2016 CU vs Michigan Football Preview

Before I get to today's full preview, it's confession time.  Back in the fall of 2001, yours truly was a high school senior, desperately trying to make his college choice.  Of course, the University of Colorado was on the list, along with a handful of other random schools from around the country (Washington, Clemson, Purdue, etc.). Atop the heap, though, was the University of Michigan.  While I had been a CU fan from early on in my youth, I had eventually come to be obsessed with Michigan.  The combination of tradition, academics, and one of the best fight songs ever written had me drooling to go play tuba in the Big House.  I wanted it bad, and had done all the things academic advisors tell you to do, even though it was always a long shot.

Crushingly, however, the letter returned from Ann Arbor was the smaller kind, the one filled only with tidings of rejection.  I didn't get in.  I threw off the Michigan hat I was wearing.  It generally sucked. That's when the tears came.

There's a silver lining to that moment of pain, however. If there is ever to be a consolation prize worth earning, four-ish years in Boulder is it. The people I met, the lessons I learned, the experiences I had could not have existed in Ann Arbor.  Boulder and CU are as unique a temple to higher education as anywhere on the planet, and the thought that I could've missed the chance to experience them makes me shudder in retrospect. Really, it was a twist of miraculous fate that I was rejected by the UofM, that I didn't get what I thought I wanted.  I can't imagine my life out east, and count my lucky stars that I am a Buffalo, not a Wolverine. 

So, with Big Blue appearing on the schedule for the first time since my arrival in Boulder, I stand proudly shoulder to shoulder with the school that chose me.  Go get 'em, Buffs!

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Hype Music for the Week: "Vogue" by Madonna

There were a lot of options for the feature this week.  Everything from Eminem to KISS and the Supremes was considered; Detroit is deep in quality music from across the spectrum.  In the end, however, I chose Madonna for one important reason: of all the popular music acts to emerge from the Detroit area, she's the only one to have actually gone to the University of Michigan (on a dance scholarship; Iggy Popp was also considered).  So, here we are.

Vogue was arguably Madonna's biggest hit.  Released at the height of her fame in 1990, it reached #1 on the Billboard charts in May of that year.  It's a pop-y jingle with legs, influencing many of the dance hits from that decade.  Enjoy!

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There was a question going around #BuffsTwitter this week that got me thinking.  The CU/Michigan game is the biggest for Colorado since... when?  See, there's a lot on the table for the Buffaloes this week.  After two consecutive ass-whuppings over lesser competition, the team is riding high into Week 3, but is otherwise untested.  The promise of this fixture, though, is an opportunity to prove to national eyes, usually fixated far from Boulder, that #TheRise is for real.  CU hasn't had a like opportunity in a long while.  With a win over the Wolverines, Colorado could stamp their name in the top-25 for the first time since 2005.  No kidding, it's a big damn game.

So, to the question at hand, my argument would be the Nebraska fixture in 2010.  That was the last time Colorado was within a victory of bowl eligibility, and the last time any game featuring the Buffaloes felt like it had even the barest of 'stakes.'  But, even then, the feeling is different.  In November of 2010, the program and fanbase were clearly on the decline, and that loss in Lincoln just capped another lost season.  The stakes lost had been simply to add a little juice headed into a coaching search (and leave the BigXII on a high note); nothing all that substantial.  Now in 2016, with hope cautiously blossoming under a rising sun, the stakes have an opposite timbre to them.  Instead of forestalling what a loss could mean, the stakes are all about the dream of what a win could mean.  I like this reality much better.

And so, we look ahead to Saturday. Kickoff from the venerable 'Big House' in Ann Arbor, MI is set for 1:30pm MT.  Weather could be nasty, with rain and thunderstorms forecasted for pretty much all of Saturday.  Coverage can be found on the BigTen Network, with Mark Johnson and the radio call on 850 KOA.

Click below for the preview...

Tuesday Grab Bag: "They’re basically starving."

I continue to be impressed with #TheRise.  Through two weeks the Colorado football team looks good... honestly, legitimately good.  They're making plays, executing, and getting the most out of every snap on both sides of the ball.  Head Coach Mike MacIntyre, after the game Saturday, chalked this up to the players entering the season 'starving' for success.  They certainly look it.  It's to the point that I'm expecting a quality performance this week in Michigan, despite the fact that they were installed as 20-point underdogs to the #4 team in the country.  Maybe the Buffs won't win, maybe they can't win, but I at least know they're going to show up.  I believe: Colorado is going to head east, give it their best, and prove to the nation that CU belongs on the same field as one of the heavies in the sport.  It's a confidence I haven't had in recent years, but have now. Damn, this kool-aid tastes good.

Go get 'em, Buffs.  Shock the world!

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Today in the bag, I'm talking a first round TKO of the Idaho State Bengals, some big recruiting news from Tad Boyle's basketball kingdom, and a roundup of the week's action in Pac-12 football.

Click below for the bag...

2016 Gameday Beverage-o-the-week - Idaho State Edition

Each week throughout the football season I'm going to suggest a good beerbeverage for the ubiquitous pre-game tailgate. Let's be honest, with tailgates it's not always drunkenness that you're looking for. Sometimes you just want to enjoy life to it's fullest, experiencing it the way great American Jim Leavitt does.  So, be warned, this week it's not about beer.  In (not) the words of Dave Chappelle as Samuel L. Jackson "IT'LL WONT GET YOU DRUNK!"

I'm calling an audible.  I know I should be selecting a beer today.  Possibly highlighting some brewery from Idaho, of which I'm sure there are some.  My problem is that I'm just morally opposed to spending a good beer pick on an FCS game.  No offense to the Bengals, it's just that... for a punchless matchup, the selected drink should be equal to the challenge.  This isn't a first; if you'll recall, last fall I picked non-alcoholic O'Doul's for Nicholls State.

So, in looking for something game-appropriate, I tried to get to the heart of the matter at hand.  I looked for a source of passion in a matchup that is a challenge for the average fan to get up for.  What I found was that I kept thinking, "what would Jim Leavitt do?"  The firebrand Defensive Coordinator is famously passionate about... pretty much everything, constantly exuding a joie de vivre that is as heartwarming as it is bemusing to watch from afar.  Surely this great man, who has revitalized the Colorado defense, would have the right answer here.

Of course, what Jim Leavitt would pick is Pepsi.  Yep, fucking Pepsi.  He can't shut up about the soft drink, tweeting and talking about it constantly (if he doesn't have an endorsement deal, his agent is really dropping the ball).  Jim seems to love the stuff as much as he does football.  Fair enough, in his honor, I'm naming Pepsi this week's gameday beverage-o-the-week.

I love this image.  From: The Ralphie Report.

I will admit to being a Leavitt-esque Pepsi drinker in my miss-spent youth.  It was the White Sox official soda, so I, in turn, gobbled the stuff up like every over-sugared child of my generation.  Regular Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Crystal Pepsi (which is making a comeback).  You name it, I craved it.

The beverage, which Wikipedia will tell originated in the 1890s, is one of the two principle soda behemoths in the country (you know the other).  It's been around forever, quenching generations of thirst with its dual blasts of high fructose corn syrup and caffeine, and is synonymous with the concept of the massive marketing conglomerate.  Be assured, Pepsi is decidedly not good for you or your kids, as are any traditional American sodas, and really should be avoided at all costs.  However... it's so damn tasty on a summer day.  Poured over ice, bubbles fizzing away, it really can't be beat.

So, if you don't mind putting another step towards an extended relationship with a diabetes meter, why not pickup a 12-pack?  Toast away the last hours of a summer afternoon as the Buffs take the field against Idaho State.  Jim Leavitt would approve.


Happy Friday!  Go Buffs, beat the Bengals!

2016 CU vs Idaho State Football Teaser

You'll note that this is not titled as a 'preview.'  I'm trying to attune my football coverage to my style in basketball season, reserving full 'previews' for the games that matter.  While still counting full value in the the win/loss column, a game against a middling FCS program certainly falls short of that metric.  Accordingly, this 'teaser' will be more narrative and less formulaic than my typical pre-game fare... shorter, too.  So, without further adieu, on with the teaser...

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Hype Music for the Week: 'Walk Like an Egyptian' by the Bangles

I'll admit that it's a rather lame homophonic stretch to go from the Idaho State Bengals to the 80s pop group 'The Bangles.'  The other option, however, was 'Eye of the Tiger' from Survivor, which I thought was even lamer.  So, here you go; some of the worst pop rock to come out a decade known for terrible pop rock.

The Bangles, you might be interested to know, are still together.  They've put new music out as recently as 2011 (Sweetheart of the Sun), are are currently touring the East Coast (or so a quick Google search would reveal).  They was never my cup of tea, musically, but, then again, my most recent music purchase was a slew of prog-metal instrumental tracks, so what do I know?  Enjoy!

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Is there anything better than a late-summer afternoon in Boulder?  Kickoff from beautiful, sun-splashed Folsom Field is set for 3:30p on Saturday.  If for the setting alone, you won't want to miss this one.  For those poor souls unable to attend, coverage will be on Pac-12 Networks, with the radio call on AM 760.

Click below for the teaser...

Tuesday Grab Bag: #TheRise Explodes Onto National Television

Before I get to the bag, celebrating a strong start to the new football season, I would like to take a moment to admonish those of you removing the brakes from the hype train as it begins to leave the station.  Yes, the Buffs looked good Friday night, and, yes, the rest of the Pac-12 South looked suspect throughout the remainder of Week 1.  However, anyone insinuating (or out-right stating) that the Buffs, after just one game against weak competition, are suddenly players in a league and a division they have routinely played whipping-boy to has lost their damn mind.

I don't want to throw cold water on a performance that certainly deserves recognition and excitement - this is, after all, the best Colorado has looked after a game against FBS competition, such as it is, since... what, Wyoming in 2009? The 2010 RMS? - but let's keep some perspective.  This team was never going to be defined by the way it performed in this game; it will be defined by how they take to the conference slate, something that is still far from known.  Basically, on this happy Tuesday, my message is this: call me after that trip to Oregon at the end of the month.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking the Rocky Mountain Beat-down, notable action around the world of college football, and how the rest of the CU Athletic Department fared.

Click below for the bag...

2016 Gameday Beer-o-the-week - RMS 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!"

It's the RMS, so the honorary beer-o-the-week is, as always, Buff Gold.  Previously, I've talked about how you can spice up the standard golden ale by dropping in a shot of Buffalo Trace bourbon to make a 'Buffalo Maker.'  Advancing the concept further, why not make it a hybrid drop-shot of Trace and local agave spirit Tatanka?  Yeah, I know, that sounds rough, but football is meant for the tough of spirit, so you deserve a beverage to match.

The 'real' beer for this week is an old non-favorite.  Submitted for your approval, I present the offspring of a marketing machine with a plan.  A marketing machine who wantonly leeches on the consumer's cardboard palate, while simultaneously wrapping itself in whatever flavor of the American Dream once existed under the Eisenhower administration.  A marketing machine not of this continent that posits to speak for the beer drinkers of this great nation.  Yep, I'm of course talking about Budweiser 'heavy,' or, as it has bizarrely taken to call itself this summer, 'America,' and it's my gameday beer-o-the-week.

'America?'  But you're fucking Belgian!

Let me first say that I am offended.  If you're going to slap the flag on the side of your brew and call it America, then it better be damn good, worthy of the name itself.  This beer is not good, however.  It is lifeless piss-water, the kind of thing you would expect to come from years of industrialized corporate 'brewing.'  More to the point, the company making the swill isn't even American!  It's a Brazilian/Belgian behemoth, stretching it's devilish tentacles across the globe.  A testament to the might of multi-national business management, sure, but far from the homespun, hard working, blue-collar, patriotic company of the advertising campaign.  It's a sham, a put-on, a hateful ruse. Designed to ply willing rubes from their hard-earned cash while real-deal American brew is shuffled off to the dusty corners of shelves via distribution arrangements.

By now, I'm used to people of all ilks appropriating the Stars and Stripes for their own purposes; that in and of itself may be as American as the apple pie of legend.  However, this attempt is so brazen, so hilarious in its origin, as to piss me the hell off.  Fuck this beer, and fuck the company that put it on shelves.  Enjoy it at the peril of your very soul.

... on second thought, go with the Buff Gold.


Happy Friday!  Go Buffs, get that 'W!'

2016 Rocky Mountain Showdown Preview

My views on the RMS are well known by this point: I don't care about the opponent, I don't care about the series, and I don't care about the venue.  It is the ultimate shoulder shrug of an event for me, and one that I feel Colorado Football would be better off to scrap in its entirety.  In that vein, I do not deem it worthy of a full preview.  Instead, bypassing the matchup in its entirety, I will choose to focus this space on the one thing involved that I do care about: the Colorado Buffaloes.

That's right, continuing the childish petulance of the previous two years, I flat out refuse to even name-drop tomorrow night's opponent.  You will find NO MENTION of that team below the fold.  I'm taking the opportunity to preview our Buffs, and only our Buffs. No, this isn't like my basketball preview, and nowhere near 20,000 words; don't be afraid.  Just a brief, superficial look at the team, and where I see them headed in 2016.

So, without further adieu, here we go...

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Hype music for the week: "Friday" by Rebecca Black

Have I mentioned before that I hate this series?  'Kill it with fire,' I say, which just so happens to be the same reaction I had the first time I heard this 'song' from pop star (?) Rebecca Black.  Oh, and, wouldn't you know, the RMS this year is being played on a Friday.  It's like this rat poison of a game and this ear cancer of a song were a match made in heaven!  So, those of you riding out to Mile High tomorrow, roll down your windows and crank this beast... 'cause it's Friday, Friday.  Enjoy!

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Kickoff from the *sigh* 88th edition of the Rocky Mountain Showdown will come Friday evening at 6pm from Sports Authority Field.  Much like the company named on the side of the stadium, the series itself has long since run its course, deserving of a complete and total rewrite, but I digress.  If, like me, you aren't going down to Denver to watch in person, you can follow the action on ESPN or AM 760.  If you are going to the game... don't forget to bring a towel... er, I mean, wear black.

For reference, you can find my previews from previous iterations of this series here, here, here, here,  here, and here.... my God, this is my seventh season of football coverage. If that ain't a plea for help, I don't know what is.

Click below for the preview...