What's up in Boulder

During this extremely dull time to be a sportsfan in Colorado, we have some news from Boulder this week. The biggest news was the unveiling of the new football duds. Now don't get me wrong, I loved the CU uniforms, but I have always been a big fan of the uniform change. It has proven to be a successful way to harbor some good luck to your favorite team, especially here in Colorado. It is a little something I have dubbed "The New Uniform Corollary". Here's your evidence: -In 1997 the Broncos change their uniforms and what happens? Two straight Super Bowls. - The Nuggets do a complete overhaul to their uniforms in 2003/ 2004 and what happens? Four straight playoff seasons. Sure we lost in the first round every year, but we weren't making the playoffs at all for years before that. Need further proof? The Colorado Rapids change their uniforms this season and what happens? ..................um. I'm not really sure actually. A quick Google search shows that they are in second place in the Western Conference of the MLS. The Corollary holds true again. So now the Buffs are coming out with new jerseys to follow up a 2-10 juggernaut season. I predict they will improve. I know it sounds crazy, but trust me, "The New Uniform Corollary" is time tested and true. Here are my thoughts on the new look. I think we need to ditch the gold pants with the black uni's, and only wear the gold pants with the white uni's. White / gold and all black. The other combos look like ass. I am particularly unimpressed with the black uni / gold pant combo. I don't know why we ever wear those two together. I'm a little bias though as the all blacks will occasionally make me visually aroused... It's awkward when it happens, but they look that cool. In hoops news, Coach Bzdelik has driven off another player. Oops, I meant he has "granted another player a release from his scholarship". The only problem is that this time it looks like the player he is graciously granting a release to isn't happy about it. In fact, he had no idea it was happening. Here is what sophomore point guard Kal Bay had to say about being released in the Daily Camera: "It's not because I want to leave CU or leave my teammates," Bay said. "I don't know exactly what it is. "I got a call from coach Friday and he said, 'I've been thinking long and hard about this Kal, and I'm not going to renew your scholarship for next season.' He said I missed a meeting with an academic advisor and he wasn't going to tolerate that. "That's really all that I know. I haven't gotten any more explanation than that. This is all mind-boggling to me right now." As I've said before, I hope that Bzdelik takes our program to the next level at CU. But it is insane that Coach Patton was looked at so negatively for doing the EXACT SAME THING (losing scholarship players) and Bzdelik has been given a free pass. I'm not saying that Patton is in Bzdelik's class as far as X's and O's coaching chops, but they seem to have the same attitude. And it was Patton's attitude that resulted in him being less than loved by the media and fans. It just seems a bit hypocritical to me that Buzz doesn't get the same treatment. As bad as last season was, Bay was a bright spot from our freshman class and seemed like a guy who could be a pretty big contributor throughout his stay at CU. I'm pretty surprised by this move for a few reasons 1.) He was the starting PG last year, 2.) We are starting to run out of players and 3.) Transfers bring down the overall graduation rate, which could result in a loss of scholarships down the road. With this being the 4th transfer already since Buzz arrived, we've got to be teetering on the edge of disciplinary action. With that said, here are a couple of reasons not to worry too much about the loss of Bay. 1.) Marcus Hall will be back next year. As long as he can stay eligible he is a much better PG and player than Bay. He is a good leader, a good distributor, can score when it's needed, is a decent outside threat, and the level of speed and quickness between the two isn't even comparable. If Hall is a Ferrari than Bay was a Kia Sportage. Hall is an improvement in every way over Bay. 2a.) Word on the streets (and by streets I mean message boards) is that we are pursuing Juco All-American PG Omar Leary. Leary had signed with CSU but was released from his letter after a CSU coaching change and was now considering Colorado. He would be the first CU hoopster from Portland since Tyrone Manlove (I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, I just love to say / type Ty's name). Here's where this street information takes on the look of an inside tip from a crackhead.... Leary has already signed with Oklahoma. Now maybe this insider has some info that the rest of us aren't privy to, but it looks to me like he is out of the picture. But I guess you never know. 2b.) We are loaded at the 2 guard with Roby and Silas returning, and the addition of Colorado Mr. Basketball Levi Knudson and Corey Higgins. All of these players can handle the ball if needed and are legitimate scoring threats. So I guess what I'm saying is not to worry too much about losing Bay. He would have been nice to have, but we will get along fine without him. Moving on, it looks like we've solved the lack of height problem that developed with the transfers of Van Burck and Kowal. CU announced that 6'10" Casey Crawford is transferring to CU from Wake Forest. Crawford was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Kansas as a HS Senior and will have to sit out next season as a transfer. He will have four years to play three at CU. Addressing the height problem next season will be incoming 7 footer Caleb Patterson from Ringwood HS in Oklahoma. Patterson is a 3 star player recruited by Coach Patton who decided to honor his commitment to the Buffs after Coach P resigned. I'm not sure of the immediate impact he will have with the team, but he will most likely be forced into playing early as he will be the only scholarship player on next seasons active roster over 6'9" tall. Much like the football team, CU hoops has only one direction to go after last season's 7-20 finish. As a homer, I've got to believe that Bzdelik is making the right moves to help bring us back to the national picture. It's a long way away from opening tipoff, and all we can do is sit, wait, and argue about the state of the program. God it's a long way away.... I'm so bored. When does football season start?