Welcome to the worst sports week of the year. That's right, for the next 3 nights there is absolutely nothing worth watching in the sports world. With baseball on it's All-Star Break hiatus, unless you like watching batting practice and exhibition baseball, the next best thing to watch will be Women's World Cup soccer on Wednesday night.
This week is so devoid of interesting things that ESPN holds its pointless masturbatory "awards" show to pass the time. They're even showing it live this year; whoopdie-shit. The only saving grace may be a resolution to the NFL labor dispute, but even that would only be a prelude to interesting things that will only happen later this summer. So, to sum up, I'm quite bored, and if my softball game gets rained out tonight, I'll really be up boring creek without a paddle.
As such, there is no grab bag today. There honestly isn't anything worth talking about, so I won't even pretend. I will, however, have my next post in my Summer Basketball Preview Series up later this week.
Happy Monday
Monday, July 11, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
UPDATED: Quick-Post: Dickie V on campus yesterday
UPDATE (7/12/11 11:30am): Mr Vitale has a blog post up about his visit. Check it out here. Calls his trip the "time of his life." Thanks to Buffnik at Allbuffs for spotting it!
I have a love/hate perspective on almost every ESPN personality. I'd love the attention, but I hate the schtick.
This is why I was very conflicted yesterday when the tweets came pouring in that ESPN's very own king of schtick Dickie V was touring Boulder with friend and CU assistant basketball coach Tom Abatemarco.
Dick Vitale can be a very prescient analyst. When he's calm, and talking in his serious voice, he can be extremly informative and knowledgeable. But there's the other side, the "Dukie-V" side when the schtick kicks in, that annoys me to no end. Look, I totally get it, he's built a million-dollar brand on "It's Awesome Baby," Hooters, and all of the other huckster crap, so he might as well stick with it, but when he throws his hands in the air and starts screaming at me I turn the channel. Unfortunately for those of us seeking considered discourse on college basketball, he's seemingly in "Dukie-V" mode 90% of the time he's on the air.
However, I was totally excited that he chose to spend some time touring both CU and the basketball program. In a practical mindset, it's easy to see how a few hours in Boulder could translate into a few precious minutes of national conversation next spring. Maybe he's doing some Duke game next February, the game gets out of hand, and he launches into some form of "What about those Colorado Buffaloes; THEY'RE AWESOME BABY!" It's simple things like brief mentions from the top guys that help improve a programs national profile, which in turn helps recruiting, scheduling, and, ultimately, performance. More of this, please.
Call me a hypocrite, and considering how harshly I commented on him last year "hypocrite" may be too soft of a word, but I loved that he was here yesterday. Hell, he had more than 10 tweets about us yesterday, many of them with pictures.
This is why it helps to have national-level basketball lifers like Coach Abatemarco tied into the program. They give us inroads to national profile guys, who in turn love up the program. We've done it in the recent past with special-assistant-to-athletic-director-Mike-Bohn-Tom-McGrath, and I hope it continues. It's always nice to hear some Buff love, even in the offseason.
I have a love/hate perspective on almost every ESPN personality. I'd love the attention, but I hate the schtick.
This is why I was very conflicted yesterday when the tweets came pouring in that ESPN's very own king of schtick Dickie V was touring Boulder with friend and CU assistant basketball coach Tom Abatemarco.
 |
| Coach Abatemarco (left) took Dickie V (right) through the new practice facility yesterday. Yes, it was, *sigh*, "awesome, baby." From: @DickieV |
However, I was totally excited that he chose to spend some time touring both CU and the basketball program. In a practical mindset, it's easy to see how a few hours in Boulder could translate into a few precious minutes of national conversation next spring. Maybe he's doing some Duke game next February, the game gets out of hand, and he launches into some form of "What about those Colorado Buffaloes; THEY'RE AWESOME BABY!" It's simple things like brief mentions from the top guys that help improve a programs national profile, which in turn helps recruiting, scheduling, and, ultimately, performance. More of this, please.
Call me a hypocrite, and considering how harshly I commented on him last year "hypocrite" may be too soft of a word, but I loved that he was here yesterday. Hell, he had more than 10 tweets about us yesterday, many of them with pictures.
This is why it helps to have national-level basketball lifers like Coach Abatemarco tied into the program. They give us inroads to national profile guys, who in turn love up the program. We've done it in the recent past with special-assistant-to-athletic-director-Mike-Bohn-Tom-McGrath, and I hope it continues. It's always nice to hear some Buff love, even in the offseason.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday Grab Bag: Post July 4th edition
I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. I personally got the ole grill fired up and tried to fight through the heat to utilize it. Standing around hot coals in mid 90s heat, even without humidity, is not exactly the most comfortable of scenarios. The beer was very cold, and the burgers still ended up mighty tasty, so it worked out all right in the end.
Today in the bag I'm going to touch on labor issues, set up conclusion of the first half for both the Sox and Rox, and briefly mention the final vote.
Click below for the bag...
Today in the bag I'm going to touch on labor issues, set up conclusion of the first half for both the Sox and Rox, and briefly mention the final vote.
Click below for the bag...
Friday, July 1, 2011
Quick Post: Happy Pac-12 Day!
Oh, hello July. I see you bring with you warm sunshine and t-shirts with a cool new logo on them. Yes I would like to buy one for $19.95. What an enticing offer!
I'm so glad this day has come. While the move to the Pac-12 has been fait acompli for over a year now, it's all finally official. We're on the conference website and everything! Everyone in Buff nation is over-flowing with giddiness over our new athletic surroundings. Case in point: both the City of Boulder and the State of Colorado have declared today to be Pac-12 Day.
I'm hoping to use this as a crutch to get out of work, as if moving to the new conference was some sort of religious experience. (On most forms I do list my official religion as "Buff Fan") If not, I guess celebrations will have to wait until 5pm when I sprint up to The Hill to buy some new CU/Pac-12 gear.
While I'm running out to celebrate leaving the Big XII, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few final words to our former conference affiliates through the cinematic brilliance of Half-Baked:
(In case you were wondering, the old lady would be Iowa State; never really had anything against those guys)
Happy Friday! Go America, and Go Buffs!
I'm so glad this day has come. While the move to the Pac-12 has been fait acompli for over a year now, it's all finally official. We're on the conference website and everything! Everyone in Buff nation is over-flowing with giddiness over our new athletic surroundings. Case in point: both the City of Boulder and the State of Colorado have declared today to be Pac-12 Day.
I'm hoping to use this as a crutch to get out of work, as if moving to the new conference was some sort of religious experience. (On most forms I do list my official religion as "Buff Fan") If not, I guess celebrations will have to wait until 5pm when I sprint up to The Hill to buy some new CU/Pac-12 gear.
While I'm running out to celebrate leaving the Big XII, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few final words to our former conference affiliates through the cinematic brilliance of Half-Baked:
(In case you were wondering, the old lady would be Iowa State; never really had anything against those guys)
Happy Friday! Go America, and Go Buffs!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday Grab Bag: Los Gringos fall on their face
Not too much on my radar over the past weekend, but enough to fill an abbreviated bag. There's international soccer, interleague baseball, and a Buffs Olympic sports title to discuss today.
Click below for the fun...
Click below for the fun...
Friday, June 24, 2011
Quick-Post: Alec Burks ends up in Utah, where there is no music.
Predictions about former CU superstar Alec Burks slipping out of the lottery were wrong. While clubhouse favorites Milwaukee and Charlotte indeed decided to pass on the talented wing, the Utah Jazz weren't about to let a player of his caliber slip past them. With the 12th pick of the NBA draft, they grabbed Burks.
Alec was pretty happy with the development, as the SLC Tribune quoted him as saying “I’m crazy hyped, I got so much excitement. I finally realized my dream, so it’s a great thing.”
While it's not as bad a destination as ending up in Charlotte would've been, the Jazz aren't exactly a team ready to take off. Had this been the Jazz of 2-3 years ago, with a quality point-guard in Derron Williams and quality coach in Jerry Sloan to nurture Burks through the inevitable growing pains, then I'd be all for it. Instead, this is a franchise definitely on a rebuilding kick. In addition, many Jazz fans will see Burks as "not Jimmer" for the foreseeable future, as the notably Mormon SG out of BYU ended up in Sacramento of all places. It's kind of an awkward situation all around.
But that's the point of the lottery: good players end up in bad spots. By default good teams don't end up in the lottery, and the situation Burks found himself in this morning could've been a lot worse. Sure, a franchise like Milwaukee, who's definitely on the rise, would've been a choice destination, but Utah will do just fine for the time being. The cool thing is that he's in the same division as the Denver Nuggets, so at least he'll be making a decent number of stops through the Mile High in the near future.
Either way, much congratulations go to Alec for achieving his dream. Here's to a long and fruitful NBA career for CU's own #10!
--
Notes
Utah also selected big Enes Kanter in the first round. They grabbed the big man with the 3rd overall selection. Kanter had attended Kentucky, but never got to play as he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for accepting $33k from a European basketball team a few years back. While he's talented, he's been out of competitive basketball for a year, which is never a good sign. He'll need some time to get back his game; luckily, for Utah at least, they have some front court depth to prop him up for a while.
FYI, Alec will be getting paid to the tune of $1.7 Million next year. If you're going to have to live in Utah, you might as well be making bank to do it.
BTW, I finally got my answer as to why Burks was slipping in certain mock-drafts. Listening to the Chauncey Billups interview on 104.3 last night, Chauncey postulated that the injured shoulder that kept Alec out of the first few workouts would end up requiring surgery. Finally, a solid reason why Alec was moving down, not up, draft boards. (The consternation over his shooting was horse-shit, he was always going to be a slash-first guard in the NBA). Despite these concerns, he still ended up in the lottery, which was his goal, and will start his NBA career on a high note.
| Nice suit, dude. Good luck in Utah! From: the SLC Tribune |
Alec was pretty happy with the development, as the SLC Tribune quoted him as saying “I’m crazy hyped, I got so much excitement. I finally realized my dream, so it’s a great thing.”
While it's not as bad a destination as ending up in Charlotte would've been, the Jazz aren't exactly a team ready to take off. Had this been the Jazz of 2-3 years ago, with a quality point-guard in Derron Williams and quality coach in Jerry Sloan to nurture Burks through the inevitable growing pains, then I'd be all for it. Instead, this is a franchise definitely on a rebuilding kick. In addition, many Jazz fans will see Burks as "not Jimmer" for the foreseeable future, as the notably Mormon SG out of BYU ended up in Sacramento of all places. It's kind of an awkward situation all around.
But that's the point of the lottery: good players end up in bad spots. By default good teams don't end up in the lottery, and the situation Burks found himself in this morning could've been a lot worse. Sure, a franchise like Milwaukee, who's definitely on the rise, would've been a choice destination, but Utah will do just fine for the time being. The cool thing is that he's in the same division as the Denver Nuggets, so at least he'll be making a decent number of stops through the Mile High in the near future.
Either way, much congratulations go to Alec for achieving his dream. Here's to a long and fruitful NBA career for CU's own #10!
--
Notes
Utah also selected big Enes Kanter in the first round. They grabbed the big man with the 3rd overall selection. Kanter had attended Kentucky, but never got to play as he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for accepting $33k from a European basketball team a few years back. While he's talented, he's been out of competitive basketball for a year, which is never a good sign. He'll need some time to get back his game; luckily, for Utah at least, they have some front court depth to prop him up for a while.
FYI, Alec will be getting paid to the tune of $1.7 Million next year. If you're going to have to live in Utah, you might as well be making bank to do it.
BTW, I finally got my answer as to why Burks was slipping in certain mock-drafts. Listening to the Chauncey Billups interview on 104.3 last night, Chauncey postulated that the injured shoulder that kept Alec out of the first few workouts would end up requiring surgery. Finally, a solid reason why Alec was moving down, not up, draft boards. (The consternation over his shooting was horse-shit, he was always going to be a slash-first guard in the NBA). Despite these concerns, he still ended up in the lottery, which was his goal, and will start his NBA career on a high note.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Quick Post: NBA Draft Preview
It's go day for Alec Burks. Time to get paid; time to become a professional. Time to take the baton from Chauncey Billups and become the new face of CU's NBA presence.
I haven't looked forward to an NBA draft this much since the '08 draft when my Bulls drafted the great Derrick Rose.
Coach Tad Boyle is excited too; he's got a get-together planned in his house with the other CU coaches to watch the draft. Considering what happened the last time he held a get-together to watch presumably good news about the Buffs, maybe he'd be better served by watching it alone in a darkened room. But, CU can't get screwed by the basketball world again, right?
Most experts have the overly-talented Buff swing-man going in the lottery (top 14 picks), and the NBA seems to agree, having invited him to the Newark green room. However, as the past week has gone on, pundits like ESPN's Chad Ford have slowly slipped the overly talented swing-man out of the top half of the first round (Ford now has Alec at # 18 to the Wizards). While they admit he may go as high as 7th, concerns over his shooting must be forcing him down the board. In a draft system based on upside, I find this hard to fathom; with more time to work on his game, I feel Alec will be a fine shooter, and his ability to get to the rim and the free throw line already separate him from competing talent.
The prevailing consensus had been that Burks would go to Milwaukee with the 10th pick. I mentioned a few weeks back that they really seemed to like Alec, but it now appears that they may have fallen in love with Washington State's Klay Thompson. Two thoughts: Alec is better, and will have a better career, than Thompson. Additionally, if Milwaukee and Golden State, who have the 11th pick, pass on Alec, then whatever team gets him in the middle-part of the first round will be getting a steal.
I think my dream scenario would be a combination of him falling and the Nuggets trading up to get him. This would allow me to watch him on a continued basis. However, while the "Rich and Creamy's" are apparently talking of moving up, I doubt they'd move up too high for Alec. I'll stick with my gut and say Milwaukee comes to their senses; Alec deserves to be a lottery pick, and he will be.
Prediction: Milwaukee with #10
I haven't looked forward to an NBA draft this much since the '08 draft when my Bulls drafted the great Derrick Rose.
Coach Tad Boyle is excited too; he's got a get-together planned in his house with the other CU coaches to watch the draft. Considering what happened the last time he held a get-together to watch presumably good news about the Buffs, maybe he'd be better served by watching it alone in a darkened room. But, CU can't get screwed by the basketball world again, right?
Most experts have the overly-talented Buff swing-man going in the lottery (top 14 picks), and the NBA seems to agree, having invited him to the Newark green room. However, as the past week has gone on, pundits like ESPN's Chad Ford have slowly slipped the overly talented swing-man out of the top half of the first round (Ford now has Alec at # 18 to the Wizards). While they admit he may go as high as 7th, concerns over his shooting must be forcing him down the board. In a draft system based on upside, I find this hard to fathom; with more time to work on his game, I feel Alec will be a fine shooter, and his ability to get to the rim and the free throw line already separate him from competing talent.
The prevailing consensus had been that Burks would go to Milwaukee with the 10th pick. I mentioned a few weeks back that they really seemed to like Alec, but it now appears that they may have fallen in love with Washington State's Klay Thompson. Two thoughts: Alec is better, and will have a better career, than Thompson. Additionally, if Milwaukee and Golden State, who have the 11th pick, pass on Alec, then whatever team gets him in the middle-part of the first round will be getting a steal.
I think my dream scenario would be a combination of him falling and the Nuggets trading up to get him. This would allow me to watch him on a continued basis. However, while the "Rich and Creamy's" are apparently talking of moving up, I doubt they'd move up too high for Alec. I'll stick with my gut and say Milwaukee comes to their senses; Alec deserves to be a lottery pick, and he will be.
Prediction: Milwaukee with #10
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