The Rumblings of a Deranged Buffalo

A Plea For Basketball

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 21:40:00 +0000

Well, Colorado has a new Athletic Director. Fernando Lovo, most recently at the helm of New Mexico, will be stepping in to officially replace Rick George at the end of the academic year, putting a stamp on the latter's 13 years of up-and-down leadership in Boulder.

I'm not going to get too deep in my analysis of the hire, beyond to note the obvious I-25 myopia jokes, and that he's younger than me and I'm just going to have to get over that. I would've preferred a candidate with more direct experience leading a Power 4 athletic department, or more direct ties to B1G or SEC leadership with an eye towards the next round of realignment, but no candidate will check every box. He seems energetic, engaging, and happy to be here, so I'll offer some leeway on entry until proven otherwise.

Understandably, the top of Lovo's to-do list will be football-centric. Revenue is a critical conversation point with CU Athletics right now, what with over $25 million in reported budgetary shortfalls, and football is the largest part of that pie. What's more, on the field, the Coach Sanders era is on perilously wobbly legs, probably not much longer for this world, and the football program as a whole is peering over the ledge at permanent obsolescence. How Fernando addresses this challenge will define his tenure, and it's reasonable for him to focus much of his attention there to start. But, there's more than just football on the calendar, and plenty of hours in a workday. Might I make a plea for basketball?

I'm obviously biased. While I attend football games out of rote acknowledgement of the ritual, it's not my favorite activity on the planet. Hoops, on the other hand, has a grip on my soul that I cannot shake -- I'd rather be in the gym watching a college game than pretty much anywhere else. More to the point, the men's and women's programs are the other two potential profit centers for the athletic department, and, in my perspective, one of those, the men's basketball program, has been entirely mismanaged for the vast majority of the last 13 years under Rick George. There's more meat on that bone, and, since Fernando will be looking to increase revenues, hoops marks a direct line to find some loose millions in the couch cushions.

That's not to say there hasn't been success. Colorado Men's Basketball is at its highest point of sustained on-court performance since the '60s, and has been there since roughly the moment Tad Boyle put pen-to-paper in April of 2010. Financial success has followed, with the program running consistent surpluses after spending much of the prior decades hovering around break-even, if not outright in the red. George has had some say in that, inasmuch as he kept Tad on the payroll, and gave him necessary autonomy in his sphere, if not full-fledged financial support. In-arena, however, the program is moribund. Athletic Directors can only do so much to impact the on-court/field products they're in charge of, but, to my mind, they own the presentation part and parcel. The stale and lifeless marketing and presentation of what could be a jewel in the crown of CU Athletics is an embarrassment, and the fans are starting to vote as such with their butts and wallets. Money is being left on the table.

In considering this, I took a deep dive into attendance trends since 1990, see below:

Years with post-season play are highlighted in green (Dance) and orange NIT).

Of note, the pre-Boyle attendance average from 1990-2010 was 4,908 per game. During the Tad era, that number jumps up to 7,890 per game (a 60.7% increase), which is phenomenal. Not entirely a surprise, given Boyle's winning percentage (60%) and postseason hit rate (80%), though the more recent attendance trends have been downwards, even as the wins and postseason berths have continued apace.

What was more interesting was comparing attendance trends by athletic director, across coaching regimes. I didn't want to go back to the 80s, 'cause, well, I can only stomach the Dark Ages so much. But, I think it's fair to look at the tenures of Dick Tharp, Mike Bohn, and Rick George in isolation.

Tharp's trend was relatively stable, with a slight tick up around the '03 Tournament run, before sliding back below the tenure average of 5,095. This all makes sense, given his coach's (Ricardo Patton) general inability to capitalize on the star-laden runs of '97 and '03, *and* that I'm pretty sure Tharp wouldn't have been able to locate the CEC on a labeled map of Boulder. The less said about his time at the helm of the program, the better.

Mike Bohn's time in Boulder? Well, that's where things start to get interesting. Even before Boyle's arrival, Bohn's attendance trendline had started upwards, culminating in a modern program high of 10,932 patrons per game in 2013. His total tenure average of 6,202 fans per game is a solid 21.7% increase over Tharp's, but attendance had steadily increased over his final four seasons in Boulder, and his 8 full seasons at the helm of the program saw an average YoY increase of 15.26% each season. This run is not without fault, with the lame duck '07 season afforded Patton a notable error (and leaving out any comment on his post-CU career, which ended in disgrace at USC), but it's clear that the program took off thanks, in no small part, to Bohn's focus on it.

Finally, let's consider the tenure of Rick George. The simple fact is that attendance has declined in all but two seasons under RG. He does get a caveat for missing out on the fan-less '21 campaign, one of the most anticipated and most successful seasons in program history, which, most likely, would've seen a spike in raw attendance, but the numbers are what they are. Indeed, his final running average of 7,750 per game is an increase of 24.9% over Bohn's. But, that top-line belies the overall losing trend; he has averaged dropping about 3% of the fanbase each season, and his last four seasons (6,969) averaged 20% fewer fans than his first four (8,770). '26 is yet to spit out its final result, but, based on what we've seen so far (5,169 per game through 1/3), my guess is that the numbers will continue to tumble a bit.

What can be made of this? Attendance is, obviously, a correlation of wins and losses -- when the program is winning, numbers go up, money machine go brrrrrrrr. But it's also a reflection of fan engagement and interest. The Bzdelik years are a perfect encapsulation; they're three of the most lethargic seasons since 1990, and a decided step down from the W/L standards of the Patton era, yet attendance trended upwards throughout, averaging 26.8% YOY improvement. Bohn had made a decided effort to engage, grow, and nurture the fanbase, from students to cheer to butts-in-seats, and it showed, even when the results remained pedestrian. When Bohn made the right hire in replacing Bzdelik, the on-court product shot up, and the fanbase was ready to come along for the ride.

That has not been the case under George. While the results on the Court have remained rather strong throughout his tenure, the fanbase is less and less interested in trekking to Boulder to watch it. Some of that can be chalked up to the perception of a stale, "good but not great" program under Boyle, which has brought winning consistency and exciting talent to Boulder, but lacks recent highlight moments in March to pull in the casuals. That said, a program that routinely posts 20+ win seasons and makes postseason play 80% of the time, compared to a prior history of anything but that, should be a gift to any athletic department and marketing team worth their salt.

My argument is simple: Rick George failed the basketball program. He was set up for success, handed a tuned-up roadster ready for track day, and instead left it in the garage as a showpiece to rot under a tarp. What I often refer to as benign neglect. When he went to turn the marketing engine over for exciting runs in '20 and '24, all that emitted was a cough. Learning lessons from this error, Lovo has an opportunity to come in, take corrective action, and lead the program into new frontiers.

Think about your recent gameday experience, and compare it to, say, 2014 or 2015. There's less juice. The students are not engaged. Band and cheer are all but removed from the in-game presentation. Every aspect of the stage being set feels chintzy, dusty, and, above all else, boring. All has been allowed to decline without appropriate corrective action. I would argue that there is less care and effort put into the presentation than at any time since Dick Tharp was in charge. Meanwhile, Tad keeps winning, has addressed pace of play and offense concerns, and keeps pumping out pro prospects -- what am I missing here?

I was made aware that, after the 2019 season (then a culmination of seven consecutive seasons of attendance decline), there was an Athletics meeting across a number of levels to discuss in-game tweaks to presentation. While attendance decline did stabilize in the aftermath, the results of that meeting have almost all been duds. The in-arena presentation is worse than ever, and little if anything has been done to course-correct. The attendance figures, even in years of blue-chip prospects, marketable stars, and high anticipation, have stayed largely flaccid.

Each and every gameday is full of irritation. The DJ? Gotta go. The small-time sparklers for introductions? Gotta go. The tinny sound system tuned for those without the blessing of hearing? Gotta go. The damn reductive and milquetoast "Buff Clap"? Gotta go.

"Well, then, what recommendations do you have?" I'm glad you asked. Here's a (brief) list of some suggestions to jumpstart conversation:

Incentivize fans not just purchasing season tickets, but *using* their season tickets.

Build in perks for those that show up -- attendance-based tier incentives that lead to discounts at the team store, meet and greets with players, and Buff Club priority boosts (for those that care). Award bonus points for weeknight games in December, or for less-attractive opponents.
Make attendance an expectation of ticket purchase; create a culture that makes "getting to the gym" a part of being a Buff Fan.

Value the students; encourage their engagement, not just their attendance.

Let the students help lead their own presentation. Empower student leaders, give them a (small) budget, engage with them, encourage attendance through reward incentives (priority/reserved space for key games, on-court marketing events for attendance leaders, gifts, etc).

Take advantage of the in-house entertainment you have: band and cheer -- they cost you nothing.

Tie in songs to marketing promos; give cheer/Chip an on-court entertainment segment beyond the Fight Song spell-out in the 2nd half; let the band play tags after the promos to conclude timeouts.
I'd also argue for the return of the Tuba Cheer, or at least an in-game band feature -- something that separates Colorado's presentation of basketball from every other school's.

Value the Events Center.

Solicit a naming rights deal for the first time in the arena's history (before you ask, it was the Coors family, not the Coors brand, that the arena was originally named for).
Put some money into the old girl. Not into the team-focused facilities, which seem to be "OK", and would be prohibitively expensive to replace, anyway, but into the fan-facing environment. Focus on creating an intimate basketball-focused environment by leveraging inexpensive design elements to draw the eye to the court (dim the lights on the concourse during play, or add curtains, for example).

Celebrate the program's history with pride, not just as an afterthought.

There should be areas around the concourse that celebrate the building's three programs, their legends, and their important wins. These areas should be modernized and made interactive for the fans.
Make the banners more prominent, central to the viewing environment, rather than off to the side and forgotten.

Bring back the GA section behind the North Tunnel.

I always liked GA in the bleachers; maybe even set it up as a young/recent alum section as a reflection to the energy from the students in the South end.
I've understood this to be a regulatory thing, but a push should be made to update the regs and bring GA back.

Keep the vendor-driven up-charge packages for premium swag (ex. the champagne flute, the whiskey tasting and glass from recent years), but make it more prominent.

The key change would be to promote them *earlier*, and make them a part of season ticket marketing. "Sign up for season tickets, and the following items are included," etc.

In the arena, basketball must come first.

Don't undercut the pride and tradition of the program at the CEC for the benefit of football.
This state is and will be gridiron mad 24/7/365, but when I walk in the gym, it should be about Colorado Basketball.

The program is not a gimmick, and should not be treated as such, even if a Heisman Trophy winner wants to stop by.

Leverage the CEC as a regional alternative for non-CU events, especially given the death of the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield.

Create a package of design options to drape off and tarp off areas to make a play for concerts, other sports events, etc.

Above all else, invest, not just financially, but emotionally.

It's an important moment to address this, too. Coach Boyle will be transitioning out of this program at some point in the next few years. There's an opportunity to build on the foundation he forged, both with the looming replacement hire, but also in how the program is presented.

My overall thesis is this: if you act as if this matters, as if it's important to the Department, others will follow. The money will follow. If you act as if it's a 2nd rate excuse for some extra financial offsets in the winter, then people will take that cue, too. Much like people, programs will tell you who they are, if you only listen. Let us say with a loud voice that this is a program worth following, worth caring about. That we are, in part at least, a Basketball School. That Colorado, both professionally and collegiately, is a destination for hoops, and one worth celebrating. Treasure, value, and grow, and the hardwood will pay you back in kind.

So, please, Fernando, think of basketball. Find room, funding, and care for a program with meat left on the bone. Help make this a program for the whole of Colorado, and get the fans back in the gym. The revenue will follow.

On the End of the Dark Horse: Closing Time, for the Last Time

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 21:21:00 +0000

It's November 19th, 2004. I'm sat in the fireplace room of the World Famous Dark Horse, passing the time before the clock strikes 9p. My roommates and I had come from Friday night basketball band rehearsal and just kind of stuck, as you do. But, I was not yet 21, and at 9 o'clock I would turn back into a pumpkin. The staff at the Horse were primed and ready to go around, check IDs, and kick out the underage losers, like myself. I was ready and resigned, but adamant to stick it out till they forced me out.

Come on in, the Horse has been waiting for you.

There was a game on the TVs that night, an early-season NBA tilt, which had been drawing our attention. It was Pacers/Pistons from Detroit; a matchup between two Eastern Conference playoff-caliber squads, who, more importantly, boasted two recent CU basketball greats -- Detroit's Chauncey Billups (*cough*) and Indiana's David Harrison. The Pacers were going to run away with it, and I was about to hit the bricks when the dang Malice at the Palace broke out.

Everyone started yelling and pointing; talking across each other. As the staff went around checking IDs, amidst the chaos, they somehow forgot to check our table in the center of the room. I was in, unintentionally slipping past curfew. It was an underage miracle! My older roommate slipped me a mug for the pitcher on the table; that one pitcher soon turning into multiple. Suddenly, a normal night at the Horse had turned into something special.

And that was the Horse in a nutshell. Walking through its doors was like passing through a portal of time and space into another world where sometimes the weirdest stuff would happen. A Disney Land of beer and sports and Boulderites and random crap on the walls (and ceilings, and floors, and...); no wonder, then, that a stained glass depiction of Goofy, Donald Duck, and Mickey sat above the entrance.

Did you ever notice this?

We learned a few weeks ago that the Horse, now a whopping 50 years old, would be plowed under to make way for some modern-age complex of upper-bougie housing and urban planning. Sure, build your little boxes or whatever, and I'm all for higher-density usage, but the Horse has to go? The stupid McDonald's and the broke-ass, derelict, irredeemable Broker Inn gets to stay, but the Horse has to go?

As of last week, it now sounds as if the Horse could be up for the executioner's axe in the next few weeks, with the Boulder City Attorney suddenly announcing that the building must be demolished before the end of the year. There is simply no justice in this world.

It has become apparent that the Horse is doomed for the simple fact that it's in the way. In the way of some new development and more money. No, the apartments-to-be are not tagged for affordable housing. No, the grocery store is not guaranteed to stay, probably further depriving the neighborhood. There is no morality here. The Williams family just wants to make more money, and the out-of-state, trust-fund detritus must be catered to. So, out goes the Horse; an institution of heart, of local identity, and in comes some modern taupe and gray shrug of a plan that will mean nothing to no one in a few years.

Ultimately, the closing of the Horse is emblematic of the continued slide of Boulder proper into cookie cutter irrelevance. The push by outsiders and greedy shills to turn the town into something homogenic and profitable has continued, apace, to strip the town of any uniqueness or color. Much like the football program, it's become more style than substance. Glitz, but no heart or soul. The tourists will come for their photos and TikTok reels, but then these influencers will disappear, and we're left with... something we could get in Denver or really anywhere else. But, at least we have great access to the same Cotopaxi, Marine Layer, Kuhl, Helly Hansen, North Face, Prana, Patagonia, et al crap you can get online?

He ran a good shop.

Boulder was long ago turned over to the tech bros and corporate diaspora. I grant and have come to accept the post-hippie, pseudo-grungy college town that I fell in love with is gone and never coming back. But, I wish at least *some* aspects could survive without the 'quest for more blah' getting in the way. But, kudos to the Madysons and Braylynns of tomorrow -- their parents' money will land them some swanky new digs at the corner of 30th and US 36.

Once the (literal) dust settles, and the development is in place, there's rumors and half-promises that the Horse will ride again, placed on the ground floor of one of the apartment buildings. I'm sure that a burger bar named the "Dark Horse" may, one day, take root in the area, but it will not be the same. Hell, maybe they'll even scatter a few of the pieces of memorabilia across the joint, but the soul will be missing. That smell of stale beer, mild disinfectant, and aging wood will be gone, the prices will double, and no one will be interested. The term "enshitification" comes to mind.

It's just a damn shame.

I want to do *something*, if only just to jot down some thoughts and memories. And so here they are, insufficient but earnest. You will have your own, and I welcome them. If you care about the place even a little bit, I hope you get the opportunity to say good bye to it in the coming days it has left.

My first memory of the Horse is of the... stuff. The encroaching floatsam and jetsam of bygone Americana shoved in, around, and through every nook and cranny of the place. Posters and playbills from early film and stage history; rusty implements and tools from all eras; props from productions across the spectrum; a license plate from seemingly every state, province, and territory on the continent; books from anywhere and everywhere, including the 1929 Portland phone directory; a giant damn metal ship placed precariously over the fireplace room entrance; stained glass spotted next to crude drawings; a rube goldberg-esque contraption behind the back bar that I could never quite figure out; random photos and street signs from God knows where; a pregnant mannequin set up next to a giant plaster cowboy hat; wagon wheels and sleds galore; countless taxidermy of quality ranging from 'good' to 'that's just a rubber rhino head'; and, let's not forget, a not-insignificant amount of mid-20th Century smut lacquered into the bars and plastered into the back corners. And that only covers about 2% of what you can find in there. I made a point of spotting something new every visit, and I never came away failing in that mission.

Anything and everything.

That you could get lost in the Horse, winding through its floors and corridors, spotting this and that and whatnot, was essential to the charm. It was overwhelming, in a good way. It confronted you with a warm embrace of wood and antiques and character from the moment you crossed the threshold, making it entirely unique from anywhere else I've encountered.

My second memory is of the food. The burgers have been and always will remain iconic. The wings, all three-joints of them, are unlike anyone else's wings (the combo sauce of honey mustard, bbq, and standard wing sauce was the best). And, yes, they did have Rocky Mountain Oysters ready to go in the fryer. There's rumors of salads and steaks on the menu, but I just never understood the point -- the burgers are *right there*. Most importantly, the pricing was always honest and affordable. In hippy, crunchy, overly-expensive Boulder, you could come in and find some of the best short-order burgers around at a reasonable price. It's why, even though it was a bar-forward burger bar, there was never a shortage of families with kids running around -- where else can you feed your family on the cheap these days? That's not to mention their Starving Student special (a regular burger, fries, and a small soda or beer for only a few bucks), which was essentially the best meal deal around, and kept those poor undergrad sods fed and sated during cold winter study nights.

The *best* burgers, no lies told.

In my mind, there was a definitive hierarchy of the Horse's burger options; your mileage may very:

S/GOAT-tier:

Jiffy Burger - the King of the Horse Burgers. Peanut butter, provolone, and bacon. At first glance, you wonder why, and then, after one taste, you never doubt again. Secret, off-menu hack: add on a fried egg, over easy, and be sure to check your cholesterol in the morning.
Royale Burger - Low key, my more recent go-to. The added onion ring and bbq sauce make this a monster that's hard to beat.

A/Really Frickin' Good-tier:

Fried Egg and Ham Burger - I liked mine runny; afforded an opportunity to dip the fries in left over yolk.
Hickory Bacon Burger - just a really solid improvement on the standard burgers.
Avocado Burger - No, not guacamole, a whole-ass slice of avocado. Really leaning into the Colorado vibe with this one.

B/That's a Dope Burger-tier

Original/Cheese Burgers - You can't go wrong.
Chipotle Burger - Never as spicy as I would've hoped, but a nice change of pace.
Blues Burger - When I wanted one of these, it never disappointed.
Swiss and Shrooms - Not really my style, but I can recognize game.

C/Solid, but Just What Are We Doing-tier:

Patty Melt - I just don't get patty melts, but this is a really good version of one.
Sourdough Burger - The individual components are all there, but I just never jibed with it.

Regardless of your order, you used to have to place it directly at the kitchen window... except during a weekday when they had table service. (Yes, table service -- going to the Horse and getting table service is like seeing your schlubby drunk uncle show up to an event pressed into a suit with slicked-back hair. You know it's him, but you have questions). Then, someone on the kitchen line would scream your name into the microphone -- the speakers were ancient and poorly mixed, so you could never quite understand them over the din of a packed bar on a Friday night. The trick, then, was to come up with a "Horse name" that was uniquely identifiable across the hum; some of them in my friends group were "Trixie," "Turd Ferguson," "Squiggly, "The Rear Admiral," and the "(Butt) Punisher." And woe to him who didn't come and grab their food when called. "Henry, I know it's a common name, but your food is ready," or, "TODD, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, COME PICK UP YOUR FOOD BEFORE WE THROW IT OUT!" It was a whole deal, and I loved it.

My third memory, hazy as it is, is of the drinks. Nothing special, in all the right ways. Beer, and plenty of it. But, not in a "you'll get Coors and like it" faux-blue collar asshole way, but in a "we got some options, but it is what it is" kind of way. Happy hour drink specials that made sense, pours that were generous, but not too generous, and bartenders who knew both you and how to keep you happy. Given its proximity, it was the best place to go before and after a basketball game to catch a drink. My favorite was always a double bourbon on the rocks (Bulleit, preferred), before braving the 10 min walk to the arena -- to me, that *is* Colorado Basketball.

God, I'm gonna miss this place before games

My final memory is of the vibe. It felt like capital-B Boulder in there. From the bathroom doors to some of the goofy, Sink-esque art, to the food and drink, and, finally, to the people who joined in the revelry. There was an honesty and decency that came with the decidedly dishonest and indecent behavior seen therein. I'd call it democratic. Barflys and lushes, scholars and vagabonds, families and loners, preps and goths, sports fans and knitters, the well off and the working poor. They all mingled in the same space, ate the same food, drank the same beer. In a town that has come to really lean into drawing lines around caste and class, the Horse was anything except that.

There was trike night, where you could see 20-somethings risk life and limb for minimal prizes; open night mic, where you'd be pleasantly surprised to hear some quality music every now and then; there was the Anniversary Crawfish Boils; and there were friendly faces you saw time and time again, drinking the same beer, and telling the same stale anecdotes they had been doing for years.

Choose wisely, soberly.

Then, there are the stories. You will have your own, and I cannot do even a fraction of mine justice. But I can't help but flash back to the Stanford fan who was struggling to come to terms with the bar back on an order, before finally settling on a glass of unnamed red wine and scoffing (with a Silicon Valley air) "I guess I'm just used to a country club pour"; the bartender immediately shot back "It's a $5 glass of wine!" Or my Uncle, walking in after avoiding Boulder for over a decade only to say "oh, they have TVs now!" Or my friends having their anniversary party in the upper room, or my other friends having their wedding rehearsal there. Or the trio of students rehearsing a western-themed skit on the impact of irresponsible lithium mining in the upper connecting corridor. Or, the bartenders getting frustrated with someone who kept calling the landline, before finally shouting back, "there's no Ben here, we're a business, stop calling." Or, finally, me sitting at the back bar, enjoying my first meal in a restaurant post-COVID, just thinking how happy I was to to be anywhere, speaking with anyone.

This hurts. I'm not going to pretend it doesn't. There were more than a few tears when I passed through the other night. Losing the Horse is like losing a friend, like losing Boulder itself. We lose a little of ourselves when these institutions that we love go away, only to be replaced by bland nothingness. I miss dearly Liquormart, Tulagi's, Cosmos on the Hill (really, the Hill in general), Old Cs, the Walrus, the OG Gondolier, and the old Daily Camera building. I take waning comfort that the Village Coffee Shop, the Sundowner, the Buff, McGuckins, Into the Wind, Trident, the Boulder Book Store, the Pearl St Pub, and Mustard's Last Stand somehow survive. But the Horse was something else, something apart. Some special that stood out among a herd of special places. It was 1 of 1, never to be duplicated.

Closing time.

In a way, it's kind of like the Casa Bonita in Lakewood. A place of memory that took on a life of its own well past what should've been a sell-by date. Unlike that story, however, there was no mega-millionaire cartoonists around with the drive to save the Horse from the Williams' family bulldozer. No documentary to be made. No Cartman statue to take over pride of place in the rebuild. Just the finality of a closing date that's coming far too soon.

In the end, there are moments you hope you remember on your death bed. Maybe it's something from your childhood, or time spent with your parents, or your first kiss. Of those moments, when my time comes, I hope to remember a random Sunday, sat at the end of the front bar at the Horse with two of my best friends, drinking, laughing, and watching the Bears lose. I think that would be fitting. Just. A memory of a time and place lost, but not forgotten.

I'll miss you, Dark Horse; you were loved.

Glory, Glory Colorado

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:58:00 +0000

"... some so subtle you might not have even noticed... but your brain did." -- Mr Plinkett.

Memory is a funny thing. We exist in a world of five senses, so our memories do, too. A brief smell can unearth a childhood memory of a camping trip. The taste of a favorite dessert can take you back to grandma's kitchen. A flash of color can help recall that weird shirt you wore on your first date (you moron). A touch of your mother's hand can remind you of the value of family. We value the practical because it grounds us in reality; it sets the terms of how we interact with the world.

Sound is just as important. What we hear, even if unintentionally consumed, becomes entwined with our sense of place. Any filmmaker worth their salt will talk about how the audio, the backing music, can almost do as much for a scene as perfect cinematography or the sharpest script.

And so, you may not have noticed "Glory, Glory Colorado" before, but your brain has.

Seriously, close your eyes. Think back to your first football game. What do you hear?

Every time Ralphie runs, the Black and Gold faithful have heard the tune. With every plunge into the endzone, Buff fans of all ilks and creeds, regardless of the current football coach, have celebrated to that tune. Time's good, time's bad, the song is played. It's been played at the Cotton Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, even the damn Blockbuster Bowl. It punctuated all 6 of Chris Brown's scores in 2001 against Nebraska. It rang out when the Buffs claimed #1 in Miami.

As with all things, a song is only as important as the things it represents. Lyrics, music, et al. To me, "Glory, Glory Colorado" represents Boulder. It represents Folsom Field. It represents fall Saturdays in the greatest venue in all of sports. And it represents something impermeable to the ravages of time -- the undying version of my 20-year-old self that still exists somewhere out there in the ether.

Your mileage may vary. You may not have any active concept of that song, what it means, when it's played, or why it's important. Regardless of your opinion or preconceived notions, all of this has been called into question, recently. First by the football coach, then the fanbase at large, then the national media. It's all led many to ask questions. What is "Glory, Glory Colorado?" Why is there such a kerfuffle over when and if it is played at football games? Why should I care?

Well, you came to the right place. I have some answers.

Today, I'll try to add some missing context to this discussion. I'll talk about the University of Colorado's school songs (plural), when they're played, and the meaning and history behind each of them. I'll talk about what exactly the marching band was told they could play, and what they were told they couldn't ahead of the season opener. Then I'll talk about why I believe this discussion is important.

Some of this is researched history, thankfully researched by others. Walt Blankenship, in particular, has spent countless hours and his own money to research the hows and whys of the Golden Buffalo Marching Band, and the history of the school songs they play. I had the opportunity to speak with him last night on his findings (any errors in passing along his information are my own). Some of this is oral tradition, passed down by Walt and others. Some of this is hearsay, especially the part about what went down before the NDSU game, which can easily be ignored. And some of this is a personal experience, respectfully earned. As such, my history professors would blanche at the fluctuating level of research and lack of sourcing herein. So, take this as more of an opinion piece than any true tract of history.

I'm also diving headlong into some minutiae here. If you want a TLDR, you've come to the wrong place. Others, better equipped to be concise and pithy, may be more your speed.

In the end, I'm not trying to speak for Buff fans everywhere, for the band, or for anyone else. I'm only, as ever, trying to speak for me, myself, and I.

Enter at your own risk.

On the persistence of physical media

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Fri, 24 May 2024 00:45:00 +0000

I beg your indulgence as I work through something here. It may be triggering for some; read or don't read as you see fit. I make no apologies.

The All-Time Pac-12 Team

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 23:01:00 +0000

The Pac-12. The league of bright lights and no truck stops. The only league that ever mattered.

I loved this league. It was perfect in the most deeply flawed ways. Others, closer to coasts with more television sets and media execs, with schedules friendlier to those unwilling to stay up late, drew the headlines, but it was the Pac that came with the narratives. I would compare the more successful conferences out east to a paint-by-numbers prime-time network drama with a nearly unlimited budget, and the Pac-12 to the web-only series run on a shoestring, but which told a much better story. There were hubris-ridden coaches with outsized egos and outrageous personalities; heroes and villains could be found at every turn on the court, with many players eager to lean into the pantomime; the worst officiating in the country kept all the plates spinning, adding comedic value to every game; an entire program was built on the back of nepotism for the better part of a decade, and no one seemed to find that strange; every 'name' program loved to find ways to trip over themselves when competing for titles; hell, the FBI even showed up at one point for a Keystone Cops-eque cameo. Night in, night out, the league delivered, even if it was just Bill Walton bellowing to no one about how close he's been to an active volcano. At least we'll always have the 2021 Tournament...

With the 13th, and final, season of league play about to start next week, I thought it appropriate to give the Pac-12 a sendoff. Herein, I'll name and honor those who warmed the gyms of the West, celebrating a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Team of all-time greats (10 each, presented in alphabetical order, with a coach). Afterward, I'll dump my list, throwing out the remaining Honorable Mentions, before concluding with a team... less deserving of acclaim.

Consider these the final Rumblin' Awards (as always, a strictly black-tie affair).

I'm sure others will do this in the coming months. However, my methodology will probably not mirror theirs - only years in the Pac-12 are considered, and I *mean* the Pac-12. Anything prior to the 2011-2012 season doesn't count, and won't be considered (keep this in mind, particularly for all-time stat discussions and "years played" notations). Further, I weigh longevity and consistency heavily. A single, great season (like from, say, Deandre Ayton), without additional context, means less to me than a guy who bossed the league for multiple years. This is about guys who *impacted* the league, and who spring to mind when I think back on the conference that was, not just the guys with the most talent.

Without further adieu, click below for the list...

An Attempt at Stage 3

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 18:15:00 +0000

In previous months, I told myself the death of the Pac-12 couldn't happen (Stage One). Later, I raged against that death and (my perception of) its implications for the Colorado Men's Basketball program (Stage Two). I guess what's left now is to move on to Stage Three and start bargaining my way through this, so...

Last weekend, I stated that Colorado stepping into the 2024 iteration of the BigXII will be dead on arrival. But, is it? What if I'm dead wrong? What if the long-term prospects of the program lean more towards thriving, instead of suffocating? What exactly would that look like? What kind of effort would it take to survive and advance in this new reality?

To start, let's add some context about where the Buffs will slot into this new conference. Remember, it's not just about wins and losses that first season. My overall point in my previous article was regarding Colorado as a long-term prospect, rather than just how successful the individual 2024-25 squad will be. So, to better understand, I performed an extremely basic review of the final KenPom rankings for each of the 16 programs, over both the whole Tad Boyle era (now up to 13 seasons of results) and the last five campaigns. The hope here is to get a broader sense of the long-term strength of each of the programs. I'll grant that the underlying methodology is flawed, not least because we're talking about schools that are coming together from different conferences and with several layers of coaching dynamics (for example, the Huggins fiasco in Morgantown) that belie such a basic review of past success. However, it's what I've got, and at least gives us a way to start the discussion.

Off the top, Colorado doesn't fare too poorly -- 9th-best in recent years, 10th overall, and just below the top-half cut (FWIW, 4th and 5th, respectively, in the old Pac-12). As currently constituted, this level of consistent performance would be considered on the competitive fringe in a league where finishing 7th or 8th in a given year should still (most likely) guarantee you an invite into the NCAA Tournament.

A quick glance also reveals some basic narratives about the power dynamics of this new-ish league. Of course, Kansas, both on the hardwood and in the meeting rooms, will be the heavy hitter. But what quickly emerges is that there are only three programs -- KU, Baylor, and Arizona -- who have averaged a top-25 KP finish over the last 13 years. That is an indelible indicator of those programs' continued success over a long stretch, one that clearly sets them apart as the upper echelon of the league. But, and this may surprise some people, in recent years it has been Houston that has been the healthiest of all the programs, even beating out Kansas with an astonishing average of a 7th-place finish since 2019. Caveats for the weaker American Athletic Conference aside, the Cougars have been a monster, and deserve similar consideration to the other three declared powers. That leaves the BigXII with a clear top-four of perennial powers; those expected to succeed, who have entrenched fan bases and donor structures to support continued growth (and exploitation of NIL opportunities), and who should be expected to continue to enjoy similar success for years to come. Regardless of how the next few years go, I would expect those four programs to lead the league's narrative, barring something really weird... or some litigation.

Extreme optimism aside, I think it would be hard to foresee a set of circumstances that would have Colorado finding a way into that top tier. So, what would a reasonable target be? Well, it's not too far off. As noted, a top-half finish, year-in year-out, would probably be enough for the Dance. More to the point, just like in the Pac-12, routinely finishing in the top half of the league, maybe even snagging a top-four finish every four-ish years, gives you a base to build on. That would allow the program to maintain its current competitive, prideful status, and continue to justify wider fanbase interest. Say, top-50 in KenPom, which is, more or less, where CU has been in recent years. If Colorado can keep to that floor, they should consistently finish in the top-8 of the league.

The impediment here is obvious: the conference's depth. As I found in the experiment discussed above, an average BigXII team, over the last five years, was 30 slots better than an average Pac-12 team. In the former Conference of Champions, we had come to count on programs like WSU, Ore St, and Cal fielding teams that were simply not competitive. Schools you could, year after year, hope to beat both in Boulder and on the road. In the BigXII, there are few such cupcakes, and everyone has ambition. Texas Tech, WVU, KSU, ISU, TCU, and BYU have each finished inside the KenPom top-25 at least once within the last five years -- hell, I only left Tech off the power list 'cause I'm not 100% sold that the transition from the Chris Beard era is on solid footing, but they were an overtime away from a national title in 2019. Tweeners Ok St and Cincinnati may not have been quite at that level in recent years, but they've been consistent enough to pay attention to and will project to be tough outs in league play. Even the "lower-rung" programs have the potential to be strong. We already know how annoying ASU and Utah can be, and I would expect them to try and splash some cash to find traction. That just leaves little thought of UCF -- at the very least, that 3.5 hour plane flight will be a giant pain in the ass. Regardless of how you look at it, it'll be hard to bank wins against this group, year-in, year-out.

So, what does Colorado need to do to maintain their place amongst this viper's nest, stay with the Texas Techs and West Virginias of the league, and forestall my earlier predictions of doom and a slide into the basement with ASU and Utah? Well, it comes down to the basics: coaching, recruiting, and resources.

First, coaching. It should come as no surprise, as rumors have been swirling, but many insiders have indicated that the Tad Boyle era could be coming to a close in the next few years, with the winningest coach in program history looking to retire. To be fair, the man has earned the rest, but, the transition to 'what comes next' will be critical.

I referenced the quality of the 'job' in my previous article; that the national perception of Colorado as a potential coaching landing place, compared to its peers, places the Buffs solidly in the lower quarter of the league. To that end, even with what Tad has built in Boulder, I have doubts about how truly attractive this spot would be to a coach outside the immediate area. The quality and depth of in-state recruiting are still... *ahem* inconsistent, and resources afforded by the Athletic Department will always be a problem (I saw them on commercial flights last year, don't pretend). However, coaches will want to be in this newly evolved league; stay in this league. The combination of the desirability of coaching in the #1 basketball conference in the country and the ability to build on what Tad has constructed should be enough to overcome the ingrained challenges and still attract some quality candidates. It'll probably cost, though; the Athletic Department needs to plan on significant investment into the next staff if they want the program to stay competitive.

Now, I'm not going to start tossing out names (not even the one in Rhode Island), 'cause that wouldn't be fair and this industry changes quickly, but the candidates will most likely fall into three categories:

Ones with institutional ties that can make for an "easy" transition.
A few young up-and-comer types from a mid-major with a recent Tournament run.
Veteran/Power Conference 'name' candidates that will garner national headlines.

I'm not really ready to make an argument one way or the other, but, for Colorado to survive in the BigXII, long-term, the final choice has to work. A miss-step here would be fatal, but that's not an argument to go with what is 'safe' (look at where that got Cal). CU will need to splash some cash, bring in a coach ready to roll, and support them.

Because, of course, what happens with the coaching search will flow directly into recruiting. Tad and Co. have seen some major gains on this front in recent years, averaging a top-40 class in the last four cycles, including two in the top-25 (according to 247). CU will need to maintain this pace, if not improve, to be a top-half player in the BigXII. Basketball recruiting is weird, with transfers and international signees often being more important than incoming freshmen, so YoY swings don't necessarily mean as much as they would in, say, football. But, the overall picture needs to remain strong, which leads me to my final point...

Resources. Colorado needs to renew its investment in the program. Whether it be the hiring of a new coaching staff when Tad retires, increasing the in-season Operations budget to compete with their new peers (like, ensuring 100% chartered flights), encouraging and leveraging NIL opportunities, or supporting the program with new capital investments and upgraded facilities, the Athletic Department and the donor base will need to step up to the challenge. No excuses.

I always tend to look for inefficiencies. I'm particularly focused on ways the program can get better at leveraging NIL opportunities to maintain its recent recruiting success. Small things like including guaranteed NIL fund contributions in MLE tournament contracts are a nice start, but more needs to be done. I've been assured that Tad has grown more open to the prospects in this sphere, and that the program as a whole is beginning to take this aspect seriously, with major contributions to the B4L fund starting to trickle in, but this needs to be a priority in the years to come.

We also need to talk about facilities. Specifically, the practice facility is almost as old as the Tad Boyle era itself. That capital investment was supplemented in the intervening years with additional upgrades to the locker, sports medicine, and meeting rooms -- all very well done, btw -- but it's time for another push for significant upgrades. I understand the costly gamble being undertaken over at Folsom, and the strain that puts on the overall bottom line, but basketball facility upgrades have never come with the exhaustive price tags of their gridiron counterparts. Honestly, I'd start by looking at the arena itself. Not a *new* arena, just upgrades. The floor was recently replaced, and the CUEC is already far better than it was in 2010, but more can be done to make it a place that players want to play in. If we're serious about competing in the BigXII, we'll need to *look* like we're serious.

At least we know that Colorado should be able to hit the ground running -- the Buffs are returning to the BigXII with a higher talent floor, better facilities, and greater stability than when they left. If I had to place a bet now, I would put it on at least the first season going well, with Colorado finishing in that coveted top-half grouping. Where it goes from there will come down to the care and investment in continuing to grow the Colorado Basketball brand.

If, and I mean if, Colorado can nail all three aspects -- the coaching change, staying strong in recruiting, and increasing resources into the program -- there is an opportunity here to stake a claim in the strongest basketball conference in the land. All of the non-Kansas programs will be scrambling for relevancy and have their own institutional burdens to try and work around. If CU can forge a consistent spot in the top half in that scramble, it could lead to a permanent paradigm shift in the quality of the program. Keep up the pace for the first five years or so, and you're in. There's still all to play for.

That's Stage Three dispatched. I'll keep Stage Four between me and my bartender. Once Stage Five hits, I'll let you know if anything publishable comes from it.

To the Death of Fun

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 15:16:00 +0000

So. Back to the Big XII.

You may be taken aback -- Isn't moving to the BigXII a good thing? Isn't jumping off the plummeting Pac-12 jet a good thing? Why am I so butt-hurt about this?

I look at it in two separate calculations. First, bailing on the Pac-12. I could talk about path to the College Football Playoff and the future potential of streaming over linear, but I'm not here to re-litigate that. The financials are undeniable, and the writing was on the wall. However, I would dispute that CU's situation would've dramatically changed having actually *waited* to see the final media rights proposal from Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff. Then, Colorado could've acted in concert with additional members of the current Pac-12, potentially leveraging bargaining power and building some options beyond, "Well, let's just go on back to our Ex." Ultimately, Colorado held a lot of good cards in this situation; in my opinion, they just rushed to play them favoring a sure thing over the best long-term result. We threw away our conference loyalty 12 years ago, why not just do it again?

Second, why am I so damn disgusted by the prospect of heading back to the old stomping grounds? 'Cause the BigXII is what was. This move is, by definition, a step backward in history, prestige, and, in a number of ways, the level of competition (except on the men's hardwood... more on that in a second). It takes us away from our largest out-of-state Alumni base and probably dooms us to a 2nd-tier football league in an era where only the 1st-tier will matter.

What's more, we're heading back to a league where we will be, just as we were in the Pac-12, rival-less and set off to the side. This isn't the BigXII of 2010. No Nebraska, no Oklahoma, no Mizzou, no Texas, and no A&M. Now that the dust has settled, the resulting conference with BYU/Utah, 'Zona/ASU, KU/KSU, Cincy/WVU, and four Texas schools, who have their own thing going, leaves the remaining four randos (Colorado included) twiddling their thumbs. If you didn't like it in the Pac-12, why would a forced rivalry with, I don't know, Ok State (?) suddenly get your fancy?

But, what *really* gets my goat is the situation with the men's basketball program. Everything Tad has built -- all the good, competitive vibes constructed over the last decade-plus -- is about to wither and die on the vine.

In case you have no idea, the BigXII, for some time, has been the deepest basketball conference in the country. It is, by leaps and bounds, stronger than the version Colorado left in 2011. Up through last season, 9 of the 10 programs could boast a deep and rich basketball tradition, Baylor and Kansas had claimed frickin' national titles in recent years, and the league had finished 1st or 2nd in KenPom each of the last 10 seasons (Over that same span, the Pac-12 averaged a 5th-place finish, sometimes finishing behind mid-major leagues). Even taking Oklahoma and Texas out of the equation, the league is replacing them with Houston (a historic regional basketball power) and Cincinnati (same). Sure, UCF is more-or-less a dud, but BYU has been a nasty mid-major with a high upside for decades and will fit in well. Add Arizona and Utah to that mix, and this is the basketball conference of basketball conferences. A goddamn monster. Even with UCLA and USC joining the B1G, the new BigXII would stand apart, in my opinion.

Colorado, stepping into that viper's nest, is D.O.A.

Looking back on 2010-11, the combination of a good new coach and a solid veteran core helped propel Colorado on a relatively successful final BigXII campaign. From there, the Pac-12's lack of true basketball depth helped Colorado surge over the past decade, forging solid footing to become a competitive program that could hold its head high amongst rivals. Reliably upper-middle of the pack, capable of punching above their weight and making the postseason almost every year. While maybe not a 'power,' it was a program worth following for the broader fanbase. Often entertaining, it boasted good players of high character, engaged in narrative-rich fights with rival programs, and occasionally blipped onto the national spotlight.

That level of consistent relevancy is something that hadn't been achieved over Colorado's previous four decades of play in the old Big 8/BigXII. In this newly re-designed BigXII, it'll only be worse. The second the paperwork was signed, CU immediately became the 10th-best job (depending on your view of BYU and TCU) in the conference, really only clearly more desirable than UCF. Arizona and Utah joining the league would drop that rating down further. 12th or 13th in a 16-team jumble. Irrelevant.

Yes, I know Tad has had some nice and optimistic things to say. The KU grad may even be able to bottle up some 2010-11 magic and score some knockouts against the midwestern behemoths in his final years. Sure, maybe we'll find a way to shock the world and finish 8th for a few years, or something. Maybe beat Arizona at home, like we've been doing.

But then, Tad will retire. Then, an Athletic Department which has never really cared about the program will be tasked with finding and supporting a replacement. Very quickly, and I mean *quickly*, this program will return to what it once was: a dusty doormat in a league where everyone else takes the sport seriously. The funding dries up, the facilities fade, and the recruits go elsewhere. Endgame.

Now, I am a basketball fan. More than that, I am a Colorado Basketball fan. This matters to me, even if it doesn't to you. This informs my decision-making, the same as the football part may inform yours. The death of Colorado Basketball as a competitive concern is a mortal strike against my soul.

That is why I'm pissed about this bullshit. Pissed at Mike Bohn and USC. Pissed at UCLA for going along with it. Pissed at FOX and the B1G for orchestrating it. Pissed at Colorado for jumping at the "opportunity." Pissed at everyone for smiling and patting each other on the back for turning a plate of bird shit into a plate of dog shit.

You may not care, but I'll still be there, with a handful of diehards, watching the program I love be put to the torch by Kansas, Baylor, and Arizona. And what we enjoyed over the last decade-plus will be resigned to a forgotten footnote while everyone panics over who the next football coach will be -- as it ever was.

Damn this all.

Doubt and Faith

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 14:48:00 +0000

On a cold and clear Saturday night, just a tic over two months after firing their 27th head coach, Colorado Football hired their 28th. But unlike #27, or any of the other 26 that proceeded him, the news of #28 hit BuffsNation with the positive force of an avalanche tumbling down off the high Rockies.

Deion Sanders is coming to Boulder.

Yes, *that* Deion Sanders. Prime Time, Neon Deion, Leon Sandcastle, Coach Prime. NFL Hall of Famer, football immortal, high stepper of high steppers. The man who can stand on the same commercial stage as Nick Saban and not feel out of place. The man who can pull 5-stars to Jackson State and build a conference-championship-winning juggernaut seemingly overnight. All of that. He's coming *here*.

Immediately, his arrival promises good things to come. In the era of NIL and the transfer portal, the pipeline sucking talent out and away from Folsom Field will suddenly back up with 4- and 5-star recruits and transfers. There will be national media attention, splashy documentaries, and a sudden uptick in attendance and support for the program. And, above all else, there will be winning football. In the span of a week, the Colorado Football Program has gone from dead at the line with a blown transmission to 185 mph and back in the race.

We're in for a wild ride.

It's easy to doubt. I certainly did. I doubted Rick George. I doubted the University of Colorado's financial capabilities (hell, just look at the previous post on this blog). I doubted the school's administration and its commitment to supporting athletics through transfer rule changes. I doubted the lingering attractiveness of the football program. I doubted that Coach Prime would even be interested.

I doubted.

I doubted, among other things, because of 70-3. Because of Dan Hawkins and his 2008 recruiting class. Because of Jon Embree and Eric Bieniemy running a QB sneak on 1st down in 2012; the utter collapse of the Rise into smoke and mirrors; Mel Tucker's late-night bolt to East Lansing; and Milquetoast Karl Dorrell's euthanasia-cum-football program. The list goes on and on. If "you are what your record says you are," then Colorado is a 1-11 program, 61-117 over the last 15 years with just 2 winning seasons to show for it (and I'm being kind in counting 2020). I had reasons, but I doubted.

Faith? Well, that's a lot harder. Like a muscle, you have to work on faith to build it. And it's easy to lose the strength gained if you let it lie fallow. I want to have faith again. I want to believe it will work, if only for the sake of the Boulder Community.

See, the last few years have been difficult for Boulder. I'm not saying it's been easy elsewhere -- certainly, Coach Prime would be quick to point out that Jackson, MS, where he's coming from, can barely supply clean water to the town -- but Boulder's been through some stuff. COVID lockdowns, the horror of the 2021 Table Mesa shooting, and last December's Marshall Fire. The community's been hurting. I trust in faith that this hope, this energy we're all feeling at this moment can help salve some of those emotional wounds.

Coach Prime certainly has faith, and I'm not just talking about religion. He took this job, by all accounts, sight unseen. There was no "food cart" moment of him sneaking in to try the coat on for size. He came in Saturday night to see Folsom Field and the Champions Center for the first time having already accepted the job. Sanders was eager for the opportunity to take the step to Power 5 football, leverage his advantages, and succeed. Rick George and his team sold Sanders on the vision, on the opportunity, and Prime took it on faith that Colorado could help him deliver. He has faith in his ability to perform, and he is committed.

I should take a lesson from that. Whether it's "shoot your shot," "believe in yourself," or whatever mantra you want to use, it's a powerful statement in self-belief.

I will admit, doubt still lingers inside, like a coiled snake ready to pounce. Is this too much juice too fast? Will the foundation support the weight of expectations being placed upon it? What happens two years from now, be it success or failure, if it's time to move on? Boulder has shown to struggle with the national spotlight before, is this town ready for all that's to come in the next few years?

But doubt is easy. I'm ready for the hard work of learning to have faith in Folsom Saturdays again.

I'm ready to have faith in Coach Prime.

Considering Karl Dorrell's Termination Clause

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 19:35:00 +0000

So, the football program is in rough shape. I mean really rough shape. 0-3 to start the year, outscored 128-30 (52-7 over the three 2nd halves), outgained by an average of 173 yards per game kind of rough shape. The kind of rough shape where you can make the statistical argument that this is *the worst* iteration of Colorado Football across more than 120 years of competition.

Indeed, Sports-Reference has the 2022 Buffs as an adjusted -18.21 points below average. That's the worst in program history by some margin, with the 2012 Buffs their closest comparison at -12.66. Before that, you have to go back to the late 1910s to find comparatively worse squads. Even the worst Chuck Fairbanks team, a man who is famous for having lost to Drake... twice, is considered to be a relative 11 points per game better than this bunch.

Oh, and Pac-12 play hasn't even started yet.

This all comes on the heels of a pretty lousy 2021 season, where the Buffs stumbled to a 4-8 finish. Overall, I think it's plain to say that the fortunes of the program have very clearly been declining since the day head coach Karl Dorrell was hired in February of 2020.

Naturally, with all that in mind, you might be inclined to consider a change at the head coaching spot to be the cure, as any normal fan would. Hell, Nebraska and Arizona State did, and they aren't nearly as bad on the field as the Buffs are.

Well... as in all cases, the money is the thing. It costs cold, hard cash to fire a football coach. So, exactly how much money are we talking about? Well, for that answer, we can turn to the contact. As Colorado is a public institution, it is a publicly-available document, which you can find here or here.

In reading for the final number, the assumption is that Dorrell would be fired "without cause." i.e., that he would be fired for on-field football performance reasons, rather than something involving a criminal offense, insubordinate conduct, fraud, severe NCAA violations, violation of campus laws, gambling, endangering student-athlete health, or any of the other reasons covered under Paragraph 12. As such, his termination would fall under paragraph 13 of the contract, which I have re-produced below.

Now, I am not a lawyer. If you feel the need, please do reach out to one for advice in reading this document. However, as a layman, I think the salient parts for this discussion are a (iii), b, d, and e.

a (iii) -- The damages that Dorrell can seek for termination without cause are limited to the full-dollar value of his contract. For example, if he was fired after 12/31/2021, but before 12/31/22, he's owed a maximum of $11.4 million, less whatever he's earned up to that point in 2022. The Daily Camera's Brian Howell estimated that means the real-dollar buyout is about $8.7 million, as of 9/17. That number decreases with every paycheck that is sent his way.
b -- After termination, Dorrell would be expected to actively seek other football-related employment, including assistant coaching positions or work in media commentary. The salary value of that employment would be used to offset the overall value of the buyout.
d -- After termination, Dorrell would need to file a claim for the value of this buyout. Then, there would be a 60-day mediation window for the university and Dorrell to come to an agreement on the final terms. This would allow the university to potentially negotiate and mitigate the full impact of what is owed. Otherwise, Dorrell would need to pursue legal remedies.
e -- Whatever the mediated/adjudicated final amount, Dorrell would be paid out in monthly installments between the settlement/judgment date and the original end date of the contract, 12/31/24.

So, CU would need to come up with a maximum of ~$8.7 million to fire Coach Dorrell today. There would be offsets, there would be potential limitations through mediation, and the final amount would be paid out over the next two-plus years. However, regardless of the final total, it would be multiple millions of dollars per year out of a budget that is already bleeding red ink.

Indeed, it's an amount of money that, at least as far as I can tell, the Athletic Department does not have. In 2021, the department reported a nearly $17.5 million deficit, helped along by over $48 million in revenue loss YoY from 2020, almost entirely due to COVID impacts. Sure, plenty of programs across the country are recovering from similar-sized holes in their ledgers, but Colorado has rarely, if ever, shown the donor liquidity typically needed to plug such gaps.

This leads to Atheltic Director Rick George's statement from 9/18/22. In the text, a tight three paragraphs of media relations jargon, George acknowledges that the on-field results have been disappointing and that the fanbase deserves better results. That he "hears" the cries from the fanbase for action, and confirms that the program is not meeting expectations. However, he concludes with a request for support for the student-athletes. The word "support" is even duplicated in that final sentence.

Assuredly, "support" in this context is not singing the fight song. No, this is a plea for two things. 1) please don't boo the kids on game days or continue to harangue the interns covering the social media accounts. 2) CU is in desperate need of financial "support" as a predicate to take action.

Point 1 is fair enough. The displeasure is clear and understood, shaming the kids on the field or in the SID office further won't help things. Point 2, however, is less so.

Colorado's contract offer of February 2020 made Dorrell the 3rd-highest paid coach in the Pac-12 at the time. That move seemed to come as a direct response to whispers that the program didn't have the money or institutional financial support to compete at a high level. But it didn't seem destined to actually improve the football program. Dorrell was not an in-demand coaching name, having floated around various position coaching roles since being blasted out of the UCLA head job in 2007 for going 35-27 over five seasons. No one was fighting Colorado for this hire, least of all his then-employer, the Miami Dolphins.

CU, as the world was slipping into a pandemic and related recession, had gone out and over-paid for a coach with a relatively unimpressive NFL-adjacent resume to silence rumors that they were too poor to compete. Oh, and they threw in a strong buyout clause for good measure, too, as a frenzied reaction to the way their previous coach, Mel Tucker, had bolted in the middle of the night. (I should note, that clause was specifically lauded by at least one regent when the contract was approved, which makes me think it could've been an institutional ask, rather than just George flailing on the rebound).

It was a contract offer that was a mistake before the ink dried.

With that in mind, will CU donors really be willing to foot another multi-million dollar bill, one stemming from a hire that was laughably out-of-touch with reality and value when it was made? Handing yet another swing to an AD who has failed on now two hires at the only sport he's really held to account over? Would the Regents?

I doubt it.

And, if it isn't coming from donors and isn't coming from the Regents, just where would this $8.7 million over ~27 months come from?

Until an answer to that question can be found, Karl Dorrell has the safest job in the country.

On the 2022 non-conference schedule

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 23:38:00 +0000

OK, so I went and did something today that I typically try to avoid -- I posed a speculative statistical opinion about Colorado Basketball without actually doing the research.

My tweet:

"[...] Tennessee aside (#9 in KP last year), this may be the softest non-con schedule Tad has put together while at CU. No judgment, it's hard to build a schedule, and a 20-game P12 slate leads you in this direction, but yo. Utah-esque."

Normally, I'd have actually looked at some records and some stats before positing something like that. Today? No, not so much. That's my bad.

So, to make up for my error, I've cracked open the KenPom files and done some digging to try and actually understand this year's non-conference schedule, insofar as it compares to the rest of the Tad Boyle era.

The Context

CU released its 2022-23 non-conference basketball schedule at the start of the month; you can find it here. Just today, the Pac-12 released their conference weekly pairings, giving us fans a near-complete picture of the schedule.

There are, to be completely straight, a dearth of "headline" programs in the non-conference portion. This season, Colorado will be playing UC Riverside, @ Grambling, @ Tennessee (Neutral), Yale, CSU, North Alabama, Northern Colorado, and Southern Utah in their non-con. This is in addition to three teams in their MTE, one of which will be UMass.

To be fair, three of those teams (Tennessee, Yale, and CSU) made the NCAA Tournament last March, with two others (Northern Colorado and Southern Utah) making lesser non-conference postseason appearances (CBI and CIT, respectively). Additionally, in the MTE, Colorado could see teams like Texas A&M and Boise St if the bracket falls the right way, who each were postseason entrants in March of 2022.

Still, at first blush, it's a soft schedule. Uninspiring, certainly. A group of directional detritus that I would otherwise needle a conference opponent for drawing up.

But, is it really the softest that Tad and his staff have drawn up while at Colorado?

Wait, what is an MTE?

MTEs, or Multi-Team-Events, allow coaches to add in a non-conference tournament or similar to supplement their schedules. Often taking place in far-flung exotic locales (like Hawai'i, Puerto Rico, or the Bahamas), they're exceedingly common place, and rare is the major program's schedule that doesn't include one (Colorado's last season without an MTE was 2013-14).

Normally, NCAA rules limit a college schedule to 29 regular season games (plus exhibitions, either public or private). However, by including a three-game MTE in your schedule, you can cram in a maximum of 31 games. It comes at a cost, though: you're at the mercy of the MTE for your opponents, the bracket, etc.

This year's example for Colorado is the Myrtle Beach Invitational (tickets on sale now!), which I will be attending in mid-November.

The Methodology

I thought the quickest and fairest way to quantify the difficulty of a given year's schedule was to average the *previous* year's final KenPom ranking of each team on the slate. i.e., if I was looking at the 2013-14 season's schedule, I would compare it against the final KP rankings from 2012-13.

Why did I do it that way? Why not look at pre-season rankings or final rankings from the year in question? Why not something more complicated with weighting and such?

Well, first, KP doesn't keep his old pre-season rankings in a handy format that I can find. I imagine that's because his pre-season rankings are the result of as much statistical guesswork and calculus as hard data, but I digress.

As to eschewing final rankings from the actual year of the schedule? Well, I'll concede it's a flawed method, particularly in a sport where many programs can turn over dramatically year-to-year. However, I feel it's the most reliable way to understand the context behind the schedule heading into each season, rather than trying to justify against the results. My purpose, after all, is to understand how this year's schedule can be viewed, not how it will. The *actual* difficulty of the current schedule is unknown, and won't be known until the end of December. I can't then compare that unknown against a known quantity, so I am trying and contextualize the 2022 numbers against something similar.

See, in any given season, there are breakout teams and disappointments that can have a dramatic effect on the final value of a schedule. Take last year's meeting with Milwaukee, for example. The Panthers, coming into the season, were viewed a dark horse candidate for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. They were highly thought of, boasting some veteran components and an anticipated NBA lottery pick in Patrick Baldwin, Jr. Baldwin, however, never showed that presumed promise under his father's (Head Coach Pat Baldwin) tutelage, struggling with injuries (only played 11 games for Milwaukee) and poor performances throughout the year. Without expected returns from their star, the Panthers, 120th in the preseason KenPom ratings, finished a dreadful 335th nationally. In retrospect, that's a black hole on the schedule, a game that is a NET anchor. However, headed into last season, it was a game that was rightfully looked at as a potential NET booster.

This kind of goes back to why I disregard the notion that you can use March results to justify the regular season narrative -- you can't let the ends justify the means. Just because a schedule *turned out* to be difficult, doesn't mean that difficulty would've been appreciated in October. So, to filter out that noise, I looked back at the final results of the previous seasons -- that's the context under which the coaching staff would've built the calendar, so that's how I will judge it.

In the end, I decided to ignore home vs road or other weighting options. I could've added in a modifier, similar to how the RPI and the NET have accounted for home/road splits in the past, but... *sigh* I've got a day job, OK?

Next, I needed to consider the impact of the MTE. Going into the year, some of the games are fixed (CU knows they'll face UMass this season, for example), whereas others are the result of games played outside of CU's control. So, how to account for that? Well, I averaged out the entirety of the MTE, cognisant of any fixed games, but otherwise accounting for all teams that CU *could've* played. That gave me a KP "value" for the MTE. I then factored that into the rest of the schedule, slotting in that "value" by the maximum # of games that were to be played.

Finally: exclusions. I excluded the 2020-21 season, which was scheduled amidst the chaos of COVID, for obvious reasons. I also excluded any exhibitions or other non-D1 games played (New Orleans in 2011 is an example here). And, I also excluded Tad's first year, 2010, from the list because I didn't think it fair, given that he signed on in April, and, I would assume, many of the games had already been scheduled.

If, after all of that, you have problems with the methodology... OK? Hey, it's a free country, prove me wrong and do it yourself.

The Results

Well, long story short, I should've looked at the data, first, before saying something stupid -- let that be a lesson to all of you! While the 2022 non-conference schedule doesn't shape up to be the strongest of the Tad Boyle era, it certainly isn't the worst. See below:

Woof, 2018 was awful. That was a year bereft of any high-major teams in the non-conference slate. Other than CSU, the home headliner that year was... I guess Drake? Even the MTE that year was a bust, with CU going 1-2 against a middling group of Indiana State, Hawai'i, and Charlotte. The less said of that the better.

2013, on the other hand, was interestingly the only year that CU didn't schedule a full MTE. Tad made up for that with a pair of high-profile neutral site one-off games -- Against Baylor in Dallas and Oklahoma State in Las Vegas -- which combined nicely with the home tilt against Kansas (Ski for 3) to beef up the numbers.

Ultimately, 2022 is pretty much middle-of-the-road. Lacking a home marquee event, sure, but otherwise on par with what we've seen, historically. It's also solidly *stronger* than last season's, thanks to a potentially hefty MTE which boasts a field deeper than any CU has played in since 2011.

So, to Tad and staff, I apologize and take back my complaint from earlier today.

A screencap of my full sheet can be found below, for those interested:

OK, but why?

Why did I do this? Well, to answer that itch in my brain that was telling me I hadn't shown my work.
Also, I wanted to better understand this year's schedule in context.

No, why is scheduling like this?

It's important to understand that, as opposed to football where the AD negotiates the schedule (often a decade-plus in advance of kickoff), the basketball schedule is largely set by the coaching staff within a calendar year of the game to be played. That makes it not only complicated and personal to the staff that's running the program -- it can make or break a season before it even gets started -- but a competitive rush against other like-minded programs to get games on the schedule.

In the end, a *lot* of behind-the-scenes work goes into putting together the games we get to watch each fall, work that is ultimately a thankless task. Too easy a schedule: the fans complain (*waves*) and ticket sales suffer. Too hard a schedule: the team takes its knocks and you end up with a worse record than you "should." You have to schedule for your roster, after all.

Then, there's other context to consider. First, there's a finals week in the middle of December; probably shouldn't be playing a high-leverage NET game that week, let alone traveling. Oh, and don't forget that the Pac-12 moved to a 20-game conference schedule a few years back. That means two conference games taking up space in your early-season calendar; games that you *really* should be winning. That means less incentive to schedule marquee dates that could coincide with a difficult road trip to, say, Washington (December 4th, btw).

What's more, there's an undeclared factor here: no teams worth a damn want to come to the CEC for a game. Unless Colorado gives up more than just a return trip (i.e., a 2-for-1, or a home-and-home plus a semi-road neutral, like with Tennessee), Top-40 programs won't answer the phone call. Hell, even smart programs in the 41-100 range wouldn't willingly come to the Foot of the Flatirons if they can avoid it. Why play at the 5th-toughest venue in the country if you don't have to? There are other places you can go to boost your NET where you might actually win.

That leaves the UC Riversides and North Alabamas of the world; those just looking for a "buy game", aka a paycheck (queue Rothstein and the epitome of brutality...). And so that's who ends up on the schedule. Throw in a few games dictated by existing contracts (CSU, @ Grambling, Tennessee), a few regional foes (Northern Colorado, Southern Utah), juggle the Pac-12 games and finals week and *poof*, there you go.

On the 20th Anniversary of 60-59

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 12:18:00 +0000

This coming basketball season marks an important milestone in Colorado Basketball history -- the 20th anniversary of the 2002-03 team. As such, it's time to open old wounds and dig into some Big 8/XII scar tissue.

Kansas, once, was the measuring stick by which CU men's hoops were routinely found to be inadequate. KU was, and still is, a national power, one of the true blue-bloods of the sport; comparatively, the Buffs have never been either. Their meetings reinforced that dichotomic status quo of haves and the have-nots: Kansas had, Colorado had not.

Yet, in spite of the disparity in pedigree and prestige, from Colorado's joining of the Big 8 in 1947 until their exit from the Big XII in 2011, the two played regularly. Each year, the Buffs would get two or three shots against the Jayhawks, and, most years, they'd get that measuring stick upside the back of their heads for their efforts. It became a sticking point; a hump that CU could never seem to get over. In a recent conversation, Neill Woelk (formerly of the Daily Camera, now with CUBuffs.com) even referred to them as Colorado's "white whale." ^[1]

You see, the history of Colorado v Kansas on the hardwood is not really a rivalry, in the traditional sense. More a Sisyphean reflection of the BasketBuffs' decades-long struggle with relevance, one that has only gotten more extreme with time. Let me put it this way: in his four years as a player at Kansas in the early 80s, Tad Boyle suffered more losses to Colorado (3) than the Jayhawks have experienced, all-told, from 1992 to the present (2). KU's slips against their former Big 8/XII "rivals" were already rare by the time the 90s rolled into town (they lead the overall series 124-40), but since February of 1991, the 'Squawks have gone 47-2 against the Buffs with an average margin of victory of over 18 points.

Hammer, meet nail.^[2]

The annual tilt in Boulder was, typically, the most painful, as Colorado would put up a wilful fight before succumbing in the end. What's more, a full 30-50% of the arena would be clad in red and blue, and all Buffalo faithful would have to suffer that damn chant. In the late-aughts, I myself witnessed more than a few of the season ticket holders around me swapping colors -- one week loosely cheering for CU, the next noisily rooting for the neighbor to the east. It was not uncommon for Kansas fans, including, as I found out in our conversation, Woelk's father, to hold CU season tickets simply for that one night a year when KU would come to Boulder:

"My dad was from Kansas, moved to Colorado. He grew up a Kansas basketball fan. Every year, I would get him tickets to the Colorado/Kansas game. And I finally ended up buying him season tickets to CU basketball just so my dad could come to one game a year. I just remember telling him how much I hated that KU chant… he would get a huge kick out of that.”

An unfortunate reality: the Buffs weren't even the headliner in their own building.

By that measure, there are some parallels to Colorado's great rivalry on the gridiron -- their annual fracas with former national power Nebraska. As was reinforced in 2019, a lot of red suddenly appears in Folsom anytime the Huskers come to town. It's what made those games so tense -- as a Buff fan, you desperately wanted to win just to see those invaders sitting next to you look so glum. Hell, that yearning for schadenfreude is why this remains such an indelible image in the CU/NU rivalry to this day.

With the Nubs and football, at least, Colorado has enjoyed some recent success. A breakthrough win against the Corn in 1986 helped propel the Buffs to a national title a few years later, and, since 2001, the Buffs have beaten back the red tide as many times as they've been flummoxed, going 6-6. In basketball, against frickin' Kansas, however, CU has not been nearly as successful.

So, for a school that has 62-36 metaphorically etched into the keystone of Norlin Library, it stands to reason that those two out of 49 against Kansas are worth mentioning if you care in the slightest about Colorado Basketball.

Now, any modern CU fan worth their salt is keenly aware of the latter of the two, the Ski-for-Three madness of December 7th, 2013.^[3] What, then, of the former? What, then, of January 22nd, 2003?

If you're already familiar, it's probably because you were there. Comparatively, Askia's Miracle is easily accessible for those new to Black and Gold religion. Pac-12 Network has it on their decaying platform about a dozen times per season if you're interested in re-living that one. But, the win in '03? I dare you to try and find all but the barest of hints online. Believe me, I had looked. Unless you were willing to pay for access to the Daily Camera and Denver Post print archives (like I was), the best you could do was a few AP articles linked on the CU website and the mirrored articles on ESPN. Certainly, there were no highlights to be found online; YouTube has nothing that I could find. Even pictures from the game are difficult to come across.

How? How could one of the biggest victories in modern Colorado Basketball history get so lost in the internet shuffle?

Well, not anymore. Approaching the 20th anniversary of its birth, I lay 60-59 to rest with a full In Memoriam. I'll cover Colorado's program history in the preceding years and the 2002-03 season's outlook; I'll review both teams' performance that year and how they stood coming into the night of January 22nd, 2003; I'll even touch on the series beef each team brought with them into the game that night; of course, I'll break down the game itself (with the help of some archival footage); and, finally, I'll wrap-up with a discussion of the aftermath. There are even endnotes and a full sources list!

So, strap in. It's a long and winding ride. Best consumed with a beer in hand...

Let's go!

Some idle thoughts after Saturday.

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 01:55:00 +0000

I think it was about the time that KJ Simpson pulled up for a “fuck-it-why-not” three-pointer, a little over halfway into the 2nd frame of CU’s stunning 79-63 win over #2 Arizona, that I realized what was happening.

Simpson’s thunderbolt 24-footer was the result of a broken play. With the Buffs up 58-50 at the time, Nique Clifford lost the handle in the backcourt, leading to a four-man scramble onto the hardwood. Somehow, Nique and KJ combined to regain possession, with Nique flipping the ball back to KJ at the top of the arc. The freshman spark plug, who had spurned a commitment to the UofA for life in Boulder, spun and twisted, looking for an opening before putting up a hand to let his teammates know to reset. It was at that point he realized that the Arizona defense had screwed up – in their haste to get back into position, confusion on the wing had left Simpson all alone. All but shrugging, KJ rose and fired, splashing the effort and setting the CU Events Center to boil. Buffs now up eleven, never to look back.

Up until that point, I had been humming along, enjoying the ride, and simply appreciative that we fans were not held witness to a repeat of last Thursday’s debacle against Arizona State. I was taking solace in the fact that the Buffs were showing good fight; that the program icon of program icons, Evan Battey, wasn’t going to see his Senior Day ruined by a schlubby performance. I could come to terms with this end to a season of ups, downs, and all-arounds, even if the mighty Cats from the desert eventually pulled it out in the end.

But, when that shot went in – turning a failed possession into three points – it dawned on me: holy shit, this is actually happening. The Buffs are going to win.

You see, it’s not every day that the #2 team in the country rolls into town only to roll back out with a loss. Sure, I’ve seen ‘Zona take a whupping or two in Boulder before – they’re now 2-7 at the Foot of the Flatirons since 2012, of course – but this was not a ‘typical’ version of Arizona. This was #2 in the polls, #2 in Kenpom Arizona. We haven’t seen an Arizona team this good since the Giant Death Robot days of 2014 and ‘15, and it was those teams that won their two trips to Boulder by a combined 55 points. And yet, all that efficiency and aura meant nothing.

Neither did the previous matchup between these two teams seem to mean a thing. That entrant in the diary, a 21-point CU loss in Tucson from back in mid-January, shared little in common with what was displayed on the hardwood Saturday night, save a feisty performance from KJ Simpson. Throw that baby out with the bathwater, as well.

No, the Buffs who took the floor on 2/26/22 were a completely different beast. They were feisty, they were aggressive, they were mean. They would not be punked in the backcourt, or over-run in the front. Whether it was attacking the rim (CU had 54 points in the paint against the nation’s second-best 2ptFG% defense), fighting on the boards (holding the Cats to rebounding parity, 30-30), or eating souls on defense (held one of the country’s most efficient offenses to under 40% from the floor), Colorado would not back down on Saturday. They dictated, they hounded. They made Arizona look soft, not the other way around.

Even if this was an aberrance, even if these two meet again in Las Vegas next week and the tables are turned, this was an important moment. This was the Colorado Buffaloes, young and lean, learning to hold their own against a monster of the conference. This is a win that will reverberate in the coming years, paying dividends when the likes of Simpson and Clifford are veterans leading the way.

It’s a win to savor.

–

My view was perfect. Buffs win, crowd storms, Senior Day festivities commenced through the din of excited undergrads. Then, the storybook finish we had all hoped for took form.

Evan Battey, the ebullient heart-and-soul of the Black and Gold, hoisted himself up on top of the sideline signage to take in the adoring masses. He stood above and apart, yet at the same time existing as one with his audience. A king and his subjects, a mayor and his city.

The image, as they say, was worth a thousand words.

Evan thanked everyone. God, his family, his teammates. Committed to returning, to one day becoming the head coach of the program he had helped define for the last five years. Tears were shed.

It was a perfect moment. A program-defining moment from a program-defining individual. The bear of a power forward, on (and all apologies to Elijah, Will, and Benan) *his* Senior Day, had willed his teammates to a spectacular, singular moment in Colorado Basketball history. His 11/4/1/2 line, as was typical, belying his over-sized impact on the program and its proceedings. Then, in one last gift, plastering our memories with an indelible image of joy and success against all odds. Life, once again, contriving to one-up any pretense of fiction.

Much like Evan, Saturday was unique, never to be duplicated. I hope you were there. I hope you got to take it all in.

–

This season is not over. There’s still the regular-season finale in Utah, the trip to Vegas, and a probable postseason berth of some kind (most likely the NIT) to look towards. But it’s worth our time, even with games remaining, to take stock of what this year has brought us.

This was not meant to be a thriving campaign. Sure, Tad and the guys all said the right things in October, about competing for championships, etc. But, given the roster turnover (McKinley Wright to the NBA, Jeriah Horne back to Tulsa, and D’Shawn Schwartz and Dallas Walton to greener pastures out east), and the fact that Colorado is, as ever, a recruit and develop program, the expectation was that of a re-set clock, rather than a continuation of last season's highs. 2020-21 was meant to be the peak, now back to The Rise. See you in two or three years.

Instead, what we’ve gotten is a season of defied expectations. “Young teams can’t win on the road.” Boom, five true road wins in conference, with a potential sixth still on the table. “Maybe a bottom-half finish in conference with a sub-.500 record.” Boom, a minimum 11 wins in the league, and almost all but assured no worse than 5th-place finish in the Pac-12. You cannot argue with these results.

Certainly not, given that the crown jewel of the league's best incoming recruiting class, Lawson Lovering, endured significant growing pains before seeing his season end in late January; his class-mate, and fellow four-star prospect, Quincy Allen, was lost for the year before the season even tipped off; and the expected Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, and one of only two initial scholarship seniors, Elijah Parquet, missed the final month and a half of the season. This was a season played with one hand tied behind CU’s collective backs, and yet they produced a surging effort, now culminating in an impressive final stretch.

There’s only one result on the calendar that really falls wrong – that loss at home to Arizona State. Every other result either met with expectations or exceeded them, more or less. That, in and of itself, is to the credit of Tad Boyle and staff. They led the young Buffs well, avoiding too many pitfalls. Could I have asked for a better home record? Sure. Would I have liked to see more complete performances @ Washington or @ Washington State? Yeah. But the whole picture is one of a young team over-performing the expectations. If this was meant to be the rebuilding year, the transition year to the next surge of Colorado Basketball, then I can’t wait to see the finished product.

If you can’t appreciate that, given the circumstances, I really don’t know what to say – maybe you should try watching, or commenting, on something else.

Let me just save this over here...

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 21:24:00 +0000

Don't mind me, just saving this for posterity...

On my only visit to Folsom Field in 2020

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 21:05:00 +0000

"You have a spot"

It was on that note that 112th Golden Buffalo Marching Band closed the oddest Band Camp in living memory Saturday night, welcoming the freshmen and transfers, officially, into the fold of the organization that has meant more to my adult life than any other.

You have a spot, a place, a purpose in these trying times. You are not alone. You are not forgotten.

It may strike some as odd that the band still went ahead with such formalities, given *gestures around* everything. With no football season to look forward to, at least in the calendar year of 2020, and campus life itself hanging on by a tread in the era of 'Rona, why even bother? There were no instruments present, sections separated and distanced in the block, and the watchful alums positioned well-away by where the 50-yard-line should be. Even the structured particulars of Closeout themselves had been disrupted and adjusted, with the newcomer ceremony essentially unrecognizable when compared to that of my own, now some 18 years ago.

But, there it was, ringing in my ears. The reason for that afternoon's ceremony; the whole reason the motions had to be gone through. "You have a spot."

I remember, vividly, my first weeks on campus in August of 2002. I remember, again vividly, my mixed senses of excitement and trepidation as I began a new life 1,000 miles from the one I grew up with, knowing exactly no one in Boulder prior to my arrival. Had I not had the Golden Buffalo Marching Band to turn to, providing me an instant sense of place and community among thousands of disparate co-eds, I don't know that I would've lasted. Knowing myself, a reticent social creature in all but the most specific of circumstances, I most likely would've tucked tail and returned home to Illinois after only a few weeks.

Instead, that Fall I had 200 friends the second I stepped foot on campus. I had leadership ready to show me the ropes, upperclassmen to lead me around the buildings, and fellow tubas to drive me to the damn grocery store. I even had guardian angels by my side to make sure I didn't choke on my own vomit the first time I went a little too hard at a party. I immediately had a social bedrock upon which to build my life, so I could then focus on my studies when the time came. Then, when the honors were eventually conferred, I had friendships that have lasted, and will last, the rest of my life.

And that's why Band Camp had to happen. It's not about the Fight Song or the Alma Mater, though the students sang both on Saturday with appropriate vigor. It's not about the rigidity of tradition; the 'have to' of showing up just because you'd done it the year before and the year before that. No, it's about much more. Even if the 112th goes into history as the only Colorado Marching Band to never give a performance, it still serves its purpose for its members beyond the field: to provide them a spot, a place in the churning societal mass of Colorado's flagship university. To give them an anchor in the roughest of seas, a place of relief and respite in the storm of pandemic and societal upheaval.

For the 92 freshmen inducted on Saturday, what could possibly be more important?

I don't know where the band will go from here in 2020. In talking with the leadership there this weekend, rehearsal time (outdoors) is still set aside, and the kids will still earn their credit (if they want it) for showing up throughout the semester. The instruments, though not required on Saturday, will still get checked out. Maybe even a performance or two will rest on the horizon, given the right circumstances. Come February or March, maybe even some actual games at the Foot of the Flatirons to play at. It's all up in the air.

What I do know is this: I'm damn proud of that bunch out on the field on Saturday. Damn proud that, through all of this chaos and bullshit, they're still looking out for one another, still echoing out the Tradition, Heartbeat, Spirit, and Pride of the University as it trudges forward into the unknown.

And when, at some point, football is finally allowed back in that stadium, the band will be there. Because they still hold their spot.

I was not fully prepared for the state of Folsom as I visited her on Saturday. There were weeds growing out of the concrete. A discarded tackling sled hidden up on the concourse next to a failing concessions cart. Spider webs draped under bleachers. A year-old cigarette butt clinging to its existence under the Flatirons Club overhang. The continued decay of the decades-old asphalt in 'COLORADO' ramp. The old girl looked as tired and careworn as I do these days.

This was a post-apocalyptic vision of Folsom -- unused since last November. No Spring Game, May graduation, Memorial Day finish of the Bolder Boulder, Dead and Company show, 4th of July fireworks, or early Fall scrimmage to lend it life. A forgotten husk of metal, stone, and concrete quietly marking time as the years creep towards it's 100th birthday. A football stadium and civic cornerstone left without a purpose as society struggles to make sense of itself in this pandemic-fueled reality.

It was, undoubtedly, sad. But, it was still Folsom.

Even with a blanket of smoke in the air from the state's four active forest fires, the sunlight could hit the angles just right. I could still hear the echo off the suites when we struck up the Fight Song. Those weeds? Just table dressing.

I sat in the same spot where I watched the Nebraska game, nearly one year ago. I breathed in those memories, along with the ash and soot from the mountains. I could see the flea-flicker, the missed field goal, the dichotomy of black-clad joy and red-clad despair as if it was live.

Folsom may be set aside today, but it won't be forever. In due time we'll all be back. The weeds will be gone, the spider's webs swept aside. Hell, the Athletic Department may even squeeze together enough coins to repave and paint the south ramp (please, I'm begging you, it looks awful). Whether in freezing cold or sunshine, I'm going to be back in that stadium, in due time.

Til then, I wish her well.

On the return of sports

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 20:23:00 +0000

This has a high probability of becoming rambling and incoherent... I apologize in advance.

The bells are tolling -- soccer, basketball, hockey, and, most recently, baseball. Professional sports in this country are starting to rouse from their COVID-19-induced slumber like the bloated bears they are. Surely, with them will come the eventual return of collegiate sports this fall before, finally, the fattest, laziest, most bellicose bear of them all -- the NFL -- belches its way back onto our TV screens.

In true 'Damn the Torpedoes' fashion, this process has fired up before this country had fully come to grips with its many festering wounds, including 2+ million cases and over 120,000 COVID-19-related deaths to-date, the resulting historic level of unemployment, the murder of George Floyd (and Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and countless others), the resulting Black Lives Matter protests forcing White America to (again) face its own bullshit, and the militarized response to those very protests that further highlighted the critical issue of pervasive police violence. That's not to mention the pre-existing Swords of Damocles swaying above our collective necks named Climate Change, Income Disparity, Failing Infrastructure, and what could turn out to be the most fraught national election since 1860.

Bodies are literally piling up, but... here's some baseball to keep us distracted?

Those are all pressing issues, and our society has shown that it is prepared to adequately deal with exactly none of them. Let's take the global pandemic, for one. We've allowed the wearing of masks to the grocery store to become a political litmus test, rather than a matter of civic duty and health necessity. States across the American South are experiencing their first real spikes at a time that they're desperately trying to re-open their economies, and we haven't even seen the second wave of cases that, most assuredly, will be coming at some point this year. Our best hope of a vaccine is still months away, and, while there is some hope that effective treatments are being uncovered, cases are still piling up and people are still dying. We're at the point, lagging behind the rest of the world in our response, that other countries are looking to designate us a plague ship, and let us drift off on our own. All while we're tying to force people back into some semblance of normalcy to jump-start a stagnating economy.

And this is the scenario under which we should be holding baseball games? Opening up thousands of our youth, already scheduled to be crammed back onto campuses, to exposure for football, basketball, and everything else? As with the teenager that didn't clean its room, didn't eat their vegetables, and didn't complete their homework, yet still wanted to play videogames, any real parent would be pulling the plug on this nonsense.

Lost in most of this are the players themselves, and I'm going to focus on baseball here. Conflicted in their desire to capitalize on the short period of time they are able to cash checks based on their talent, they're being thrown into an untenable situation by people who will not share their risk. The owners? They'll be miles away, as isolated as possible from the teeming masses. The fans? Most likely barred from entry, or at least severely socially distanced. And, while the players, as a group, could be considered healthy and at minimal risk, there are going to be many among them in one of the at-risk categories, or who have family members that meet the criteria. We've already seen how the actions of a few can affect a team in training -- what happens when those teams are then set to travel around the country? They're being asked to balance their need to provide for their families against the health of the very same. And I'm supposed to be excited about this?

Maybe you don't care, and just want your sports anesthesia back; that you don't want to hear about the real-world concerns of 'overpaid' athletes. "But they get paid so much to play a kid's game," you may even vomit up. Realistically, the average MLB player only has a 5-6 year window to cash in on their talents, and that's after 2-5 years in the minors making less than minimum wage. A solid 5th of those same players only have one year to sip their coffee in a big league stadium (How many are seeing that year lit on fire right now?). Those millions you greedily note when looking at the headlines are then divided up across taxes, agents, family members, and the cost of living. These are checks that need to cover them and their families well after their ability to throw 95+ has faded, too. "Oh, but I'd still pay to be in their spot, regardless," you might retort. As if anyone wants to see your fat ass take grounders, let alone pay a ticket price to do so. They are paid what they are because there's a lucrative market to view their talent. And their window to do so is already so short.

Given all of that, I honestly don't know what I would do, were I in the situation of, say, the 6th or 7th member of a bullpen. Report and risk the health of you and your family, or miss out on what could be your only real shot of earning money in your career. How different is that, really, then the choices being made by meat-processing workers or restaurant employees who are weighing the demands of their boss against their health and the health of their families? (Other than an actual, industry-driven support system in place to help fight for them, of course.)

For those that do return, I imagine they'll get the same treatment as our front-line workers in hospitals, ambulances, grocery stores, and restaurants across the country -- that is, given lip-services of gratitude, a few flag-waving moments of half-hearted patriotism, then, ultimately, left to fend for themselves. And that's the best-case scenario. Like everyone, they're about to be caught up in the grinding gears of an accelerating desire for normalcy that doesn't care about the reality of the situation or real people it chews up. A system of human invention that is decidedly inhumane.

... and yet... the day the MLB return plan was leaked also brought with it the news from Illinois that they were planning to move their COVID-19 response plan into Phase 4. It contains a particular note that caught my eye: "Outdoor spectator sports can resume with no more than 20% of seating capacity; concessions permitted with restrictions." My immediate reaction was revoltingly selfish -- "when is the first Sox game with fans, and how much will tickets be?" After a brief pause, I recoiled in horror at myself -- knowing everything above, how could I then, so quickly, give into the temptation of feeding this monster?

I am part of the problem.

All things considered, I have been relatively unaffected by the pandemic. I've been fortunate to keep my job (for now), through a combination of our CEO's predilection to worst-case scenario planning, a PPP loan, and a patch-work customer base that has somehow crawled along. No one that I am close to has died from the virus, or even, at least to my knowledge, contracted it. I have family and friends on the 'front-line', but they are staying healthy (again, to my knowledge). My mother, a diabetic in her early 70s, is clearly considered at-risk, but, after some early cajoling, has stayed safe at home (at least, for the most part). I am very lucky, and am very cognizant of that fact.

To that end, I have also tried to 'be good' -- staying home, washing my hands, wearing a mask when I'm out and about, limiting interaction with people regardless, eschewing most temptations to to contrary, etc. I shaved my head rather than go out for a hair cut (probably need to do that again, in fact). I grew a quarantine beard, and learned to work from home. I took up home improvement projects to keep myself occupied. Throughout, I've tried to set a good example to my friends and coworkers. I've tried to be the civically upstanding man I've always assured myself that I am - conscientious of both those around me and my responsibility to help my fellow man out.

The side affects, however, have been pretty assertive. Staying home, even with what distanced social interaction I can muster, has meant staying alone. My life had previously mostly revolved around things outside of my house, things that are not socially responsible right now -- travel, sports (both playing and spectating), hanging out with friends, etc. My house had always been intended to be a place of momentary respite, not a fortress on continuing solitude. It's a situation that has led directly to depression, weight gain, and an increase in my alcohol intake. The introspection forced upon me due to quarantine over the last few months has been particularly damning, and this is only the most recent instance. I'm not who I was four months ago, and I'm not happy about it.

Further, my career (I work in hospitality) is not only dependent on the mobility of the national populace, but its desire to express that mobility, specifically. The longer our economy remains closed (and people wary of travel regardless of government decrees), with travel reduced and hotel profits stymied, the more damage caused to my company, my employees, and my career.

The temptation, then, to give in to the desire for the return of sports is high. What's 20% of fans in the stands... I'm sure the protocols will keep everyone safe... Just a little taste of the old life, just a taste... To live like 2019 Ben, just for one afternoon -- watching a ballgame, meeting my friends at a brew pub, planning my next trip... just ignore the risks... it'll help out the economy... it'll help out the people I care about...

Am I a weak addict? Am I a pragmatic employer? Am I over-thinking it?

Probably.

I don't have any answers, and I know full well that self-denial for self-denial's sake is not virtuous. I also know that if/when my beloved White Sox take the field, I'll tune in. But I commit here that I will neither celebrate it nor financially support it. If and when the Buffs take to Folsom Field this fall, I will watch, and even answer the call should the band need alumni participation, but I will not encourage it. Until the health and safety of those plying their trade on the fields of play are assured -- like, really assured, not just paid lip service -- I will do my best not to contribute to the system

And if that means I just have to continue to sit at home, patiently waiting for this all to be over, then, damnit, I will.

A Post-Nebraska Re-Cap

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 18:08:00 +0000

It’s November 28th, 2008, and I’m in Lincoln, Nebraska. There the Buffs were, so there I went. No one ever wants to be in Lincoln, it’s the kind of place you end up because you have to. I would’ve preferred literally anywhere else to spend my post-Thanksgiving weekend that fall, but it was what it was.

The Buffs of that year, if you’ve since forgotten, headed east needing a win over the Huskers to attain bowl eligibility for the 2nd time in as many seasons. What would make for an earth-twisting development now was then a rather routine possibility then -- little did we know at the time the direction the program would take in the coming decade. It is in that light that the '08 game takes on a larger meaning. Had it gone differently, I have no doubt that the coming years - Dan Hawkins’ lame duck seasons, the disastrous Jon Embree experiment, the plaintive rebuilding effort by Mike MacIntyre - would each have swerved more positively, sidestepping at least some of the numerous pratfalls that we’ve since had to live with. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

The game itself, the 67th all-time meeting between the two ancient Big 8 foes, was an exciting one. The Buffs burst out to a quick 14-0 lead before Nebraska bounced back to take their first lead of the game in the 2nd Quarter. CU would then sprint into the halftime locker room thanks to a Jimmy Smith counter-punch. The future NFL corner had sniffed out a fake field goal attempt in the waning seconds of the half, intercepted the pitch, and briskly jogged the remaining 58 yards for a schadenfreude-heavy game-tying score. By the time the game was deep into the 4th Quarter, CU was holding onto a lead gained through a methodical drive that ended with a four-yard Demetrius Sumler plunge that still had CU up 31-30 with a few minutes to play.

On what was to be the game’s climactic drive, started by the Huskers with a little more than four minutes left on the clock at their own 26-yard line, all the Buffs needed to do was keep Nebraska out of field goal range and they would win. A quick pass and two consecutive big runs by the Scarlet Letterman, however, had them precisely there, flipping the field to the CU 25 with over two minutes to play. That’s when Husker QB Joe Ganz took a delicious 15-yard sack on 2nd down to push Nebraska back to the 40, seemingly well out of field goal range. When the ensuing 3rd down pass fell incomplete to bring up 4th and 25, the small knot of Colorado fans who had made the trip could all but taste victory.

It's at this point that first-year Husker coach Bo Pelini did the unthinkable -- he called for his kicker. Enter: Alex Henery. The future NFL booter trotted onto the field to line up for an NU record 57-yard field goal. “No way,'' I thought, “put someone back there for the return when it falls short.” Mind you, this game was being played at low-plains elevation on a Midwestern November day. The sun had set, the air heavy and cool. There’s no way a college kicker not named Mason Crosby should’ve been able to make that kick. Instead, the Nebraska native Henery drilled the fuckin’ ball right through the uprights with yards to spare, sending the red-clad horde into a frenzy. It was the longest field goal he ever made, either in college or the pros.

What followed, two straight CU drives that ended in interceptions, the first returned for a touchdown to end all doubt, was inevitable. The final, 40-31, sent Colorado home for bowl season, marked the first of what would become eight-consecutive losing seasons, and cross-checked all claims to progress that Dan Hawkins could make at the end of his third campaign. The table was then set for the calamity that followed, all thanks to that miracle kick.

It was with this in mind that I watched Nebraska punter Isaac Armstrong, pressganged into service as a placekicker with regular starter Barret Pickering sidelined with an undisclosed injury, line up for a 48-yard field goal attempt in overtime of Saturday's 71st iteration of the CU/NU blood feud. This was a chance, I thought, for a karmic balancing of the scales.

The Buffs, of course, had scarcely looked like they would be in a position to see this moment come to pass. Down 17-0 after a first-half where they mostly flopped around the field like an oxygen-starved trout, the team barely looked improved as the 2nd half started and they went a total of 30 yards on 11 plays through their first two 3rd quarter possessions.

Nebraska, though, seemed to be 'going through some shit.' After their first three drives of the game had resulted in 237 yards and 14 points, it had originally appeared as if NU would run away with the contest. Then, they just kind of... got drowsy. There's no other way I can describe it. Ill-conceived play calling, passivity from QB Adrian Martinez, and overall conservatism (probably combined with the high-plains altitude and a typically-omnipresent Colorado sun) conspired with a CU defense gaining confidence to stunt the Huskers offense in their tracks.

Following a shortened field situation where they could only muster a field goal, Nebraska would gain just 35 yards over their next five drives; a span of 20 plays (albeit one of them a kneel into the half). This mid-afternoon siesta gave the Buffs just enough time to shake out the cobwebs of a decidedly un-Pac-12 early afternoon kickoff, and find their offensive rhythm.

First, a 64-yard, 8 play drive that was capped by Colorado running back Jaren Mangham's 11-yard scamper got the Buffs on the board. Then, after stepping around the still snoozing Husker offense, CU caught lighting in a bottle with a 96-yard flea-flicker pass from Steve Montez to KD Nixon to get the Buffs within three points early in the 4th quarter, 17-14. The play, which caught NU unawares, saw Nixon side-step the lone remaining defender at the midfield logo, then briskly jog the remainder of the field untouched, not unlike how Jimmy Smith had when he blew-up the fake field goal 11 years ago. A game that had exhibited all the makings of a dour rout was, all of a sudden, a terse battle, and the Buffs had all the momentum.

The ensuing Husker possession was their first spurt of positivity in about 90 minutes of real-time, however. A swing pass from Martinez to wideout Maurice Washington broke CU's contain on the edge, thanks in part to safety Aaron Maddox getting caught taking a bad angle into traffic, and went for a 75-yard score. But, and this is very much to their credit, the Buffs refused to go away quietly. Back down the field they went, churning up their own 75 yards in five plays to score their third touchdown in as many drives, bringing them back to within three, 24-21. An NU fumble then led to a shortened field and a compromise field goal for Colorado to tie the game up at 24-all. As good as Nebraska had looked early in the game, Colorado now looked ascendant, and the numerous red-clad goobers who had followed their Corn west grew sternly quiet.

The teams would trade touchdowns in the remaining minutes -- Nebraska's, a resounding seven-play, 75-yard effort; Colorado's, which ended in a 26-yard touch pass from Montez to Tony Brown, brought to mind last season's finale in Lincoln. Now tied at 31-31, the teams headed into overtime, with Folsom more electrified than it had been at any point since the 2016 season.

Into the extra frame, CU got the ball first but had to settle for a field goal after their shortened drive stalled at the 17. Which brings us, finally, back around to Mr Armstrong and his dance with a 48-yarder.

Just as in 2008, the kick was set up by an ill-timed sack taken by a Nebraska QB. Colorado lineman Mustafa Johnson, an All-Pac-12 performer from 2018, burst past his blockers on 3rd down to grab at Martinez, who had been slowed in his downfield reads by a bad snap. In the NFL, Johnson's tackle, from the ground, at Martinez's legs, would've been ruled illegal, thanks to our nation's continuing efforts to keep Tom Brady as coddled as possible, but, this being college, it was righteous and glorious.

Contrary to 2008, however, the Huskers were forced to rely on a backup playing out of position, rather than a future professional. Even given the perfect conditions on the day - sunny, little breeze, dry, and warm - Armstrong gave himself little chance. I knew it was a miss from the second it came off his foot. Let alone right or left, the ball was sailing flat and starting to frisbee from the off. It was destined for nowhere but dead space, and immediately the Colorado students recognized the moment. The field was rushed, Armstrong was left to slam his helmet and slump off (another one for the #CollegeKickers meme), and the Buffs bathed in vengeance for 2008. 34-31, order maintained.

The Bulle(i)t Points

You may be asking yourself, “Who the hell is this guy,” or, “Why the hell did you come out of pseudo-retirement for some random football win?” Well, my name is Ben, and I used to blog a bit in my spare time. I decided to pick back up the virtual quill right about the same time the Buffs exited the halftime locker room down 17-0 to the damn Huskers. Just the first time in years that I've been both moved to write and blessed with the free time to do so. I will not commit to any other posts at this time, though I hope you enjoyed this one.

Steve Montez, confirmed at 5-0 against CSU and Nebraska in his career, could become the first QB in school history to ever beat CSU, Nebraska, and Utah in the same season with a win over the Utes in November.

Note: I didn't actually look this up, and some other QB may have already claimed this honor. However, this sounds right, and I’ve slandered Steve enough over the last few years, so I feel I owe it to him to take a chance this one, regardless of what may or may not be factual.

Speaking of Montez, he has looked sharp and poised this season. He's really only made one obvious error through two high-pressure games and has got his team in the endzone when needed. Not much more you could ask for. Honestly, he's starting to look more like his predecessor, Sefo Liufau, did in 2016 -- a rock around which this team can construct itself.

Whither Laviska Shenault? The preseason All-American wide receiver has just 125 combined rushing and receiving yards through two games, with just one touchdown and a fumble to show for it. Opponents are dedicated to making his life a living hell, with jams at the line, double- and triple-teams down the field, and physical attempts to deny him the ball once it has been thrown at him. It's obvious that Viska is both frustrated and banged up in the process. For the Buffs, it's lucky that wide receiver is the deepest potion on their depth chart, but it's still disquieting to see the young phenom struggle so in the early going.

Mel Tucker has his time with CU off to about as good of a start as could be dreamed up. With opening wins against Colorado's two largest non-conference rivals, no one can complain about the results, so far. The team has proven to have a mental resiliency that far surpasses what we saw last year (*cough* Oregon State *cough*), and which could spell a successful season, even given a daunting schedule. Play like this against Pac-12 teams, and you'll get some wins.

At one point during the game, I turned around to talk with a Buff fan seated behind me. In the conversation, he made reference to his friend, seated next to him, who was wearing a Husker shirt. Something about the conversation was off, however. I put on the brakes, asking "Hold on, what school did you attend?" The Husker sheepishly said, surprisingly enough, "For undergrad? Northwestern." Stunned, I shot back, "At any point did you attend the school on your shirt?" No, he had not. It always amazes me how people will come to care about a school they have no link to. That they would travel hundreds of miles and shell out $1,000+ to watch them play is even more baffling. I get pride in your school, but someone else's? Weird.

On that point: attendance. For you Buff fans who sold your tickets to someone wearing red, well, I understand. Season tickets aren't cheap, and I don't know your financial situation. If you needed the money, and some drooler from out east was willing to offer it to you, then, by all means, go ahead and take it. There are plenty of Buffs who paid for their entire season on Saturday by staying home, and I won't begrudge them that choice. If they show up the rest of the season loud and proud, then it's all water under the bridge.

Kudos to both Ball and CU for the new aluminum cups at the stadium. For all the green reasons behind their rollout, they're really cool, and I'd be down with them even without the lessened environmental impact. In fact, I took home nine of the cups after the game yesterday, both as a reminder of how much beer I had been drinking and as souvenirs.

I say nine, but it should've been 10. However, my friend Dave forgot to save his, so took one of mine. I feel I'm owed one.

Speaking of beer, have you all checked out Stampede from Avery? Tabbed as a 'Colorado Gold Lager,' it's your basic sessionable lager. Clear, crisp, light. It has slightly more flavor than the adjuncts you're familiar with and comes with a beautiful image of Ralphie on the can. In lieu of posting every week, consider it my Gameday Beer of the Season for 2019.

Some 13 years since they last graced us with an album, Tool is back in our lives, dropping Fear Inoculant back at the end of August. I've been a Tool fan since I was in middle school but had long ago given up on the dream of ever hearing a new album. To get this is like receiving a long-delayed Christmas present. The best part? I really like it! If you don't mind a little prog in your metal, I highly recommend it, though, buyer beware, not a single full song on the album is fewer than 10 minutes in length.

I had been discussing the album with some of my coworkers this past week who are fellow Tool-heads. They were, to my surprise, less pleased with the product. At one point, one of them expressed to me that they felt it was far too self-indulgent. Well, of course it is! Have you ever listened to Tool? Maynard especially lives with his head four feet up his ass at all times. That's part of the charm, though! You don't get a song with 47 key signature changes if the band in question isn't completely full of themselves.

Finally, in case you were wondering, the basketball team is going to be really good this year. I wish I had the time to spend 20k+ words on them, but, if you’re looking for a preview… they’re going to roll some fools. (Wow, saved myself a shit-ton of words simplifying that… should’ve figured that out years ago.)

'Sko and #RollTad

Twirling

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 02:26:00 +0000

"My fellow Americans. As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball. But tonight I say we must move forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling... twirling... twirling towards freedom!"

Every story needs a conclusion

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 01:04:00 +0000

"Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."

- Ron Swanson

"There is a big difference between being interested in something and being committed to something."

- Tad Boyle

I've been thinking a lot on that first quote lately. It lead off my Massive Preview last year, more as a reminder of purpose than anything else. "Stay on task, Rumblin," it seemed to speak to me, "don't let your focus wander."

Well, embarrassing as it is to admit, my focus has wandered. It's to the point that I no longer feel that whatever I'm putting down in virtual ink is up to my personal standard (please do take that with a humble grain of salt). That's why the second quote, from His Tadness the other day, falls like a hammer-blow. There is a big difference between being interested in writing and being committed, and it's a reality I'm now forced to face. I'm just not committed anymore.

It's with that in mind that I pull the plug on writing this season, and maybe this blog. I tried, I really did, but writing in the Year of our Tad 2017-18 just isn't in the cards, and it's hard to see a path to my return. If you were looking forward to what I had promised to produce this season, I am sincerely sorry. If you don't care, I respect that as well, and look forward to joining you in this indifference.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm still a passionate BasketBuff, and I'm really looking forward to this season. It'll be a season of rebirth, renewal, and, hopefully, a return to the NCAA Tournament. But it will also be a season with me decidedly away from the keyboard. Back to being a faithful, muted fan.

Regardless, if this is, indeed, my farewell from long(ish)-form basketball bullshit, I would like to thank everyone who ever found this space and spent some of their time here. If I can walk away from seven years having given even one heartbeat of meaningful substance away, I will consider it time well spent.

Good luck, and #RollTad.

-Ben

Quick Post: Taking a break

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 03:15:00 +0000

OK, so, as you may have noticed, this isn't a grab bag. I've decided, after much consideration, to call a time out in my writing habit, and take a step back. That means regularly scheduled programming is on pause for the time being.

Never fear, however, I do plan on being back this fall. What's more, I'll still be on call, waiting for breaking basketball news to strike. Maybe some early summer transfer drama will catch my eye. Wouldn't that be interesting? Or how about some cool dispatches regarding Tad Boyle at the U19 World Cup? Of course, there's always the looming run of Team Colorado at The Basketball Tournament (This year, they earn the money!). When something worth commenting on pops up, there I'll be, dousing the fire with a furious stream of words.

Till August (or thereabouts), however, I'm cranking the dial down to reserve power. In my stead, please enjoy the sunshine, the outdoors, and the long afternoons. And, as always, #RollTad.

Tuesday Grab Bag: RIP, Rowdy

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:22:00 +0000

Yesterday, the Athletic Department confirmed the passing of CU's beloved Ralphie IV. Mascot, revered icon, noble beast; "Rowdy" (her given name) was the embodiment of the Colorado spirit over her 10-year career, having led the football team onto the field in more than 75 contests. She was there when the 2001 team won the Big XII title, there when the 2006 team went to Georgia, and there when the 2007 team stunned #3 Oklahoma. Overall, she appeared in six bowl games and four Big XII championships.

We'll miss you, Rowdy. From: 9 News

Big, powerful, rumbling, her running style was distinctly different from the sprinting act of her successor, Ralphie V ("Blackout"). Indeed, it befit the older era of plodding three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football that she starred in. She was the buffalo I played for at CU, and, despite the near-decade that has passed since her retirement in 2008, the one I still think of when I imagine 'Ralphie.'

Having lived a long life for a bison, nearly 20 years, Rowdy's death does not come as a surprise, but it is nonetheless a sad moment. RIP, Rowdy. Enjoy running with the great herd in the sky.

--

Today in an abbreviated bag, I'm talking the season-ender in Orlando, and the Colorado Women with their own NIT push.

Click below for the bag...

Read more »

2017 NIT: CU vs UCF Basketball Teaser -- Password is Tacko

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 14:30:00 +0000

It's been a while since Colorado was last in the NIT. Some six years and (for yours truly) 950-ish posts ago, the Buffs of Alec Burks and Cory Higgins played Alabama in Madison Square Garden as part of the 2011 NIT semifinals. That day was bitterly painful for the small cabal of CU fans who, even back then, cared deeply about this program. In a flash of a baseline drive from 'Bama's Trevor Releford and a missed jumper from the aforementioned Burks, about 19 seconds in total, an improbable season was over, and the Buffs were resigned to a 62-61 defeat.

The last vision of Colorado in the NIT was a painful one. From: the AP

You have to remember that I didn't know the run of success that lay ahead, and that it would all get much better over the next five years, but I was broken-hearted that afternoon. That team was, to that point, the closest I had ever seen Colorado Basketball get to being a 'winner,' and to have it all peter out, first with a NCAA snub, then with a last-second defeat in the NIT, seemed like an affirmation that Colorado hoops would always be an also-ran. How wrong I was.

If some of you, especially those who may have been too young to remember 'the before times,' are missing an answer to why this tournament is still important, just look back to that season. Even though Colorado missed out on the Dance, even though they didn't win in New York City, just getting there was a momentous step in the modern history of this program. It was the launching pad for the 2012 rocket blasting into a league championship and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the true birth of the swagger and the pride of Colorado Basketball. That NIT run meant something to those of us who got to latch on and experience it first hand -- to look past the opportunity the NIT can be is to look past all the joy of the last five years.

The 2011 NIT means a lot for this program. From: the BDC

With that said, I'd be hard pressed not to acknowledge the differences between 2011 and 2017. First, that 2011 group was loaded with hungry talent, not to mention three players who would go on to see the NBA. They got to play three games in that tournament at home, and deserved each and every one of them. While I cannot say yet with certainty how many currently in uniform will wind up at the next level, the '11 team was a more capable squad from top-to-bottom; they were a special, special offensive club. Additionally, everyone that year, from fans on to the team, saw making the NIT as an accomplishment and a chance to shine, even with the disappointment of the Committee leaving them off the board. That is, decidedly, not the case this spring. You have to care about being in the NIT to succeed. That 2011 team certainly did. This year's squad? I have my doubts.

But, enough jabber, on to the crux of the matter: UCF. The fourth place finishers in the AAC this year, the Knights were winners of 21 games and are unquestionably a solid, tough basketball team. Looking at their resume, I don't see a whole lot of hiccups (though the home loss to Penn isn't anything to brag about). Their problem this season was an overall soft schedule (even with a date against Villanova, the Knights were 329th in non-conference scheduling) and missed opportunities in league play. Really, outside of home wins over Cincinnati and Houston, they swung and missed against every big team they played. Indeed, should they beat CU this afternoon, it'd make for their third-best win of the season.

Coach Dawkins swapped coasts over the summer. From: UCFKnights.com

The Knights are led by an old friend -- Johnny Dawkins. You will probably remember Coach Dawkins from his days on the Stanford sideline, solemnly guiding the Cardinal to disappointing result after disappointing result. Really, he's at home in the environment of the NIT, as accustomed to the secondary bracket as a chicken in a coop. His Trees made the NIT four times in eight seasons, as compared to just one Tournament appearance, winning the damn thing twice. Coach Boyle, however, knows a trick or two about how to go about beating Dawkins' teams. After losing to the Cardinal twice in 2012, he never fell under Johnny's heel again, winning the last five meetings before Dawkins was fired a year ago. Though the personnel at his disposal is decidedly different from when he was on the Left Coast, I'm sure Coach Dawkins was far from pleased to see the name 'Colorado' turn over next to his on Selection Sunday.

Johnny has an interesting roster to work with in Orlando, though. The obvious standout, mostly because he literally stands out above the crowd, is sophomore center Tacko Fall. The 7-6 (that's not a miss-print), 290 lbs Senegalese baller is as unique a challenge as you'll find in the game today. In the mold of Sim Bhullar and Mamadou N'Diaye of recent fame, he towers over the paint, almost blocking out the rim from the sight of would-be attackers. It's no wonder, then, that the Knights are #1 in the country in two-point shot percentage defense, allowing under 40% inside the arc. What was once a good shot, anything near the rim, becomes a dicey proposition with Fall, the AAC's Defensive Player of the Year, lurking to block or otherwise affect even the closest of looks. Opponents are even under 50% at the rim itself. Colorado will need to find an answer to this conundrum -- moving the ball, getting out in transition, and hitting outside jumpers.

Dude's tall, what else can I say? From: the AP

Past just deterring shots, however, Fall also excels offensively. He's in the top-three nationally in eFG%, and top-five in offensive rebound rate. Overall, he shoots 72% from the field, and I honestly have no idea how you go about guarding him. You can't really front him, he's just too tall. You can try to keep him from grabbing position down low, but he has arms for days and can close space to the rim in an instant just by reaching out. Wes Gordon will have his hands full. To that end, the Buffs have been getting creative, handing redshirting freshman Dallas Walson padded sticks in practice to simulate the reach of Fall. Other teams have tried similar things in the past, with, most notably, the Silver Swords of Chaminade sticking a manager on a folding chair in practices leading up to their famous tussle with Virginia and 7-4 Ralph Sampson in 1982. When playing someone as abnormal as a 7-6 center, your thinking has to be just as abnormal. Luckily, Tacko isn't on the court all the time, averaging just 26 minutes per, but when he is, CU will have to look outside the box; literally and figuratively.

Fall, however, isn't the only dangerous piece on the Knights. Guards BJ Taylor and Matt Williams combine for 32 points per game, and can be deadly. The senior Williams, especially, rarely leaves the court, and is an outstanding shooter. He took 292 three-point attempts this season, canning 38% of them. Colorado needs to run him off the line and keep him from getting hot. Elsewhere, Tank Efianayi is an interesting veteran wing capable of playing inside-outside. He combines well with AJ Davis and Nick Banyard up front.

Williams is an electric outside threat. From: the Orlando Sentinel

Overall, a solid team. They can be elite defensively, especially as teams wrestle with their helping of Tacko in the paint. I wouldn't be surprised if Colorado struggles offensively, unless they start nailing outside shots. Defensively, however, I think the Buffs can find some room for success. UCF is far from a strong offensive club, and can really get shut down by anyone that is willing to put in the work. That's where the buy-in from CU comes in. If they have bought into the purpose of this tournament, they should be alright and eventually find themselves in a position to steal the win in Orlando. If not, however, the proceedings could get very ugly. My guess is that, with four seniors and none of the post-season distractions of two years ago, a focused bunch of Buffaloes will show up. With that in mind, and with a healthy dose of heart behind my pick, I'll take Colorado to advance in an ugly one.

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Tip-off from CFE Arena in Orlando, FL is set for 5pm MT Wednesday. Coverage can be found via internet stream on ESPN3 (aka: WatchESPN), with the radio call... unknown at this time. Is Mark Johnson still available, or did he bail on this season? Anyway, stick with the stream, it may be your only shot at following this one.

GO BUFFS! PROVE ME RIGHT, AND BEAT THE KNIGHTS!

Tuesday Grab Bag: Season ain't over, yet!

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:53:00 +0000

Back from Vegas, and somehow I lost two hours in my day. Wait, what time is it again? ... Without further adieu, straight to the action.

Today in the bag, I'm talking the Pac-12 final in Las Vegas (along with my All-Tournament team), the Buffs in the NIT, and women's lacrosse.

Click below for the bag...

Read more »

2017 Pac-12 Tournament Teaser: Day 4

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 17:32:00 +0000

VEGAS, The Pac-12 Tournament, March 11th --

The final is set here in Las Vegas, and it's the rematch we've been waiting for -- Oregon/Arizona. These two have proven a clear separation between themselves and the rest of the conference over three months of play, now it's time to finally decide who will get to claim supremacy in the Conference of Champions.

Oregon earned their spot in the final thanks to a grueling, industrial effort over Cal. The Golden Bears weren't really supposed to be in this spot, and, with star guard Jabari Bird out early in the action with a possible concussion, looked to be at long odds to survive 40 minutes with the vaunted Ducks. But they battled ferociously all night, even cutting the lead to two points with 45 seconds to play. UO would not be denied, however, with Dylan Ennis throwing the team on his back to secure the winning points. In the end, the 73-65 scoreline belies how close Oregon really was to coughing this one up.

The second half here was a weird one. The Ducks were robbed of the services of star point forward Dillon Brooks as he was called for his fourth foul as part of a bizarre stretch of five called on one Cal possession early in the frame. That staccato burst of whistles knee-capped the game, sending it into a listless spiral of empty possessions as both teams looked to make sense of the new landscape on the court. Play would eventually recover, as Ennis and Tyler Dorsey began to pick up the slack in Brooks' absence. Ennis, especially, seemed to fill the Brooksian role, barrelling into the lane to force the defense to react and open up shooters. Dorsey was all too happy to oblige, and he started nail repeated attempts from the field. In all, the young shooting guard would finish with 23 points on 13 attempts, with Ennis finding five assists.

Oregon needed everything those two could provide, as Grant Mullins couldn't miss. The senior specialist for Cal was 5-5 from deep, and kept the Golden Bears in the game, despite their at times archaic offense. It wasn't enough, though, to overcome sputtering play from Ivan Rabb and Charlie Moore, the inside-outside duo that had generally fueled whatever California got in the regular season. With those two struggling to inconsistent 9-23 shooting, there were simply too many empty possessions for the Bears against a quality opponent.

Those Ducks will face the Wildcats this evening after they spent 40 minutes suffocating the life out of UCLA. The second half itself was a treatise on frustrative offense for the Bruins, with then repeatedly failing to find any traction against the Arizona 'D.' I didn't think it could happen, at least not so easily, but they were completely shut down. All credit to the 'Cats, then -- they earned their 86-75 victory.

The Bruins, considered by some to be the best offensive club in a generation, were abysmal from the field, shooting just 16% from behind the arc. Arizona wasn't completely to blame, with the Bruins forcing some heedless takes and missing some open looks, but it's hard not to note that UCLA's best weapon - the three-point shot - was almost completely taken away by a team that prides itself on defense. You could see the exasperation on the faces of the Bruins' shooters, especially Lonzo Ball and Bryce Alford. That pair, usually so effusive, combined for just 13 points and 2-16 shooting from deep. Ball was, himself, visibly shaken in the first half, focusing on a jammed finger and struggling with turnovers. If Arizona can do that to Lonzo, in contention for the top pick in this summer's NBA Draft, then they should have high hopes in the coming Tournament.

For the 'Cats, probably their best takeaway from the evening was the play of Lauri Markkanen. The big Finnish shooting star has finally seemed to break a weeks-long shooting slump here in Las Vegas, first against Colorado, then against the Bruins. He got 29 Friday night on 22 shots, and seemed to be much more comfortable and aggressive with his shot than in previous weeks. Parker Jackson-Cartwright, though, also deserves a lot of credit. Every time the Bruins tried to drop into zone, his speed and ability to knife past the top-line kept UCLA's 3-2 from having any shot of taking effect.

All things considered, the pair of games could've been better (they certainly didn't live up to the legacy of last year's Pac-12 Final Four). UCLA, for sure, could've played much better than they did to help the evening game reach expectations. But the final is the one that makes the most sense for the league, and the one that should give us out truest champion. Can't wait for tip!

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Best pep band of the day: Oregon

I'm going to give it to the Ducks over Arizona, though it was close. Both of these bands made their competition across the stadium pale in comparison, playing good music loudly and with good energy. The Ducks, though, had I thought the far superior bass player, and I'm a sucker for someone who lays down the funk.

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Today's action:

- #2 Arizona vs #1 Oregon - 9pm MT - ESPN -

The previous meeting between these two was, of course, a massive blowout in Eugene. There was no return trip to McKale, however, meaning this pseudo-home game in a red-packed T-Mobile Arena will have to suffice for the Wildcats.

I really like the way Arizona has played this week. They've been hitting their shots, playing great defense, and Sean Miller seems to have an excellent grasp of his rotation when to pull the trigger on situational changes. Oregon, conversely, has seemed, at times, to be going through the motions against teams they should be blitzing. Arizona, then, seems to have the rhythm advantage, but I have never liked the way they matchup against the Ducks. Boucher and Bell have the length and athleticism to negate Markkanen, and I'll take Dillon Brooks over Alonzo Trier every day at this level. To that end, if Brooks can stay in the game, avoiding foul trouble, I expect Oregon to win. If not, the wave of depth in the paint that Arizona can leverage should hold sway. Keep an eye on that foul count.

GO DUCKS! PROVE ME RIGHT, AND REPEAT!

2017 Pac-12 Tournament Teaser: Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:52:00 +0000

VEGAS, The Pac-12 Tournament, March 10th --

There will be no dream run to the Dance, there will be no cinderella story for our Black and Gold heroes. Despite the best efforts of Derrick White and Xavier Johnson, the Buffaloes just didn't have enough talent at their disposal in their quarterfinal matchup against Arizona, coming up 14 points short, 92-78.

That's not to say that CU was well out of this one from the tip. After trading some early blows, then starting to slip behind, the Buffs fought back right before halftime, fueled by the devil-may-care attacking tenacity of White. They would even, briefly, take a lead before Arizona stole back the one-point advantage at the break. The problem here was two-fold: reserve forward Tory Miller was in deep foul trouble, already saddled with three personals in seven minutes of play, and Arizona was creating havoc off the dribble-drive. Colorado was in the game, but another half of play was a daunting proposition.

Indeed, into the final frame, the UofA's execution on the offensive side began to show. With precious few resources in the paint to slow them, forwards Lauri Markkanen and Dusan Ristic started to go off, while their guards were busy knifing into the heart of Colorado's defense to create open looks. CU would allow 64% shooting from the field and 54 total points in the second half -- the relative equivalent of a bloodbath.

Still, staring back into the face of this hellish math, White and Johnson would not go quietly into the night. Derrick, especially, was on fire, slipping past would-be defenders and letting it fly. He would tally an awe-inspiring total of 31 points against a good defensive team determined to stop him, humbling just as many combined recruiting stars in the process. If there were any lingering doubts that he belonged at this level, they were erased here in Las Vegas. Xavier Johnson was similarly into the action, flying around on both ends. He would chip in 20/7 against a series of tall trees in the paint.

The problem was, those two seniors got relatively little support from the rest of the roster. Past them, only one other Buff finished with multiple made baskets, George King, and it was a constant struggle to find the right defensive combination with players like Miller and Wes Gordon fighting foul trouble. Frontcourt depth was always going to be an issue for Colorado this season, and it reared its ugly head with semifinal dreams on the line.

So, with that, CU exits stage left into the post-season. There is still some solid hope that a NIT bid might be forthcoming, but I doubt at this point that it will involve a home game. Regardless, I feel that the Buffs, after their rocky start to the season, did themselves proud both down the stretch of conference play and here in the conference tournament. They deserve another chance to run out of a tunnel, wherever it may be. Hopefully, come Sunday evening, they will be afforded just such a chance.

In the day;s other action:

Oregon blew past Arizona State with little difficulty, 80-57.
Cal clipped the Utes to become the first lower seed in 24 tries to win in this tournament, 78-75.
UCLA survived a late push from the Trojans to advance, 76-74.

Best pep band of the day: Utah

The Utes brought five tubas and no woodwinds with them to Las Vegas. That is serious business, folks. Overall, they're not a spectacular band, but they play clean and loud with a very basic style. They won't wow you, but, when compared to some of the other bands in town, Utah gets a lot of things right.

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Today's action:

- #5 Cal vs #1 Oregon - 7pm MT - Pac-12 Network -

Of this final grouping, Cal sticks out like a sore thumb. They've done good work here, solidifying their Tournament status with yesterday's win over Utah, but they simply do not belong with teams like Oregon, Arizona, and UCLA. As such, I would expect the Ducks to carve them up in prep for a grueling final battle with the survivor of the nightcap. Might be a low-scoring affair, though.

- #3 UCLA vs #2 Arizona - 9:30pm MT - ESPN -

Before the tournament started, I put my money on UCLA to win it all, figuring they had the best guards in town, and that such things matter this time of year. This is where that bet comes to a head. They were able to stun the UofA in Tucson, ripping away their shot at a league title, but revenge is often a bitch. With the crowd at their back, the Wildcats could very well overcome the best backcourt in the West. We'll just have to wait and see -- should be a good one with a boatload of points scored.

GO BRUINS! PROVE ME RIGHT, AND KEEP WINNING!

2017 Pac-12 Tournament Teaser: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (RumblinBuff) — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 16:57:00 +0000

VEGAS, The Pac-12 Tournament, March 9th --

I will not be seeing the Hoover Dam, at least for one more year. Thanks to a furious 2nd half comeback, the Colorado Buffaloes were able to forestall the ignominy of a 1st round exit, storming back to upend the Washington State Cougars 73-63.

The first half performance from our Black and Gold heroes was simply awful. The Cougars were able to get whatever shot they wanted on offense, tickling the twine to the tune of 57% shooting from the field and 65% from downtown. In all, they would make 17 baskets in that opening frame, assisting on 12 of them. Colorado was getting carved up, to the point that it almost didn't matter that they themselves were struggling with the ball, knocking down under a third of all shots and just 2-11 from deep. The Buffs were in a bad way headed into the break, relatively lucky to only be down 14 after WSU had raced out to a 19-point lead after only 13 minutes of action.

Then, CU found the safe harbor of halftime, and everything settled down. Seniors, like Derrick White, Xavier Johnson, and Josh Fortune seemed to say, 'to hell with this, we're going down swinging,' and started to take over. White, especially, was on fire. In just over five minutes, he dropped 13 points (along with a block and a steal), all but erasing the halftime deficit in dragging the Buffs to within two. The Cougars were suddenly on the ropes, and, with two-thirds of the half still to play, were looking lost. Derrick would finish with 26/5/5 against zero turnovers.

WSU would adjust, doubling White off the screen, and trying to deny him the attacking lanes he had abused early in the frame. That just meant it was time for XJ to step up. He would add 12 second half points of his own, most of which came down the stretch, highlighted by this thunderous dunk off the break. What you'll also notice on that play: Josh Fortune making a beautiful pass in transition. He had a nice, solid performance on the afternoon, chipping in seven points, five turnovers, and two assists against just one turnover. His last points, on a three-pointer with two minutes to go, put Colorado up by five, and finally seemed to put the Cougs away for good. XJ's final line was 19/6.

I can't say enough about how decisive the turnaround was in the second half. The seniors, as a group (Wes' performance was more off-the-board, but still provided 8/4/3/2/1), were outstanding, helping to pick the team up off the mat to rebound with postseason hopes on the line. I'm still not 100% confident that Colorado will make the NIT, but they're certainly in a better position now with 19 wins then they would've been with another bad loss on their resume.

In the day's other action:

Arizona State needed overtime to slip past Stanford, 98-88.
Oregon State put up a valiant effort but ultimately fell to Cal, 67-62.
USC coasted against a Washington team without Markelle Fultz, 78-73.

Best pep band of the day: Cal

I'm giving it to the Golden Bears because their tubas were HOT FIRE. They grabbed my attention from the first note, and laid down the phat beatz on songs like 'Come on Eileen.'

The Cal band has long been an interesting phenomena for me to take in. With a big bass drum and a glockenspiel, they have a very unique core to their sound. Not one that I generally prefer, mind you, but one that clearly stands out against their peers... especially when rival Stanford is outsourcing their work to some high school band. Where have you gone, Stanford Band?

Today's action:

- #8 Arizona State vs #1 Oregon - 1pm MT - Pac-12 Network -

The league champion Ducks hit the court this afternoon, and I cannot be more excited. Such a fun team to watch play, they feature an exciting style both on and off the ball. I expect them to quickly dispatch the Sun Devils, completely shutting down the ASU guards who cut up Stanford yesterday.

- #5 Cal vs #4 Utah - 3:30pm MT - Pac-12 Network -

Cal continues in this tournament, but does anyone really want to see them play? The slow, negative Bears make for a tough watch, and playing the similarly pedestrian Utes will not help improve their style. Utah's precision with the basketball will ultimately help them prevail in an ugly one.

- #7 Colorado vs #2 Arizona - 7pm MT - Pac-12 Network -

The Buffs and Wildcats have met each other in four of the five previous Pac-12 Tournaments. While the 'Cats have won the last three, rather decisively, Colorado can still claim the one meeting that really mattered -- the 2012 tournament final. The Buffs will need a lot of that '12 magic this afternoon because they will be up against it in T-Mobile. I expect a thunderous herd of Arizona fans in attendance, largely filling up the cavernous area that lay mostly empty yesterday for the game with Washington State.

I think CU can play with Arizona, even given the antagonistic crowd. I look for them to come out of the gate, and play well in the opening half. Once in the final frame, however, I expect the 'Cats to take over, and the Buffs to slip behind. Not without a game effort, though.

- #6 USC vs #3 UCLA - 9:30pm MT - ESPN -

A rivalry game to close out the evening. There's a lot of independent money flowing in on the Bruins in this tournament, to the point that I would call them the 'people's favorite.' They boat-raced their rivals in the second half of their last meeting, but don't look for them to duplicate that feat today. I look for UCLA to win, but struggle to put the Trojans away. This one could come down to the wire.

GO BUFFS! PROVE ME WRONG, AND BEAT THE WILDCATS!