Still Keeping Score

A little over one year ago, I jumped on the speculation bandwagon about potential landing spots for the Colorado Buffaloes after the PAC-12 watched as the two huge founding schools, USC and UCLA, left the conference for the Big-10. Thirteen months later, the Buffs awaited news of a new PAC-12 contract, and that news never arrived. And while their final fate isn't official, the Colorado board of regents meet in a couple hours to vote on returning to the Big-12. History recalls the Buffs joining the Big-6 to form the Big-7 way back in 1947, which then became the more familiar Big-8 Conference a decade later when Oklahoma State (or Oklahoma A&M at the time) signed up as well. The conference was a storied one with the likes of Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa State, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State with the aforementioned Buff and Okie State. The Big-8 won 11-NCAA football National Titles during that time, six by Oklahoma, four by Colorado's arch rival Nebraska and one by the Buffs in 19

 I last discussed the super conference scenarios for the Colorado Buffaloes on this particular blog 11-years ago. At that point, the Pac-12 was looking to expand after Texas A&M bolted from the Big-12 to the SEC. Several Big-12 teams looked to move over to the recently expanded 'conference of champions' to join Colorado and Utah in that once, happy, healthy, collegiate sports alliance. Looking back, the Pac-12 should have expanded then and a year or so ago when Texas and Oklahoma announced they were finally following Texas A&M to the SEC. Hindsight, as we often say here, is 20/20 and now that's what college football may look like with a pair of 20-team super conferences led by the Big-Ten and SEC. While not officially official, it sounds like the two richest programs in the Pac-12 are bolting for the Big-10, as early as 2024. For the new look Pac-10, and Washington looking to see if they can find a way to follow USC and UCLA, the rest of the west may be on the outsi

Watching the Colorado Avalanche hoist the toughest trophy to conquer in all of sports for their third such victory in franchise history, it offered chance for this one time sports editor and radio guy to reflect on the hard earned respect the NHL has won from me over the years. For clarification, I've always loved hockey. From the moment I pretended to have ice skates on a frozen pond, sliding around and hitting a tennis ball with a neighbor's hockey stick, it was frozen joy any winter I got to 'play' with anyone who was brave enough to get out on the ice with other kids armed with sticks. I was only 14 when I saw the tape delayed epic Miracle on Ice when the USA vanquished the Red Army on skates for Olympic glory in February of 1980. I was grateful to witness one of those sports David and Goliath moment that stick with you forever. Those happy moments aside, my relationship with the NHL was, to put it in modern social media vernacular, complicated. Living in Denver at

Coach Don Shula had a great run.  But the world lost a unique influence today with his passing. At least he was a very positive influence on me, and likely dozens of the players he coached and legions of football fans. Better research from other writers will do a far better job covering all of the accolades Don Shula compiled over a lifetime of football. Among those stats, I learned just today that the he also intercepted 21 passes in his brief career playing for three NFL teams over six seasons before he jumped into the coaching ranks. Shula never claimed to be an exceptional athlete, so I imagine a number of those interceptions were because of how well he understood the game. That understanding helped him become the youngest NFL coach in history by the time the Baltimore Colts hired him in 1963. It was Shula's time in Baltimore that endeared him to my Maryland family. In particular, my grandparents continued to be fans of the coach even after he left the Co

A more sensitive league leader may have pushed the upcoming NFL Draft back a month or two. That said, I'll be the first to selfishly admit, I'm glad the commish is of singular mind when it comes to promoting the game that keeps a roof or two over his head. As the horror show COVID-19 global pandemic is likely moving toward it's peak level of damage to humanity here in the United States, sports fans will have tiny beacon of escapism to look forward to amongst the carnage. Despite a number of NFL general managers asking for the event to be pushed back, Commissioner Roger Goodell says the show must go on. On one hand, the NFL seems to lack empathy, or a sense of fair play as teams are on various stages of lockdown, depending on which state they are in. Those are absolutely legitimate concerns. However, for a nation that's had to stay in quarantine away from other people for nearly two months in some places -- an NFL Draft presents some evidence that the world w

It's a comparatively small Colorado football community over the last few decades, especially former players and coaches who remember when the Buffs won all the time. In that small world, the Buffs apparently have found someone who was a part of those good old days with the selection of Karl Dorrell. While the hiring remains unofficial, the pile of internet sources seems to agree the Buffs went with a former CU assistant with 14-years of PAC-10/PAC-12 coaching experience, coupled with some solid NFL stints with the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. And yet, some voices yelling into the internet void remain unimpressed, wanting to go with -- according to the modern vernacular -- another sexy hire. Did fans really want Alabama offense coordinator Steve Sarkisian, despite the fact the last hot name/sexy beast of a hire just packed his bags for East Lansing, Michigan? Both Sarkisian and Mel Tucker used the Buffs to pad their bank accounts, and yet some fans seem t

At the time I sat down to scribble these words out, there was nothing official from anyone yet. However, the word seems to be that Mel Tucker is one and done in Colorado. He's off to the much greener Spartan green pastures of Michigan State. I suppose they figure if he can recruit at Colorado, he will have it easier at MSU. It's sad but true. I'm not a part of the angry mob forming around Tucker's sudden departure. He couldn't turn down double the salary and double the resources. To quote Jack Barsch from the Ralphie Report , "I can't get mad at a man who gets that sweet of a deal. Any one of us would take a doubling of salary, plus everything else that makes his life easier." I'm not mad at Mel either, but this departure is a stark reminder of how tough it is to win at Colorado and keep winning at a place that has half the resources of most top flight programs. Some fans don't quite grasp the inequities of NCAA football and how uphill