McD, Lies, and Videotape

DROPS from the Buffs final Big 12 game in Lincoln and the Broncos loss to the St Louis Rams:

CU: The high the team was riding after the two home wins with Interim Brian disappeared in Lincoln quicker than a logical thought at UNL (sorry Huskers, that's my last joke ever.) Nebraska simply out muscled and took it straight at the Buffs. The Black and Gold had no answer as Rodney Stewart's holes were plugged all day and Cody Hawkins passing lanes were equally clogged. Nebraska showed they'll belong with their smash mouth style in the Big 10 while CU showed a lot has to be done in the Pac 12.

As soon as the game ended, the coaching candidates started popping up everywhere you could shake a Cali Dougie Dance. Late last night, Ole Miss Houston Nutt's name was all over the CU imprint, but thankfully that has been shut down. The Denver Post seems intent on making Troy Calhoun the top choice, which wouldn't sit well with the boosters and fans. The people's choice is still Eric Bieniemy, who is in limbo with the Vikings but would immediately bring a recruiting spark, passion from the fan base (donations? Cha ching), and approval from the growing influence that is the former players. A CU "official" interviewed him on Saturday (was the "official" Chip the mascot? Why no name given?) and most of Buff Nation would be happy with him being introduced as soon as today.

DONKS: Great weekend for McD and the Donks. I'm wondering if Lil Hoody's turkey came to life on the table and ran out if the house. Even if it did, the McDaniels defense wouldn't be able to tackle it.

Videogate seemingly came out of nowhere to punch the team and their fans in the collective nuts before the game. And when I say the fans, it hurt as much as the product on the field. Now you have a trust issue with your coach who was tetering on the fine line of trust beforehand. Yet he still couldn't answer the questions in the wake of the "spying." Why was there a lag in reporting? Why was the employee not immediately sent back to Denver and let go? What is it with filming practice? Is there anything to be gained? Did you see what cleats Vernon Davis wore or that Troy Smith was talking to a hot blond?

To follow that up with such an inept defensive performance is just a an insult on Bronco Nation. Don't give me the "valiant comeback" BS. The fourth quarter of that game was essentially a pre-season game, complete with a half empty stadium. (Think this game was bad in the stands? Wait until the post-holiday games at Invesco to close out the year. Scalpers will have seats hanging at the dollar store.) Shots of McD showed him seemingly grasping for anything throughout the game. Did that look like a coach who was in complete control? (Although the squirrel that was loose on the field may have been a welcome addition to the Donk RB corps.)

Things are unraveling quickly at Dove Valley, and the dots that were hard to connect (Cutler, Hillis, bad first round picks, etc) are beginning to come together and make a picture of a young coach over his head.

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Rivers Runs Through It

First batter up well here's the pitch, it's a curve
Second batter up because the first got served...

DROPS: Jacob Hester, Malcolm Floyd, Mike Tolbert, Patrick Crayton, Randy McMichael, Kory Sperry. Not exactly the names of an offensive juggernaut there. Yet the woeful, and suddenly aging Donk defense made them look like the AFC Pro Bowl team. Some dap has to be given to Phillip Rivers (who's act on the field makes him more and more reviled and depised in Colorado with each game, and the 7-2 record doesn't hurt either) more orchestrating the offense with that bunch of castoffs, but missed tackles, no pass rush, and poorly played pass defense makes them look brillant.

PROPS: Rodney Stewart and the Buff offensive line continue to gel, this week to the tune of 195 yards and Big 12 player of the week honors. It really is a pretty simple concept: line up the ball and run behind your best OL. In this case it is a future NFL first rounder in OT Nate Solder. Rodney picks up those secondary yards after clearing the line of scrimmage with some shifty lateral moves. He is also one of those "groove" running backs, meaning the more carries he gets, the more productive he becomes.

DROPS: Have the Donks figured out a way to blockl Shaun Phillips yet? Or more pressing, have they figured out where he's lining up on the field? Phillips was on the left, on the right, up the middle, parachuting in from the blimp, riding on Ron Jaworski's mustache, seemingly everywhere before the snap.

DROPS: Kansas State came to the game with the Big 12's leading rusher in Daniel Thomas yet only ran him 15 times. And it wasn't like it was dictated by the Buffs defense, ol' man Synder simply chose to use other players including their plodding QB.

PROPS: Darren Sproles looks like a vacuum cleaner when he runs. Someone call the Chargers and ask if you can use him after the next keg party to clean up.

DROPS: Dan Hawkins was there on the field with the rest of the Buff player parents and their Seniors. Now that he is no longer a football coach, Hawk has gone into "Dad" mode with his too small jeans and white sneakers.

DROPS: Third and longs haunted the Broncos all night long (sans the first drive of the night, where they looked like a well oiled machine. That said, someone must've lost the oil after those six plays, or substituted stale Pepsi or sticky icky gizim.) And on those thrid and longs were some questionable calls (underneath throws to the tight end) and a few dropped passes.

PROPS: When Hawk was coach, he was involved in the offensive game planning and "suggested" palys to run. He also had "veto" power over any call that OC Eric Kieseau called. Interim coach Brian Cabral has admitted he knows nothing about offense and left the play calling completely to Kieseau. The past two games have been Kieseau's best in picking the right mix. No more WR end arounds, which had done nothing the last few years. A healthy dose of straight ahead running with efficient passes (Cody Hawkins' strength) and a few "trick" plays mixed in (witness Rodney Stewarts half back option pass which looked more like a shot put.)

DROPS: If there was a "turning point" on MNF it was the debacle the Donk special teams endured on the Chargers fake punt. The team looked helplessly lost, not knowing who to cover, what to do, or who to tackle. Charger punter Mike "Step Into The" Scifres could've ran for 20 yards for the first down. More alarming is who buys a pump fake from a punter?

PROPS: Buff defensive end Josh Hartigan had another stellar game, using his speed around the end to harass K-State QBs the entire game. Brian Cabral and the D coaches used a variety of blitzes and stunts to get Hartigan one on one on the edge.

PROPS: On a typical Big 8/12 day, the last Big 12 game in Boulder was met with little nostalgia and a few video highlights of great games gone by. Some fans celebrated saying goodbye to the flat landers in the conference by smoking a huge Pac 12 bong.

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Gol-orado

Stayed hardcore never changed my attitude
I got the hip hop juice for the hip hop food...

The entire State of Colorado is undoubtedly waking up this AM with a nasty soccer hangover, complete with a Sunday night of lighting off flares, consuming mass amounts of Carlsberg, and singing that "Ole" song endlessly.

The Colorado Rapids are your 2010 MLS Cup Champions!

Alright, so it's not quite Holiday sliding into home, or TD scoring versus the Packers, but it does count for something. Right? Colorado actually has a strong soccer tradition dating back to the 70s with the original Colorado Avalanche, the Colorado Foxes won a couple titles in the 90s (and they played their home games at a dog track), through the first decade and a half of the Rapids. (I used to work the Rapids games at old Mile High in the first season. Think a huge cavern with 10 people, a couple guys banging drums, and grass.)

The extra time in last night's game was pretty intriguing, after the dude with the Iverson-like braids scored off that other dude's thigh to give the Rapids the lead. Promptly, the AI dude was hurt (nice to see the FC Dallas players trying to fight the Rapids' trainer to get him off the field) and they had to play with 10 players. Apparently, there are 11 guys in soccer and you can't replace an injured one (apply that to the NFL? Fantasy football bonanza!) Dallas then brought it for the last 10 plus minutes, and if not for some key saves by the Rapids goalie/Amish stand-in, they might still be playing in Toronto (nice move MLS, championship game in Canada, in November, at night. Plus to Toronto for the "sideline" seats basically being bar tables though.)

So today, forget Arsenal, or Real Madrid. Liverpool? Inter Milan? Please. The center of the soccer universe is smack dab in the middle of Commerce City, Colorado.

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Celph Titled & Buckwild - Mad Ammo

New video from the very nice Celph Titled and Buckwild album Nineteen Ninety Now which harkens back to the 90s with it's rugged beats and lyrics. Tons of guest spots for those who like to reminisce too. Once again it's RA who shines on this track with his rapid fire delivery and wordplay (the 90's look, especially the Treach overalls and chain, are hilarious. I think I'll wear that outfit to Thanksgiving dinner.)

So You're Saying There Is A Chance?

Turn into a crazy early bird, that's my word
Before I kick the bucket I'm a kick 'em to the dirt...

PROPS and DROPS from the Buffs win over Iowa State and the Bronco smashing of the Chiefs:

PROPS: Kyle Orton's thrid TD pass was a thing of beauty, you'd be hard pressed to find a better strike this year in the NFL. Perfect spiral, 40 yards int he air, split three defenders, went into the tiniest of areas to find Jabar Gafney for the TD. Not only did it look good, but it effectively ended the game at 21-0. Any sense of a comeback was gone from the Chiefs after that strike.

PROPS: A new head man up in Boulder and it looked like the team played loose and like they were having fun out there. There were a few minor tweaks also. One, they actually used their three best WRs (McKnight, Clemons, and Richardson) on the same play numerous times. Two, they ran the ball with a big lead!

DROPS: The Chiefs challenge a play but it can't be overturned because the "replay system is malfunctioning." Huh? Malfunctioning? Isn't this 2010? Go grab some dude's phone and watch the damn replay. Or maybe just watch it on the two GIANT big screen TVs in the stadium.

PROPS: Everyone's been saying it, but I'll say it again: Paul Richardson, Buff frosh WR, is a complete stud. He was the best player on the field on Saturday, and perhaps the best Buff WR since Michael Westbrook roamed Folsom. The new coach's #1 recruit will be Richardson, as there are murmurs that he is looking to get out of Boulder.

DROPS: A little tiff between Chief coach and McHoody? Haley, not to be mistaken for Lumbergh from Office Space, "snubbed" McD on the postgame handhsake. Should make the December 5 game in KC all the more interesting. Because the Donks always play good in KC in December.

PROPS: I'd never heard of Donk linebacker Joe Mays until I saw him on the screen yesterday. The 5-11 North Dakota State star played well, showing speed and a nose for the ball. He knocked the ball loose from Jamaal Charles which Jason Hunter whiffed on a few plays before Hunter took it back to the house (which announcer Kevin Harlan said he had an "entourage" en route to the endzone. I wanted to envision Turtle and Adrian Greiner loafing down the sideline with him.) Another reason you won't forget Mays? He has his name tattoed on both triceps. "Joe" on the left and "Mays" on the right. That way you can identify him if he's doing the Ludacris "drop blows" dance.

PROPS: What the heck is this Donk WR celebration where they wave their own hand in front of their face? Why don't we work that into your everyday life? Your boss gives you a compliment for closing the Penske account- wave your hand in front of your face. You get that choice parking spot at the mall? Wave it! People will simply flip you off or think you are trying to clear up some vertigo

PROPS: Cody Hawkins played a good game with crisp passes and ability to find the right WR (hmmm, having the best WRS to pick from might've helped.) As soon as the final gun sounded, Cody made a beeline for the locker room. That's the fastest I've ever seen our starting QB run.

PROPS: The Donks had their A1 offensive line together for the first time all year and looky here, Knowshon Moreno enjoys a career day. The holes were there most of the afternoon and Moreno spared us the shimmy shaking and simply ran through them. Somewhere, Peyton Hillis lovers are weeping.

DROPS: Dan Hawkins tried to go all incognito and watch the game from the Kenny Rogers balcony at Dal Ward. He tried to blend in by wearing a ball cap and sunglasses. bout as creative as his game planning. I'd rather see him in a Kenny Rogers mask.

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Bar Bathroom Art #3

FOUND BY: SG Crew
WHERE: Burlington, Colorado Welcome Center

Add your captions and comments in the 'Comments' section.

Hawk's End Game

I sip the Dom P, watchin Gandhi til I'm charged
Then writin in my book of rhymes, all the words pass the margin...

Thanks to the never-ending, relentless, and unerving pressure of the SG, Dan Hawkins is no longer employed by Dear Ol' CU. That and the bookend career losses (to Division 1-AA Montana State- a CU first; and a 28 point letdown to KU, also a CU first) and the 56 games in between.

I do feel pretty qualified to speak on the Hawk tenure. Over the last five years I saw every CU football game either live or on TV except one (last year's Iowa State contest.) Outside of CU parents and some diehards, there are few who have watched that many. There are things I've seen or heard from real insiders that I would never throw on here the last five years (ironically, this SG rubbish has spanned the entire Hawk tenure) but perhaps now a few are worthy to take a look at.

As Biggie once said, "throw salt in the wound" and we take a look at Dan's tenure because as it says on Norlin Library "he who knows only his own generation remains only a child."

A whole slew of Dan's wins were sketchy at best. His signature win over OU in 2007 was helped by some very questionable calls. He needed a late INT for a TD to beat a Division 1-AA Eastern Washington in 2008. Bill Stewart butchered the clock so bad and a clutch kicker missed a chippy in an OT win over West Virginia in 2008. Future NFLers Terrence Wheatley and Jordan Dizon paced the team in a five point win over Texas Tech in 07. Iowa State nearly punched in a final second option TD in 2008. Two wins last year over Texas A&M and KU were aided by extremely close official calls. MORAL: It could've been ALOT worse.

Dan always talked about having "good kids." I know people in Boulder law enforcement. The kids on the team were not choir boys. They weren't Tim Tebows. They weren't spending Satruday nights volunteering. MORAL: Don't lie to us, these are testerone filled college males.

Hawk brought a whole bunch of credentials after his stint at Boise State to CU. He was a "genius" on offense and an outside the box coach who would fit into Boulder and CU. Really? There were kids on the team who didn't need to know the entire playbook. Offensive players who didn't need to know a certain formation because of insane "groupings" which they were matched with other players to run certian plays. Oh, but the o-coordinator calls plays. Yep, but Hawk has veto power. MORAL: Chris Peterson at Boise was and is the brains of that operation.

Hawk always came across as being a "good guy" if not a good coach. That was always a fallback. Although in meetings with media and boosters, he would always be quick to point out how dire CU was when he arrived. He wouldn't take his assistants' advice and personnel directives in game planning. An SG alum went to an Athletic Department mixer where the coach of one sport was supposed to introduce another coach. It went well until it got to Hawk, where he was supposed to introduce our new Volleyball coach. He did no such thing, but rather rambled on incoherently and took shots at fans then abruptly left the podium and directly to the back of the room. AD Mike Bohn had to grab the mic and do the introduction. More than one player has been denied the chance to walk out of the tunnel on Senior Day for some petty BS. This is with their parents, grandparents and family in town. MORAL: He was arrogant and could be an asshole.

Coach Phil Jackson came across as a "Zen" guy. The fact is that he really is that guy. Read his book Sacred Hoops. This dude is really an introspective guy who incorporates all sorts of eccentricities into a winning team. Hawk would be quick to quote all these "out there" things and seem to have a take-life-as-it-comes philosophies. Hold on though, did anyone ever see Hawk living his life that way? The thing that I always remember is early in his tenure he said he'd run a marathon. 26.2 miles. Big undertaking. I consider myself somewhat a runner and I could barely find the time to train for a half marathon the past two summers. And I'm some shithead blogger with a regular job and a wife and kid, not an NCAA football coach. MORAL: Big talkers don't are usually just that- talkers.

It is easy to feel sorry for Hawk after his press conference and thanking of everyone. But remember he's walking with alot of our money. He got himself an extension to get that money by winning eight football games in two years. Deep down, I think Hawk starting feeding into his own delusion. Good luck to Hawk, remember, it's the Big 12, and you didn't cut it.

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Call It A Comeback

The SG Crew dispatched to Lawrence to watch the Buffs monumental collapse against KU; some DROPS from the 4th quarter:

DROPS: Reason #4080 to run the football with a 28 point lead: the wind. Like former KU coach Mark Mangino after a bowl of chili, the wind was blowing pretty good in the Buffs face in the 4th Quarter. When you have a diminutive QB who doesn't exactly throw Elway-esque lasers, keep the ball on the ground.

DROPS: Most of the focus is on what Dan Hawkins didn't do with the offense to win/salt away the game, but one simple fact is the defense gave up 35 points in 11 minutes! The KU QB had ample time to throw the ball and the KU O-line opened massive holes. The coaches did nothing creative with blitzes or schemes to help stem the tide.

DROPS: After the Buffs drove to the eight yard line with eight seconds left, Lil Hawk threw a TD to super freshman Paul Richardson. The refs disagreed and called it an incompletion. I was about 10 yards from the play and probably had a better view than the ref. Richardson caught that ball. How else do I know he caught the ball? His second cousin was sitting the row in front of me and like an old Brady Bunch episode snapped a picture of the catch.

DROPS: After KU cut the lead to 14 points with seven minutes left, Hawk his keen coaching acumen gathered the entire team on the sideline. I knew it didn't mean anything to most of the team, and it was confirmed the next day in the paper. To paraphrase what Hawk told them: "Just relax, we're up by two scores." Huh? In that case you need to get in their ass, tell them to knock someone in the damn mouth, to man up and get the hell on that bus with a W.

DROPS: Class act with Hawk brushing off his radio interviews after the game. KOA radio and more specifically announcer Larry Zimmer have been the biggest Buff pom-pom wavers for decades (not to mention a major financial booster) and Hawk gives them attitude and about 30 seconds of time? Yet, his players (about 30 years younger) can give their time to the press?)

DROPS: I'm not buying the conspiracy theories that Hawk was throwing the ball to try to get Lil Hawk the all-time passing record. For one, he's about 900 yards away and I just don't think he has that in him, especially with Nebraska on the schedule. Two, if he did get it, Buff Nation would see it as a phony record. The other theory is that AD Mike Bohn won't fire Hawk until after the season because Lil Hawk would quit too. A fifth year captain would quit the team with three years left? Abandoning his teammates? No way.

DROPS: I can't tell you how many texts I got after the game that basically said "What happened?" My simple answer to all: "Dan Hawkins happened."

Giant Headache Coming

Shazam, let me tell you who I am...

Remember when we put John Calipari on blast after he let KU win an NCAA championship and unleashing Jayhawk fans on all of us? (Probably not, because if you remember anything from this crappy blog, it would be some chick in a slutty outfit or something.)

Well, add Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington to that list. Because he is at the helm of the team that allowed the SF Giants to win the World Series, we can blame him for unleashing douchebag/loudmouth/overly smug Giant fans on us. Coors Field only has to host them 15-20 times in 2011. Thanks, Ron! Stay away from the crack.

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London Bawling

See you can try, if you try, if you don't, you don't
If you wanna battle, it's either that you will or you won't...

DROPS from the Buff loss to Oklahoma and the Donks Trans Atlantic debacle in London:

DROPS: What was used to color the endzones and logos on the Wembley turf? Food coloring? Players looked like some freaky psychadelic mish-mash of Krylon and Easter Egg coloring kits. Cookie and James in Boulder probably went into some weird fee trip after seeing that.

DROPS: Dead man walking is what Dan Hawkins is right now, so no need to waste the interwebs space on that topic. But how nice of him to turn his back on erratic kicker Aric Goodman's FG attempt. But, hey, the kid made it. Maybe Hawk should extend that tactic. When the team is in the red zone, hang out in the tunnel. When they are in the 2nd Half, maybe just stay in the locker room. When they play in Kansas, stay in Boulder. Problem solved.

DROPS: Don't blame Donks punter Dustin Colquitt for having a crappy day. Most of his shitty punts came after bounces went the wrong way. And that's because things bounce the other way on the other side of the Prime Meridian.

DROPS: What is with Mike Singletary and the shades in the middle of the night? Throw in Dolphin coach Tony Sporano into the coach shade mix. Do these guys watch too much World Series of Poker? Is the opposition going all Phillies on them and "reading" their eyes?

DROPS: Cody Hawkins actually threw some good deep balls in Norman, but the heralded CU receiving corps picked the game to play like dog crap. Toney Clemons enjoyed his worst day as a Buff, dropping a few passes. All the receivers had trouble getting that extra step on Okie defenders, as many Cody passes were just a yard over their heads.

DROPS: Is there a debate on when the Donks actually got to London and how that affected them? The Niners did start to pile up the points and yards in the 4th quarter. Were the Donks getting worn out from jet lag? No, they were getting worn out by a better team on the other line of scrimmage and a back in Frank Gore is is a pretty good player. They got worn out by a defense who refused to stack the box and make journeyman QB Troy Smith. (Yes, I know he's a fourth year player, but Troy Smith is a journeyman. Watch the next decade how he bounces around.)

DROPS: Dammit, I thought the Spice Girls would be there.

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