Trip to Michigan

What I learned this weekend…

Game

- Tight ends crucial/deep middle. Look at every good team in the NFL and you’ll find a sure-handed TE. Dallas Clark, Jeremy Shockey, Chris Cooley, Visanthe Shancoe just to name a few. The deep middle is usually the most venerable and the good teams exploit that.

- Kirk Cousins isn’t a NFL quarterback. I know this doesn’t really have any bearing on who is reading this but from what I saw he wasn’t. In college, especially against a team like Northern Colorado you can afford to have a slower delivery. But in the pros, every millisecond counts and with a decent arm you have to have a quick release to survive.

- Le’von Bell is an animal, but Edwin Baker is solid. Bell is a freshman, Baker is experienced. Baker should be a 3-round pick, problem is Bell could be a horse. Baker might get lost in the shadows.

- Big Ten could be best conference in America. I may be, wait for it, wrong, but I’m going out on a limb and sticking with it. Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan St, Penn St are all top-20 teams. The next closest thing is the Pac-10.

- MSU walked in from outside wearing 3 piece business suits (all-business), like the class. Whether it be a MSU tradition or a Dantonio thing it was classy. If you think of that sort of business like attitude doesn’t rub off on the players (both directly before the game, or moving forward in life) you’re so wrong.

- Band= decent, me= disappointed. Nuff said.

- Band carried all of the flags, but say they hate each other. Do they really? As Uncle Kevin constantly complains of Notre Dame and OSU, and the guy on the plane says they are the rudest fans on this little planet you have to wonder… They act like they hate each others guts, but people walk in downtown Ann Arbor and East Lansing in enemy colors and its fine, it’s the Midwest and people are friendly. So I don’t know.

- Alumni band: once you’re in you are never getting out. This thing has been going on for 40 years and looks to continue even longer. Whether it be one game or a 40^th anniversary, once you make first chair trumpet you NEVER get to leave.

Extra

- Ann Arbor campus is so nice, MSU okay. I would love to come out here, but I have no idea what the winters are like. Bet they are brutal. MSU’s campus reminded me a lot of boulder; on a hill, rustic, lots of trees. And Michigan was in a downtown area but it wasn’t. The campus looks like an urban city but the whole thing is just classrooms and dorms. And right on the edge is an actual urban epicenter that more than just students can enjoy.

- I know why they call it the BIG house. Man that place B I G!

- Dad= Lee Corso/Tony Kornheiser, can be a true pain in the ass but at other times (though I will never admit this to his face) can be rather funny and creative AKA Mishigan. Traveling with my dad can be a pain in the ass; waking up at 5 AM, having to deal with the guy every second, and my camera is his camera deal. But it was fun. He can be fun; almost too much like a college kid at Harpers.

This is really late but its finally here. Oh, and did I mention that Northern Colorado almost upset the number 24 Michigan State Spartans. It was a barn burner the whole way through. MSU 45, NC 7.

Ricky Dobbs for PRES

This story is kind of old hat and won’t come to fruition for at least 15 some odd years. And in that time a lot will probably have to changed, but in the scenario that we are living in now it would be pretty cool to think about.

Navy starting quarterback and vice-president of his class, Ricky Dobbs, has an outgoing dream to become the President of the US. And if you have ever edited any of my application essays (which will be most of the people who are reading this blog) you know that I’m convinced that the attributes that you use in sports you also use daily in life. I believe that the correlation from sports to life is strong.

He is a young man with a big dream. He has led many men on the gridiron and will serve the country after his years as a Midshipman. He has charisma. (Media and outsiders have yet to mock his goals out of kindness or belief that it could actually happen.) Hard work and persistence. (He chose to go to Navy to play football, being a collegiate athlete is time consuming. Just imagine the time commitment of the military, football, and not to mention actual schooling.) And many other attributes that will only exponentially grow as he continues his football and Military careers.

Let’s not forget that people aren’t as politically savvy as they have been in the past. This generation votes more on popularity than their actual stance on an issue. The era of being solely with a party is gone. So how many sports fans will vote for him due to the fact that he once played D-1 college football? A lot. Running the triple-option may not necessarily qualify him for this job, but people will cast that ballot in his favor more often than not.

2024 or 2028 VOTE DOBBS

Anchoring Review

If you already saw the youtube clips of my anchoring debut, and you think my career in broadcast is over I say to you, “NOT SO FAST!”

Okay the brutality of it is undeniable. But let me at least explain myself.

Video #1, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQrfsEUJFY&feature=related

Our mikes come on late in the open to the show. We had only seen the open once prior to doing the show and that was 3 minutes before we went live. The Cal highlight was decent. And I sincerely apologize to Bryant Nnabuife, probably mispronounced your name bad. You can’t really have a good highlight when you show the only 5 gains the Buffs had all day, in a 52-7 loss. There is only so much we can do. And the stat lines, yeah, we didn’t see them until we were in them. Not too shabby of an ad-lib. They came out of that late and covered half of LaRose’s mug with the OTS. But he got through his and I got through my reader without much trouble. (Which is REAL impressive when you see what happened in B-block) They both were a little choppy but the nerves were still in the mix at this point. As we sent it to break we looked at each other and didn’t know who was to say what. But after the 2 second staring match (I won) we were all done with A-block.

B-Block stands for brutal. Just watch.

Video #2, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXe1zN4fP5Y&feature=related

Soccer highlight. Cool. Volleyball highlight. Good. Then it happened. It was a mess and to this day it is a complete blur. The prompter stopped. LaRose lost his script. The prompter moved back down a couple lines, and stopped. Still couldn’t find his script. Got through it, then the camera turn. And here is when, with utmost elegance, I decided its best for me to throw it to break. Did I mention that LaRose was still on camera at that point, or that the prompter figured it out and he found his script? But after he did his women’s soccer reader, with the golf OTS that you will see later in the show, we laughed it off like true pros and sent it to break. For how much of a shit show it felt on camera it actually wasn’t that bad, or was it?

Lets just move on before anything else goes wrong. And then there was C-Block.

Video #3, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSmsUNMUEbc&feature=related

If you are paying any attention to the timing of the show you probably already noticed that we are running really slow and the last segment is going to be looong. What you didn’t see was us sending it to the Double-Team set or as we saw it, a silent movie scene. They were talking we just couldn’t hear a lick. So we were on that for a while then came back and sent it to Mike Kerner with his baseball package. The only thing I’m gonna say about it is, man how cute does little Mikey look in his baby-blue polo. Came back and it was time for my camera turn. (Mid-break I told LaRose he could screw up my camera turn because well I completely demolished his. I think it was only fair.) It went better than B, that’s all I’m gonna say. Finished up and sent it to D-Block, still trying to recover from the Double Team crash.

Video #4, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAiAbNQz-pA&feature=related

Good to have Luke on the desk, and he is sure passionate about the Buffs fall sports. And then when we tried to make the show funny and think it couldn’t get much worse one of the much esteemed anchors said ‘oven gloves’. Oven gloves? Really? I mean, that is kind of the way the show went for us, so it really is no surprise to have it end like that. And then prerecorded Kylie got cut off and we went to black quickly. And it was over, finally.

But I think it went decent for the circumstance that we had. Most of our veterans were gone so we had a bunch of new people doing new jobs. Learning on the fly isn’t standard but I guess it works. And I think we learned a lot. And I mean A LOT!

Weekend in Review

Two weeks in and I’m fully engulfed in football season. I don’t know why I’m feeling this way, I’ve never been like this in the past. I’m a baseball guy through-and-through, but this fall I’m all about the pigskin.

Here are some thoughts on the weekend.

One. What a beautiful day for football this past Saturday at Folsom Field. Kickoff was a brisk 50 something degrees and it was misting. And although it should have easily been 21-0 in the first quarter (for the second game in a row) it wasn’t. Somehow the defense came through. And it’s an astonishing fact of this team that the offense is providing ZERO help for the defense. No time to rest, and no support by scoring. But the second half the Buffs played like an average team that won’t compete in the Big XII but will beat the small schools. I can deal with decent.

(Hawkins note: It took an elbow to the nose-piece on Hawkins’ sunglasses and a cut that made him look like the swat linebacker from the Replacements to make the Buffs play better.)

Two. The Broncos will not go defeated this year. There next 4 games will be losses (Colts, at Tennessee, at Baltimore, NYJ) so it felt good to beat a bad team. That’s about it, beating a bad team at home. Although we did see a glimpse of D. Thomas, and the huge weapon he could be. (I do think he could be good, but I think we wasted a #22 pick on him. This type of receiver is a dime a dozen nowadays. And they don’t always come through. Aka Roy Williams, Calvin Johnson) We didn’t see much more. An aging defense, a conservative qb, too many places to improve and a sub-500 team.

Three. Some college side notes. Houston’s better machine like version of Colt Brennen, Casey Keenum is done for this year, and so is his backup. Such an unfortunate break that I feel obligated to say he will be a solid pro. He has all the tools; strong arm, understands a complicated system, and the best thing to happen to a small Texas school since Eric Dickerson and SMU. Auburn’s new qb Cameron Newton is too raw and has a long way to go to develop into an even decent SEC quarterback. And Kyle Parker should just sign with the Rockies so he can help them in October, what a story that would be. I jumped on the Iowa bandwagon early last year, and after so many breaks and games that somehow turned out in their favor came back to bite them in the foot. A tipped ball and pick-6, and a kickoff returned to the house put them down 20 at the half and eventually did them in. This could ruin the Big Ten, if they go out and beat/ruin the chances of any big time hope to win a national title. There is some other college talk I have, but I think I got most of it.

Four. Back to the pros. I watched most of the game last night, if you could even call it a game. Dwight Freeney looked literally unstoppable. There is not a single left-tackle in the game that can stop him, and my initial pick for defensive player of the year. The Bob Sanders loss won’t hurt the Colts as much if the opposing quarterback is looking around for #93 instead of his receivers downfield. Also Steve Smith is the ultimate pro. He went out and did his job in a 38-14 loss. Its hard to imagine that an idiot like Plaxico Burress and Steve Smith hung around each other on a daily basis. Favre will come back, even though I think he should just retire right now and ruin some people’s fantasy hopes. Finally, it’s going to be interesting how the NFL progresses with its strictness on concussed players. Kolb got held out for this week and Moore did not. Witten was upset they wouldn’t let him go back in the game against the Bear. But what is going to happen as the games become more meaningful? Is the NFL going to once again put the issue on the back-burner when the money tells you too? Is this like steroids in baseball, will it come back after something really bad happens?

I don’t what has gotten into me, but I like it. I’m ready for somemore football.

Let Him Have It!

Everyone was POed when the Buffs got their butts kicked by the Cal Bears this past Saturday. But one guy took it too far. (I regret even printing this, because in effect he is getting more attention due to it.)

As the ColoradoDaily reports (http://www.coloradodaily.com/cu-boulder/ci_16085432#axzz0zfA7p7WE) this student from the University of Colorado decided to travel to the game to catch some California sun and maybe a little football. And once CU lost, he decided in his peanut-sized brain that it was a good idea to email Athletic Director Mike Bohn to get his money back.

Okay, lets get some things straight first. He admitted to taking the idea from a season ticket holder at Oregon last year when the Ducks went into Boise State and lost. The Oregon fan was an alumni of OU, so he obviously has a good head on his shoulders. Kid probably is getting his degree in COMM. He was mad at a team that would go on to lose in the Rose Bowl to Ohio St; so this could have legitimately held them from winning a national title. CU, by no means, is supposed to be good or even expected to win this game. And didn’t even end up cashing the check, knowing the full effect of this gesture was way beyond him into what Chip Kelly and the Oregon program stands for. Will he cash it?

Ha, he already called his mom to tell her he was in the paper. She didn’t care.

David Plati ended up responding the fan and was rather short and spoke to the kid in a while I wish it would have happened in person. In the article he is quoted as saying,
“That does not even deserve a response”, also "In all sports, there are no guarantees on the back of any ticket that says the home team must win or your money back or the person's favorite team," and finally my personal favorite, "Sounds like someone wants his 15 minutes of fame.”

This story is not a feel good story and won’t be a headline on many, if any newspapers. And this is the way it should be. Plati knows the prestige of the University of Colorado, although many of the young fans don’t.

[Side note: The University of Colorado is one of the more prestigious athletic programs in the Nation. Yes, the NATION. The Buffaloes were and still are a dynasty in many minds, including mine. We are just in a lull and will return to the promiseland soon enough. All they need is support and belief.

Think about this… Coach Hawkins has had a price on his head for a few years now, and possibly rightly so. He hasn’t produced in the way a program like this one should. But him asking for an extension was the right move. If we give him support and don’t pull the chair out from under him he will find a way to win. The Buffs will be back as a football powerhouse. And Hawkins just wants an extension Bill McCartney got. We interviewed Coach McC today and talked about all the good years; 1990 and the National Title, Rasham Salaam’s Heisman Trophy, and the glory days. But we forget that McCartney went 4-7, 2-8 and 1-10 the first three years as head coach. And after that third year he got an extension and the program somehow turned around after that. You think there may be a correlation???

And another thing, Bill McCartney is a LEGEND. He is an incredible man, with high unfathomable values. He quit college football, his passion, to be more involved in Promise Keepers, where he was ‘uniting men to become "godly influences" in the world’. I’m truly lucky to meet him.]

NORTHWESTERN!!

Across the 6 BCS Conference’s Schools are pretty ambiguous in academic and athletic clout. But there are some things that differentiate the schools apart and separate them from the crowd.

Like… What is Duke known for? Basketball and nerds. Penn State has Joe Pa. What about USC? Giving back. What is Ohio State known for? Being good at everything, even marching band. Notre Dame has touchdown Jesus. What is CU known for? Home of Dr. Pure.

And how about NORTHWESTERN???

These lesser known Wildcats are at the cellar of everything in the BIG 10. But that does not stop them from being a prestigious school and producing some one of the best alumni classes.

Elaine Benis, or Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Seinfeld is only the second show EVER to be Number 1 in ratings in its final season, the other show, I Love Lucy. Everything it life relates to Seinfeld.

David Shwimmer or Ross. Friends awkward nerd. Need I say more, he’s kinda big deal.

Steven Colbert. The talk-show host that people love and love to hate. And commented about himself by saying “an attractive vessel through which the river of truth can flow.”

Seth Meyers hosted the ESPYs. He’s funny.

Mike Greenberg, my favorite of all-time people to do with sports that I look up to.

Rich Eisen is the face of the NFL… Network. The number one guy for the number one sport television conglomerate in America.

JA Adande has a lounge for goodness sake.

Rachel Nichols has every scoop. She is the one woman, other than Suzy Koelber, I respect for making it as a women in the business for being a great journalist. If she doesn’t know it, nobody does.

Michael Wilbon hosts PTI and keeps people like me liking Tony Kornheiser. Now that is impressive.

Kevin Blackenstone. I don’t know how made this list, but his cameo on Around the Horn is decent enough even though he never wins.

Luke Donald came from England to go to a school in Illinois. And still made it on the Tour and is still popular, and didn’t even lose his British accent.

Joe Girardi manages the Yankees. Possibly the easiest job in sports. The guys up top give him the best lineup and rotation in the league while Joe sits in the dugout crossing his fingers the superstars don’t screw it all up.

JA Happ, pitcher Philadelphia Phillies.

This isn’t the most impressive list in the world be any means. But for a school that hasn’t done anything worth noting in the last century, I’d say its solid.

[You maybe wondering where in the world I came up with this topic. Okay, I was watching a game a couple months ago and somebody brought up Northwestern (it turned out to be a Yankees game and Joe GIrardi) I was a little surprised and intrigued. Then this past weekend I was watching the golf tournament and they brought up the fact that Luke Donald was wearing purple possibly for his school… Northwestern. So I looked up who else went there, I got hooked and here we are.]

us N-OPEn

Did you watch the US Open Final on Sunday? No, me neither. How about on Monday at 4 ET/2MT? Or how about when it finally came back on at dinner time??

You didn’t? You’re not a resilient/avid tennis fan? Well you’re not alone.

Better get used to the cheese and cracker trays Novak...

Okay, let me give you the quick recap. Nadal. Nadal. Nadal. He is now hands down the best player in the world at what has become the most popular individual sport in the world. (Probably didn’t see Dustin Johnson win the BMW and Matt Kuchar leading the Fedex Cup either did ya? Or how about Michael Phelps not being the best swimmer in the US? That title belongs to Ryan Lochte now.)

He beat the 3^rd ranked player in the world and the much improved Novak Djokavic in 4 long sets. And that is the most tennis Nadal has played all tournament. He lost ONE set the whole tournament. The only set, THE ONLY SET, he surrendered was in the finals. And then he proceeded to win the next 2 sets to complete the career grand slam.

That is unreal. That’s like Shaq not missing a free throw the entire Playoffs. Like Tiger not bogeying a hole the whole US Open. (Which I’m pretty sure he did at Pebble Beach in 2000.) Like this post getting retweeted by ESPN.

But the biggest point that proved that Nadal is hands down the best player in the world was the look on Novak’s face after the defeat. A grin; not a good for him, I’ll get him next time grin. A I’m so lucky I beat Federer and am complete satisfied I took a set of this hombre.

[I kept thinking, what did tennis ever do to deserve this? The tennis gods ruined a great finale. In a niche sport that this has become there are only a select few tennis fans that’ll go to a bar and waste 4 hours of their lives glued to the little Panasonic non-HD tv in the corner while everyone else is watching the NFL. And now they didn’t get to watch it because it was on a Monday in an awful time-slot because CBS won’t let the match go over the re-runs of How I Met Your Mother. Ridiculous.]