State of CU football

A few things before CU football.

NBA--
A month or so into the NBA season and I've watched more games this season than I did all of last year. League pass and my job have obviously contributed to this.

My preseason NBA picks look terrible---
---Boston and Detroit are the favorites in the east with the Magic looming as a possible darkhorse. Jersey and Chicago (my Eastern Champ) look lottery bound thus far.
---My picks for the west didn't look as bad, because it is pretty hard to mess the top 3 up.
---The Nuggets look like a lost team and probably won't get to 50 wins but have a good shot at winning the division because Utah will hopefully struggle too.
---George Karl needs to go (Jeff Van Gundy is one name that comes to mind. Good discipline, teaches good D, could still use a running style). The Nugs continue to have injuries and an incredibly low basketball IQ. Difficult to watch this team play sometimes.

Although I thought the MVP would come out of the west with Melo or Nash, KG is the MVP front-runner right now, while Howard and LBJ are legit candidates. Duncan and Kobe finish out the conversation.

BOXING--- I think I'm more excited for the Mayweather Hatton bout than I was for the De La Hoya fight. The fight in May was overhyped and actually wasn't that great of a matchup. De La Hoya was getting older, not in his prime and Mayweather was way too fast.
---This one will hopefully be better because of Hatton's attitude and brash style. I think Mayweather will win in the end because of his quickness and ability to get away from Hatton's serious haymakers. I could see Hatton winning if he lands a couple of big shots early in the fight.
In the end they say you have to convincingly beat the "champ" in boxing to take his crown/belt. I don't think Hatton will do that.
Pick: Mayweather wins in a split decision 12 rounds.

COLORADO FOOTBALL---
Is the University of Colorado football program in better shape now than when I began my time at CU in 2003? Yes and No.

In 2003 we were just two years off of a Big 12 title and we had strong recruiting classes and a solid coach. In short we had the right "mix" of players and coaches etc., even in the midst of the crazy scandal, to win two Big 12 North titles. Keep in mind I am saying this based on the fact we did not know the program was going to go through a massive shitstorm during the next few years.

Had CU not endured that storm could we be talking about more success than we had? Maybe another BCS bowl? I don't know, but hearing about Gary Barnett from people in the media and CU's PR department it was probably a foregone conclusion that coach Barnett was going to screw up somewhere along the line. So who knows. I do know Barnett could recruit and coach with the best in the country. I don't think Barnett was/still is alone in bending some rules for recruiting purposes, and nothing illegal was EVER proven in court.

Although I do believe that we are soon headed for times that will far surpass anything Barnett was able to accomplish, the 2007 season was mediocre. 2008 will be just another step to regaining the tradition. There will be setbacks, and we are still two full seasons away from truly competing for a Big 12 title. Coach Hawk truly believes in his system, his ability to recruit and coach. I don't think that can be said off all coaches or programs. I think the improvement we have seen over the past 24 months has been remarkable. Getting the players to accept Hawk's beliefs, expectations, system, work ethic, weight program etc. etc. took longer than CU faithful would have liked. The culture and attitudes around the program were so out of wack from the Barnett days, the scandals, and the losing, it took Hawk a full season and offseason to straighten things out. I don't truly believe he had everyone on the same page until camp in Aug. of '07. The state of the actual players/program is heading for very bright days in the near future.

The fans and the culture surrounding the program are the only reason CU has a ways to go.

In my four years at CU the prevailing attitude shifted. Fans went from expecting a win in every game to hoping for a win. It then shifted from hoping to win to expecting to lose. As of 2007 we are on the way back to hoping we win. We need to be back to expecting to win. We will be soon, but it will take time for attitudes to change for the better.

In 2003 the students expected to win most, if not all games. The attitude was that we are a premiere football program and we will win much more often than we lose. Bowl games were a guarantee, Big 12 titles were within reach. 2003 was the last time this attitude was prevalent in Boulder. The allegations came out, the scandals started. All of a sudden instead of expecting to win games, we hoped we would win during the 04 and 05 seasons. We hoped some wins would douse the fire of the scandals a bit, but we no longer expected to win. This caused some painful games, and embarrassing losses. We didn't beat a ranked team during that span up until this 2007 season. The current crop of students never saw games where we expected to beat ranked teams. This created a culture of fans that doubted coaching and playing abilities on the field. Doubted whether the program would ever be turned in the right direction. Doubted when Hawk finished last season with ten losses.

The last crew of students that lived through those expectations and then the dark days are now gone, leaving only students who have come to know losing and think it their job to criticize. The criticism came from the years all we heard was how bad the university was, and how terrible things were happening all around us. It will take time until these students are gone, along with their attitudes formed by the media's perception of CU.

This acceptance of losing has never been more evident than the past two seasons. Fans not even showing up for games, rushing the field for what seems like every single win.

Two years down the line I believe CU fans will be back to expecting to win every game. The criticism will be gone, the bad behavior hopefully a thing of the past. Although I don't feel CU will ever have the tradition or die hard fans of other schools, Boulder is a place big-time football can succeed. For now it is still a work in progress.