Over the past 3 years the Rockies have fielded some pretty competitive teams; yesterday they took some steps to become a truly competitive franchise.
First they locked up team leader Troy Tulowitzki. When I say locked up, they took a man already under contract through 2014 and extended him out through 2020. 2020! By then we'll have flying cars! It's a decade long $134 million commitment that's none to surprising coming from Rox GM Dan O'Dowd. This totally fits his M.O. of providing long term deals to franchise-level talent so they can act as the rock of the franchise (pun intended). While O'Dowd whiffed on Mike Hampton's $124 million, 8 year deal in late 2000, in 2001 O'Dowd threw 9 years and $141 million at franchise cornerstone Todd Helton, and it's obvious that this Tulo deal is meant to echo the Helton one from a decade ago. Position players are much easier to project long term production for, and this is why deals like the Helton one, and potentially this Tulo one, are usually safe-ish bets for a franchise.
(Homeboy's about to get paaaiiiiiiid)
Second, they agreement, in principal, to re-sign free-agent pitcher Jorge De La Rosa. The word is that the pending deal is a 2-year contract for $21 million with various options for 3rd and 4th years. It was widely accepted that Jorge was the second-best free agent starter available heading into the free agency period, and for the Rockies to keep him is a firm sign of their continued commitment to stay at the competitive level they had shown over the past 3 seasons. Reportedly, they had been interested in Carl Pavano, but I'm glad they chose to stick with DLR. Besides the fact that Jorge is 5 years younger than Pavano, and that he is a strong Latino role model in an area with a large Latino population, Carl has a history of blowing up in the faces of GM's who put financial faith in him. Anyways, I think it's good policy to stick with talent already in your system as it avoids transition pains and keeps expectations in the realistic range. The Rockies, from field staff to the front office, know what they're going to get from Jorge.
(Resigning talent like DLR is the first step to ensuring that the current success continues)
Sure, the Tulo deal is useless for current purposes, since he wasn't going anywhere (but I still like the deal.) But combine it with locking up your big free-agent potential departure, and you've shown, in one fell swoop, that you are serious about remaining on top. If the knock on Dan O'Dowd is that he routinely lets young talent leave after their 6 team-control years are up, then this can be a sign that the status-quo has changed, and that the Rox are willing to spend to keep the good times rolling. Kudos to O'Dowd and the Rox for taking the necessary steps to remain competitive. If they add one more decent free agency chip (say a veteran bat) for a reasonable price, then O'Dowd will have done his franchise a good service, and positioned them to win not only now, but in the future as well.
Over the Thanksgiving Break the Buffs went on the road and got horse-whipped by a team wearing red; the primary culprit was a piss-poor defense, however turnovers also helped lead to the crushing loss. I'm not talking about the football team, I'm of course talking about the basketball team's shit-tacular effort in Boston yesterday morning. That story, and more, as I dive into this week's grab bag....
Nebraska Loss - As the song goes "there is no place like Nebraska." Thank God, cause I don't know if I could stand another joint like that one. I have some pictures from my final trip to Lincoln (oooo, travel pictures!), but suffice to say any good times to be had were squashed by the team's let-down performance Friday Afternoon. The Buffs wound up losing by 28 points, which can easily be attributed to 3 costly turnovers and a questionable onside kick which led directly to Husker scores. All-in-all, CU never got going, and the Husker offense just pounded the Buff D into the ground. When your offense only has the ball for 9 minutes in the first half, there's eventually going to be some defensive issues, and, while the unit played admirably, they looked tired and over matched all game long. This loss kills any Cabral-for-coach plans, and ends the Buffs season and Big XII career on a low note.
Quickly on my trip: it wasn't all that bad. The Husker fans were actually kind of nice this time. Everywhere I went people would shout "Fuck the Big XII" and "Fuck Texas." No animosity was thrown my way, and I even got some free beverages out of the thing. Sure, Husker ugliness is usually reserved for when they lose, but the friends we met up with actually directed us to a pretty decent time. Now if only it wasn't in Lincoln....
Pictures! - I admittedly suck at taking pictures, but it is what it is. I've selected 5 pictures from the 5 I took during the trip; enjoy!
This is the view from my hotel room. Awww, but I paid for ocean view!
A happy pregame tailgate moment
The precipitous drop from my seats. It was a full 4 or 5 stories straight down. I'm surprised no one has died during a windy game before.
The sun was in my eyes for most of the game, so this is the best crowd shot I could take prior to halftime. THAS A LOTTA RED!
After the sun went down, Cody started throwing tipped interceptions, and all was lost.
The stadium had some lame fireworks display post game for the end of the Big XII era, or some such crap, but it wasn't worth my time to capture. You may be asking yourself "Where's the picture of the traditional border crossing bathroom break?" Well, for one, it was reaaaallllly cold when we crossed, and two, do you really want a picture of me pissing on a sign? Other than that, when we got back to the hotel the others went swimming and I went to sleep because I'm old and lame; and so thus ends the pictography.
Coaching Rumblings - If you are following the search as closely as I am, you may have been slightly concerned when the inter-tubes lit up with the bogus news that Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt was going to be announced as the new Buffs head coach at a 3pm news conference today. The rumor was started by some random website who couldn't even get Coach Mac's name right. A whole bunch of people freaked out, assuming the worst. It was bullshit, and all is back to normal. It's not going to move that fast; we'll know when the guy is selected, and it won't be some random SEC blog breaking the news to us. Hell, half the viable candidates haven't even been interviewed yet. If it aint from a Colorado based source, I'm not putting to much stock in the information.
On that front, Bohn took the opportunity the Vikings/Redskins game provided to interview two of the leading "family" candidates. Eric Bienemy and John Embree both got looks over the weekend, and certainly Bienemy is on the short list. I've also heard Air Force Coach Troy Calhoun's name a lot, although I haven't talked to many fans who would want him as their top choice.
Basketball team loses to the smaht kids from Hahvahd - Sigh.... for the first time ever the Harvard Crimson have defeated a Big XII basketball team, and of course it was the CU Buffaloes. The Buffs continued to stumble out of the gate, losing their 3rd road game in as many tries. I listened to exactly 3 minutes of the first half before realizing what was going to happen and falling back asleep. The same poor team defense that was present last season continues to plague the team this year, the difference is that the stellar offensive efficiency seen under the Bzdelik Hyper-Princeton offense is missing. CU shot only 34.5% from the floor and had only 5 assists on 19 made baskets. CU even managed to be out-rebounded by the small conference Harvard team. Alec Burks was non existent in the first half, and the team struggled all second half to remain within 20 of the Ivy League Crimson. In all reality any hopes of the NCAA Tournament have been flushed, and the team can only hope to make the NIT now. The season's been a massive disappointment so far, and it's become clear that the dramatic change from Princeton-style to traditional offense is having a profound affect on this team.
TCU joining Big East - About that MWC move Boise St... it's not looking so good. TCU has just announced planes to jump to the Big East of all places for the 2012 football season. The move will be for all sports. As of then the "new" Mountain West will be Boise St plus the left overs of the old MWC and the WAC; all the marquee names have jumped ship. Imagine if the Utahs, TCU, and BSU had joined forces with Nevada, Fresno St, Hawaii, and Air Force. That'd be a hell of an 8 team conference, probably even worthy of a BCS bid. Instead, the powers all went their separate ways, leaving Boise holding the bag of shit at the end. Let's all give Boise St the ole' sad trombone for effort!
Peyton Hillis - On the brighter side of life, I'd like to take a moment to trumpet the accomplishments of my man Peyton Hillis. The bruising runningback we're apparently calling "the dumptruck," was plucked off the Josh McDaniels scrap heap (one man's trash is another's treasure) and is now diamonds in the hands of the Cleveland Browns (and my fantasy team). Dude had another 3 touchdowns Sunday, and is reminding everyone of Mike Alstott. Best fantasy pick-up ever!
(Your running back is now DIAMONDS!)
Josh McDaniels - Speaking of Josh McDaniels; it's probably not the best time to be giving your owner a convenient excuse to shit-can your ass. As the Broncos continue to be consistently inconsistent, the revelation comes out that a member of McD's staff went and taped a 49ers practice in London. After 15 loses in 20 games, you can't let something like that happen. While I'll buy that Josh had nothing to do with it, and that his apologies were genuine, it's not a good time to be giving your detractors ammunition. With Hawk gone, the Colorado sports constituency needs fresh blood, and it looks like J-Mac's going to give it to them.
"Hate, son, hate; the great motivator" -- The Great White Hype
How do you sum up the rivalry that defined your CU experience? I don't know if I can, but I'll give it the ole college try. In this preview, for what very well could be the final time CU and Nebraska meet on the football field of battle, I'll try to sum up the rivalry, what it means to me, what it means to the CU fan base, and what I think the final meeting will entail. I may not do it justice, but I promise you that this preview will be entirely biased. I mean it; this post will be entirely 100% objectivity free. If you want objective analysis, head over to the Denver Post, where they whore out their paper to sell a few extra copies to the hick transplants.
("It's alright. I just kicked the ever loving shit out of you, and essentially ruined your program for the better part of a decade, but at least you get the opportunity to embarrass yourself on national TV in a month.")
I'm headed East Friday morning at 1AM. For the last CU-Nebraska game you better believe I'll be there. It's the end of an era. It may have been filled with too few CU victories, but it was a great era none-the-less and I'll miss it. In the final game's honor I present this preview dedicated to hate.
Tomorrow I'll be posting my (probably) massive, 100% biased, Husker Preview. It should be fun...
There will be no Friday Beer post, since I'll be at the game Friday. If you're looking for a beer suggestion, then you have to go with Buff Gold. No other beer is acceptable for Husker week.
I'm writing this now, rather than in early March when the basketball season ends, because, to be honest, the conference was created as a football conference. With the final Big XII football game CU will ever play in going down Friday afternoon, this is certainly a more appropriate time to eulogize our time here. At first, I was really pumped up for this post. After 9 years of traveling to literally every backwater town the conference has to offer, I figured I'd have something poignant to say about leaving the Big XII. I realized last night at 1AM that I don't. In all reality, I won't really miss the Big XII; in fact, I'm very happy that I'll never see most of the schools ever again.
Sure, I'm going to miss the yearly Nebraska kerfuffle, I have some great memories from my trips to Dallas for the basketball tournament, and UT has a soft spot in my heart for being located in one of the few hospitable places the conference has to offer. But, outside of that, there really isn't too much to miss from a conference of fly-over states.
-- A little history
While the Big XII is not dying (even though it is) the Big 8 is now officially dead. It had lived on for 14 years as a meaty blob within a super-sized Texas husk; but now, with the departure of CU and Nebraska for greener pastures, the Big 8 is no more. CU first became affiliated with many of their current conference brothers in 1948 when it left the Mountain States Conference (where we were confederates with little brother CSU and then, and future, big-time rival Utah) for what was at the time called the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association or the "Big 7." The Big 7 at that time was made up of CU, Iowa St, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and K-State. That's right, we've been associated with those schools for 62 years. Oklahoma State re-joined the MVIAA in 1958 to become the "Big 8", and the league officially adopted the name in 1964. The conference stayed the same for 30 years and in that time we won, or shared, 5 conference titles and, of course, won that national title of ours. We were even one of the first schools to really challenge Oklahoma in the conference during the time that the Big 8 was known as "Oklahoma and the Seven Dwarfs."
(Coach Eddie Crowder and the late-60's Buffs began to stand up to powerful Oklahoma. From: the post)
In 1994, when it became apparent that the Southwest Conference would die a quick, yet painful, death, the Big 8 schools decided to throw their lot in with 4 schools from Texas to create the Big XII as we know it today. The conference kicked off in 1996. During the Big XII era we won the conference once and appeared in 4 title games over a period of 5 years. In all sports, the Buffs have won a respectable 27 conference titles, second most in the North (behind "you-know-who"), even though we don't compete in as many sports as the other 11 schools.
(The highpoint of our stay in the Big XII)
-- A little perspective
I grew up in Big 10(11) land and only cared about CU from an outsiders perspective (although I was a fan). I don't even specifically remember the Big 8, having mostly experienced CU football in non-conference play prior to the Big XII years. Maybe that's why I feel no larger attachment to the Big 8 schools. However, it is sad to see over 60 years of competitive relationships die. For nothing but history's sake it's sad to move on. But, if that's the only problem with moving to the Pac-12, then there's no problem at all. You can never be held back by reminiscing. The passage of time and the changes we make are what's good about life. Think about how exciting it is to have opponents like Oregon and USC coming to Boulder; the excitement of next year is infinitely greater than had it been just another year in the Big XII.
But this isn't just change for change sake, we need to move on. Those 4 Texas schools the Big 8 absorbed in 1996 have come to dominate the conference. UT and A&M alone have more conference titles in all sports than the North, and the overall tally is South 269 to North 141. Why did this happen? Because CU, along with Nebraska, formed the backbone of strength in the North Division, and we haven't held up our end of the bargain. I don't think we really should've been expected to in any sport other than football, but even there we've faltered. Over the past 7 years both CU and Nebraska have endured a down-grade in football. Since football is the only sport anyone cares about, this down-grade has permanently eroded the 2-division championship structure (which is why I'm against the championship format); and that's how we got to where we are with the dissolution of 60+ years of history.
-- A little conclusion
Eulogizing our time in the Big XII would be pointless without talking about our future in the Pac-12. CU now moves on to a conference where it's not expected to carry the load it was expected to carry in the Big XII North. USC, UCLA, and the Arizona's will do the heavy lifting the Pac-12 South needs to keep the conference balanced, and any gains CU makes will only create more competition in all sports. If anything, we're located in a center of power with UCLA and it's over 100 national titles under it's belt. Financially, competitively, academically, and environmentally we're headed for a better situation. In addition, those November road trips to the barren wasteland that is the Great Plains are being replaced by trips to the California sunshine. So, really, after it's all said and done, are you really going to miss KU, KSU, ISU, MU, OU, and OSU all that much? I'm not.
It's hate week, which means objectivity is out the door. Great win Saturday for both the program and the seniors, and I think Cabral is inching closer to being a top-3 level candidate for the open coaching job. Just saying, but had we fired Hawk sooner we could be closing in on that 9 win season I talked about a few months back... Sigh. Time to delve into the bag where I'll talk Speedy Stewart becoming Mr. Utility, Coaching Search rumblings, and the disastrous basketball loss in San Francisco. On to the bag...
Win over KSU - Another impressive win is in the bag for Interim Head Coach Brian Cabral. CU racked up 476 yards of offense, Speedy nearly cracked 200, Scotty grabbed the TD record, Cody had another near-perfect day, and the defense did just enough to win as the Buffs soared to a 44-36 win in the last Big-12 game ever to be played in Folsom Field. The Buffs essentially spotted KSU 14 points through some awful special teams play early in the game, but the team never let their heads sag and scored 27 unanswered points to take control of the game. Senior day went off without a hitch, and the fans even gave a great cheer when Cody was introduced. A great way to send off a great set of Buffs.
(The family Hawkins on senior day; Cody would eventually win the well-deserved Buffalo Heart award. From: The BDC)
I was a little concerned that KSU backup QB Carson Coffman was able to come in and spell the injured starter by throwing for 270 yards in limited action, but KSU was behind for most of the game, and they threw on almost every down of the second half. While Coffman's effectiveness may have been unnerving, KSU's star RB Daniel Thomas' ineptitude running the football made me very happy. He only grabbed 58 yards (season low) and had a very costly fumble. It's the second straight running back that we've held to a season-low in yardage. The Buffs defense added another 6 sacks, and generally looked strong except on 3rd/4th and long, where they gave up a few back-breakers. Considering how strong they were on 1st and 2nd downs, there should be no problem shoring that area up for Friday's game against the hated corn.
(The Buffs D has gotten back to hitting. From: The BDC)
Speedy fills up the stat sheet - Speedy did everything Saturday. 267 total yards; 195 rushing (with two scores), 49 receiving, and even 23 passing on a sweet HB option pass to Toney Clemons early in the second quarter. Stewart is quickly becoming the Buffs workhorse as he grabbed 37 touches out of the 70 offensive plays that the Buffs called. While he did fumble 3 times, they were all quickly recovered by CU with no harm done. Speedy is quickly proving that, if he holds onto the ball, he can be one of the best backs in the country.
(Speedy's been a beast the last 2 games. From: The BDC)
Coaching buzz - The big news over the weekend was that former Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti withdrew his name from the search. I absolutely expected this as I've said many times that Bellotti never seemed all that interested or drawn in by the job. As a candidate I was never all that enthused anyway since, while he made great leaps in building the U of O program, they got better after he left, and he made most of those strides with Phil Knight's (Nike) blank checks being cashed all over the place.
On the brighter side of coaching; word is we are actively talking to Les Miles. Yes, that Les Miles. If Les is interested, this could be the greatest coaching coups in quite a while. If he's seriously interested, we need to get this party started, and start honestly talking with him. If not, let's move on to more viable candidates. He should know our financial ceiling, and if that's problem for him, he can't string us along for shits sake; hopefully Les is an honest broker, cause, while Bienemy was the top of my list last week, Les is my A-#1 choice if he'd come..
Cabral - Speaking of the coaching search, Brian Cabral has got to be on our shortlist at the end of all of this. Whatever his dark Hawaiian voodoo is, it's working wonders fast. It's obvious that he's focused the team on playing strong, fundamental football with a lot of passion and energy. The team seems to be playing free and easy, and as a result is playing extremely efficient football. In the two games that he's coached Speedy has 76 touches out of 139 total offensive plays, Cody hasn't thrown a pick, and the defense has racked up 14 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries. Those are areas that had been lacking under Hawk. We've also avoided randomly chasing points by needlessly going for it on 4th down or going for 2 when it's not essential. We're playing basic football; sometimes coaches make the game too complicated, and it seems that Coach Cabral is trying his best to avoid that. I really like the way the team is playing under Coach Cabral, and, in turn, we owe it to him to seriously consider him for the job. I'm still not sold that handing someone the reins after a successful interim stint wouldn't be a possibly disastrous knee jerk reaction, but the man deserves a good look.
(At the very least, he should be our DC next year. From: the BDC)
Hate week - I thought this would be the case, but CU opened as a 24 point underdog to the hated corn. LOL, they must have pre-set that line 4 weeks ago when Hawk was still entrenched in Dal Ward. Word to the betting community; this isn't the same CU team. While we're on the subject, Nebraska isn't the same as they were a few weeks back, either. Did you see the game Saturday night? Their offense blows ass. This isn't the same offense that was lighting up the nation earlier, and the team seems ready for a season-crushing home loss. If South Dakota State, Iowa State, even 2010 shitty Texas can make this team blink, then CU can bitch-slap them to close out the modern rivalry.
In his post KSU-game comments to KOA, Coach Cabral closed by saying "we're going to war" this week against the corn. Damn fucking straight! This is for blood, this is for multiple years of bragging rights; this is for Sal, and Coach Mac, and Coach Barnett, and Scooter Bienemy. Chis Brown, Darian Hagan, Brandon Drumm and Brian Calhoun are looking over proudly at this CU team as we go to war against the hated corn this week. I'll even be there to make sure those fucking people know we hate them one last time. The game even means something for each team as a 6th win makes CU bowl eligible, and Nebraska needs a win to clinch the Big XII North. This shit is fucking on.
Taylor Martinez kinda, sorta quit; but not really - For a few hours Sunday afternoon, it appeared that Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez quit the team after getting raked over the coals by hayseed-coach Bo Pelini on national TV for texting in the locker room. It's now apparent that Martinez didn't quit, but missed/skipped practice Sunday, and that led to the rumors that exploded all over the interwebs yesterday afternoon. Here's my question, if Martinez skipped practice, is Bo going to let him play Friday? That certainly wouldn't fit his M.O. as a tough-headed firebrand of a head coach. Anyways, love to see the Huskers implode like this, maybe we can touch match to powder and ruin them for the future by handing them an embarrassing loss Friday.
(Pelini's a fucking hick. Get that shit under control freak!)
Basketball clusterfuck - The men's basketball team fell to a troubling 1-2 start after losing to the USF Dons in overtime 83-81 Saturday night. The loss was sealed after the refs penalized the Buffs for a phantom timeout. After USF scored the game tying basket, the refs conferred and awarded the Dons a technical foul because they claimed someone on Colorado had called for a TO the Buffs didn't have. The Buffs still deny either verbally or physically signaling for a TO. USF hit the resulting free throws, and the Buffs missed their desperate attempt at the final buzzer. My Northern California corespondent tells me there was still one TO showing on the scoreboard when the phantom timeout was called, meaning that even if CU had signaled for a TO, they would've had reason to think they had one. (He also referred to the USF gym as amateur-ish, and mentioned the whole operation was crap.) Regardless, it's a tough and damaging loss for a team that needs all the wins it can get in non-conference to make the Tourney. At this rate, the Buffs had better damn near sweep the rest of non-con play if they hope to make it to the dance.
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!"
This will be my final gameday beer-o-the-week post of the year. Next week, the game is on a Friday, and I won't have time to post. It's Nebraska next week, anyways. All you should be drinking is pure, unadulterated hate! Btw, if you're expecting coherent, unbiased analysis of that game, you clearly don't know who you're dealing with....
This week the "little apple" pussies come to town. That someone had the gumption to name some random shithole in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas after one of the best cities in the world has always amused me. Manhattan, KS shares nothing but a name with it's East Coast namesake, but it does give me the opportunity to turn to NYC for beer inspiration. Across the East River from the real Manhattan is a little hamlet called Brooklyn; you may have heard of it. Brooklyn so happens to be home of one of my favorite breweries in the world: Brooklyn Brewery.
Brew-master Garrett Oliver is a wonderful ambassador to the brewing world. He creates some of the best brews in the nation, and is heavily involved in brewing culture in America. I strongly encourage you to try anything of his you come across. However, since I have to pick only one, I'm going to name their staple Brooklyn Lager as this week's tailgate beer-o-the-week.
Brewed since the late '80s, and based on a pre-prohibition recipe, Brooklyn Lager is a good version of an easy to drink style. Dry-hopped and well malted, this beer makes for a great session beer. It's not going to challenge your palette too much, but it'll make for a great tailgate brew. If you can find this beer west of the Mississippi River you'd do well to buy a 6-pack or two.
