Tuesday Grab Bag: "... the water for Oregon was just the tears of sadness"

As you might recall, I correctly predicted the upset over Oregon in last week's grab bag:

"What I'm saying is, as helpless as this feels right now, weird things happen all the time. The current squad could pop out of their slumber this week, and shock the Ducks on Saturday. You laugh, but I've seen dumber."

Of course, some jackass would later #hack both my blog and my twitter account, leading to these blatant reversals of my true opinion:

"As such, the Ducks are going to come in here and rip Colorado; no doubt in my mind. No amount of Tad's black magic witchery is going to save CU this evening. Give me Oregon by a boat-load."

... and...

@Matt_Wiens @CUGoose @pachoopsab LOL, we're getting ripped up and you know it.

— Benjamin Burrows (@Rumblinbuffalo) January 28, 2017

So, I come before you today to talk about the importance of account security, and the necessity of routinely changing your passwords.  Otherwise you too could see your accounts #hacked and have some idiot run around claiming your favorite team will get crushed the day of a top-10 upset.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking the win over Oregon that I totally predicted (and totally did not lose a bottle of scotch over), how the rest of the Pac-12 fared, and a brief blerb on signing day.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Buffs are Risen

Well, Pac-12, ya done fucked up.  You had Colorado Football at its low point, dead for all intents and purposes as a competitive football entity, yet allowed the program to get up off the mat.  #TheRise is, apparently, very much real, and y'all in some serious trouble.  I'm not saying from the team, for whom the sky appears to be the limit, I'm talking about the fanbase.  BuffNation is a bunch of certified cocky shits when we have something on the gridiron to root for.  We are now the fly in your punchbowl.  Prepare for some ruckus, and we do not apologize in advance.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking the historic win over Oregon, a look ahead into the near future of the football schedule, and the start of basketball season.

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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.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Game Week

While everyone was distracted by the looming spectacle of college football's opening day, Tad Boyle was hard at work, adding talent to the CU Men's Basketball program.  Seemingly out of nowhere, the Daily Camera reported on Saturday that the Buffs have added 6-7 Dutch swingman Alexander Strating to the roster as a preferred walk-on for the 2016-17 season, with an eye towards putting him on scholarship for 2017-18.  A brief internet search for young Alexander, who I will be calling 'the Flying Dutchman,' returned few results, but did unearth this brief highlight film:

I'm always cautious, in regards to game film, but I do see a wiry player comfortable with a jump shot.  What comes after that - the ability to defend, the ability to score in traffic, the ability to play a number of positions - will be far more telling, yet not discernible from the tape at hand. The offer list (UC Riverside, DU, and Loyola) is not very impressive, but those kinds of things aren't always telling when they pertain to an international recruit. For now, a default to 'In Tad we Trust' will have to suffice, and it is telling that Coach Boyle spent one of his precious 2017 scholarships on this veritable unknown; he has to have a good feeling here.

While Alexander's on the roster this fall, there's no doubt in my mind that he will be redshirting.  He'll need time to adjust to the American game, as well as put on a few pounds.  So, until the fall of 2017, we'll just have to wait in anticipation.

Welcome to the program, Alexander!

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Today in the bag, I'm talking my annual football goals, the first results from the world of football, and the fortunes of the soccer and volleyball teams.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Buffs fill out roster in style

Over the holiday weekend, Boulder was visited by an eclectic mix of aged hippies and hangers on... which didn't really differentiate it much from any other weekend, come to think of it.  I kid, but the Grateful Dead, or what remains of the old school peace and love touring group, played two shows at Folsom; the first such musical performances at the stadium since 2001 (Dave Matthews Band).  From all accounts, the concerts went off without a hitch, and, more importantly, there was little trouble in the City of Boulder pre- or post-shows.  From my own experience, I found the attendees to be rather reserved and far from destructive on the larger neighborhood (I live four blocks from Folsom, and walked the creek path before each show).

Seemed like a pretty cool scene up on campus.  From: @CUBuffsTurf

Now, I don't give a shit about the Dead.  Not my style of music, not my kind of crowd (outside of Bill Walton, who is, of course, always welcome at the Casa de Rumblin).  But, this was an important moment for CU.  The ability to hold concerts at other non-football events at Folsom is a nice revenue stream to the athletic department, and putting on these shows with the Dead and Company were the first steps towards tapping that stream since before the east-side suites went up.  I don't believe for a second that CU made too much money this weekend, at least nothing that'll come close to erasing the remaining costs of the facility upgrades, but every dollar added, without too much impact on the community, is important, and nothing to sniff at.

Additionally, the last time Folsom hosted a concert, the football team went on to win a conference title, and drop the most satisfying scoreline in the history of the program.  Maybe, in that vein, the return of some touring musical karma will help the 2016 Buffaloes end the painful bowl drought...

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Today in the Bag, I'm talking a huge pickup for Coach Boyle and the men's basketball team, tipoff in The Basketball Tournament, and a Euros update.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: The State of the CU Athletic Department

The news broke last night: the great Pat Summitt had passed.  A titan of the college basketball world, Summitt owned the women's game for nearly four full decades, heading the Lady Vols of Tennessee through 8 national titles, 16 conference crowns, and well over 1,000 wins (at an 84% clip).  Really, the only head coach who can hold a candle to her success is UCLA's John Wooden, but Summitt coached longer, endured against more persistent competition, and ultimately won more (though Wooden did leave a bunch of years on the table). In that vein, there is a very credible argument to be made that Summitt, not Wooden, is the sport's greatest coach.  Oh, and did I mention that she graduated everyone and ran a clean program?

It's with all that in mind that the entire basketball world mourns the loss of a legend; RIP.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking the Rick George roundtable, some recruiting news that has BuffNation all abuzz, and soccer notes from both the Copa and the Euros.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: A new hope on the recruiting trail?

Before I get to the bag today, I want to take a minute to remember the true Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali.  If you've been living under a rock, and hadn't heard, the three-time heavyweight champion of the world passed away last week, at the age of 74.  I won't spend too much time here, as others much more capable then myself have written on the subject, but there isn't a single athlete of past generations that I resent having missed more than Ali.  Beyond simply being a boxer, he commanded the ring and the narrative more than should've been capable, owning the public spectacle at a time that you still got your news from papers.  To have been alive, watching as he held the sporting world in the palm of his hand, must have been awe-inspiring and transformational.

Even today, watching film of his fights is fascinating.  No one takes punches like he could, no one that size has ever been as fast, no one more ferocious when he had a man stunned; this isn't just smoke, he was, legitimately, the GOAT.  As a boxing fan, I pain seeing what others got to absorb in real time.  As a historian, I marvel at the impact he had outside of the ring.  We will never see another athlete like him, a defining American caricature now lost to the ages.  RIP.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking one last gasp on the 2016 recruiting trail for Coach Boyle and crew, the NBA Finals (such as they are), some #SoxThoughts (as promised).

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Tuesday Grab Bag: The Pac-12 moves to curtail court-storming

Cleaning out their inbox, the Pac-12 went ahead and announced a few minor end-of-year tidbits this morning.  Of primary note was the reduction of night football starts (by as many as four dates), and the institution of a fines schedule for court/field storming.

The reduction in night football kickoffs makes sense.  Nearly everyone in the conference complained last year as, weekly, the Pac-12 would be the last conference ticking on any given Saturday night. Fines for court-storming, however, strikes me as a solid defeat for Fun in its everlong struggle against the forces of the aged and the entitled.  This, no doubt, stems from Arizona's Sean Miller going on the whinge after getting beat and rushed in Boulder last February (and I assume your reaction to said incident almost comes down to whether you wear red and navy on a regular basis).  I get that the conference is under some obligation to kowtow to the league bigwigs -- they generate the most revenue, afterall -- but to just roll over on this issue for one or two schools seems two-faced.

The Pac-12 now hates Fun, because Sean Miller told them to.  From: the BDC

'But, what about player safety,' you say?  Please; I will assert this until the day I die, Miller's concern trolling over the scene in Boulder has much more to do with him being butt-hurt over a loss than any real concern for the safety of his players. Were he really that concerned, he would've, you know, actually tried to help usher his charges off the floor, rather than stare (quite dumbly) at the students jumping for joy in front of him... but I digress.

The long and short of it is that college conferences leverage court- and field-rushing for quality promotional material, and their television partners glorify the scenes by conducting on-court, post-game shots.  For them to turn around and say, 'shame on the schools' for letting these beautiful moments of student exuberance go down is hypocritical.

Also, Sean Miller can blow it out his ass.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking the Webb thing, looking at the NBA playoffs, and chortling at the notion of little brother to the BigXII.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Basketball Recruiting Remains Open to Interpretation

Before I get going today, I want to give a special shout out to Ryan Koenigsberg who's leaving his post as the editor of BSN Buffs for bigger, brighter things on that site's Broncos landing.  Since I give not two shits about the Donkeys, that pretty much means that RK is gone from my sporting life, which is a true shame.  He did some great things on the Buffs beat, and the entirety of Buff Nation will miss his voice this coming season.  Good luck, dude, and kick ass covering that stuff that everyone but me cares about!

In his stead, we all get to benefit from the return of William Whelan, which is a lot like going from DiMaggio to Mantle... or going back from Mantle to DiMaggio?  Not sure, but, regardless, Will is an Elite commentator on all things Colorado Athletics, and is just about the most knowledgeable source on Centennial State hoops around.  If you can't have RK dropping knowledge on the Black and Gold, you might as well get tha man himself to pick up the baton.  Welcome back, Will!  Can't wait for that weekly podcast drop!

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Today in the bag, I'm talking renewed pratfalls on the basketball recruiting trail, the NBA Playoffs, and the basebrawl between the Blue Jays and Rangers.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: The wait for the 13th Buff continues

I'm a little abbreviated this week as we hit the offseason months with little built up news.

Today in the bag, I'm touching on a trio of smaller basketball notes, before closing with some talk about Canelo Alvarez v Amir Khan.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Now I'm Talking Recruiting, or Why the Offseason Sucks

I'm trying, guys.  I'm really trying to keep myself from turning this space into non-stop White Sox talk, since I realize the vast majority of you don't give a shit.  The boys from the South Side are not making it easy, however.  Off to a 14-6 start (big come from behind win last night, btw), they are actually... kind of good?  Shocking the hell out of me, they've turned a magical combination of lights-out pitching and defensive improvement into something that doesn't suck.  Sure, they still can't hit for crap, and regression to the mean is going to rake the pitching staff over the coals, but I can't help but think at least some of this is not fleeting.

So, allow me a brief, self-satisfied 'WHOOP' as I note the hot start of My Sox.  I promise it won't keep me from talking about... whatever it is that I normally talk about over the summer months.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking some recruiting news in both basketball and football, some random notes from the basketball program, and talking up the lacrosse team.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Transfers On My Mind

As @EricMetcalfe helpfully pointed out, today is the 6-year anniversary of Tad Boyle being announced as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes.  What a day that turned out to be for this program!  Basketball in Boulder has never been the same; the program that is almost unrecognizable from the program that was.  In just over half a decade, Coach Boyle has brought us all to the point where we're disappointed by a first round exit in the NCAA Tournament.  Yo, that's quite a transformation.  Good hire, Mike Bohn.  Good hire.

Wow, has time flown.  From: the BDC

For those adventurous few interested, I've linked to my article from that day here.  It is... not good.  But it will at least give you a sense of the optimism and hope I felt at the time of the hire, while at the same time shedding a tear for the deserved Steve McClain (since banished to the veritable basketball wasteland that is UIC).  Luckily for us Buffs, Alec Burks came back, and all questions of 'what if' have since been erased.

Anyways, happy anniversary, Coach Boyle!

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Today in the bag, I only got two topics, and both of them are about transfers.  I'll start off with the Davis Webb 'thing,' before finishing with a basketball transfer roundup.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Jay Wright Walks Away From Explosions Without Looking Back

Before I get to one of the craziest finishes in the history of college basketball, I want to give a shout-out to the football program for leveraging a huge recruiting weekend into a major commitment.  4-star Texas WR Jaylon Jackson pledged to Colorado and new recruiting guru Darrin Chiaverini on Saturday, looking to bring his lightning-fast pace to the Foot of the Flatrirons in 2017.  The announcement is certainly something to get excited about, and a sign that things are trending up over at Folsom.

However, with bucket of cold water in hand, I take the stand with all football commitments that they are relatively meaningless outside of signing day.  The culture of the sport and the way the calendar sets up makes early pledges oftentimes wishy-washy. Not that I have any reason to doubt Jackson's veracity, just that I've seen commits across the nation come and go far too often to not take these kinds of things with a grain of salt.  The real truth is that what is news today can be gone tomorrow without something to back it up.  Simply, the Buffs will need to finally get some meaningful wins on the field if they want to both earn Jackson's final signature and add more high profile signees in the class of 2017.  Winning, as ever, is the magical cure to whatever ails you.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking the national title game, a new coach officially signing on with the basketball program, and mulling over the possibilities for the two open scholarships.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: The Dance Begins

Back from Las Vegas, I'm still wobbly on my road to recovery.  Looking back on the week, it was a wonderful time, as always, made all the more wonderful by the opportunity to meet so many Buff fans who admitted to reading this space; some who even claimed to like what they find here!  Thank you all for your continued patronage, and here's to many more years of whatever this is.

Of course, this season is not yet over.  As everyone is aware of by now, the Colorado Buffaloes are Dancing for the fourth time in five seasons -- something wholly unprecedented in the history of this program.  With the Madness officially descending this evening (the opening tip-off in Dayton has already commenced, as of the writing of this piece), it's officially March.  Whatever you thought you knew about this season is about to change dramatically, and I can't wait to cover it.  My preview of the first round action against UConn will drop Thursday morning, with hopefully many more to come in the following days and weeks.

But, for now, it's grab bag time!

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Today in the bag, I'm talking the drowsy Pac-12 final, my All-Tournament Team and Best Band in Vegas awards, my view of the Buffs' NCAA Tournament seeding, and a shakeup to the Colorado coaching staff.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Don't Look at the Bad Basketball, Look at the Puppies!

After a weekend like that, with the Buffs getting out-scored 111-65 over the final 49 minutes of action in Los Angeles, I feel the need to drive back into a familiar trope.  Yes, it's time for the return of CUTE PUPPY PICTURES to salve BuffNation's collective wounds!

I don't know what that stuffed animal did to that puppy, but GET HIM, PUPPY!  GET HIM!

Just the most adorable puppy ever!

Awwwww, this one fell asleep!

There, all better now.  The cuteness has cured a weekend of awful basketball.  Like frickin' magic!

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Today in the bag, I'm wrapping the action in LA, talking about how the rest of the Pac-12 fared, and touching on a recruiting note.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Buffs Ambush Bears in First Half Surge

Football's national signing day is tomorrow! *sigh*  Nothing aggravates me more than 40-somethings opining on the whys and wills of teenagers.  Yes, the recruiting phenomena is important, and paves the way for your future as a football program, but no day on the sports calendar makes me feel so greasy for following college athletics. So a kid picked one school over another, no reason to lose your shit over it.  Be cool.

I'm not even going to try to play the recruiting expert, as I just don't care enough to follow it anymore.  But, if you are so inclined, might I suggest that you give a follow and a subscription to BuffStampede.com publisher Adam Munsterteiger?  There's none on the CU beat with better sources or a feel for this stuff, and he'll set you right.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking CU's win over Cal, the round-up of action in the Conference of Champions, and some welcome news out of the women's program.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Celebrating a Big Win Over the Ducks

The shortened work week has left me precious time for chatter.  Straight to the action!

Today in the bag, I'm talking the big win over Oregon, the goings on in the Pac-12, and some recruiting notes from both football and basketball.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: The Stuff of Nightmares

Bad news, everyone!  I didn't win the lottery last Saturday.  As such, the dream of a revitalized CU Baseball program continues to lie dormant, at least for a few more days.  Don't despair just yet, Boulder-based seam heads, the Powerball pot continues to grow into Wednesday's drawing, meaning we may still get that program up and running before the end of the calendar year.  Here's to hoping!

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Today in the bag, I'm wrapping the game with Utah, taking a look at how the rest of the Pac-12 fared, and touching on last night's national championship.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Runnin' Wild

It was a weird weekend for the Pac-12.  As a whole, the league went 10-2, which is pretty good, but a number of the games went off in kooky fashion, and the South, especially, is starting to lose a little of its luster.  The biggest culprit was Arizona State, who struggled with FCS minnow Cal Poly for three and a half quarters before pulling away late in a 35-21 final (*smug smirk*).  While still a successful weekend, not the easy non-conference blitz those on the Left Coast were expecting.

To top it all off, the news broke on Saturday that the ongoing talks with AT&T/DirecTV over a Pac-12 Networks carriage deal fell through.  AT&T was trying to squeeze the conference, not without reason, and had put together what was deemed a 'very bad deal' for the league.  Just how bad?  Well, reportedly, it would've forced the league to:

1. Overhaul its business model.
2. Rewrite the terms of agreements with current partners.
3. Potentially subject itself to litigation.
4. Compromise the entire endeavor and the integrity of the universities (*cough* a bit overwrought here).

Certainly, there's some spin in that assessment, but, none-the-less, that sounds horrible, and the league soundly rejected it - not a single vote in favor.  *woof*

Now, this is not the end-all on the matter, but, as we're already two weeks into the lucrative football season, time is quickly ticking through the window.  Pac-12 Networks has gone on far too long without getting their channel on the satellite leader, and the hand-wringing by the fans and press is taking over El Jefe's legacy. Something is going to give, and my guess is that it will end up being the Conference of Champions.

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Today in the bag, I'm talking the win over UMass, some updates on upcoming opponents, and some recruiting news from the men's basketball program.

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Tuesday Grab Bag: Derrick White is Official

What's that?  The NFL schedule just got released?  I ain't got no time for that garbage; I'm late with this week's bag!

Today I'm talking Derrick White and a whole load of early playoff action from both the hardwood and ice.

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