Buffs go south for Bear, Army picks Buff to lead

Baylor hosts Colorado tonight and is eager for the Buffs to hit the court. The Bears looked fantastic in the preseason with an effective offense but Big-12 play has been hard on a talented but young and soft team. A night dancing with CU and Baylor just might go home satisfied.

BGT: The Buffs must avoid a start similar to Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. How you do that is defensive fundamentals and intensity and not settling for long jumpers on the other end. Pass, pick, layups. Be aggressive. Richard Roby must lead but others have to be contributing as well. Get Jeremy Williams (pictured) more shots, light a fire under capable Marcus King-Stockton, reward Jermyl Jackson-Wilson with some touches and tell Xavier Silas to streak towards the basket. This is a winnable game, no doubt, but only for a team that can play some defense, pass and work it for better shots. Another loss would not be surprising but a blowout defeat would only add to the raging discontent with this program. The end result is responsibility of the leaders, not the workers, as in the coaching staff, not the players.

Meet the new coach

Bobby Ross retired at Army on Monday, which may only elicit a yawn from you but the sidebar to that news is that former Colorado offensive tackle Stan Brock is his replacement.

He was a three-year starter in Boulder and a first-team All-American before going on to become the twelveth-overall pick in the 1980 NFL draft by New Orleans. That was the start of what would become a 17-year run in the league, a total of 234 games.

BGT: Great day for Brock. My only question is whether this assistant-turned head coach was ever offered a position at CU, at any time? You know, not that having a former All-American, 17-year pro would mean any credibility with recruits or Buff players or anything, just saying, just going Thoreau, maybe pontificating a little.

Turbulence in Buffs football

News being sprayed all over the place about defections from current players and recruits in Dan Hawkins' program.

Don't sweat it.

Yes, losing more than a handful of scholarship players and recruits finding a prettier girl to be with hurts but the reality is this is college sports and Hawkins isn't likely crying about it all, knowing instead, those are not the types of players you ever could have counted on for CU. Maybe they will all become great players elsewhere or maybe they won't play again but it wasn't meant to be here. In the end, the Buffs will scramble, do what is necessary to minimize the hits and move forward.

The reasons why the names in question decided this program wasn't the right fit are important and need to be looked at and analyzed to see if there might be a disturbing trend but that is purely being smart, not an alarmist.

Hawkins was quoted in a B.G. Brooks' article in the Rocky Mountain News, and if you get a feeling from what he said, you can tell Hawkins is sincerely not worried.

For those who might ask where's the fairness when Ricardo Patton is assailed for defections, it is good to remember that Patton has a longer track record of such divorces.

Jayhawks struttin'

Eighth-ranked Kansas is living the life now, feasting on Big-12 meat.

First, it was Colorado that got devoured, 97-74, on Saturday.

Monday, the Jayhawks pounced on Nebraska in Lincoln, 78-56.

Them's good eats.

Brandon Rush scored 20 points and had eight rebounds to lead KU and Julian Wright flashed his exciting but inconsistent talent with 17 points, seven boards, two steals and a block. Ryan Anderson was the only Husker of note with 19 points. Alexs Maric, who alternates between looking like NBA first rounder and overseas player, was held to nine.

BGT: O.K., it's easy to punk the chumps of the conference but can the Jayhawks show their stuff against the best and do it all the time? Still not sold on this team. Good, yes. Great, as predicted, no. Texas A & M, without the talent in Lawrence, right now is a better team.

Nebraska, well, no tournament for you!

Cowboy wants out

Oklahoma State backup quarterback Al Pena wants out of Stillwater, knowing he won't play with one talented Bobby Reid entrenched as the starter but now it looks like he might be jailed by the NCAA.

Pena is set up to graduate in May and still has a year of eligibility remaining, however, the NCAA recently changed a rule that allowed athletes in Pena's situation (graduated with eligibility left) to transfer to another school without having to sit out a year.

BGT: This is typical government gone wild. They can preach all they want about their attempts to curb abuse but this is just meddlesome behavior that does not respect the student-athlete, of which Pena is obviously one, if he's graduating. Coaches have carte blanche to do whatever they wish when it comes to coming and going and players are highly restricted. It's disgraceful.

Rockies get it, finally

Give Colorado credit, on two accounts. First, they tried to improve the team by seeking talent at multiple positions by dangling former franchise cornerstone Todd Helton as trade bait, first to the Angels and most recently to the Red Sox. And secondly, for realizing a bad deal when they saw one, they got up and left the table, scoffing at the junk being offered.

This is progress for a team notorious for bad moves (Vinny Castilla to Tampa Bay, too much money for Denny Neagle and Mike Hampton, Josh Bard to Cleveland for who?).

Helton, even for his reduced output is worth more than Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez. If the Rockies are patient, they will rediscover Helton can put up numbers that will merit keeping him or find him more marketable during the season. It says here he will get off hot early this season and prove he can draw more talent in a trade.

Waiting is the hardest part

Tom Petty sings that line and right now, Nuggets' fans have to be wondering, what's going on, when does it get better? No defense, no consistency (sound familiar?), Denver is more now about talent than teamwork and winning.

Wonder where the spark is to become special?

Interesting, worthless news bit of the day

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BGT: Would not affect me if I were a citizen but shows how government can somehow go completely against the cultural norm and succeed without inciting a riot at the doors.