Not to overemphasize the point or anything, but today we find out if the Buffs will compete for the inaugural Pac-12 crown. At 2pm this afternoon Alec Burks will make his NBA decision known, ending weeks of speculation throughout Buff Nation. CUBuffs.com will carry his press conference live, and I'm sure the whole of Buff-related interwebs will explode with the result if you can't stream at work.
For the record, I can't believe that Alec's decision will be anything other than to declare himself for the draft. With the recent rash of high profile players deciding to stay in school, and if the impending NBA lockout truly doesn't play into his decision, then there's no basketball-related reason for Alec to stay off of a draft board that he will invariably shoot up. As the best SG prospect in a quickly shrinking draft, the kid should go pro.
The allure of another year in college, with friends, girls, and Boulder to entertain, may be strong, but I continue to maintain that the best CU basketball star of the past 14 years needs to make the jump. I'll be blown off my chair if he hasn't reached the same conclusion.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday Grab Bag: Playoffs!?
With the start of the NBA playoffs this weekend, we now have 2 sets of playoffs running across the country. April is always a great time to be a sports fan: baseball gets started, the NCAA crowns a basketball champion, the Masters greens its way into our hearts, and the road to championships start in 2 professional leagues. I'm enjoying every minute of it.
This week in the bag, I'll take a look at playoffs, both hockey and basketball, while briefly touching on my two favorite baseball teams.
Click below for the bag
Nuggets failed themselves - I had plenty of leftover questions from last night's 107-103 Nuggets loss to Oklahoma City in the first game of the NBA playoffs. How could the refs blow that basket interference call? Why is Ray Felton guarding Kevin Durant at any point down the stretch? Why is Danilo Gallinari handling the ball? The Nuggets couldn't draw up a better play than a 20ft jumper from Kenyon Martin? Can't somebody, please, hit both their free throws?
The good thing is that all of these problems are fixable. George Karl will go back to the drawing board and get his undersized guards off the freakishly 6-9 swing man Kevin Durant, the officials will be shamed into actually paying attention to late-game boardwork, Danilo won't be put in a position to give up the ball twice down the stretch, actual shooters will end up shooting in the final minute, and the free throws will take care of themselves.
The problem as I see is OKC strict refusal to allow Denver to score on the fast break. The Nuggets only had 9 points on the break last night, and at times Coach Karl was literally left pleading with his team to turn on the run. The Nuggets will have to run if they are to win the series; let's see if there's a change in game 2.
Bulls survive a scare - With just over 3 minutes to go the seemingly lifeless Bulls were down 10 without the ball. All game they had failed to contain the Pacers efficient offense, and even the other-worldly Derrick Rose looked unlikely to pull the Bulls collective asses out of the fire. I turned the game off.
Then, as if a cloud parted, the game turned. A stunning 16-1 thundered down, and victory was in hand. I was left befuddled when I clicked onto ESPN a few minutes after the final buzzer. "We won?" 104-99 was the final, they even played "Another one bites the dust." Official and everything.
The headline may read Bulls victory, but that game was far from impressive. Indiana seemingly scored at will against the vaunted Bulls defense, as it took until the final 2 minutes for the Bulls to even sniff a lead. Derrick Rose needed 44 shots to score his 39, and got banged up in the process. For a team looking to compete for a title, this was a rough start to a hopefully long playoff journey.
Blackhawks going out without even a whimper - The defending Stanley Cup Champions look far from worthy this year. Even home ice couldn't stop the Vancouver Canucks from skating to a 3-0 series lead. Put that in the bank, season's over for the Hawks.
I don't know what the future holds for the franchise, but don't feel right as it's been painful to watch this year. In the aftermath of a title, we've seen the all too quick dismantling of a champion due to money and cap implications. With a team built around young talent, I hoped that at least a few more years of upper-table quality was in store, but the Hawk's ship seems to be sinking fast as the '09-'10 team slowly fades into memory. I don't want a return to the early 2000s, stay relevant Hawks, please!
Rockies on fire - I never, ever, look at records before Memorial Day, but the Rockies are off to a fantastic start. 4 strait series victories, 2 of them sweeps, have the Rox flying high. Let's not get a head of ourselves, as there are 147 games left in the season, but I think this Rox team has the chance to do something special. Not 100-win special, but 90-95 with a division title seems plausible.
White Sox suffer another mid-April swoon - While the Rockies are riding high in the early going, my Sox have hit their typical mid-April weather-related road block. Temperatures were slightly warm to start the season, and the Sox roared out to a hot offensive start. The only thing seemingly able to stop "the Good Guys" in the first week was the pathetic performance of the back-end of the bullpen.
Now the temperatures have run cold in Chicago, and the offense has begun to sputter resulting in a 3 game sweep at the hands of the Angels and a dip under .500. By now I've grown accustomed to this, and fully expect the bats to hide when the temp drops below 55 degrees. While it's expected, I don't see why it isn't fixable. Regardless, the Sox have big-time sad face as they embark on a grueling 11-game east-coast roadtrip. Here's to hoping the team can survive the month within earshot of .500. The pressure to perform is on, and the "all-in" season may end up all-out before it really gets going.
Happy Monday!
This week in the bag, I'll take a look at playoffs, both hockey and basketball, while briefly touching on my two favorite baseball teams.
Click below for the bag
Nuggets failed themselves - I had plenty of leftover questions from last night's 107-103 Nuggets loss to Oklahoma City in the first game of the NBA playoffs. How could the refs blow that basket interference call? Why is Ray Felton guarding Kevin Durant at any point down the stretch? Why is Danilo Gallinari handling the ball? The Nuggets couldn't draw up a better play than a 20ft jumper from Kenyon Martin? Can't somebody, please, hit both their free throws?
| Westbrook and the Thunder surged past the Nuggets late Sunday night. From: the Post |
The good thing is that all of these problems are fixable. George Karl will go back to the drawing board and get his undersized guards off the freakishly 6-9 swing man Kevin Durant, the officials will be shamed into actually paying attention to late-game boardwork, Danilo won't be put in a position to give up the ball twice down the stretch, actual shooters will end up shooting in the final minute, and the free throws will take care of themselves.
The problem as I see is OKC strict refusal to allow Denver to score on the fast break. The Nuggets only had 9 points on the break last night, and at times Coach Karl was literally left pleading with his team to turn on the run. The Nuggets will have to run if they are to win the series; let's see if there's a change in game 2.
Bulls survive a scare - With just over 3 minutes to go the seemingly lifeless Bulls were down 10 without the ball. All game they had failed to contain the Pacers efficient offense, and even the other-worldly Derrick Rose looked unlikely to pull the Bulls collective asses out of the fire. I turned the game off.
Then, as if a cloud parted, the game turned. A stunning 16-1 thundered down, and victory was in hand. I was left befuddled when I clicked onto ESPN a few minutes after the final buzzer. "We won?" 104-99 was the final, they even played "Another one bites the dust." Official and everything.
 |
| Hounded all evening, D-Rose somehow pulled the Bulls butts out the fire, but can he keep it up? From: the Trib |
The headline may read Bulls victory, but that game was far from impressive. Indiana seemingly scored at will against the vaunted Bulls defense, as it took until the final 2 minutes for the Bulls to even sniff a lead. Derrick Rose needed 44 shots to score his 39, and got banged up in the process. For a team looking to compete for a title, this was a rough start to a hopefully long playoff journey.
Blackhawks going out without even a whimper - The defending Stanley Cup Champions look far from worthy this year. Even home ice couldn't stop the Vancouver Canucks from skating to a 3-0 series lead. Put that in the bank, season's over for the Hawks.
 |
| That's going fast. From: the Trib |
I don't know what the future holds for the franchise, but don't feel right as it's been painful to watch this year. In the aftermath of a title, we've seen the all too quick dismantling of a champion due to money and cap implications. With a team built around young talent, I hoped that at least a few more years of upper-table quality was in store, but the Hawk's ship seems to be sinking fast as the '09-'10 team slowly fades into memory. I don't want a return to the early 2000s, stay relevant Hawks, please!
Rockies on fire - I never, ever, look at records before Memorial Day, but the Rockies are off to a fantastic start. 4 strait series victories, 2 of them sweeps, have the Rox flying high. Let's not get a head of ourselves, as there are 147 games left in the season, but I think this Rox team has the chance to do something special. Not 100-win special, but 90-95 with a division title seems plausible.
| The game is coming easy to the Rox right now. From: the Post. |
White Sox suffer another mid-April swoon - While the Rockies are riding high in the early going, my Sox have hit their typical mid-April weather-related road block. Temperatures were slightly warm to start the season, and the Sox roared out to a hot offensive start. The only thing seemingly able to stop "the Good Guys" in the first week was the pathetic performance of the back-end of the bullpen.
Now the temperatures have run cold in Chicago, and the offense has begun to sputter resulting in a 3 game sweep at the hands of the Angels and a dip under .500. By now I've grown accustomed to this, and fully expect the bats to hide when the temp drops below 55 degrees. While it's expected, I don't see why it isn't fixable. Regardless, the Sox have big-time sad face as they embark on a grueling 11-game east-coast roadtrip. Here's to hoping the team can survive the month within earshot of .500. The pressure to perform is on, and the "all-in" season may end up all-out before it really gets going.
 |
| New faces: same lame start. From: the Trib |
Happy Monday!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Friday Beer Post: Monday Beer Tours
"Wow, it's like I died and went to heaven, then God realized it wasn't my time yet, so He sent me back to a brewery." - Peter Griffin
I can't stand Family Guy, but they can get to the heart of the matter every now and then. Much like random baseball fields in Iowa, breweries are little slices of heaven on earth Since visiting Heaven, and all of it earthly slices, is much better than working, I took Monday off to tour some of Colorado's numerous breweries.
I came up with a grand unified theory of brewery tours. It is impossible to do more than 3 in a day. Simply, the force of time, distance, and drunkeness will keep you from getting too many in. Don't get me wrong; visiting 3 breweries instead of working on a Monday is fucking awesome, but in a perfect world, I would've slipped about 5 in. Damn physical laws of time and space.
Odell's
I started my tour by trekking up to Fort Collins. Two of the more iconic breweries this state has to offer are located up in Ft Fun in the form of New Belgium and Odell's. I can't stand New Belgium, and they aren't even open on Monday's, so Odell's was my starting place. In retrospect, I don't think I could've done any better. As a hop freak, a hop-obsessed brewery like Odell's is right up my alley, and the tour was small, which allowed for an easy conversation style with the tour guide. He took us around the usual route, passing the cool hop back and the bottling line before entering their hop storage. Inside, the group was allowed to dive into a basket of whole hop leafs. I was damn near giddy at the mere sight of it all.
Hop-fondling behind us, I stopped at the taproom for another pint of their new double IPA Myrcenary. Very recently released, Myrcenary is something I've only been able to enjoy twice previously. Those tastings had left me pleased but not blown away; the beer was very hoppy, but it seemed to be missing something. The pint I had at the tap room, however, changed the way I look at the brew. Much more floral and citrus-y, the whole character of the hops came through in a way that they hadn't in my previous tastings. If you can find your way to Ft Collins, it's worth the stop at Odell's just to try Myrcenary fresh. For me it was a wholly different experience.
FCB
Literally down the block from Odell's lies relative newcomer Fort Collins Brewery. I haven't been too exposed to this brewery, but the constraints of time and space, combined with the fact that I drove all the way up to FoCo, compelled me to stop by. This was a more traditional taphouse experience. The small scope of the brewery (under 20 employees) meant that tours were infrequently available, so dueling taster trays combined with a discussion with the bartender were the course of my time spent there.
By far the best brew I tasted there was their Maibock. Smooth, well crafted, and lightly hopped, the sweet maltiness of the Maibock was a pleasure to enjoy. The Maibock is indicative of the general Germanic oeuvre of FCB's offerings. Plenty of lagers dot their menu, which is slightly out of place in the American craft brewing community that is so dominated by ales. It was an interesting change of pace, and if I see that Maibock on shelves, I wouldn't hesitate to grab it.
Avery
Heading back down US 287, I passed up the opportunity to stop by Longmont's Left Hand (I'll swing back around sometime later, I swear) to close my tour at Boulder's own Avery. By far my favorite Colorado brewery (although my trip to Odell's ticked them up a couple of notches), Avery is haphazardly strewn about an industrial park in East Boulder. It's damn hard to find if you haven't been there before, but its worth the effort. As the day was inching closer to 5, the tap room was semi-full, and our tour was filled with people.
The Avery taproom is a great place to try some wild stuff; and I mean fucking wild. I tried two beers there that stretched the boundaries of my palate. The first, Fumator, is a smoked ale aged in Stranahan's whiskey barrels. It would go great with any number of smoked sausages and cheeses, and generally reminded me of smoked cheddar mixed with whiskey; really freaky, but, in its own way, very tasty. The other eye-opening flavor came from the Hand of Budda. It's a spiced Belgian ale, spiked with an interesting spice called Budda's Hand. I've never, in my entire life, tasted anything like this. I'm not sure I liked it (I'll have to try some more) but it certainly was unique.
The highlight of any trip to Avery is the barrel room where they keep all of their barrel-aged brews. Barrels are reused until they no longer have any quality flavor to impart, and the brewery does weekly taping of some wildly anticipated stuff. While there I listened to arguments over what type of barrels impart the best flavors, and which year of "the Beast" was best. A really awesome place to end my day.
Happy Friday!
I can't stand Family Guy, but they can get to the heart of the matter every now and then. Much like random baseball fields in Iowa, breweries are little slices of heaven on earth Since visiting Heaven, and all of it earthly slices, is much better than working, I took Monday off to tour some of Colorado's numerous breweries.
I came up with a grand unified theory of brewery tours. It is impossible to do more than 3 in a day. Simply, the force of time, distance, and drunkeness will keep you from getting too many in. Don't get me wrong; visiting 3 breweries instead of working on a Monday is fucking awesome, but in a perfect world, I would've slipped about 5 in. Damn physical laws of time and space.
Odell's
I started my tour by trekking up to Fort Collins. Two of the more iconic breweries this state has to offer are located up in Ft Fun in the form of New Belgium and Odell's. I can't stand New Belgium, and they aren't even open on Monday's, so Odell's was my starting place. In retrospect, I don't think I could've done any better. As a hop freak, a hop-obsessed brewery like Odell's is right up my alley, and the tour was small, which allowed for an easy conversation style with the tour guide. He took us around the usual route, passing the cool hop back and the bottling line before entering their hop storage. Inside, the group was allowed to dive into a basket of whole hop leafs. I was damn near giddy at the mere sight of it all.
 |
| That's a lot of hops. |
 | ||
| Myrcenary: gotta try it at the brewery. |
FCB
Literally down the block from Odell's lies relative newcomer Fort Collins Brewery. I haven't been too exposed to this brewery, but the constraints of time and space, combined with the fact that I drove all the way up to FoCo, compelled me to stop by. This was a more traditional taphouse experience. The small scope of the brewery (under 20 employees) meant that tours were infrequently available, so dueling taster trays combined with a discussion with the bartender were the course of my time spent there.
By far the best brew I tasted there was their Maibock. Smooth, well crafted, and lightly hopped, the sweet maltiness of the Maibock was a pleasure to enjoy. The Maibock is indicative of the general Germanic oeuvre of FCB's offerings. Plenty of lagers dot their menu, which is slightly out of place in the American craft brewing community that is so dominated by ales. It was an interesting change of pace, and if I see that Maibock on shelves, I wouldn't hesitate to grab it.
Avery
Heading back down US 287, I passed up the opportunity to stop by Longmont's Left Hand (I'll swing back around sometime later, I swear) to close my tour at Boulder's own Avery. By far my favorite Colorado brewery (although my trip to Odell's ticked them up a couple of notches), Avery is haphazardly strewn about an industrial park in East Boulder. It's damn hard to find if you haven't been there before, but its worth the effort. As the day was inching closer to 5, the tap room was semi-full, and our tour was filled with people.
The Avery taproom is a great place to try some wild stuff; and I mean fucking wild. I tried two beers there that stretched the boundaries of my palate. The first, Fumator, is a smoked ale aged in Stranahan's whiskey barrels. It would go great with any number of smoked sausages and cheeses, and generally reminded me of smoked cheddar mixed with whiskey; really freaky, but, in its own way, very tasty. The other eye-opening flavor came from the Hand of Budda. It's a spiced Belgian ale, spiked with an interesting spice called Budda's Hand. I've never, in my entire life, tasted anything like this. I'm not sure I liked it (I'll have to try some more) but it certainly was unique.
 |
| Fumator was a smoky treat |
The highlight of any trip to Avery is the barrel room where they keep all of their barrel-aged brews. Barrels are reused until they no longer have any quality flavor to impart, and the brewery does weekly taping of some wildly anticipated stuff. While there I listened to arguments over what type of barrels impart the best flavors, and which year of "the Beast" was best. A really awesome place to end my day.
Happy Friday!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Quick Post: Jeremy Adams is (apparently) official UPDATED
UPDATE 4/14/11, 2:44PM - Ask and you shall receive; CUBuffs.com has an article up confirming the NLI.
I'm still waiting for CUBuffs.com to say something (anything) about Jeremy Adams, but according to both Buffalo Stampede and Buffzone he's in. Jeremy certainly does sound excited to be a Buff, which is always good, and his high-major background (having started his career at Texas A&M) is promising, even though it didn't work out for him in College Station. At 6-5, 190lbs he has some decent size for a wing, and he'll have 3 years left to make an impact at CU. Chance creation will be a key area where CU needs to cover gaps left by the outgoing 6 players, and Coach Boyle now has multiple options to throw at the problem.
--
As of now CU is out of scholarships to hand out. Still waiting on final word from Alec... In my mind he's 100% gone, but stranger shit has happened. When he does leave, CU will have to decide if they want to scramble to fill the spot or bank it for next year. The immediate assumption is that the Buffs need another forward this season. I'm not sure that's the case. Dre, Dufault, SHT, and Mills will combine with the incoming freshman Damiene Cain to form the front court. Assuming no injuries and a return to the 3-guard offense, that's a little bit of a logjam with 5 players playing for 2 spots on the court. With only 2 players playing swing/wing positions, I'd look for Coach Boyle to look for another slasher/scorer if he chooses to spend it this season.
I'm still waiting for CUBuffs.com to say something (anything) about Jeremy Adams, but according to both Buffalo Stampede and Buffzone he's in. Jeremy certainly does sound excited to be a Buff, which is always good, and his high-major background (having started his career at Texas A&M) is promising, even though it didn't work out for him in College Station. At 6-5, 190lbs he has some decent size for a wing, and he'll have 3 years left to make an impact at CU. Chance creation will be a key area where CU needs to cover gaps left by the outgoing 6 players, and Coach Boyle now has multiple options to throw at the problem.
--
As of now CU is out of scholarships to hand out. Still waiting on final word from Alec... In my mind he's 100% gone, but stranger shit has happened. When he does leave, CU will have to decide if they want to scramble to fill the spot or bank it for next year. The immediate assumption is that the Buffs need another forward this season. I'm not sure that's the case. Dre, Dufault, SHT, and Mills will combine with the incoming freshman Damiene Cain to form the front court. Assuming no injuries and a return to the 3-guard offense, that's a little bit of a logjam with 5 players playing for 2 spots on the court. With only 2 players playing swing/wing positions, I'd look for Coach Boyle to look for another slasher/scorer if he chooses to spend it this season.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Quick Post: Back in the saddle again
We're the #1 party school.... again. Wooo, go Buffs!
Playboy (NSFW, duh) gives us the honors this time. This time, I hope the band doesn't get busted at a party (that I may or may not have attended) to celebrate.
Playboy (NSFW, duh) gives us the honors this time. This time, I hope the band doesn't get busted at a party (that I may or may not have attended) to celebrate.
Wednesday roster shuffle
CU head football coach Jon Embree was a busy guy yesterday. As promised, he ended the spring portion of practices by anointing a starting QB and booting 5 players off the team.
The first move, which surprises exactly no one, was the ascension of Tyler Hansen once again into the starting QB role. While Tyler was never named the starter coming out of spring under Hawk, he had been listed on top of the depth chart numerous times over his career. Every time he would get leapfrogged by mini-Hawk, resulting in a 3-year career littered with burned red-shirts and too few opportunities to show what he can do. I have no doubt that Tyler will be the QB all season, but I think it would only be human nature for him to constantly look over his shoulder. Don't worry, Tyler; mini-Hawk aint walking through that door, and there's a new sheriff in town. Embo wouldn't do you like that. Enjoy your senior season and kick some ass!
I take it as no small measure that Coach Embree took the step to name a starter at this point. For the first time since 2005, the Buffs will head into summer knowing who their QB will be on opening day. Hawk loved to play games with the roster. He purposefully left his players in the dark in order to both foster continued competition and keep opponents from keying on players prior to the start of the season. Instead, it ended up fostering an atmosphere of confusion and suspicion, while keeping the units from clicking till about week 6.
I understand the goal of protecting the integrity of the depth chart by pushing kids to be better, but Hawk went about it the wrong way. Tyler earned the spot, he's going to be the #1, so announce it now and let him lead his team. It's as simple as that.
The other news from yesterday was the summary dismissal of 5 players from the team. Sr OG Max Tuioti-Mariner, Jr WR Will Jefferson, Jr DE Forrest West, and Fr TE's Harold Mobley and Henley Griffon were all given red tags in their lockers on Tuesday. Coach Embree had been saying for weeks that players who were not committed to both the classroom and the field, and who couldn't play at this level, wouldn't be welcome under his new regime. Today we saw the first casualties from that refusal to accept Hawk's commitment to bleh.
Overall, the list isn't overly earth-shattering. I was a little surprised about MTM; despite a rash of ligament tears, he had always shown promise. It's a shame he couldn't stay healthy, cause he would have been an interestinng option at guard. Jefferson, despite having played in the spring game, apparently has a knee injury that will permanently sideline him. Hawk had scraped the bottom of the barrel to grab Jefferson, but Will had also shown some promise. West had gotten a little playing time last year, and the two TE's had quietly taken their redshirts.
The two injuries and three out-right cuts may not drastically change the fall roster, but they do further the process of Embree taking over the team. It's always ugly when scholarships are not renewed, and I hope all 5 kids find opportunities elsewhere, but at least we're moving forward.
The first move, which surprises exactly no one, was the ascension of Tyler Hansen once again into the starting QB role. While Tyler was never named the starter coming out of spring under Hawk, he had been listed on top of the depth chart numerous times over his career. Every time he would get leapfrogged by mini-Hawk, resulting in a 3-year career littered with burned red-shirts and too few opportunities to show what he can do. I have no doubt that Tyler will be the QB all season, but I think it would only be human nature for him to constantly look over his shoulder. Don't worry, Tyler; mini-Hawk aint walking through that door, and there's a new sheriff in town. Embo wouldn't do you like that. Enjoy your senior season and kick some ass!
 |
| Tyler finally has #1 all to himself. From: the BDC |
I understand the goal of protecting the integrity of the depth chart by pushing kids to be better, but Hawk went about it the wrong way. Tyler earned the spot, he's going to be the #1, so announce it now and let him lead his team. It's as simple as that.
The other news from yesterday was the summary dismissal of 5 players from the team. Sr OG Max Tuioti-Mariner, Jr WR Will Jefferson, Jr DE Forrest West, and Fr TE's Harold Mobley and Henley Griffon were all given red tags in their lockers on Tuesday. Coach Embree had been saying for weeks that players who were not committed to both the classroom and the field, and who couldn't play at this level, wouldn't be welcome under his new regime. Today we saw the first casualties from that refusal to accept Hawk's commitment to bleh.
Overall, the list isn't overly earth-shattering. I was a little surprised about MTM; despite a rash of ligament tears, he had always shown promise. It's a shame he couldn't stay healthy, cause he would have been an interestinng option at guard. Jefferson, despite having played in the spring game, apparently has a knee injury that will permanently sideline him. Hawk had scraped the bottom of the barrel to grab Jefferson, but Will had also shown some promise. West had gotten a little playing time last year, and the two TE's had quietly taken their redshirts.
The two injuries and three out-right cuts may not drastically change the fall roster, but they do further the process of Embree taking over the team. It's always ugly when scholarships are not renewed, and I hope all 5 kids find opportunities elsewhere, but at least we're moving forward.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday Grab Bag: Catching up with all of the weekend action.
I was off enjoying a much needed day off yesterday, so this special Tuesday edition of the grab bag will cover all of the craziness from this past weekend. Lots of Buff talk, and a quick stroll down to Augusta, Georgia await.
Click below for the bag...
Click below for the bag...
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