Colorado's most formidable tennis duo

         Off thetennis court Winde Janssens and Carla Manzi Tenorio share a giggle and theyknow exactly what the other is thinking. On the court it’s not much different,minus the giggle part, sometimes.

         “We play well together, as a team,”said Janssens Then Manzi Tenoria quickly interjects, “We communicated well.”And finally to finish off the question, Janssens said of their play theprevious weeks, “I felt we kept fighting.”

         These court-mates, both sophomores,are not only having fun on the tennis court, but they are winning and quicklybecoming a force to be reckoned with.

          In the previous two matches, both Colorado wins against New Mexicoand Northern Colorado, this duo wasundefeated. The pair won both number-2 doubles matches rather easily, 8-3 and8-5 respectively. Then they split up and made quick work of their competition,each winning both of their matches. (Janssens 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 against UNM and 6-3,6-2 today; Manzi Tenorio 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 versus UNM and 6-0, 6-2 today)

          Janssens and Manzi Tenorio are afairly odd couple. Janssens is from Peer, Belgium, and Manzi Tenorio calls Cali, Colombiahome, only a roughly short 5,300 miles separates the two. Each found their wayto Boulder, Colorado and unbeknownst to everyone,including the coaches, they clicked right away. 

            “Actually at the beginning offreshman year I guess we were the last two left out so they put us together andwe just did amazing in our first tournament,” recalls Manzi Tenorio. “And thenwe kept on playing together and somehow we started to understand each other andknow what the other one was going to do.”

            Their shypersonalities, fun yet hardworking attitudes and explosive skills make up acrucial piece to Coloradowomen’s tennis program. They continue to grind to get better in the Pac-12Conference that is, again, one of the best in the nation.

            Are theyconfident and excited about the season? Janssens and Manzi Tenorio look addeach other, they probably know exactly what the other one will say. They smile,partially giggle, nod and utter in unison, “Yeah.”

Colorado Signing Day Part 7- Areas of focus

            A team that finishes the season 3-10 is bound to have a few holes. There will be, and are, numerous places the Buffs lacked any real contribution due to a number of reasons.

“When I looked at the board, we had a lot of holes, so I kind of prioritized how we needed to fill them,” said Embree who could have focused on a number of different positions but found his areas of emphasis without hesitation. “This year it was defensive back and D-line.”

Colorado graduated eight players from both those positions, 5 of whom were starters: Curtis Cunningham, David Goldberg, Josh Hartigan (the previous three from defensive line), Anthony Perkins and Travis Sanderfeld (both from the defensive backfield).

The focus was fulfilled with strong talent, big bodies and half of Colorado’s entire recruiting class. Fourteen players come in this year with a place, and more so a need for them to play a big part of the Buffs defense. Yuri Wright and Kenny Crawley in the secondary, along with Tyler Henington, Kisima Jagne and Justin Solis as the front line of the defense are just a few of the big names to watch.

Embree commented that there were no players that he planned to switch their position although it is not rare for that to happen later in some athlete’s career. But these players, in particular, come in with a clean slate ready to take the next step in their football careers and aid in the progression of Colorado football.      

“Thanks to the senior class, they don't have to hear about the (road losing) streak anymore, so they don't have to worry about that,” said Embree. The 28 players will come into a system that has only had a year to lay its initial groundwork, but learning on the fly is just something we’re going to all have to deal with. “At the end of it, it's still football.”

Colorado Signing Day Part 6- Embree's first full class

            A good hitter in baseball may watch the first pitch go by before taking his cuts. Embree didn’t have that luxury last year when he was hired amid recruiting. Now with a full cycle to compete for the top talent in the land he found himself knee deep in recruits that he hopes will turn the Colorado program around.

“I'd say about 75 percent, 80 percent of them have an opportunity to come in and earn some playing time, special teams or regular,” said Embree, which speaks to the talent of the class as well as the departure of a plethora of seniors.

            Colorado graduated 28 seniors, meaning the 28 recruits Embree signed will be forced to come in right and play.The overall youth of the team will be evident, and growing pains are going to happen.

“I'm sure there will be some mistakes that are made because of their youth, but also there is not just youth in this class, there is talent,” said Embree. “Hopefully the youth shows up in practice and the talent shows up on Saturday.”

With mistakes their will be obvious places for growth and advancement. But that’ll give a coaching staff riddled with NFL experience the ability to mold this raw talent. They’ll be able to set them on the right path, coach them up in the areas they need most and help the talented class reach its fullest potential

“The good thing about young is they grow up,” said Embree, the head designer and leader in the overall direction of Colorado football. “I actually have thought about that, about how young we possibly could be.  It's good and bad.  The good is they don't know any better.  There are no bad habits.”

Although a lot of the criticism of this class will likely come later on, when the 28 players put on the Colorado uniform, it is hard not to describe Embree first full go-round of recruiting a success. The Buffs did what they set out to do, and will be rewarded for there hard work in the falls to come. But as the ultimate perfectionist, there is always something more CU could do.

“I think we can be better in recruiting,” said the head coach. As the pistons of the recruiting machine continue to move and coaches, including Embree, reposition themselves to snag a player that will make all the difference. “I believe the dynamics in our conference, things change.”

Colorado Signing Day Part 5- Recruiting teammates

            College is a scary proposition, but so is college football. Combining the two would make any high school athlete feel genuinely sheepish stepping into a Pac-12 school, on both the academic and athletic fronts.  

            To combat the problem, or if it happened unknowingly, the Buffs found themselves wrangling in a number of teammates and siblings in this year’s class. Four different sets of teammates, including a pair of twins, with be coming to Colorado and helping each other ease the transition away from home and into the gauntlet that is Division I football.  

“Colorado is a unique program in that we have three kids in-state this year and last year we had two, so there are 25 kids in this class that are leaving home,” said Embree.

Of the teammates, there are Jeromy and Sean Irwin, twins from Cypress, Texas. Also the Buffs signed the proclaimed DC3 from H.D. Woodson High School in Washington D.C. including Kenneth Crawley, John Walker, De’Jon Wilson. And finally two pairs of teammates from the west coast; from Upland, California, came Donta Abron, Marques Mosley and Christian Powell, and from Westlake Village, California, was Justin Solis and Johnny Stuart.

            But what does not get talked about enough is the popularly wrong consensus of a seemingly trivial fact that these student athletes are leaving home for the first time and they are also prone to getting home sick. So Embree is more than just the football coach for many of these student athletes.

“They can say all they want, they're all tough, and then they're in my office on my couch talking about momma and the dog and everybody else that they miss,” said Embree, who treats and takes care of all 105 players like their his own kids. “They all go through it, so it will help having other teammates.”

            Being around a familiar face will likely calm the nerves of several of the players. And the camaraderie brought together by fighting for a sole cause, with 28 new faces and personalities will be an interesting dynamic.

“They’re really good kids,” said Embree. “That locker room downstairs is about to change.”

Colorado Signing Day Part 4- Good grade in a good Buffs class

            Some analysts, and experts, ranked the Buffaloes class as high as 27^th in the nation. That’s nothing to scoff at, especially for a program that has only won 11 games in the last three seasons combined.

            “The sooner the better, but I expect us to be able to put together competitive classes, and the thing I'm really proud about with this class is that our current kids did a great job helping recruit these kids,” said Embree who has been adamant about the prospect of prospects in his first year. “The name of the game is with this class, I want to bring somebody in who can beat these guys out.” 

            If competition breeds more focus and faster improvements then the Buffs are right where they need to be. No one player’s position is secure come spring and fall camp. And Embree is building depth with his first two classes that will continue to push the returning players, even starters.

“This class got along great with the kids that are here,” said Embree. He’s also already mentioned the class of 2013 and 2014, which is crucial component to a new mentality in Boulder. “I expect them to be the same way with next year's class, it's important to keep that going.”

A turn-around, a rebuilding will take time, but also the development of young men into supreme college football players also isn’t an instant formula. Some players make it, and make an impact while others don’t. That is just the way of life in recruiting, and projecting a player four years down the road when there are so many unknowns to account for is extremely hard to do.  

“Really at the end of it, you judge your class in four years,” said Embree, where four years in the life of college football is an eon. “I wish they'd rank you then.  You can see who stayed, who performed, who gets injured or maybe academics, some people don't make it.”

Embree can’t predict what the Colorado football program will look like in a quadrennial, but he has definitely plan or blueprint set for his black and gold.

Colorado Signing Day-Part 3, No Colorado love

Much like Embree’s first tumultuous season as head coach, one with seemingly more downs than ups, his first complete recruiting cycle didn’t finish without a few regrets. There are always a few fish that inevitably get away. 

But what Embree didn’t expect, especially in his first year when the changes around the program were more transparent close up, is that this bait would not work as well as it did inside the state of Colorado.  

“We didn't do a good enough job,” Embree said of his ability to keep kids at home. “We got three kids. We missed on some of them.”  

            The trio that the Buffs signed included Tyler Henington, from Mullen, Clay Norgard, from Mountain Vista and Derek McCartney, the grandson of former Buffs coach Bill McCartney. Several others in the state were undecided until the final moments but in the end chose to leave Colorado and play football elsewhere.

“When I say 'we', I mean 'me'. I've got to continue to try and figure out what it is that we need to do,” said Embree taking personal accountability for all things surrounding the program. “We'll continue to work at it and we'll keep doing our best at it and eventually it will turn."

This is the second year in a row that Colorado had a disappointing showing at home. Last year the only two Colorado-native recruits to come to Boulder were Brady Daigh and Marc Mustoe.    

Embree has made a consummate effort to recruit with the state, and keep the good talent, that happened to beat the Buffs a time or two this past season, on their side. But as Colorado begins its imminent climb it, a restoration of sorts, the ability to recruit the state will be much easier.  

            “As we get more successful, I hope that translates first off on kids wanting to stay home and be a part of it,” said Embree.

Colorado Signing Day-Part 2 Wright or Wrong

     It was rather fitting that almost 140 characters into the signing day press conference Embree was talking about controversial corner back Yuri Wright. Hejust happened to go in reverse alphabetical order, but nonetheless the recruit that had drawn so much attention, nearly more nationally than locally, was first on the docket.

     “He touched a hot stove,” Embree said of Wright. Wright was recently expelled from Don Bosco Prep school after sending out several vulgar and profane tweets.“I'll be surprised if he touches it again. He's very remorseful.”

But while other schools that had interest in Wright, big schools along the likes Michigan, pulled their scholarships, Colorado and Embree remained true to their word. In a stand that spoke louder than any yell he could muster, and Embree sure knows how to do just that, he conferred in Mike Bohn, Colorado athletic director,and Chancellor of the University of his intentions to continue after one of the most talents ball-hawks in the country.

“I didn't have any reservations,” said Embree.

Embree is sharp, passionate, and he loves a challenge so it was no surprise he was willing to take a chance on Wright.

           “Sometimes it's a hard lesson and yet at the same time I don't think it's a reason to not allow a kid an opportunity to improve himself,” said Embree. The coach is also willing to teach the athletes how to be men off the field as well. “It has nothing to do with football.”

           Whether you call it a second chance or risky bet, Embree is willing to push this through. If not completely tech savy, although he is on Twitter @JEbuffs, the head coach is aware of the way things are and how his players communicate and interact with players, friends, fans and others across a multitude of platforms.

“I have shared that with our team, about the responsibility that comes with social media.  I don't want to ban them because that train has left the station,”Embree said. He doesn’t necessarily embrace all the antics of his players, but he will have to keep some in check. “That's part of them, and growing up is learning some of these lessons.”

Buffs getting "better, Colorado National Signing Day Part 1

Similar to a helium balloon slipping through the hands of its pigtailed owner, the Colorado Buffaloes football program is on the rise. But unlike those cotton-candy coated hands of that same little girl that looks on in awe of the carnival that sits before her, Jon Embree’s grasp is only getting tighter, ready to take flight.

Embree and his team want that elevation too. 

“We're very excited about it.  Today we got better.  The Buffaloes definitely got better,” said Embree brimming on National Signing Day where the Buffs acquired 28 recruits. “There is a lot of excitement around our program.”  

            This is an exhilaration that translates and transfers much like osmosis throughout the veins of the Buffs contingent. A revival of the past is just one of number of reasons the Colorado program and its fan are excited about the upcoming years. All the coaches were a part of CU, and their pride and energy to resurrect it back to where it once was evident in the recruiting process.

“They (recruits) have to understand that they can come here and be part of us getting back to the way things used to be around here,” said Embree who played tight end for the Buffs in the late 1980’s. “We'll continue to work at it and we'll keep doing our best at it and eventually it will turn.”

Embree is a believer and conversion is what any good recruiter will tell you makes or breaks the sell. You don’t sell the product, Colorado football, you sell yourself, and Embree can make you want to be on his side, because that is where you’ll have the best chance of success.

But Embree wasn’t going after players because of their reputation; he went to place players that would fit the Colorado model. And one of these main requirements was passion; the passion to play the game, give everything for the team and being so committed to the team that they’d give anything to win.

 “As you talk to a kid, you can get a feel for how important it is to them and what it means to them,” said Embree who would strap a helmet on if they let him. “What would happen if they didn't have it?”  

So while a recruiting class win or lose you games, the energy Embree brought to the press conference and the enthusiasm he showed as he talked about his recruits makes you think his Buffs are already aspiring big things.

You better believe it, Embree sure does.

Murray State loses, but it's a long race

Don’t these Racers know it’s actually a marathon?

What’s worse than getting picked in March to win it all is, as a mid-major, getting picked to go to the Final Four, like Cinderella RSVPing to the Castle, in early February. There are a lot of ways to lose, but the worst way is when everyone picked you because you were the rabbit in the race.

Murray State now sits an awful, atrocious, even ghastly 23-1 on the season. They’re last of the unbeaten to fall, and the symbolic cork-bottle popper for the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers team. The Racers looked beaten down, both on the scoreboard and across the faces of numerous players, as they lost to Tennessee State 72-68. (The TSU Tigers are a respectable 16-10 by the way.)

But this is what they should want at this point of the season.

The Racers will drop to about #20 in the rankings, but their popular stock will fall even further down the list, possibly into glorious obscurity. Staying under the radar, even while possibly cruising to their Ohio Valley Conference title and easily getting into the NCAA Tournament. You just don’t want to be the team the middle school teachers and mechanics pick as their sleeper.

Murray State can’t play the same type of game as the big name schools; they’ll have to take a different route. It’s journey that will lead them away from the hype and hoopla that could be their downfall. Losing ground now isn’t the end; it’s a reposition of sorts that could fundamentally assist in their travels amid madness in March.

The Racers can make a run but they don’t want to be looking back and realizing that sneaking up from the back of the field, from the rear of the pack so to speak, might have been the best strategy the whole time.

“I don’t want to be that guy mumbling into his drink at the bar,” as famously spoken by, none other than, Billy Murray.

Is the altitude actually a hindrance?

Why can't the Buffs win on the road? What makes leaving the city of Boulder so unlucky for Colorado? Does their bus to the airport put bad mojo on them?

We can rationalize it anyway we like it, and somehow all these profetic solutions make sense but end up dissolving, like a sugar cube in warm mug of coffee, right before our eyes. We need to run the ball more, we do, we somehow lose. We need to hit more three-pointers, swish and swish, but tack on another L.

Here's a thought; could altitude training be our downfall? Can the same physical, and as it turns out, psychological factor that taints our opponents on their arrival in Colorado be also plaguing the Buffs minds and bodies when they leave?

As a Colorado native, and people from this Mile High state can likely attest, I've been far and away immune to the psyche of "altitude". The fact that we have less oxygen molecules (in parts per million with normal, sea-level air) is no longer an interesting tidbit, it's as played out as your third fortune cookie.

So when a player of an opposing color comes in and hears the announcer blurt out the oh-so-common phrase, "Welcome to 5,430 feet of Rocky Mountain High altitude" it has an effect. A sense of doubt, even minuscule can play a factor. One that gives the Buffs an advantage, even if it just for a second or step in Colorado's favor. It's no longer about skill, talent or athleticism but rather an intangible bonus that only the Buffs have.

But when the Buffs leave Boulder they are not usually accompanied by this comfort. They are on their own, without altitude and that edge that makes them so potent at home.

They don't, and shouldn't, think about it. Colorado has trained in a tougher atmosphere, even if a aerodynamics major will tell you otherwise, and that can be an err of arrogance that is their downfall. A placebo that is swallowed without hesitation. But the Buffs are no longer in their element, while it's only a hundred molecules of difference, it is that little bit extra that doesn't exist at sea-level. Colorado can't help them, and in turn they are unable to help themselves.

The Buffs can't win away from home, but away from Boulder and altitude they are actually leveling the playing field.

Chucky Jeffery gets to 1,000 points

“Coaches helped me evolve a little bit, I'm a scorer now,” said Colorado Buffaloes guard Chucky Jeffery who, after just two and a half season in Boulder has transformed into a leader for the Buffs and a big-time scorer.

Jeffery scored 18 points in a loss to Oregon on Saturday night to push herself over 1,000 for her career. She is only the 24^th Buff to collect that many points in a career.

“It feels good to get 1,000 points,” said Jeffery of the feat. “It's very humbling and it makes you hungry for more.”

The junior guard from Colorado Springs, Colorado (Sierra High School) has been a staple in the Buffaloes backcourt since her arrival on campus in 2009. In only her second game in Boulder she recorded double figures in points with 11. As a freshman she averaged 9.3 points per contest, which was third on the team.

Coming into her sophomore year her role as leader and scoring came natural. She averaged 13.5 points per game, second to only Brittany Spears. After two complete years in Boulder, Jeffery continued to be on the rise just like the entire Buff team.

“You just have to keep playing and keep working hard and come every day with a positive attitude and that will get you through most of the time,” said Jeffery who knows that this accomplishment is far from an individual milestone. “Depend on your team mates and coaches. The more you reach out the more comfortable you'll be getting over that little hump.”

After the graduation and departure of Spears, Colorado’s all time leading scorer there was only one player that could fill her shoes. Jeffery is 7^th in the Pac-12 in scoring, averaging 15.1 points.

But while Jeffery isn’t sneaking up on anyone her team is. The Buffs came out of the gates fast and were off to one their best starts in the programs history. Colorado started 12-0 but they have fallen off slightly in the tough Pac-12 Conference.  

“We have the last 5 of our 7 games on our home floor and we couldn't be in a better position than right now,” said Jeffery who remains confident about the imminent future. “We have to come out aggressive, pushing the ball, playing defense and getting back to ourselves. Hopefully we get some wins out of that.”

Come on down Buff fans

It’s like Greek Week 2.0. It’ll be higher and stronger than the Boulder Creek current on a mid-August afternoon.

The Colorado Buffaloes enter the Pac-12 Conference last summer not knowing what to expect. They left the Big XII and preemptive Big 8 and Big 7 Conferences that they have called home since 1947. It was exactly that, a come-to-comfortable fir that gave the Buffs stiff competition in all areas of sports, including football where they garnered the reputation in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

So the move was a chance, that Mike Bohn could not help but salivate over, to conquer “new ground”. It’s a fresh start, on the gridiron in particular, a chance to break bounds, to not so analogous greener pastures and conquer new territory.

But where these vast ideologies stop, the new traditions should begin.

In the last four years Colorado football, it’s prescribed lore dissipating faster and faster, has been synonymous with a grinning South Park character and gargantuan losses, and repetition of those on the road. Boulder fans are now forced to take every opportunity, most often at home, to celebrate wins in the most obvious and cliché way possible. But I say lets run, nay, rush with it.

Let Colorado fans be joyful and exuberant after every win and stomp their way to the field.

Beat #6 USC on a last second field goal, rush the field. Beat Oregon State by overcoming a ten point halftime lead, rush the field. Heck, beat Arizona by 30 points, and let’s all rush Folsom Field.

Buffs win, we take like a sorority girl smoothie break, and rush.

It’s time for a tradition, a Pac-12 tradition in Boulder. I remember coming to games when marshmallows and tortillas flew through the air like a mini air-show. The fans were having a blast and the team was winning.

I remember coming to the CU versus Nebraska game with my father in 2001. The Buffs demolished the Cornhuskers, 62-36, in pure black and gold fashion. Students poured onto the field like ants on a picnic basket. And not far behind was an 11 year old kid and his dad. We walked down onto, what I recall as an illustrious field, one that I had seen my favorite players compete on week after week from the television screen. One of the best memories a sports-riddled kid could ever have.

Seven years later when I had to choose a college, and thus a team to root for, there was really no choice in my mind.

People will mock Colorado, they may think we are crazy. People, students and young fans alike that come to dream of the simple pleasure of watching Ralphie run and the Buffs play, will be united like no-place in the country after every Colorado win.

What a rush it will be.

A Super Bowl touchdown is just that

When Ahmad Bradshaw tumbled backwards, like a third grader at field day, into the end-zone for the game winning touchdown everyone cheered. New York Giants fans and New England Patriots fans alike, although drastically different but solely differentiated in thick accent, not fandom or obnoxiousness, were ecstatic.

But analysts and Bradshaw’s own quarterback, Eli Manning who was screaming “Don’t go in the end zone”, saw the scenario differently. They were concerned about giving the ball back to Tom Brady and the Patriots offense. But why? Bradshaw’s finest moment wasn’t filled with joy, elation and seeing dreams that he had as a young kid on the playground in Bluefield, Virginia, instead it was filled with doubt.

Bradshaw is a hero; one that, in the final moments, slayed the dragon even with an uncertain survival and victory.

If the touchdown had some earlier in the game, or for a matter of fact, if one, lone Patriots player had decided to attempt to tackle Bradshaw on his six yard trot up the middle he may have been the MVP of the Super Bowl. Of his 72 yards on the day, 50 of them came on scoring drives for the Giants. He accounted for numerous first downs and set the tone for the game in the second quarter.

In Super Bowl XX, Walter Payton, “Sweetness”, widely considered the best running back to ever play the game never got to smell the sweet air of the end-zone. Looking back, most Chicago Bears fans and general football fans find this to be a travesty. A Super Bowl touchdown is something special; a game-winning one is something no one should be able to forget. (Note: He did not score in Super Bowl XLII four years ago.)

It would have been a lack luster end to an NFL season that was almost for not. Let Lawrence Tynes kick a field goal and inevitably have his exuberant holder shout profanities after the kick sailed through. So don’t be mad at Bradshaw.

Is the Super Bowl overhyped?

Is the Super Bowl overhyped? The answer, to me at least, is plain and simple, no.

This is true for many reasons, but it’s most obviously seen the next year. They continue, they being the NFL, the networks that host it, the city that it is located in, the media, and the fans that continually go to these events, to make the event bigger and bigger. These faculties want to outdo each other on a year to year basis; so to say that this Super Bowl is more overhyped, especially compared to the one a year in the future doesn’t make sense.

But there are other reasons that are in play that affect the atmosphere and the playing of this singular game.

Super Bowl Sunday is a National Holiday the same way Halloween or St. Patrick’s Day is. There is no denying the fact that people, who have no interest or bearing on the game located thousands of miles from them pay attention or are at least aware of the spectacle of it. I saw the fact that some seven million people will call in sick to work the Monday following the Super Bowl. It impacts football fans, some beyond what should reasonably affect a grown man, and non-football fans alike. It creates a reason to gather, a reason to celebrate and Super Bowl Sunday is a holiday that should be, and rightly so, recognized.

And that brings me to my last point. The game of football has progressed so much in the last 20 years, that it has, to many sports fans, easily taken over as the most popular sport in America. The NFL is the American culture and the fans that follow are as faithful as any in all of sports. So pitting the two best teams in the most popular sports is going to be overblown, that’s just the way it’s supposed to be.

The Super Bowl is unlike any other sporting event. It is its own entity and holiday.  So to say it is over-hyped doesn’t sound like the truth; it’s big, it’s boisterous, it’s the Super Bowl.