Update from Boulder

I was out of town for the last week, so some of this isn't exactly breaking news, but here is what's been happening up at CU lately: Basketball - Coach Buzz has been busy evaluating talent since he came on board and has found three players wanting. Marc Van Burck, Sean Kowal, and James Inge have been told that it is very unlikely that they will ever play for Coach Buzz and the Buffs, so he is going to allow them to transfer to a school of their choosing. Or what is basically a polite way of saying "how the hell did you get a Big 12 scholarship?!?!" My question about this is; why is it that when players transferred under Coach Ricardo Patton they were "forced out of the program", yet when players transfer under Buzz it appears as though the media has decided he is being gracious enough to "grant them releases from their scholarships"? Look, I want Buzz to take the program to the next level as much as anyone. It's my program after all. Myself and Forty Duece gave blood, sweat, and tears to CU basketball for 4 years. We want them to succeed more than anything. But it is kind of suspicious the way that Patton was treated by the media compared to the way Buzz has been. I know we are way early in the honeymoon period, but Buzz seems to be similar in tact, work ethic and discipline to Coach P. So why do people love Buzz where they hated Patton? Was it Patton's attitude towards the media? Was it his skin color? Or were they just tired of each other? I don't know the answer. I just think it's funny that they say that Buzz is "granting" these kids a transfer, when we don't know that they actually want to be granted one. With that said, I do think it will help the team in the long run. Mainly because it breaks up the 8 man freshman class a bit from last year and helps to balance out the program. Hopefully he can find a couple of decent big men to fill up some open scholarships though. With no one on the team over 6'9" now, life could be tough in the Big 12. Buzz did sign up his first recruit this week. Cory Higgins, son of longtime NBA vet Rod Higgins, chose the Buffs over some bigger name schools like Cal, Georgetown, Marquette, Oregon, and Vanderbilt according to rivals.com. Rivals has Higgins as a 3 star recruit and scouts.com has him as a 75 grade and the #108 shooting guard in the country. Not a bad first recruit for Buzz. Higgins also has the endorsement of Chris Mullin, which is good enough for me. I was known to rock the flat top back in the day to show my love for my man Mully, so I trust him completely. Buzz also announced the rest of his staff this week. The most interesting name of the group is that of former Wyoming Head Coach Steve McClain. McClain was one of the most successful coaches in Wyo history, leading them to a couple of NCAA tournament births and recruiting a pair of All-Americans to the school also. He should be a great addition to Buzz's staff, and I believe it's also a good sign that Buzz isn't afraid or threatened by adding another talented, proven basketball mind to be his #2. It can only be better for the players and the team in the long run. Football - Coach Hawk added a couple new recruits to the 08 class, from the Daily Camera: Football recruiting Hawkins and his assistants have spent much of this month on the recruiting trail and have received four oral commitments for the 2008 recruiting class to this point. The three new commitments include four-star wide receiver Chance Blackmon from Tatum, Texas; linebacker Josh Berard from Torrance, Calif.; and place-kicker Jameson Davis from Eagle, Idaho. Five-star junior-college wide receiver Corey Surrency was the first commitment in the class several months ago. Of the three newest additions, Blackmon should be a contributor fairly early in his career, and Berard probably needs to add a little bulk to his frame, but the most important of them is probably kicker Jameson Davis. Judging from our Spring Game, we don't have much of an heir to the kicking throne with Mason Crosby gone the way of the cheeseheads, and Davis is supposed to be the real deal. As Mason proved during his career, a great kicker is an invaluable commodity. Hawk really seems to be shoring up the WR position though. It looks like he is doing everything in his power to make sure his son will succeed here at CU. He loaded up the O-Line with last years recruiting class, and it looks like he is going after some big fast receivers for him to throw the ball to this year. With Blackmon (6'3" 4.5 40 time), Sorrency (6'5" 4.4 40 time) and Markques Simas (6'1" 4.5 40) from last years class, (not to mention B-Jax) it looks like Lil' Hawk will have plenty of options throughout his career. Here's the good thing for CU fans, the better Hawk makes the team for his son, the better he makes the team. No matter what his motivation is, things look like they are turning around for us. It looks like we are in the running for several nationally televised games next season also. The CU vs. CSU game is always on national TV, we just signed up to have the home opener against Florida St. on ESPN, we are currently in negotiations to nationally televise the Arizona St. game, the Nebraska game will be on ABC, and the Oklahoma game could potentially be on the big screen also. When was the last time a 2-10 team had five games on national TV the next year? That is incredible! If we manage to win a few of them it will be a huge help for recruiting also. One last thing.... Thank God for the small victories. It appears as though the Great John Elway was offered a spot on Dancing With the Stars recently. And for the love of all things holy and pure, Elway turned them down, thus keeping his legacy intact. I just don't know if I could have handled the trauma and disappointment involved in seeing the greatest football player who ever lived.... my boyhood idol.... a Colorado icon.... my hero..... dressed like this......