Welcome!

Teacher by day, Buff fanatic by night, and, actually throughout the school day also. I was raised in Boulder during the dark Chuck Fairbanks years by two University of Michigan alums. I knew "Go Blue!" long before "Go Buffs!", but when a relatively unknown defensive coordinator was hired to lead the Buffs, my interest was slightly piqued. By the time I reached high school Bill McCartney was building a solid foundation with homegrown talent like Jon Embree and I remember the day in 1986 when Boulder celebrated the win over Nebraska. In college I sold beer, watched Coach Mac win a championship, Rashaan Salaam win a Heisman and I was hooked forever. When Jon Embree was hired, I renewed my season tickets and hit the practice rail. I wrote up a few things for some relatives, forwarded them to a few friends, and then made it a blog. Now I find writing about my Buffies is fun, more informative and therapy! I'll post a few times a week during the season, less in the offseason, with news, musings and links. Go Buffs!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

May Morsels


§  Here are a few tidbits about what is going on in Buff world while things are a little slow on the football news front:
2013 Recruiting
§  The Buffs have received five verbal commitments so far, well ahead of recent years’ paces, including two 4-star rated prospects and two of the top ones coming out of Colorado.  All those committed speak of CU’s family atmosphere in addition to the campus and surrounding environment as the main reasons for coming to Boulder.
§  4-star QB Sefo Liufau supposedly was the staff’s number one QB and will be the only one signed this cycle.  He is yet another top recruit who is opting to leave the state of Washington.
§  Basically unknown safety prospect Kyle Trammel (Silverado HS, Victorville, CA) is a foster child who plays with anger and has reportedly been described by a CU staffer as “a ball of hate”.  IF he qualifies (and that appears to be a question) they love his upside and think he is a steal.  I love that description of his playing style.
§  Chapparal TE Mitchell Parsons sounds super psyched to be a Buff.  Ralphie Report has a great interview with him: http://www.ralphiereport.com/2012/5/1/2991404/interview-colorado-buffaloes-tight-end-commit-mitch-parsons
§  3-star OG prospect Colin Sutton (Orange County, CA) is one of the top guards in the nation and said: “It just felt like the right thing to do. I looked at a lot of schools and Colorado is perfect for me.
§  The biggest (literally and figuratively) uncommitted Colorado prospect is Arvada’s 3-star OT Dan Skipper (Ralston Valley) who is being heavily recruited nationally.
§  The Buffs are also in play for many top national prospects, having offered and are listed as a team of “interest”.  They have lost a few so far and there are a couple who will likely end up as USC as soon as they land offers (i.e. CA safeties Su’a Cravens and Max Redfield as well as DT Eddie Vanderloes), but the CU brand and Embree’s pitch is getting out there.  I predict they will land a big name that will send some ripples across the recruiting front.
§  2012 Frosh
§  New recruits who will be arriving soon: roommates-to-be WR Jeff Thomas and TE Vincent Hobbs, both from Texas, move in June 1; QB Shane Dillon arrives on the 3rd; WR Gerald Thomas will also arrive from Texas June 7; many others will be following shortly.
§  Chandler, AZ DE Kisima Jagne is the only incoming 2012 recruit who is in danger of not qualifying.  Supposedly he is close but it will be a “wait and see” situation until final grades and test scores are officially given to CU.
§  Although Sean Irwin will start out at TE, there is already talk that he may move inside and play alongside his brother Jeromy somewhere on the O-line.
§  Other Notes
§  Buffscoop.com, through a post on NetBuffs.com, “confirms” that former Kansas QB Jordan Webb is indeed transferring to CU and will be on campus this summer.  It is still unclear as to what role he will end up playing for the team, as he clearly thinks he can be the starter for two years, but would have to do a lot in a short time, while also competing for snaps with Nick Hirschman (recovering from foot injury) and Shane Dillon (on campus June 3).
§  They also reported that QB coach Rip Scherer and (more surprisingly?) O-line coach Steve Marshall were the two (not three) coaches who were approached by NFL teams in the offseason.
§  According to their sources, the coaches say Wil Pericak is the anchor of the D and, especially with the lack of depth on the D-line, the most valuable player that they cannot afford to lose.  They also say the Greg Henderson pleasantly surprised during the spring and solidified his spot as a starting corner.
§  The most interesting tidbit that Buffscoop is that although coaches only have 8 seniors who will be leaving (i.e. opening scholarships for 2013), they will be helping/encouraging/pushing a few redshirt juniors to graduate early, which would free up some scholarships (they have stated they want to sign as many as 16-18 in 2013) without damaging the school’s or student athlete’s academic records.  QB Brent Burnette at least did that this year.  There is a lot of dead junior weight on the roster but I am not sure who is in position to graduate next year, but whoever is might be busy taking a few courses this summer.
§  Check out CUattheGame.com’s “contest” for readers to write up about their favorite Buff gameday memories.
 There are lots of great stories, including a few by yours truly (Rashaan’s “cousins by blood” make an appearance).  And you can never read enough about “62-36”!
§  You know it sucks to be a CSU Ram…as the three football players (as well as the instigator of the incident whom they pummeled) were all expelled from the school this week for their involvement in the well-publicized “brawl”.  Mike Orakpo and Nordly Capi were arguably the CSU defense’s two best players, if not the two most talented members of the entire roster.  But they were idiots, caught fighting and involved with police for not the first time, not to mention the weed and steroids allegedly found in their apartments.  Some thought that McElwain would have a short stay in Fort Collins, after he showed a little success and that he would jump ship to head coaching job at a more prestigious university.  However, after 27 sacks in his first scrimmage, this incident, and, well, it is CSU and the Mountain Whack Conference, he might bail for a high school position job before long.
§  Playoffs? Are we really talkin’ ‘bout playoffs?
I feel I must address this since it seems that this may actually happen!  I have always been an advocate of at least a 2 if not 4 or 8 team playoff would be phenomenal for college football and that the BCS system was a poor substitute from the outset and in every version.  However, I was also skeptical like so many that they would never pull it off, especially without some travesty of a school being really dogged by the system. Now, just out of a little common sense maybe, it appears that the powers are finally on the verge of making this a reality.  I don’t care what format or how they decide who participates at this point, just that we have at least four teams competing for a true National Championship.  No matter how they set it up, this will be more exciting than ever, make the regular season more interesting, not to mention the League Championship games, and will (most importantly?) make a truckload of money for everyone involved.
However, I do agree with the Camera’s Ryan Thornburn’s position that an 8-team playoff would be ideal (his proposal is perfect in my mind: http://www.buffzone.com/cu-news/ci_20557632/thorburn-bcs-playoff-way-never-thought-id-see-football ) but that 4 is the most likely.  I also like his statement the 2014 implementation timeline would be perfect for Embree and the Buffs who should finally be maturing and competing nationally by then (hopefully).

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