Their are a few things that Buff fans need to worry about this offseason and one of the major ones is how 16 injured players will heal. Kyle Ringo of the Daily Camera talks about the difficult task head athletic trainer Miguel Rueda has this year in getting players rehabbed, healthy and, most important, ready for on field action by spring drills. Hawkins has "tentatively" moved back spring drills to later in the year, allowing extra time for the walking wounded to get healed. Some big time players will be asked to come back from serious injuries like OT Ryan Miller, OG Max Tuioti-Mariner, LB Jon Major, RB Rodney Stewart and OL Bryce Givens. Here is the breakdown of the injured players according to the article:
Nine players underwent season-ending surgeries during the 2008 campaign and five more have gone under the knife in the past month. Two more players are scheduled to undergo surgery in the next two weeks, giving the program an ugly total of 16 players forced into the operating room this season.
Rueda expects all of the players to be able to participate in spring drills but you never know the level of that participation until it rolls around.
This is the part of the article that got me already pumped up for next year:
Rueda said one of the players he has been most impressed with in rehab is running back Rodney Stewart, who suffered a fractured leg on Nov. 1 at Texas A&M. Rueda said Stewart approaches his recovery like a man who can't stand the fact he is injured and wants nothing more than to get back to running between the tackles again.
I love this kid. You have to be impressed with everything he has done. Hopefully Darrell Scott is feeding off the determination to come back in spring ball with the physical and mental side in full tune. If the Buffs can find any sort of passing game to keep teams honest, I can't wait to see the running attack next year, especially when you throw in Ray Polk as a wild card.
The Buffs basketball team lost last night 62 - 60 to Buffalo in the Rainbow Classic. Colorado has a definite formula for winning games and the same issues when they lose. Most defeats usually have a rebounding stat like this:
CU was out-rebounded 16-7 in the first half and allowed Buffalo to grab four offensive boards. Thanks to the extra possessions the Bulls took 10 more shots than the Buffs in the first 20 minutes and shot 56.7 percent (17-for-30) from the floor with 18 points on offensive rebounds and turnovers.
CU will take on Vermont today at 4:30 pm MT missing the chance at playing Colorado State again in the championship game.
Mack Brown, Texas Head Coach, gives an initial reaction to the New York Times story heard around the world that detailed DT Jamarkus McFarland's recruitment. The article pretty much threw Texas in the dirt with the prevalence of sex, drugs and alcohol:
"One-sided stories usually don't make it when sources aren't checked on the other side," Brown said. "The story has absolutely no credibility with me because the writer did the same thing exactly last year and it's obvious he has an agenda, in my mind, against Texas."
The "other story" Brown is referring to is the Darrell Scott story from last year which wasn't nearly as bad as the most recent one.