Buffs, Patton done; man on the street talks

Come on now, sing it with me. You know the words.

Turn out the lighhhhhhhhhhts, the party's ovvvvvvvver
They sayyyyyy that allllllll good things must ennnnnnnnd
Turn outttttttttt the lighhhhhhts, the party's ovvvvvvver...

At least you can carry a tune. I get the dogs to a howlin'.

Texas Tech, 81, Colorado, 71 in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.

Game over, season over. Bury it out back.

Ricardo Patton just turned in his final project as coach of the Colorado Buffaloes and while it was admirable, it will be the last sour bite of his career in Boulder, where he did accomplish two NCAA bids and lifted basketball out of the gutter, this season notwithstanding.

The bad news -- seven wins and 20 losses in the worst season in 18 years. Coupled with the football program, any fan who is still standing, battered by all this, well, they should be given a parade as survivors.

Or blindfolds.

While the Buffs shot 51 percent from the floor and rebounded well, they were sloppy with the ball and drum roll please...nowhere good enough defensively for a game like this one.

That said, CU didn't lie down when it very well could have mailed it in like Nebraska did (see below).

Dominique Coleman (pictured) excelled with another all-around floor game, finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Richard Roby added 17 points.

Martin Zeno ripped up the Buffs for a career-high 28 points.

Next up for the Red Raiders is Kansas State.

BGT: The loss surprised no one but CU's ability to make it a game was encouraging. It came to play and for that, the coaching staff and players are to be commended.

Coleman really showed talent in flashes this season, Roby finished strong and on this night, Jeremy Williams and Jermyl Jackson-Wilson were the players their skills indicate they should be on a consistent basis.

Keep everyone around and next season you have Roby, Williams, Jackson-Wilson, Xavier Silas and Kal Bay and you have the makings, just right there, of a team. Quality size is needed but if Sean Kowal and Marc Van Burck can refine their skills, get aggressive and help overworked Marcus King-Stockton, then seven wins will be way down the road in the rear-view mirror.

Now that the games are over for the Buffs, the talk will only heat up more on who CU is and isn't talking to, who is and isn't interested and who it can and can't get to replace Patton and get this program out of the mud and back on the highway to that place called postseason tournament success.

Many could come here and spin heads with improvement and a select few could do things that could make the Buffs something special.

A critical and exciting moment in time for CU athletic director Mike Bohn.

Them other guys

Baylor shocked Missouri, 97-83 ---The Bears have always had offensive firepower but what happened to Mike Anderson's defense in this one? Whatever good he did this season may have just got undone in the eyes of the fans in this one. The Tigers laid down, allowing Baylor to shoot 63 percent from the floor. Guards Curtis Jerrells and Henry Dugat go Playstation and score a combined 56 points by hitting 21-of-28 from the field.

Next up for Baylor -- Texas' gang of shoot-out-the-lights' freshman led by the future NBA Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant.

Oklahoma State and Nebraska bored fans, cheerleaders, the dead, in the Pokes 54-39 win
---OSU shot 40 percent while the Huskers were at fatal 28 percent. You'd think James Naismith was first introducing the game to these guys. The shooting was horrific, possessions were not valued and both schools made Colorado look like the Phoenix Suns.

Poor Cowboys' -- Texas A & M is next up. Has to be like knowing the school bully wants to fight after the final bell rings. ThinkOSU is sweating already.

Oklahoma breaks a six-game losing streak by topping Iowa State, 68-63
---Forward Nate Carter finally got his game back on track with 22 points and nine rebounds and freshman guard Tony Crocker, an early season star, had 15 points. The bad news for the Sooners is Kansas is next challenge and no engine may be running hotter than the Jayhawks right now.

Money shouldn't be an issue

Word swirling around is that CU fans are looking at the showroom floor of luxury coaching models yet have the credit possibilities for a compact car.

Likely not true.

Let's just take a look at the Missouri Valley Conference, as Andy Katz of ESPN.com did.

Creighton's Dana Altman, once of Kansas State and Wichita State's Mark Turgeon, a Kansas graduate, both make approximately $ 800,000 annually, not much more than the departing Ricardo Patton was earning.

And while Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery is due a significant raise, he too likely would be affordable if the Buffs and him were attracted to one another.

And let's put one thing to rest, if we can -- CU might have little basketball tradition, might be, as some southerners might say -- gawd awful -- this season but coaching in the Big 12, especially if athletic director Mike Bohn can deliver on his improvement goals still beats coaching a MVC school. Win here and you are writing your ticket to bigger and better things and getting unreal national attention because it's a power conference with power coaches.

It's all about quality salesmanship.

With Bohn and the top-shelf people he has already hired, CU can bring in a winner of a person and coach.

Letters

This one comes from Dan, who is delivering the goods today. Worth a read.

Greetings,

Hats off to creating a truly quality blog....was turned onto your work about three weeks ago
and I'm thrilled to be able to get all the latest Black and Gold news.

Had dinner with Coach Hawkins last weekend as part of a CU Alumni function in Arizona.
Was able to spend a few minutes alone with the coach and asked him two questions:

1.  Will you allow (freshman quarterback Matt) Ballenger to play basketball and football?
Coach said that he wouldn't stop Ballenger from playing hoops, but that it would be mighty
difficult to be the "man" during basketball season.  He then said something telling, when he
told me that Cody was out that day practicing with the wide receivers and that wouldn't be
possibe if Cody was a hoopster.

Wondered why BJax wasn't out with the receivers so I asked him another question.

2.  How do you feel about a QB controversy that includes your son, Cody. He proudly
answered that he treated all the players like his son and that his team of coaches would be
a big part of the decision. Then while talking about BJax, his body language changed,
especially when letting me know that BJax still hadn't mastered the snap counts half way
through last season.

Just a strong gut feeling, but I'll bet you a Buffalo Nickel that BJax isn't your starter on
opening day next season.  I could see it in the coaches demeanor and body language.

Keep up the great work.

BGT: Dan, thank you for the kind words. You hit me right between the numbers with them.
Some quality contribution you sent in, thank you. Regarding the father-son, coach-player
connection, I'm sure Dan Hawkins will do what's best for the team but what is most important
is how do the Buffs feel about it all. If CU and Cody are winning, no one will care, players or
fans. If he struggles and continues to play, well then, Houston, we have a problem.

Jackson had a great public attitude last season but this year he will only have the keys to the
offense if he can shift into overdrive. If he fails, look for Flutie Hawkins or Nick Nelson to get
behind the wheel.

All I know is with a letter like this, Dan, you're a lock to start.

LSU hit by scandal

How about what went down in Baton Rouge yesterday, where women's basketball coach Pokey Chatman steps out the back door over alleged sexual contact with past players.

Chatman was very successful but you can't be going one-on-one with players.

If you'll humor me as I go Henry David Thoreau for a moment is this -- what if a male coach did the same thing as Chatman?

My guess is Chatman will unlikely coach again at the high-major level. No school could bear the public relations hit. Now if a man was busted on a similar offense, he would never coach again, period.

Just get to the point, Truth, you say!

It's this -- what Chatman did was not right, even if college-age students are considered young adults, possibly consenting. This is not professional sports where office relationships can happen like anywhere else, but instead, this is collegiate athletics, where no such behavior is tolerated.

A man would be criminally prosecuted. Chatman will unlikely face legal recourse.

Broncos keep working the fields

Denver added yet another free agent yesterday, nailing down a backup quarterback candidate behind starter Jay Cutler, when they inked Patrick Ramsey.

BGT: Ramsey has physical talent and in Broncos' coach Mike Shanahan the QB will have an excellent offensive teacher. Ramsey's past is not horrible but for a former first-round pick it is underwhelming.

Personally, I wouldn't feel too comfortable with him running out on to the field early in the season. He's a developmental type who, in time, might be a valuable reserve but he certainly isn't a veteran you can feel rock-solid comfortable with, it says here.

I thought I saw it all

Know these guys? I think they once asked me if I wanted to hang out. I believe I told them I just wasn't into burning off my &*(%#.

And, then there's this one -- remember catching Blues Traveler at Red Rocks once, free ducats from a KOA radio talk show producer name Julie. Good show but who knew John Popper really wanted to become a guerilla.