Daily Camera writer Kyle Ringo investigates the CU football game at Miami (OH) – which it seems like nobody knows the status of, at least not over in MAC-land.

Miami sports information says “ask the Mid American Conference”; the MAC says “the contract is between the schools, not the conference.” And if CU’s sports info department knows anything, they’re not saying.

“As soon as I know, you will know,” CU athletic director Mike Bohn told the Camera.

As if there wasn’t more incentive to try and craft a schedule against competitive teams from, if not BCS conferences, then the larger ones in the country…just like there’s an advantage on the field to playing a tough schedule (the risk-reward pays off), there’s also the advantage of not getting jerked around by small schools looking to juggle pay-days.

The rumor (reported by ESPN) is that Miami (OH) is looking to get out of it’s CU game to play Kentucky in Cincinnati – a bigger stadium and much, much bigger draw for the area. Hopefully it’ll be worth it, because Miami will have to buy out the contract with CU if they want to play that game.

Most losses in school history. A solitary conference win, first-round Big 12 Tournament loss, and a winter of frustration now over. Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn thinks that both the men’s and women’s teams are on the right track (as part of a Q&A on the state of the hoops program in general).

Is there any way to be positive after such a bomb of a season?

I think the situation – especially with the men’s team – requires some rational thought and the viewpoint of relativity. This isn’t a 1-15 conference season for a program like Kansas, Texas, UCLA, Connecticut, Michigan State, or anyone else with a fanbase that expects – demands – to compete in the conference and make a trip to the Big Dance on a yearly basis. CU’s football fans may be able to make those demands, but the basketball program has not, historically, been strong enough to have those expectations.

What should the expectations be right now, then? Forward progress. As a wise man once said, progress doesn’t necessarily mean moving forward. I’ve written on here before that there’s a difference between a 1-15 season full of close games, and one where the team is outmatched and losing by double-digits every time out.

Whether (as some of the braintrust over at the Ralphie Report seem to think) it’s a matter of a slow-paced style of play or honestly being good enough to hang on but not quite ready to push through, CU has at least been competitive this year. A couple weeks ago I hypothesized what would have happened had CU turned around the nine games it lost by single-digits – at the time (before the home game against Missouri) it would have meant sitting in fourth in the conference, with road wins over Oklahoma and Kansas.

Basketball games are close for a reason, and that’s through quality. Turning those close losses into wins certainly paints a brighter picture for the Buffs’ season, doesn’t it? With how crazy the NCAA basketball scene has been in years past, it honestly could be a reality next year. Just a few years ago, Missouri was in the same spot CU finds itself now – a program chained to the doormat. Five straight seasons of sixth or worse in the Big 12, including finishing tenth last year.

This year? NCAA Tournament locks, and the third seed in this year’s conference tourney, behind only OU and KU.

Moreso than ever and much more than football, one great recruiting class – hell, one great recruit – can completely turn around a program, at least for a year. It’s both the nature of the sport (five players on the court instead of 11 on the field each for offense and defense) and the transitory nature of NCAA men’s basketball right now. The days of building up a program class by class and expecting three or four years are gone at most places, but unity and experience can still prove decisive for a program.

Who knows – sophomore guard Cory Higgins could become a first-team All-Big 12 player next year, the close losses this season could – after this year’s freshmen have gained some experience – flip to wins, and the team could be in the top four of the conference at this time next year. Maybe they’ll earn a first-day bye.

It seems to me that the dedication from the athletic department is at an all-time high – Bohn seems to be fed up with having losing programs, and doesn’t want to hang his hat on having a well-known football team and nothing else.

Basketball, volleyball, and golf have all gotten shots in the arm recently. The soccer team – which is now regularly in the conversation in the Big 12, and has made the NCAA Tournament each of the last six years – is what I’m guessing Bohn sees as the prototype for the other struggling programs right now. Bring in a good coach, let them build the team up, and provide them with improved facilities.

Going for big names or “Carmelo-izing” a program (taking them from mediocrity to the NCAA Finals in a player’s first and, probably, only season) may sound sexy and may be a great way to bring some hardware in for one season. But for CU’s rebuilding women’s team – which was always a power in the Big 12 – and the men’s program, too, that sort of stop-gap is not what you want.

Bzdelik seems to be on the right path. The only attribute needed is time, and as painful as it is to tell sports fans to be patient and wait for next year, it’s the only answer right now. It sounds like the administration knows this, fortunately. That sort of support can be rare in sports now.

Quick roundup of things going on in the CU universe…of course by now, we all know CU got bumped from the men’s Big-12 Championship by Texas, 67-56, in the first round. Of course, I think we in the press would be spinning it as a sign of hope for next year if the Buffs had pulled out a win, but instead it’s a mercy killing for the disappointing year. Funny, that.

If you’re looking for something to do tomorrow night, consider checking out the Campus Rail Jam Tour as it hits the University Hill.

An interesting note from my interviews that didn’t get into the story: while the University admins and campus worries put up stop signs and red tape for Boulder Freeride, who organized the event location for the Rail Jam, store owners on the Hill and people in the city were much more accommodating. Usually in my experience it’s the other way around; cities might not like events that involve shutting down a whole intersection and street, but who knows. It should be some kind of fun under the lights tomorrow night.

Three athletes from CU are going to represent the black and gold at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field meet this weekend. The Indoors – held in College Station, Texas, where the Big 12 Championship was held two weeks ago – will see CU seniors Jeremy Dodson, Jenny Barringer and Kenyon Neuman represent the squad and chase individual titles.

Dodson will take on the 200m sprint (where he has the fifth-fastest time in the country this season) and Neuman will run in the 5,000m on Friday. Jenny Barringer will be in the 3,000m, an event she hasn’t run in yet this season.

The CU men’s golfers couldn’t repeat last year’s performance at the Louisiana Classic, moving up to sixth on the final day. The Buffs tied with Rice at 9-over in the final standings. CU’s men won the tournament last year, and next take to the fairways and greens at the Oregon Duck Invitational in Eugene, Ore., on March 23-24.

CU’s skiers, in Sunday River, Maine, this week for the NCAA Championships, had the first day of competition delayed due to heavy freezing rain and snow this morning. It delayed the men’s and women’s giant slalom races, which will now take place tomorrow as the Nordic skiers also run their first races. For a peek at how they expect to do, check my preview in today’s paper.

First, our Buff of the Week this week is CU Nordic skier Maria Grevsgaard. The senior from Norway is the defending NCAA champion in both women’s Nordic events, and has a good chance to bring the title(s?) home again this year. The NCAA Championship gets underway this weekend, we’ll have a preview later in the week.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams play in the Big 12 Tournament this week – the women take on Kansas State, while the men will face Texas in the first round. Both Buffs teams are the 12 seed in the respective tournaments, which both will take place in Oklahoma City.

Starting up the coverage of spring football for the Daily Camera, Kyle Ringo takes a look at quarterback Matt Ballenger, who Ringo says can be a contender for CU’s starting job if he becomes more assertive.

Along with the health of the team, the big question – and the one it looks like the Camera sports staff will be covering – is the quarterback position. Cody Hawkins, Tyler Hansen, and Ballenger all have a shot. Clark Evans, the incoming freshman, may also impact things once fall camp begins. How it shakes out will be interesting.

In club sports news, the lacrosse teams were at home over the weekend – and while the women lost their first game of the season, an 8-5 loss to Colorado State, the men have now won three games to open their season. CU dispatched Montana 13-6 on Friday night, and then the top-10 Buffs rolled through #14 Texas A&M 17-4.

We’re less than two weeks to Colorado Rapids opening day. FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!

Click through for awesome YouTubage.

Also, in completely unrelated news and opinion, here’s a soccer goal I really wish I could find in high definition. It’s Arsenal versus Burnley from the English FA Cup, and Arsenal striker Eduardo hits one of the highest degree-of-difficulty goals I’ve seen in ages:

Click here to view the embedded video.

-He has to stay onside
-He hits it first time – on the volley, as they say
-To boot: He hits it off the outside of his left heel. Intentionally. When I heard about it this morning, my brain nearly melted.

First, Irish over at The Ralphie Report muses on the Buffs’ offense going into spring practice. My thought? Echoes theirs: Craft an offensive scheme, get the talent for it, and execute. Simple as that.

The CU women’s basketball team hosts #21 Kansas State tomorrow at Coors for the last game of the regular season, and will honor the team’s three seniors: Kara Richards, Hannah Skildum, and Dina Piternice.

The men take to the court in the flip of this match, taking on the Wildcats at their home gym tomorrow morning.

In other CU news, head soccer coach Bill Hempen will be traveling as an assistant for the United States women’s Under 20 team at a tournament in Spain next week. Hempen’s being called on to help coach and make selections for the next U-20 squad; at this level it’s a great honor for the team. The women’s team also has a scrimmage at Kittredge Field (or the indoor practice bubble if weather is bad) next Wednesday.

It’s a shame the weather might not hold, because the Colorado Can Cup up in Lyons tomorrow looks like a good way for cyclists to get their fix in a fast, fun team sport. I’ll probably be up there early afternoon so long as we aren’t snowed in.

Also this weekend, the CU men’s lacrosse club team takes to Kittredge Friday night and Sunday at noon. The women’s team takes on Colorado State Saturday at Kittredge at 4:00 p.m. – a heated game anyways with the rivalry, but even more so because they’re two of the top teams in the nation.

So, yesterday I posted how I was excited to head out to last night’s Denver Nuggets – Portland Trail Blazers game at the Pepsi Center. A friend from high school who came to CU for undergrad and now grad school hunted down tickets last-minute and wanted to know if I would go to the game with him.

Umm, yes. Yes please. So we headed out, two Portland fans headed distinctly into enemy territory flying the wrong flag.

I was surprised. Maybe it’s more conditioning being used to college football rivalries, but the reception really wasn’t that bad. I guess we were seated in front of the designated heckler for that corner of the arena, but other than that nothing bad.

Well, except for how the Blazers played. ESPN’s match report says it all. Few mentions of Portland’s game; Melo and his 38 points (!) stole the spotlight.

I could go on and on about the minutiae of how Portland played, but nobody here knows or cares; I might as well type it in Japanese. But what I can relate is now the experience and emotion of being an opposing fan in the minority.

It seems like all the emotions are magnified. On good plays for your team, you’re one of a smattering of people able to rise against the home crowd’s tide; on the bad, or when things go south in a hurry (see: the fourth quarter last night), you want to shrivel up and die. Compared with how it feels to be a home fan – feeling part of a unified whole, rising with the rest of the crowd, falling and/or booing with them as needed – it’s a much more individual experience.

It is a fun experience, though, and I can see myself going back to see the Nuggets play somebody else as a neutral fan just interested in watching some NBA basketball. While the DJ and video screen in the arena really are the devil of professional basketball, the production and song choices and everything else associated were actually quite good; it’s still little consolation when you’ve got the home crowd going against you and the home team raking your squad over the coals, though.

So a good time had by all and a very worthwhile experience. A+++ Would watch again (well, again, except without Portland playing like a steaming pile of garbage). Much better than just on TV, that’s for sure.

In an update, the Division 3 men’s club hockey team has (sadly) gone 0-2 now at the ACHA D3 National Championship, pairing yesterday’s loss to Farmingdale State with a 7-6 loss to Tennessee Thursday morning. Looks as though the loss came after an overtime shootout, too, which adds on a little bit extra heartbreak. But, they are one of the top 16 teams in the nation, if that’s any condolence. CU still has at least one game left, we’ll keep you briefed on how they do.

Watch the Daily in the next few days for stories on CU’s club men’s lacrosse team (high expectations and very serious), the ski team, and more. Please make suggestions for content, too, we always love listening and finding more things to write about.

Also, in nothing but a personal note, I’m going to go be “that guy” at tonight’s Denver Nuggets game. You know, the guy who’s from out of town and goes to the hometown team’s game because their favorite team is finally coming to play? Yeah. Going to be at the Pepsi Center in red and black for sure, and will give impressions from the experience (will I get heckled? Beer dumped on me? Will I be disappointed?) tomorrow. Should be a good time.

Two of the guys from CollegeHumor.com, Amir and Streeter, have apparently been going back and forth for years with intricate pranks, growing bigger and bigger as time went on. Deadspin has a link to the last salvo in this war, which involved Amir setting Streeter and his then-girlfriend up with a fake video screen proposal at Yankee Stadium during a baseball game; well, this one goes a bit farther, and involves the entire crowd at a recent Maryland men’s basketball game.

Here’s a link to the video. Yes, it is awesome, and yes I wish I could embed it.

The men, though, take their home bow tonight against Texas A&M and it’s CU senior Jermyl Jackson-Wilson’s last game at home. According to the Camera’s Ryan Thorbrun, Jackson-Wilson suffered more losses in a three-year stretch than any CU player in history. Ouch.

From earlier this week, the women’s golf team – scheduled to play in the San Jose State Invitational – got completely rained out and blown off the course. According to the cubuffs.com release, teams weren’t even able to get 9 holes in before play was completely called off. However, it’s official that CU men’s and women’s golf will soon have a new home at the to-be-christened Colorado National Golf Club in Erie.

For club sports, it looks like CU’s men’s division 3 hockey team got bounced out of the top bracket in its first game at the ACHA Nationals in Rochester, NY earlier today, with a 6-5 loss to Farmingdale State of Long Island, NY.

In other, non-CU news: Check out my preview of the film Watchmen which comes out this Friday (I’m semi-devastated that the local midnight Thursday night showings appear to be sold out). And in non-CU sports news, remember the Haney Project show I wrote about for Monday? The Golf Channel “reality” show where Tiger’s golf coach tackles the monumental challenge that is Charles Barkley’s golf swing?

I caught the first episode last night via on-demand, and let me tell you, it delivers. Cheesy, sure, but it’s Chuck at his best, and his swing at its worst. I’m sure there’s a drinking game in there somewhere.

Welcome to March. First a follow-up on last Friday’s cover story on the club women’s lacrosse team – the girls won all five games they played at the tournament hosted by the University of Georgia last weekend. Considering they were playing even more top 10 and top 25 competition, that’s incredibly impressive. Back here in Boulder, the men’s club lacrosse team beat Boston College 9-8 in overtime to kick off its season.

In Buffs news, the women’s golf team is at the San Jose State Invitational today and tomorrow – and the athletic department will be announcing something later this evening at Vista Ridge Golf Club. Expect more on that announcement later tonight and in tomorrow’s papers.

In football news, with spring practice coming soon, there was a minor tussle this weekend as there was a ‘will he, won’t he’ story over the weekend regarding CU receivers coach Greg Brown. He interviewed for the offensive coordinator position at South Florida, but decided to stay.

It’s the last week of regular season play for the men’s and women’s basketball teams; the women play at Nebraska and close the regular season out at home against Kansas State Saturday, while the men take a bow at Coors against Texas A&M on Wednesday and hit the road to play K-State this weekend. Next week sees the Big 12 Tournament; can the men’s team, especially, find the form that saw them almost upset Oklahoma and Kansas to play spoiler in the conference tourney?

A win against Texas A&M would do wonders to help the team’s confidence, and of course winning the final home game would be great for the program.

In track news, it shouldn’t be shocking to see Jenny Barringer break records, but it’s still awe-inspiring nevertheless. It’s the fastest indoor mile by a woman in the world so far this year; Barringer smashed the CU record by 15 seconds, and broke a 21-year-old NCAA record. Oh, and she beat Texas Tech’s Sally Kipyego, too, something else she hadn’t done yet. Three races, three CU records. Much congratulations to Barringer on the record and title.

In non-CU news – and as a suggestion for your TV viewing this evening – may we present to you something on…yes, the Golf Channel.

But – BUT – here’s the twist. It’s a program called “The Haney Project,” where golf coach Hank Haney – who has coached Tiger Woods and is one of the top coaches in the world – will try and fix former NBA star Charles Barkely’s swing.

Why does Charles Barkley’s swing need fixing? See for yourself:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s turrible, as the round mound of rebound would say. And since Charles Barkley is the most entertaining former athlete on TV (DUI or no DUI), hands down, him trying to fix that janky golf swing will be must-see TV. I know what I’ll be doing tonight.