Declaration Day Buff Bites

Ouch.  That's pretty much all I can say about the CU basketball's performances last night.  Normally you could expect a little wrap up and discussion around the first men's Big 12 game of the season but the score says it all.  On the football front discussions right now are centered around three things, recruiting, the deadline for declaring for the NFL draft and non-conference scheduling.  Luckily for us, the only one of the those three issues that apply to our Buffs is recruiting as Colorado has had one of the toughest non-conference schedules of the last decade and they certainly don't have anyone considering leaving early.

It's going to be a very, very long season for CU basketball.  Both the men and women got housed last night.  I made my self look stupid by telling Irish that I didn't like Mizzou -16.  Check out the game recaps if you think your stomach can handle it:

Buffaloes 62 - Missouri Tigers 107
Buffaloes 43 - Oklahoma State Cowgirls 79

Seth at Double T Nation has a great post on the last 4 years of Big 12 recruiting.  The Buffs should jump up significantly once they get the 2006 class off of the books.

Speaking of recruting, I had no idea that current Buff prospect Emory Blake's father was a rather famous ex-NFL player (especially since I'm a Steeler fan):

Blake is considered one of the state’s top wide receiver prospects. During his senior season of 2008, he caught 64 passes for 936 yards and nine touchdowns. Used by his team as an all-purpose player, he also rushed 74 times for 643 yards and five TDs and threw a touchdown pass.

He’s a son of former NFL quarterback Jeff Blake.

Doc Saturday delves into some philosophies behind non-conference schedule making.  I would loved to have seen that Texas - Wisconsin matchup, but honestly, with the slide the Badgers experienced this season who knows if that game would be any better than Arkansas was this year?  It's a complete and total crapshoot when these schedules are created years in advance and you really just have to hold your breath and hope that the teams that are on the slate have a good year when you play them (see TCU, Cincinnati this season).

I hate this article. I don't think Irish agrees with me (of course I have admitted before that I am a Bradford fan) on this but I don't think there is anything wrong with Sam Bradford coming back for another year.  Whitlock (who often writes just for shock value) is basically bashing the decision that Sam made based on the fact that he may have possibly given up some of the ridiculous amount of money that he would have made had he entered the draft this year,

I heard news travels slow in the Dust Bowl, but surely the Bradford family has heard about the world-wide financial crash. Maybe they're immune?

and he (like a lot of other people) seems bent on comparing Bradford to Matt Leinart. 

Leinart made a horrible decision, and in fact may have revealed a bit of the immaturity that has kept him tethered to the Arizona bench for three years. In order to excel in the NFL, you have to really want to be a professional football player. Being an NFL quarterback carries the most responsibility in professional sports.

So now Sam is immature because he delayed financial gain for an opportunity at extending what is, for most people, the best time of their lives?  Yes, there is a chance that Sam could slide in the draft next season based on the 2009 season, but seeing how his draft grade came back between the 10th and 20th picks isn't there also a great chance that he could improve his stock? I have a good job that I thoroughly enjoy at the moment, but sometime over the next two years I will give up that job (and the salary and benefits that go with it) to head back to college full time and pay a lot of money to get my MBA.   Why on earth would I do that?  To give myself two more years of the college experience (or at least something close to it) and the learning that goes along with and to maybe, but just maybe, give myself an opportunity to make even more money.  Is it going to happen?  Who knows, but it sure is worth it to me and it sounds like it sure is worth it to Sam too.

I haven't posted any new songs in a while so here is one of my early 2009 favorites:

Animal Collective - My Girls