Party in ... Colorado

I’m a firm believer in cheesy sayings like, “Practice like you play”, “If you look good you’ll play good”, and “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” just to name a few.

So was I surprised when Troy Tulowitzki only hit the ball to the warning track in the 9^th inning of a tie ballgame?

Nope.

Okay, here’s why.

Tulo is one of the classiest players in MLB. He and players like Evan Longoria are going to be the faces of the game for many years to come. And at home in Colorado he is going to be following in the footsteps of Todd Helton as the downright leader of the team and the face of the franchise. Not only is his image great but he has game. He has a canon situated on his right shoulder and, as we saw last year, the power to hit off the nastiest throwers in the game. He is a team player and player you can build a team around.

But... when your walk-up song is Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus I don’t expect much.

Da Da Dadada Da Da Da Da TuNO!!!!!

Bzdelik Bouncing?

2 years in the life a head couch, even nowadays isn’t a long time. Although the fact that there have been numerous 1-and-Done coaches in the NFL in its recent history.

As a coach you need time to recruit, develop talent and shape a team in the way you envision it. And if you give a good coach time to make his mark on the program they will definitely have success. Coach Krzyzewski was 38-47 in his first three seasons as the head man at Duke. I think he turned out alright.

And Bz, as I see him, is a good and quality coach. Maybe not a HOFer, but rather a guy who is going to go out and recruit (and players will come because he has a tie to the NBA which is key to getting a high profile player to commit to a school) and get the best out of his guys and use ‘his’ system to win.

With the Nuggets he coach a little more than 2 years and in that time he turned around a surefire lottery pick team into a decent squad. His 26 game turnaround of the Nuggs is close to the NBA record. It would be like the Nets winning 36 games next year and in contention in the Easy Playoff Push.

At Air Force he stayed there for 2 whole years and in the second year they made a run in the NIT tourney. You can’t tell me that making the Falcons a good solid team is not a success.

And now at CU, after the Richard Roby era, he has had gradual growth in competitiveness in the Big XII. The Buffs finished 8^th in the conference where 7 teams made the tournament. Where they lost 8 games by less the 6 points which could have sent them to the big dance as a 7 or 8 seed.

Now Bz, why leave?

You have a young team coming back, in a down conference. Cory Higgins could have been a lottery pick if he came out this year and projections for Alec Burks are in the top 10 for the 2011 draft. With 2 NBA Lottery picks sitting in your lap you have a chance to rule the Big XII. Kansas lost Aldrich, Collins and Henry; Texas is without Damion James; Iowa State is going to lose Gilstrap and Brackins.

And for Wake?

Okay, Wake Forest is most likely a better place for die hard basketball fans. But you would still be the step sister to UNC and Duke no matter how well you do. The Demon Deacons are losing Amino and PG to the NBA.

Is it a fair trade? I don’t think it’s even close.

And why would you even put your name out there? Don’t you remember what happened to Jay Cutler and Josh McDaniels? It was right in our backyard and it was the story of the offseason last summer. (And you if you thought the biggest story was Brett Favre last summer, you’re kidding yourself) You can’t go behind the team you are committed-to's back and get away with it. People are not going to be happy with you and situation is bound to emerge.

But, hey, if you think is the right place for you, go right ahead and leave. We have Mighty McClain to take the helm. And if you look at either is coaching career on film or in real life he is a good old fashioned coach. In Hoosiers he was the assistant coach and led the team to the state finals in Indy and they won it all. (Okay, that wasn’t actually McClain, but you have to admit that McClain and Dennis aka Coach Shooter look eerily similar.)

Courtesy Google Images

Dennis Hopper Steve McClain

‘Coach Shooter’ ‘Coach McClain’

McClain is a good coach too though. He went 157-115 as the head coach just north of the border in Wyoming. He led the Pokes to the second round in the NCAA tournament in 2002. So we know, he is a great replacement for Bz.

So, moral of the story is that it would be nice to see Bzdelik remain on the sideline here in Boulder next year, but we don’t need him. Whatever happens there is a very good chance that Burks, Higgins and the rest of the Buffs will play themselves into the big dance.

Lefty's NO Longshot

Congrats to Lefty who won the Masters the only way he knows how to play, risky. He played outstanding on a course that favors the players that can get creative and move around the course to low scores.

But the day after Phil won his third ever Masters all people can talk about is the heart warming hug Amy gave him.

Everyone needs to get off this.

This isn’t rare. Every three minutes another woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. More than 40,000 people will die from breast cancer every year. And there are more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in America.

So, you can feel for Phil. It is unfortunate what is happening to him and his family, but he isn’t the only one.

Support the Loveable Lefty and Breast Cancer Awareness.

(Love ya Ma)

NHL Schedules

Who is the commish of the NHL?

Anybody…. Anybody…. Anybody?

If you said Barry Melrose then you better shave off that mullet and turn off ESPN.

Cause what they are doing with the scheduling is ridiculous. They are losing their mind. A marquee matchup between Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby should be put on a pedestal. They should build it up. It should become a matchup that touches the hockey fan in us all.

But instead they put the games at the exact wrong time.

Super Bowl Sunday. Check.

NCAA Women’s Title Game. Check.

Only super ferocious, die hard, toothless, Canadians are watching these games at these times. Don’t you want to expand your fan base? Don’t you want some kind in any town in America to sit cross legged in awe in front of his TV? Don’t you want kids to look up to these real life gladiators? Don’t you want a kid begging mother nature to freeze the pond down the street so he can go play pond hockey?

Come on Commissioner Gary Bettman, figure it out, unleash the inner David Stern in you.

Playball

There are just certain things that I, a sports fan, just get goosebumps about. Like the Lou Gehrig video and speech; it gives me chills every time.

And there are other things that just get me plain pumped, like I need a chest bump somebody... this moment… pronto.

Like Opening Day of Baseball season.

America’s pastime returns to the main stage and everything else in the world around us stops. Nobody cares about health care, Tiger Woods returns to the back page and even March Madness ceases to exist. And all you can hear in the back of your mind is, “Play-Ball”.

UCONN Done For

What do David Tyree and Brittany Griner or Jane Appel have in common?

They are dynasty slayers.

What was sure to be the best team in the history of the NFL, the most prolific offense ever to grace the 100 yard field, the master mind that ran the show was cut short due to one game and ultimately one catch. And it is soon to be repeated.

The Football Gods don’t like to be upstaged and just about the time you thought Don Shula was gonna roll over in his parka lounger in Miami a guy from Syracuse, Tyree, showed up to save the day.

Don’t think the Basketball Gods are about to let the same thing happen to them and their sport. Why do you think Dee Dee Jernigan missed those two wide open layups? Why do you think, in the age of media, the punch by Brittany Griner only got her 2 games of suspension when Elizabeth Lambert and LeGarrette Blount got suspended the rest of the year?

If that’s not a sign, then I don’t know what is.

And yes, I am picking UCONN to lose.

And yes, I did use UCONN and LOSE in the same sentence.

Bulldog Bonanza

The Butler Bulldogs practiced before tens of thousands of Colts turned Bulldogs fans over the past week. But how much is this ‘home’ crowd gonna help them?

None.

Lucas Oil Stadium holds 70,000, and with the Final Four they expect to hold even more than that. And the people from the luxury boxes up won’t be a factor; they’re just too damn far away. It’s like going to a Bon Jovi concert without them plugging in the mikes. The Bulldog fans will come in flocks, no doubt, but their impact won’t be felt.

The crowd involvement and interaction is a staple of the college game and it is lost in the final games of the season. Rather than putting it in a arena where people will be literally on top of each other and tickets will be a National Treasure and a memory keepsake they are in the biggest structures in the world where people need help distinguishing the Mountaineer mascot from Coach Huggins and earning as much money as possible.

Now just stop that.

The games are still amazing and the atmosphere is still electric but it won’t be long before it tips and people start not showing up. (But that’s another blogumn itself)

No matter the arena, no matter who is in the stands, no matter who is courtside (other than Gene Hackman and Jimmy Chitwood) the game still has to be played. Go Bulldogs.