillip Lindsay also intrigues me, and comes to CU after a record-setting high school career. Unfortunately, an ACL tear has set his growth back.
Additionally, Coach Mike MacIntyre lured former San Jose State commits/targets ATH Kenneth Olugbode, ATH Ryan Severson, and RB Michael Adkins to Boulder, beefing up the class over the last month. Another, DB Chidobe Awuzie, made for a nice Signing Day surprise. (Another SD surprise was the signing of safety Tedric Thompson. Nice get for the staff)
I'm sure they're all great kids, and I'm proud that they've chosen to attend my alma mater, but I can't help but look at the group as gap-fillers, rather than impact players. I wouldn't expect too many of them to contribute as freshmen, even with playing time available up-and-down the depth chart (Wideout and defensive backs are notable exceptions).
Regardless of the success or failure of this group, both in the immediacy, and the long-term, I'm not going to hold it against MikeMac. Transition classes are usually shaky, and, unlike Embree's transition, MacIntyre has had relatively few available scholarships to play with (He chose to honor the previous staff's commitments, eating many possible spots). This class was, and is, mostly an Embree production. I'll give him the credit/blame accordingly.
Next year will be far more telling in terms of Mac 2.0's recruiting skill, or lack thereof.
Not once since the rise of the recruiting age has the first Wednesday in February landed with such a thud in Chief Niwot's valley. There will be no televised signing extravaganzas featuring Ralphie this afternoon, no Black and Gold hats being plucked off of tables on ESPNU. A product of the program's declining fortunes, a harried transition class, and a lack of nationally ranked recruits, Signing Day has been reduced in the eyes of many in BuffNation to mild distraction worthy of only a shoulder shrug.
Coach Mike MacIntyre is expected to put the finishing touches on a class considered by most to be the worst in the Pac-12 by signing 17 or 18 kids today. Of that group, none are rated higher than 3-stars by Rivals, and only three are nationally ranked amongst their position. The Buffs famously failed to even get a visit from a four or five star recruit this cycle, with even in-state talent taking a pass. This underscores not only who was (or, more importantly, wasn't) listening, but who the coaching staff was targeting.
 |
| Coach MikeMac had precious few slots to fill, and few impact players would take his call. From: the Post |
That's not to say these bait fish can't eventually grow up to be whoppers. Plenty of unheralded recruits have come to Boulder and done well in recent years - Scotty McKnight, Jordan Dizon, Rodney Stewart, Jalil Brown, David Bakhtiari to name a few. I'd rather not have to depend on a diamond-in-the-rough crapshoot, but it is what it is.
Despite the lack of national attention, there are a few commits who catch my eye. WR Devin Ross, QB Sefo Liufau, WR Bryce Bobo, DE Markeis Reed and OL Gunnar Graham all look promising on paper. Local (Denver South) RB product Phillip Lindsay also intrigues me, and comes to CU after a record-setting high school career. Unfortunately, an ACL tear has set his growth back.
 |
| Lindsay is a rare local star who will sign with CU. From: Maxpreps |
I'm sure they're all great kids, and I'm proud that they've chosen to attend my alma mater, but I can't help but look at the group as gap-fillers, rather than impact players. I wouldn't expect too many of them to contribute as freshmen, even with playing time available up-and-down the depth chart (Wideout and defensive backs are notable exceptions).
 |
| Outside of a few players, like QB Sefo Liufau, I'm unimpressed by this class. From: TRR |
Next year will be far more telling in terms of Mac 2.0's recruiting skill, or lack thereof.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Have you put a deposit down on basketball season tickets?
Look up at the right side of this page, we're well under two months to go until basketball season starts. That means we're just that much closer to watching the defending Pac-12 champions take the court. But, will you be there to watch them? You damn well better be, especially if I know where you live *shakes fist*.
All kidding aside, there's been plenty of excitement in the CEC over the past few years, and there's no reason you shouldn't be a part of it. Of all the available sporting events in the Denver/Boulder Metro Area, CU Basketball offers the most bang for your buck. Last season, a GA season package was available for $60, meaning each of the 16 home games cost less than $4. Throw in free parking, reasonable concession prices, access to the club room, and guaranteed seats to watch a program that has gone 32-4 in Boulder over the last two seasons, and you can't find a better deal in the 303.
Tickets are becoming more and more scarce as word gets out that the CEC is the place to be in the winter. Last year alone, CU averaged 10,054 in home conference games after winter break, just about 1k under capacity. Add to that the nine sellouts over the past two seasons, and the days of being able to find plenty of good seats to games at the last minute are dwindling fast.
To ice the cake, buying season tickets this year also allows BuffNation to enact some payback by screwing over Kansas Jayhawk fans. There has been no one more frustrated over the high percentage of Kansas fans attending the KU/CU games over the years than I. With the Circus Chickens returning to Boulder next winter, it presents BuffNaiton with an interesting opportunity to do something about it.
There used to be this father and son who had season tickets a few rows in front of me. They'd show up to a few games in the fall, dressed in non-Buffs wear, and sit silently, whispering back and forth as the season progressed. Then, come January, they'd show up to the KU game in five layers of Jayhawk gear. After the game, their seats would go empty for the rest of the season, and after the switch to the Pac-12 they were gone permanently. You see, for these die-hard Kansas fans, it was cheaper for them to buy season tickets to CU then to travel and scalp for one game in Allen Fieldhouse. The worst part? They didn't even have the common courtesy to pretend to like CU during a non-KU game.
The point is, if you have never gotten season tickets before, you have an opportunity to do two things:
If you haven't yet become a season-ticket holder for men's basketball, now's the time to jump on board. While general ticketing isn't yet available as the AD office sorts through the large number of renewals, you can put your name down on the ordering wait list here.
All kidding aside, there's been plenty of excitement in the CEC over the past few years, and there's no reason you shouldn't be a part of it. Of all the available sporting events in the Denver/Boulder Metro Area, CU Basketball offers the most bang for your buck. Last season, a GA season package was available for $60, meaning each of the 16 home games cost less than $4. Throw in free parking, reasonable concession prices, access to the club room, and guaranteed seats to watch a program that has gone 32-4 in Boulder over the last two seasons, and you can't find a better deal in the 303.
Tickets are becoming more and more scarce as word gets out that the CEC is the place to be in the winter. Last year alone, CU averaged 10,054 in home conference games after winter break, just about 1k under capacity. Add to that the nine sellouts over the past two seasons, and the days of being able to find plenty of good seats to games at the last minute are dwindling fast.
To ice the cake, buying season tickets this year also allows BuffNation to enact some payback by screwing over Kansas Jayhawk fans. There has been no one more frustrated over the high percentage of Kansas fans attending the KU/CU games over the years than I. With the Circus Chickens returning to Boulder next winter, it presents BuffNaiton with an interesting opportunity to do something about it.
There used to be this father and son who had season tickets a few rows in front of me. They'd show up to a few games in the fall, dressed in non-Buffs wear, and sit silently, whispering back and forth as the season progressed. Then, come January, they'd show up to the KU game in five layers of Jayhawk gear. After the game, their seats would go empty for the rest of the season, and after the switch to the Pac-12 they were gone permanently. You see, for these die-hard Kansas fans, it was cheaper for them to buy season tickets to CU then to travel and scalp for one game in Allen Fieldhouse. The worst part? They didn't even have the common courtesy to pretend to like CU during a non-KU game.
The point is, if you have never gotten season tickets before, you have an opportunity to do two things:
- 1) Get some great (and cheap) seats to one of the most exciting up-and-coming programs in the nation.
- 2) Deny those carpet-bagging Jayhawk fans the opportunity to move in on our party next year when the KU comes back to Boulder.
If you haven't yet become a season-ticket holder for men's basketball, now's the time to jump on board. While general ticketing isn't yet available as the AD office sorts through the large number of renewals, you can put your name down on the ordering wait list here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)