"Everybody Is Pretty Positive About the Polk News" Buff Bites
by irish1611 on Feb 12, 2009 8:06 AM MST
in Daily Buff Links
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With the move of former RB Ray Polk to safety, many people got that feeling in the pit of their stomach that this could be another edition of Kai Maiava. In case you aren't as read up on CU sports, Maiava was a starting offensive lineman as a freshman for the Buffs. In a nut shell, Maiava was asked to switch to fullback which prompted his transfer to UCLA. The Polk situation is different on a few levels which should ease that anxiety of him possibly transferring. First of all, Polk asked to be moved because he missed the defensive side of the ball and thought with his size and speed that he could be a special player back there. Second, he played cornerback in high school so it isn't a drastic move for him plus his father was an NFL defensive back so it is in his blood. Finally, Polk understands the numbers game and in his mind, this was a good strategic move for playing time. With the two primary starting safeties graduating in Dykes and Walters, Polk will be competing with about 4 - 5 players for two spots. At running back, he would be competing with 4 - 5 players for one spot. Kyle Ringo of the Boulder Daily Camera and Tom Kensler of the Denver Post have more to story as well.
Here is a sweet video of Polk from the BDC. Very well spoken and seems to have a good head on his shoulders.
I don't want to talk about the Iowa State game last night. It was an embarrassment on a whole other level. Here are some articles in case you want to go down that path of feeling depressed about the CU basketball team:
The Buffs missed 17 of their first 20 shots, went nearly nine minutes without scoring and had seven turnovers against just four field goals in the first half.
It "was a blur, a bad dream. It was horrible," Colorado's Dwight Thorne II said. "We just weren't ready to play."
How can the Buffs be overconfident???? They haven't won a freaking game on the road in the Big 12 in the last 26 attempts...this is shocking:
The worst part, according to the head coach, is that the Buffs were nonchalant and perhaps overconfident entering this battle to get out of last place in the Big 12 after taking No. 2 Oklahoma to the wire in Norman last Saturday.
"I sensed an air of comfort," said Jeff Bzdelik, who warned his team about coming out with intensity at the hotel on Tuesday night, during the pre-game shoot-around and just before the opening tip. "It was different than what I had sensed in these previous games. I thought in particular at Oklahoma and at Kansas there was a real excitement and desperate kind of effort knowing that we had to play with everything we've got to compete. And we did."Here I thought we had a kind of comfort to us, where on the flip side Iowa State was desperate and ready to fight and battle. We are not good enough, nor is anybody good enough to have that kind of approach to a game."
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Wrong About Maiava . . .
. . this story has been spun and re-spun so many times, it’s starting to sound like the Loch Ness Monster.
Fact: Maiava’s transfer had little, if anything, to do with the position switch. It was personal, off the field stuff that the staff and Kai never made public for privacy reasons. He would have transferred even if he was a starting OL. It’s like the Celestine situation – strictly personal and off the record.
by HiRanchBuff on Feb 12, 2009 10:10 AM MST reply actions 0 recs
Personal issues was one reason
but I swear I read an article that had him saying the position change was a factor
The Ralphie Report - Go Buffs!...All Colorado Buffaloes on SBNation - http://www.ralphiereport.com/
by irish1611 on Feb 12, 2009 10:23 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
From the denver post back in april
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_9032400
A native Hawaiian, Maiava said his decision was based mostly on “family issues” but also had “a little bit to do” with the coaching staff moving him from guard to fullback prior to spring drills.
Maiava, 6-feet and having shed 20 pounds to 275 pounds for his new position, saw action on only one play in the spring game. He said he will seek a transfer to another major-college program
All Things Buffs
Post reporter Tom Kensler posts entries on this blog devoted to CU athletics. Visit it here.
on the West Coast, probably somewhere in California.
“I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do; I’ve been thinking about this for about a week,” Maiava said Wednesday. “If I’m closer to my family, I can help them out.”
Maiava and blue-chip offensive tackle Ryan Miller were the only true freshmen to earn full-time starting jobs last fall. Both earned freshman all-Big 12 Conference honors. Maiava received CU’s Lee Willard Award, which goes to the team’s top freshman as selected by the coaching staff.
Though he is undersized for an offensive lineman at the top college level, Maiava said he will look for a program where he can return to the trenches.
“His decision was based on personal reasons, really a combination of a lot of things and situations he has going on,” CU coach Dan Hawkins said in a statement.
CU coaches thought Maiava’s body type fit better at fullback, and they remained optimistic Maiava could become a dominant blocker in the backfield. Maiava’s development as a fullback was delayed, how-ever, when he was kept out of spring drills for a week as punishment for being cited for underage drinking in January.
“I wasn’t bitter about playing fullback, and I was doing my best to learn it,” Maiava said. “But I missed the brotherhood of the O-line. And it didn’t look like I was going to get as much playing time (at fullback).”
Maiava said he consulted his brother, University of Southern California linebacker Kaluka Maiava, before submitting his transfer request Monday.
The Ralphie Report - Go Buffs!...All Colorado Buffaloes on SBNation - http://www.ralphiereport.com/
by irish1611 on Feb 12, 2009 10:25 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
That's What Was Put Out for Public Consumption . . .
. . . trust me, he was gone even before the position switch.
by HiRanchBuff on Feb 12, 2009 10:43 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
good to know
The Ralphie Report - Go Buffs!...All Colorado Buffaloes on SBNation - http://www.ralphiereport.com/
by irish1611 on Feb 12, 2009 11:04 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
I didn't know Polk played CB in high school
Looks like a very good choice on his part, makes me not so mad that we didn’t land a 4 star DB in 2009, since we now have one from 2008.
"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
by Broncoman on Feb 12, 2009 11:18 AM MST reply actions 0 recs
Pumped about Polk!
This is huge for CU. All of sudden, I feel pretty good about the safety position. I like Perkins and Mahnke a lot, and they’re young. I’m not sure where Parker Olms will be in the long run position-wise, but he’s definetely a great player and would fit in well at safety. We should be pretty stacked at that position for the next few years. What about CB? I think we need to continue to recruit that position heavily, especially after losing Lamont Smith from the program. Sounds like he couldn’t get it done in the classroom but he looked like a major talent. But with all the passing in the Big 12, we can always use more talent in the secondary.
by BuffFiend87 on Feb 12, 2009 1:31 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
I'm more fascinated by the b-ball team today
I’m honestly surprised the team rolled over like that last night; I haven’t been following them closely very long, but after the way they’ve improved, I didn’t think they’d throw a stink-bomb out there.
I find it all-too familiar, and there’s more thoughts here.
by Doug-e-Fresh on Feb 12, 2009 3:09 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
one thing I like about Polk
is that he seems remarkably self aware for any teenager, let alone a teenage athlete. HE approached the staff about wanting to redshirt because he felt he wasn’t ready, and HE approached the staff about the position switch. That’s kind of amazing, since most teenagers (and athletes in general) are spectacularly self absorbed. Look at a guy like Orson Charles, who was partially basing his college choice on his ability to get a damn jersey number (and Fred Rouse, who picked Florida State because Florida wouldn’t give him number 1). Or Alphonso Soriano, who stomped his feet and pouted about being moved off second base, even though he sucks at it, and still refuses to be anything but a leadoff hitter, even though he’s not a lead off hitter. Or hell- Brian Lockridge, who bitched and moaned about being redshirted, and refused to consider a position switch to WR even though he’ll never see the field at RB. Polk’s ability to self evaluate and put himself in the most favorable position for himself, and the team, suggests to me that he’s a future captain candidate.
And something never sat right about the Kai situation. It made no sense to move arguably our best guard off of the spot to a little used position best suited for a converted walk on linebacker, and it made little sense when he said that the distance was a factor, even though the difference between LA and Colorado is pretty negligible when you’re coming from Hawai’i. And the situation was exacerbated last year by all the injuries on the line. which made us look even worse for trying to flip him to FB.
by Hallux Valgus on Feb 13, 2009 3:48 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
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