Quick Post: Dustin Thomas commits to being a Buff

Another football loss, another dose of salve from our patron saint of victory, Coach Tad Boyle.

Reaching deep into the heart of Texas, Coach Boyle and staff pulled out another under-the-radar gem, as PF Dustin Thomas announced yesterday that he intends to be a Buff.  Despite increasing interest from local powers, evidenced by Thomas canceling a future trip to Oklahoma, his visit last weekend to Boulder was apparently enough to convince the young man about the virtues of the Black and Gold.  The result reminded many observers of the time when the new head coach stole Andre Roberson from the Lone Star state in 2010. 

At 6-8, and with great outside shooting skills (48% from deep last season), Thomas continues the "tweener" style of Coach Boyle, as the roster continues to fill with tall, versatile, athletic swing men who can cause matchup problems and play multiple positions.

You may be thinking, "isn't there only one available scholarship, and wasn't that already given to Jaron Hopkins?"  While it's true that CU has only one scholarship senior on the roster, it's all but assured more than one spot will open up for the 2013 roster, either via a player jumping to the NBA early ('Dre) or further transfer attrition (Ben Mills?).  Should 'Dre jump to the Association, it's more than fitting to replace him with  another lanky Texan.

Thomas not only announced his intention yesterday, but also what number he intends to wear in Boulder.

That looks pretty solid to me.  From AllBuffs and Twitter.

The story behind his picking of the number 13 is very personal.  From Rivals via Allbuffs, he's quoted as saying:

"Today is the day in 2006 my sister passed away. That is why I wear No. 13, that is how old she was when she passed away from a rare blood disease.  I just felt like it was a way to honor her. She is the reason I play the game. So to make my commitment to Colorado today was something I wanted to do."

Of all the reasons to pick a number, that's probably the most moving I've ever heard.  I hope he gets many moments in Boulder to honor his sister's life with his play.

Welcome to BuffNation, Dustin!

Monday Grab Bag: Swing low, sweet chariot...

Another football Saturday wedding, another bride walking down the aisle to the chorus of a Buff collapse.  That's now two marriages I will forever associate with losing.  Ladies of BuffNation, let this be a lesson to you: don't schedule a wedding on a game day.

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This is about as low as it can get.  We're living it right now.

If there's any doubt, let me assure you that this is worse than '06.  At least in that year, BuffNation could comfort itself with the knowledge that it was the first year of a new regime, and that improvement, microscopic as it came to be, was assured.  Nope, this is the Buffs4Life crew's second year at the helm.  Disasters of this proportion shouldn't be possible.

I'm almost afraid to ask, but how much deeper can this rabbit hole go?

Today in the bag, I'll get through this as quickly as possible so I can get back to daydreaming about basketball season.  I'll also talk about some football notes from teams/programs who know what they're doing.  60 days...

Click below for the bag...

Friday Beer Post: 2012 Gameday Beer-o-the-week: Sacramento State Edition

Each week throughout the football season I'm going to suggest a good beer for the ubiquitous pre-game tailgate. Let's be honest, with tailgates it's not always top quality that you're looking for. To steal a phrase from the heinous beer terrorists at Budweiser, you want "drinkability." (or what a real beer connoisseur calls "a session beer") So, be warned, these may not be "the best" beers around. But, in the words of Dave Chappelle as Samuel L. Jackson, "IT'LL GET YOU DRUNK!"

OK, BuffNation, time to get up off the mat.  Tomorrow is Saturday, damnit!  No more wallowing in self-pity, WE'VE GOT PARTYING TO DO!

I have yet another wedding Saturday (my friends suck), but, unlike last week, the ceremony starts late enough that I feel comfortable trying to go to at least the first half.  What that means is that, for the first time this season, I get to experience a normal tailgate.  Bring on the Beer!

This week the Buffs are playing the FCS Sacramento State Hornets.  Many people incorrectly associate hornets with bees (stinger, hive structure, yellow and black coloring, etc), but hornets (and wasps) are actually in a separate family from bees.  In fact, you have to climb to the sub-order Aprocita to find a common classification.  But, screw that scientific shit, for my purposes today hornets are essentially honey bees, and spend their days making sweet, delicious honey (completely not true).

There's actually a pretty decent wheat ale brewed with a touch of honey from Colorado Springs.  I'm naming that beer, Bristol Brewing's Beehive Honey Wheat, as my tailgate beer-o-the-week.

Commensurate with the talent level of the opponent, this beer is on the lighter side, with soft flavor notes, and a low alcohol content (only 4%).  There's a nice golden haze to the beer, as is associated with the style. Expect bready hints on the nose and palate, offset with a hint of sweetness from the honey.  It's also not as "spicy" as some wheat's can be.  When I first tried it last year, I found it a bit thin, but further tastings have yielded slightly more complex results.  I feel it's a good way to ease back into tailgate season.


Happy Friday!  Go Buffs, beat the Hornets!

On #CUMidnightMadness

As if I need an excuse to talk CU hoops...

Midnight madness is a time-honored tradition for college basketball powers.  It's easy to think of the events featuring schools like Kentucky and Kansas, for which the first second the team can practice is a cause for celebration.

Some take the name to heart, having a practice shortly after midnight on the first allowed day of practice; others simply wait for the following evening, making for appointment viewing on ESPNU.  At the giants, the events are storehouses of antics and showmanship, designed more as pep rallies to get fans pumped up for the season.  Smaller schools participate as well, showing that the start of basketball is a nation-wide holiday.  Of course, some programs, like UCLA under Ben Howland, stay away from the practice, but most see it as a chance to fire up the fanbase, and announce that hoops is back in session.

Places like Kentucky do this right.

CU has had Madness-like events in the past.  Even last year, there was a "Meet the Buffs" program about a week after the start of practice. But attendance has usually been as poor as the promotion, and recent attempts seem disproportionate when considering the new heights of the program.  It's just never been a true Midnight Madness, either in atmosphere or execution.

But it's a new mindset in Boulder.  There's a passionate fanbase desperate to see CU basketball anoint the coming of a new season the same way other programs around the nation do. Over the past few months there has been a concerted effort by the fans, particularly on twitter (lead by friends of the blog @CUGoose, @jgisland, and @TZiskBuff), to get a more high profile kickstart to fall practices.  Even the players have been eager to talk about it.  It's fun for them too, afterall.

They also make for convenient times to raise banners... hint, hint.

The visions of a true Midnight Madness event at the CEC are powerful, and I'd be eager to see what sort of antics the team can get up to when pumping up the C-Unit.  The plan as I've heard it would be to hold the event the evening of Friday, October 12th (not actually at midnight).  It would coincide nicely with a home football weekend, as the Buffs host ASU the previous evening (the Great American Beer Festival also takes place that weekend), hopefully making it easier for a larger portion of Buff Nation to fit it into their schedule. 

It's not a slam-dunk decision to get the ball rolling, however.  Coach Boyle has been asked repeatedly about the concept, and always has the same answer.  He loves the idea, and wants to see it happen at Colorado, but just wants to make sure the event is well attended.  The caution is understandable, no one wants to spend countless hours and thousands of dollars creating the event just for the team to run out of the tunnel in front of 2,500 people.  While the support for the event has, so far, been extensive, it's not yet to the level that Coach Boyle would be comfortable giving it his go-ahead.

Coach Boyle just wants to make sure this thing lives up to the high standard he's setting on the court.

That's where we, the fans, come in.  The movement behind #CUMidnightMadness needs more from BuffNation.  As Goose pointed out on AllBuffs, you've got to be proactive in letting the athletic department know that there's a solid foundation of supporters willing to make this event happen properly.  Call or email Mike Bohn, vote in this poll, and tweet with the hashtag #CUMidnightMadness.  Make it known that you're dedicated to making the BasketBuffs a legitimate basketball power, and understand that holding a Midnight Madness event is an important step in that process.

LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

2012 Sacramento State Preview: Hitting the restart button

At least once a year the football world is treated to a FCS/1-AA school surprising one of the BCS giants on their own field.  We saw only one last week (Youngstown St over Pitt by 14 points), and almost witnessed a few more (Maryland barely squeaked by William and Mary 7-6, and Northern Iowa almost shocked Wisconsin, for example).  It's happened to almost every FBS school over the years, with CU famously being party to it on a couple of occasions.

Sacramento State pulled their own David vs Goliath parable last season when they sneaked past Oregon State in the Beaver's 2011 season opener 29-28.  The final overtime possession looked like this:

It's up to the BCS heavy-weights to take these games seriously.  Some FCS teams are more than happy to collect their check and move on, but others live for the opportunity to grab the upset and see their highlights on SportsCenter.  There's no reason a FBS school with a full compliment of 85 scholarships should ever lose to a FCS school, but it does happen.  Hopefully the CSU loss provides more than enough motivation for the Buffs to prepare to beat the team in front of them, rather than look ahead to the road trip to Fresno St.

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On Saturday, the Buffs return to beautiful Folsom Field for the first time in 2012.  I can wait to see the old girl in her sun-splashed gameday best once again.

No stadium finer in all the land.

Kickoff with Sacramento State is set for 1pm.  Television coverage can be found on the Pac-12 Network (if you get it).  Radio coverage, with the dulcet tones of Mark Johnson, can be found on 850 KOA.


Click below for the preview...

Further vivisection in the wake of the RMS

CU is always supposed to beat CSU in football.  Year-in-year-out, no exceptions.  That is just a baseline program expectation.  So, when the odd year rolls by that little brother does turn the tables on the State's flagship (thankfully, only three times in the past decade), the fanbase gets a little shaken.  Case-in-point: the ridiculous post on AllBuffs highlighted by SBNation (using the word "takeover" is hardly ever appropriate).

But, yes, in the wake of the loss, plenty of blame is bound to be thrown around.  Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy and O-Line coach Steve Marshall tried to take much of it in light of the poor showing from the run game.  That showing Saturday, which saw only 58 running yards created on 29 carries (a paltry 2 yards per attempt) is the kind that gets coaches fired, especially when the staff has repeatedly communicated a desire to play a ground-heavy style of offense.  I highly doubt the axe is coming in early September (although ask the Houston OC how that thinking goes), but it's obvious that the run game needs to turn around in a hurry.

Tony Jones found scant running room Saturday.  Complete failure by everyone involved.  From: the BDC

Beyond the run game, however, there are a few additional nits on my radar that seem worthy of picking.

QB Jordan Webb apparently suffered a hip pointer late in the first half, leaving him with pain and a visible limp after the game.  Over the final 30 minutes, the transfer starter from Kansas only completed 7 of his 18 pass attempts, getting sacked twice, and throwing an interception that was only overturned because of a roughing the passer penalty.  The injury (as well as the O-Line's inability to give him time) seemed to have an effect on his play, a fact Coach Embree admitted as much during his weekly presser.  Still, Wood stayed in the game up to the final whistle.

Webb was visibly slowed in the second half Saturday.  Where were the backups?  From: The BDC

The backup tandem of Connor Wood and Nick Hirschman (with Wood the anointed backup) must be completely off the radar if an injured QB, completely under siege behind a bumbling offensive line, is still the best option with the game on the line.  Would the final drives of the season opener against a rabid opponent be a difficult time to go to the backup?  Sure, but sometimes a situation dictates an uncomfortable choice.

Additionally, Saturday saw the introduction of a no-huddle offense.  Communication and read/recognition was, by the team's own admission, a major problem as a result of the new style.  Hey it's the first real game with the new system, but it's eye-raising to hear that the team was struggling with basic concepts like identifying the "Mike" linebacker, considering that the style had been installed since spring ball.  If it's not better, faster this Saturday against Sacramento State, I'll be really concerned.

No one was happy with the results, least of all Coach Embree.

Speaking of the Sac St game, it can't come fast enough.  The bad taste of the CSU loss needs to be expunged, and that can only come through another 60 minutes of play.  The keyword will be improvement, and there had better be lots of it.

Tuesday Grab Bag: 66 days until basketball season

While the Buffs were repeatedly shooting themselves in the collective foot Saturday afternoon, I was at a wedding, desperately trying to listen to streamed coverage through a discretely placed earpiece. The bride was literally walking down the aisle as the the crux of the 4th quarter was underway.  Vows, prayers, pronouncements, first kisses were all accompanied by a soundtrack of Buff failure.

Needless to say, once the reception started, I began to hit to booze... hard.  It took me the better part of the weekend to recover.  After recovery, both from the pain of the loss, and the pain in my head from the hangover, one fact continues to dominate my thoughts: basketball season starts in 66 days.

HELP US TAD BOYLE, YOU'RE OUR ONLY HOPE!

Today in the post-holiday bag I'll be discussing the loss, where Buff Nation goes from here, some positive notes to help back everyone off the ledge, and stories from the rest of the football-playing world.

Click below for the bag...