Recapping Pac-12 Expansion News and Colorado Buffaloes Football Stories
I could feverishly copy down quotes from Jon Embree's press conference; or you could just watch it yourself...
Texas A&M Aggies accepted into SEC, but legal threat delays move - ESPN
The member presidents of the Southeastern Conference unanimously voted to accept Texas A&M Tuesday night as the league's 13th member, but the Aggies' official acceptance has been delayed by the potential threat of legal action.
The SEC's presidents want assurances that no individual Big 12 school will sue for contractual interference over Texas A&M's departure. Baylor has not given that assurance to this point, according to sources.
"We were notified yesterday afternoon that at least one Big 12 institution had withdrawn its previous consent and was considering legal action," University of Florida president and SEC chairman Dr. Bernie Machen said in a statement released Wednesday.
"The SEC has stated that to consider an institution for membership, there must be no contractual hindrances to its departure. "
Oh, Baylor. You're like the little circus dog; you provide all sorts of entertainment and laughs... right before getting crushed by the giant foot of an elephant.
Pac-12 Expansion: Texas A&M The First Domino To Fall, Oklahoma Ready To Tip Over - Pacific Takes - Over-long sentences and 1950's history references? I'm there.
When President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed the domino theory to describe the threatening encroachment of Communists in Asia, he really should have been looking closer to home and analyzed the behavior of major college football programs to provide support for his theories. Irrational actors, regional agendas, nationalist tendencies, institutional corruption, constant realignment--big-time college football had it all. If America had rephrased the question, "Should we intervene in Vietnam?" with "Should we intervene with the SEC?", I suspect we'd still have had our undefeated war streak standing tall.
The Pacific Takes guy happens to be one of the contributors at Cal Golden Blogs, too; but that's beside the point: he makes funny captions on football pictures as a Pac-12 re-cap... after the jump.
Buffs remember Berkeley beat down - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN - Hopefully, after this weekend, we won't have to remember last year in Berkeley anymore.
College Football Rankings: BlogPoll Rewards LSU With No. 1 Spot, Fawns Over Baylor - SBNation.com - LSU knocks Alabama out of the Week 2 BlogPoll's No. 1 spot with its big win over Oregon, which drops 11 spots to No. 14. Baylor is the week's biggest mover though, climbing 53(!) spots to make its debut in the rankings. The Ralphie Report had the second lowest swing this week, meaning (in the BlogPoll's words): "A low number means that you're damn sure you're right no matter what reality says." Yep, sounds about right to me...
Pac-12 Photostories: Oregon State Makes People Laugh At Us - Pacific Takes - Football pictures with funny captions? I'm there.
The Calm Before The Storm - Building The Dam - Building the Dam with a fantastic breakdown of the realignment scenarios.
The Calm Before The Storm - Building The Dam - Jon Wilner doesn't think that Texas is going to end up in the Pac-12 due to political reasons within the University and state.
Thorburn: Embree keeps focus on 2011, not 2001, Buffs - Buffzone
The last time the 2001 Buffs were all on Folsom Field together, the student body joined them for a raucous postgame party to celebrate an afternoon simply known in these parts as 62-36.
Believe it or not, Colorado's 2011 team has a few things in common with the program's only Big 12 championship squad. Before beating No. 12 Kansas State on the road, making No. 2 Nebraska suffer through six Chris Brown touchdown runs, upsetting Texas in the conference title game at Texas Stadium, or coming within decimal points of the BCS championship game...
CU lost the opener to a WAC team on ESPN2.
Did Thorburn just say that we're going to win the Pac-12? I think he did!
Brooks: From Any Vantage Point, 'EB' Wants To Run - CUBuffs.com
After his weekend debut in Hawai'i as an offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy arrived back at his office at Colorado's Dal Ward Athletic Center figuring he owed several people a telephone call.
"I realize I've given a lot of coordinators hell over the years," Bieniemy said Monday with a laugh. "I've had to call and apologize to a lot of former coordinators I've worked with because I can see how intense the environment can be."
Still, despite CU's 34-17 loss, Bieniemy called his first game calling plays for the Buffaloes' offense "a great learning experience . . . I had fun and I'm looking forward to this week."
CU Buffs notes: Jon Embree backs Larry Scott - Buffzone
CU president Bruce Benson has expressed concern over reports that the Pac-12 could expand again soon by adding more teams from the Big 12, including Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and possibly Texas and Texas Tech. Embree, like everyone associated with the Buffs, would prefer to play in the Los Angeles area every season, which CU will in the current model as a member of the South Division with UCLA and USC. But he also believes in aggressive Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott. "I know Larry Scott has been tremendous for this conference. I know Larry Scott has done a great job of putting the Pac-12 brand out there in the forefront," Embree said. "He has done an unbelievable job, with not just football, but with all the sports. I trust Larry Scott. If we do go that route, I'm sure he has an unbelievable plan for it. If we don't go that route, I'm sure there's a good reason for it. I'm just glad we are where we are."
Transfer QB Connor Wood relishes first practice with CU Buffs - Buffzone
Is Connor Wood the Buffs' future starting quarterback? Jon Embree won't begin the process of answering that question until spring drills. But the Colorado head coach says the Texas transfer will make the 2011 defense better this fall.
"When your scout team makes it harder than it is in the game, then you've arrived as a program," Embree said. "So he gives us a step in the right direction toward that." Wood sat in his first CU quarterbacks meeting on Tuesday and then practiced with the Buffs in the cool, fall-like air under the Flatirons just weeks after wrapping up a disappointing camp with the Longhorns in the Austin heat.
"It was awesome. You've got to love this mountain air," Wood said after Tuesday evening's session. "It was a lot different than Austin."
Yes. It is different than Austin. Maybe that's why we joined a different conference than them... (maybe)
About 7,000 CU Buffs tickets available for Cal game - Buffzone
"Obviously, we'd like it to be a sellout," Embree said. "I don't know if it's us losing (the season opener at Hawaii) or me or whatever. I only got one nasty letter. "...
It would be great for these kids to have a sellout for their home opener. It would be great for the 2001 team to be honored with a full house, but I understand. I don't believe it's a Colorado thing. It's just kind of how it is with a lot places, with the exception of the SEC and some of those programs.
You have to give them something to come out for first sometimes. That's OK. I understand that."
Embree said the CU program has struggled to fill its stadium even in the best of times. He noted that Folsom Field was not sold out in 1994 when former running back Rashaan Salaam was closing in on a 2,000 yard season and the Heisman Trophy and the team was 9-1.
"It was 58 degrees and a great fall day," Embree said. "So a little of that could be the culture around here. We've got to do our part to get people to say this is something they want to be a part of. I'm sure the economy has some things to do with it. There is always circumstances surrounding it.
"The ones that do come, I appreciate them coming and I need them to be loud."
Go Buffs! Let's buy tickets (and show up) and be loud!