Buffs Spring Practice Recap (March 31)

-Drew Suppes

January 8, 2010, Pasadena, California. Book your flight, reserve your hotel room, and buy your tickets.  The Buffs are going to the National Championship.

D-a-r-r-e-l-l  S-c-o-t-t make sure the sophomore’s name is spelled correctly when he’s handed the Heisman in December.

Dan Hawkins: unanimous choice for National Coach of the Year.

I hope Jimmy Smith doesn’t go pro after winning the Thorpe Award.

Ok, so maybe I got a little ahead of myself…after all, it was just the first practice of the spring.

The Nuggets’ Ugly Prom Date

Tonight the Denver Nuggets clinched a spot in the playoffs for the sixth straight year. They are one of the hottest teams in the league, winning nine of the last ten with their single loss coming in a heart-breaker to Phoenix. This is the earliest the team has clinched since the 87-88 season and the most promise that fans in Denver have had to get past the first round of the playoffs in years.

Tonight the team showed how explosive they can be as they turned up the D and the combo of Chauncey and Carmelo proved to be too much to handle. Early on they went on a 17-0 run capped by two straight threes from Chauncey, one from Melo and absolutely lock down defense.

After the first quarter the score was 34 to 20 with Melo having 14 points, Chauncey having 11, and energy and hustle from the bench, even though they didn’t post huge numbers. Early on, tacos were evident because there was no doubt that the team would post the required 103. The Knicks crashed the offensive glass early on but after a timely timeout by Coach Karl, the bigs started working hard to box out and the team shut the door on second chance opportunities.

Tiger is Back

In only his third tournament back from reconstructive knee surgery that has kept him out for ten months, it is fair to assume that the world’s number one player is back. Tiger definitely looked rusty in his first two outings and early in his third until he pulled it together for his first victory since his heroic win at the U.S. Open last year.

Tiger had to go six months without hitting the ball with power while he was rehabbing his knee, but it was evident that he had still kept that immaculate touch on the greens and had worked hard on his short game. He hit three amazing shots out of the sand on Sunday to keep himself in contention as he put together his furious comeback. He was down five strokes to begin Sunday’s final round but was luckily in second place. This put him in the final group where he could let his presence be felt. It was obvious that Sean O’Hair was intimidated by Tiger’s prowl.

Tiger quickly made us believe that he could tie his largest comeback deficit as he closed the gap to two strokes after playing only three holes. He started to look like his old self, shaping shots perfectly, draining important puts and stomping around the course with that swagger that only Tiger has.

O’Hair finally pulled it together and kept his lead until the fifteenth hole. That is when the crowd reacted to Tiger pulling even with O’Hair with an atomic roar. At that point, there was a look in Tiger’s eyes almost as if he was thriving on the pressure. He took a one stroke lead on the sixteenth hole as O’Hair found the drink and was forced to take a drop.

Buffs Football (Spring Preview): Linebackers

-Drew Suppes

The 2009 season will be the 20th year that linebacker coach Brian Cabral has been a coach for the Buffs, and 19th as a full-time assistant, which is the most in CU sports  history.  In his time at CU, he has coached seven All-Americans:

• Alfred Williams (’89-1st team, ’90-1st team), Kanavis McGhee (’89-1st team), Matt Russell (’96, 1st team), Jordan Dizon (’07-1st team), Chad Brown (’92-2nd team), Jashon Sykes (’99-2nd team), Ted Johnson (’94-3rd team).

Heading into the 2009 season, the linebacker position is arguably the most talented on the team.  As Spring practices approach, the Buffs will return 2 starters from last years team, and will look to replace 3 year starter, and 2008 sack leader Brad Jones.  Ten scholarship athletes, and six walk-ons will compete for three available positions.

Buffs Football (Spring Preview): Tight End / Fullback

-Drew Suppes

Depth at the tight end/fullback position (in Hawkins’ system, the positions are interchangeable) will be one of the strengths for the Buffs as it heads into the 2009 season.  This Spring, coaches plan to move away from the spread offense, and use more two tightend/two back formations to accomodate the depth at tightend, and lack of depth at wide receiver.  In 2008, the Buff offense saw a decent amount of productivity at the tightend/fullback position, combining for 48 receptions, 456 yards, and 7 touchdowns.  The majority of that productivity will return for the 2009 season.

Riar Geer showed great potential when he led the team in receptions (24), yards (261), and touchdowns (3) as a redshirt freshman in 2006.  However, his 2007 and 2008 seasons were plagued by injuries and a suspension.  He looked solid late in the 2008 season, as he hooked up with Cody Hawkins on a seam route and took it 68 yards for a touchdown against Nebraska.  The 68 yard reception was the longest play from scrimmage for the Buffs in 2008.  Coaches and fans hope this is a sign that Geer can return to form for his senior campaign in 2009.  He will be limited in Spring practices, after undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason.  If Geer can stay healthy in 2009, he has the potential to be an All-Big 12 performer.

Buffs Football (Spring Preview): Wide Receiver

-Drew Suppes

When Dan Hawkins joined the Buffs from Boise State, fans had hopes of a high powered offense attack with the ability to stretch the field with its passing game.  However, in Hawk’s three years in Boulder, the Buffs pass offense has ranked 12th in the Big 12 in 2006, 10th in 2007, and 11th in 2008.  In a pass-happy Big 12, the Buffs will need to improve these rankings if they hope to compete at a Big 12 North Title.  This Spring, CU will have four scholarship wide receivers competing for playing time, and seven walk-on’s competing for a roster spot.

The anticipated debut of Markques Simas will be a huge boost to the Buffs.  He has great size (6’2″, 200lbs.), speed, and route running abilities.  It was a huge blow to the Buffs offense when he was declared academically ineligible last Fall.  From what I’ve seen in practices, he is by far the best receiver on CU’s roster.  If he keeps his grades up, he can be an All-Big 12 receiver in the immediate future.  He should start and see plenty of action in 2009.

Reasons the NFL Should Not Add More Games

Roger Goodell proposed to NFL owners this week a plan to add either one or two more games to the regular season. While the reasons for this are fairly simple (make more money), this writer believes the regular season should be left alone.

Here are the reasons why:

1. More games will be harder on the athlete’s bodies

It is rare for a player to play an entire season as the regular season stands. The season is very hard on players. More games adds more stress on their bodies.

2. Players deserve more money. Owners don’t like to give more money

Since the players are playing more games, they deserve more money. Which is fine, but will the owners shell out a fair share? This will further complicate the collective bargaining agreement negotiations. If an agreement on a new CBA is not reached by early next year, we could be headed toward a work-stoppage in 2011. Nobody wants that to happen.