Monday Grab Bag: 2013's first game week - UPDATED

Happy Game Week everyone!  Break out the whiskey, it's high time for some football!

No, seriously, break out the whiskey, because it's still 73 days until the start of basketball season, and we're going to need a lot of help to get through the season.   Luckily, I still have some left over from my patented "Shane Harris-Tunks is playing - Emergency Kit," so I'm ready to go.  Do your worst, Buffs football...

Today in the bag, I'm talking continued delay on naming a starting QB, a strong start for the women's soccer team, and My Sox suddenly turning into an unbeatable juggernaut.

Click below for the bag...

Monday Grab Bag: Come on and slam, and welcome to the jam

Thanks to @Phyltopia, I went out of my way to watch Space Jam this weekend.  So, in lieu of an actual intro, I now present the unheralded star of the accompanying soundtrack.  The one, the only, "Hit 'em high (The Monstars' Anthem)."

LOL, Busta Rhymes.  (Basketball season can't get here soon enough...)

Today in the bag, I'm talking Saturday's scrimmage, football recruiting, and an update on the women's basketball team's trip to Italy

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Quick Post: #CUGameday - College Gameday possibly coming to Boulder

Twitter lit up today with the news that College Gameday might be coming back to Boulder!  No, silly, not for a football game, but for basketball.  

On February 22nd, the Buffs play host to Arizona, in what many expect will be a game between the top two teams in the Pac-12.  ESPN plans to chose between that titanic tilt and UCLA/Stanford for that weekend's traveling roadshow destination.

As long as CU holds up their end of the bargain, and play like the top-25 team they project to be this season, that choice will be a no-brainer for the big-whigs in Bristol.  Not only will CU/UofA be a high-profile rivalry matchup from one of the country's premier leagues, but the C-Unit has quickly gained a reputation for being one of the most passionate student sections in America.  Stanford simply doesn't measure up.

For the record, ESPN hasn't brought Gameday to Boulder since 1995, when they came to town twice for football (Texas A&M and Nebraska).  They've never been here for basketball.  It's time for that drought to end with a bang on 2/22/14!

The Pac-12 throws up-and-in at DirecTV

This is getting serious.

With each passing day, we get closer to a second season of Pac-12 football on Pac-12 Networks.  Yet, in a continued standoff, the Pac-12 and DirecTV are still miles apart in negotiations for carriage rights of the fledgling channel, leaving millions of DTV subscribers in the west without access to the full slate of Pac-12 programming.  Early promises of a quick resolution have long since been forgotten, and reality is starting to set in: this deal isn't getting done any time soon, if ever.

For the record, I wholly blame DTV.  They've sniffed their nose at a fair deal that was accepted by the vast majority of the market.  Negotiation tactics aside, after over a year of stubbornness, they're long past any sympathetic bargaining position. 

However, my own frustration with the service went deeper than one carriage dispute.  I left Dish Network three years ago because I was tired of the seemingly endless stream of petty negotiation brinkmanship.  I went to DirecTV because I perceived them as a carrier that wouldn't nickel-and-dime their way out of content that I wanted.  Not anymore, apparently.  What was once the provider for sports entertainment has forgone logic, and started low-balling sports channels in favor of bullshit like DogTV.  

As a result, I jumped ship last week, and called Comcast.  I now pay less, and get Pac-12 Networks. I just couldn't be happier. Yep, couldn't be happier with Comcast.  Let that sink in.

Hooray, Pac-12 Network!

As frustrated as I had become with the stalling tactics of the satellite leader, the Pac-12 has been even further pushed over the edge.  Tired of boardroom sniping, they've ramped up their public campaign to get their fan base to leave for friendlier television pastures.  What started with a verbal salvo from El Jefe Larry Scott at last month's Pac-12 media days has now escalated, with the conference throwing a fastball right at DTV's noggin.  Yesterday, they released a series of school-specific advertising spots aimed a luring paying subscribers away from the carrier.  Here is the CU one:

It's a good ad.  Targeted, slick, and impactful. No punches pulled.

Some, however, like SB Nation's Rodger Sherman, are still dubious, mocking the campaign, in part, for suggesting that anyone would actually want to watch Colorado football.  While I'm sympathetic to the sentiment that CU football was (and probably still is) unwatchable to an outsider, the point of the campaign is that those loyal fans across the Pac-12 - yes, even including us poor, suffering Black and Gold diehards - who subscribe to DTV are weeks away from another season in the dark.  Regardless of how crap the product may be, College still fans want to watch their schools compete, and DirecTV won't give BuffNation the option.

The fact remains that DTV is not the place to be if you want to watch west coast sports.  Contrary to their own ads, you can't 'get the games' with their service.  This crap will only continue in future years, with disputes already forming around carriage rights for Fox Sports 1 and NFL Sunday Ticket.  If you are a true sports fan, regardless of whether you care about Pac-12 Networks or not, there's only one choice left.  Do yourself a favor, and follow me to the dump with your old dish.

Monday Grab Bag: Rick George hits Boulder

I'm a little less that two months away from releasing my Massive Basketball Preview, but the professionals are already starting to make their thoughts known.

Only the first I've seen of many to come, Miles Simon of ESPN released his initial Pac-12 power rankings, and slotted the Buffs 2nd behind a powerful Arizona squad.  He cited CU's depth, probably the best in Boyle's tenure, as a key reason why the team could challenge the Wildcats for the league title.

ESPN's Eamonn Brennan later doubled-down on the prediction, saying in his best-case/worst-case article that the backcourt duo of Spencer Dinwiddie and Askia Booker could be strong enough to carry the Buffs deep into the tournament.

Positive previews are already rolling in, and it's only August.  With some 87 days to go before the season starts, it's going to be difficult to keep the hype train from leaving too soon.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking Rick George in Boulder, Buffs in Green Bay, and the women's basketball trip to Italy.

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Wishlist for the 2013 football season

It's August, which means that the Rocky Mountain Showdown is less than one month away.  While I mostly use football as a way to distract myself till November, I will admit to being... intrigued by the oncoming season.  The dumpster fire that is Colorado Football has been an unwatchable mess the last few years, but, with a new coach and new athletic director, it can't get any worse... can it?  (Wait, don't answer that.)

A few weekends back, while packing up boxes for my move into Boulder, a friend asked me what I would consider a 'successful' season.  After much consideration, I now present six achievable items that would signal a positive step forward for the program.  Knock off all six, and I'll call 2013 a success. Fail to get any, and... well... have I mentioned recently that we're a basketball school?


1) A win over CSU and Central Arkansas - 

Last season, close losses to CSU and FCS juggernaut Sacramento St set the stage for humiliating blowouts later in the year, and only an epic fail from Washington State kept those stumbles from ensuring a 0-12 campaign.  A reversal of fortunes to start 2013 is the easiest, and most personally calming path to getting the Mike MacIntyre era off to a positive start.

Christian Powell's opening TD scamper against Sacramento St in 2012

It's at least within reason that CU - which, the Pac-12 assures me, continues to be considered a 'BCS' program - can squeak by an exceedingly mediocre Mountain West squad before flexing a little muscle against a lower-division foe.  As bad as the Buffs were last year, they did almost win those two games in 2012...

Unfortunately, I wouldn't put it past the Buffs to drop either game (or, God forbid, both).  The RMS carries with it the game-cum-super-bowl caveat, and the program has made an unfortunate habit of struggling against 1-AA minnows over the past decade, let alone ones expected to compete for a FCS title.  Neither can be approached lightly, and the abused psyche of BuffNation would do well to remain cautious.


2) A third win from any of the other 10 games -

But, it's August, so I'll try to stay optimistic.  If, after beating the Rams and Bears, the Buffs find themselves off to a 2-0 start, the only other thing I can ask for from a scoreboard standpoint is any other win.

The problem is, after the opening pair of weeks, it's hard to see where another win would come from, with the most likely result a 10-loss slog to the finish.  Pac-12 competition, from top-to-bottom, is still miles ahead of CU, and the remaining non-conference game, against Fresno St, is only to be considered winnable if you took a 'Castaway' holiday during week three last year.

Could the Buffs sneak another win out of Salt Lake City?  From: the Post

However, wonders never cease, and even Coach Embree managed to find a 3rd check in the win column during his first year at the helm. If pressed, I'd call games like Cal and @Utah as theoretically winnable. Yeah, let's go with that.


3) A palatable sense of pride on defense  - 

An easy way to facilitate wishes one and two would be for the defense to get up off the mat.  As a unit, the 2012 defense was qualitatively the worst in the FBS, finishing in the bottom-five of every major statistical category, including giving up a worst-in-the-nation 46 points per game.  It didn't help that they were running up against some of the best collegiate offenses every Saturday, but the fact remains that they were helpless to stop anyone and anything.

The defense never recovered from what Fresno St did to them.

Even a flicker of life on 'D' in 2013 would buoy what could be a sneaky-decent offense.  A big key would be the development of the secondary, which looked lost throughout 2012.  Wounds licked, the young DB corps needs to start making positive contributions.  They have the talent to do so, now it's all about putting it onto the field.


4) A performance from Paul Richardson that gets him selected in the top three rounds of the NFL draft -

This is not meant to excuse Coach Embree, but the absence of Paul Richardson did him no favors last year.  The talismanic wideout is, far and away, CU's best athletic talent, and not having him on the field allowed opposing defenses to crowd the box against the downtrodden Colorado offense.  I don't think it's a stretch to say that a healthy P-Rich would've been worth an additional win or two (CSU and Sacramento State), which might have been enough to secure a third season for the former head coach.

A healthy Paul Ricahrdson needs to shine in 2013.

Whatever success CU has on offense this season, it will, presumably, be achieved through the speedy WR.  Hopefully, it'll be enough to get him noticed by NFL scouts, and keep CU in the opening few days of the NFL draft.


5) A series of donations that lead to breaking ground on the Folsom upgrades -

This, by all rights, could be number one on this list, but I'm too lazy to go back and change the order now. While games will be played in 2013, this year is all about the future, and any progress made on the stalled facilities project will be the deciding factor on how rosy that future will end up becoming.

Phase One needs to start.  Soon.

Former AD Mike Bohn was rumored to have been fired for trying to move the ball on fundraising in the face of continuing debt, leaving the leeway current AD Rick George will have in doing the same a complete mystery. What is known is that construction needs to be started sooner than later if CU will have a hope in hell of competing in the second half of this decade.


6) A lack of QB sneaks on 1st-and-10 - 

I mean... what?  How does this happen?

This is pretty self explanatory.  The firing of Coach Embree was meant to, in part, erase silly, neophyte mistakes like FORGETTING WHAT FUCKING DOWN IT IS.  But my point goes more toward the overall preparedness and attentiveness of the coaching staff, and how good of a hire Mike MacIntyre ends up becoming.

At least the early reviews have been positive. Chris Dufresne of the LA Times called Mac2.0 the best hire of the offseason, and I have yet to hear a single person pan the move.  Most cite his success in turning the perpetually hapless San Jose State program from 1-12 to 11-2 in only three years, and quickly move to extrapolate that success in Boulder. If MacIntyre can live up to even half of the glowing praise, the raging fire in the dumpster that is the Colorado Buffaloes may finally be allowed to peter out. 

But, for now, I'll just take keeping down-and-distance straight in the heat of battle.  Baby steps.


GO BUFFS!

Monday Grab Bag: Football is back

Finally, for the first time since my final year of college, I am a resident of Boulder, CO.  Not Boulder County, or unincorporated Boulder, but proper City of Boulder... and I couldn't be more excited.

My new house is a short walk from nearly everything, including the Coors Events Center, and within a few minutes drive of everything else.  Convenience, thy name is BoCO!

Of course, there are some drawbacks.  My tax bill will go up, traffic - with students moving back into town - is already a nightmare, and nanny state weirdness (like a 10 cent fee per grocery bag) is pinging my BS meter.  But, if that's the price I have to pay to live in the heart of the greatest town west of the Mississippi, then so be it. 

I'm just so damn glad to be back!

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Today in the bag, I'm talking a new assistant for the basketball team, the start of football camp, and Clint Dempsey moving back to America.

Click below for the bag...