TUESDAYS ARE FOR THE HERD: ASSANE DIOP, SUMO WRESTLING, CHICKEN WINGS & AMERICAN PRIMEVAL

Tuesdays are for the Herd columns will will come out on- — yep, you guessed it — Tuesdays and will be different than most posts on this site.  These posts are like OT posts on a message board.  In other words, these are pure vanity posts, akin to yours truly preening and prinking in front of a mirror while wondering how I got so many gray hairs. 

As an initial matter —  we’d like to start a new tradition on the site – the BuffsBlog.com Mailbag!  In the tradition of old Bill Simmons mailbags, send me your questions (CU or otherwise) and I’ll do my best to give you my thoughts/dumbest jokes.  Questions should be sent to [email protected]. So send them in — give me a chance to wow you with my dad jokes and good looks.

Without further ado, TUESDAYS ARE FOR THE HERD!

• BYUtv put together a fantastic short video on CU forward Assane Diop.  Worth the watch – even if you’re not a basketball fan, it’ll have you openly rooting for Assane going forward….

• Danny Chau put together a fantastic piece on the yin and yang pairing of Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook.  It seems like the Nuggets have figured out that Russell Westbrook in the starting lineup, with Aaron Gordon off the bench, gives the team the best chance for success.  This rotation wouldn’t work without the selflessness of Aaron Gordon, Mr. Nugget.  Westbrook makes the starters play at a faster pace, while Gordon can pair with Julian Strawther to give the Nuggets second team more offensive punch.  https://www.theringer.com/2025/01/21/nba/russell-westbrook-denver-nuggets-nikola-jokic

• I just finished watching Season 3 of the Bear.  This show is fantastic, although season 3 wasn’t quite as strong as seasons 1 and 2.  If you haven’t watched the Bear (streaming on Hulu and airing on AMC), I think you’re missing out. It’s the first show I’ve watched in a long time where I care deeply about the main character, Carmy, without knowing whether I actually like him.  Sort of like how I feel about this year’s men’s basketball team.

• The New York Times’ piece on addiction treatment centers in Kentucky is worth your time: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/magazine/opioid-addiction-recovery-kentucky-louisa.html

• As a born-again writer, I enjoyed this piece on discovering early writings: 

Beautiful Plan of Your Future

• The January Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament concluded yesterday and it was fantastic. After a family trip to Japan last summer, I discovered sumo wrestling.  It’s a rabbit hole, yes, with fat guys in ridiculously small underwear (err, loincloths)  smashing into each other, but it’s a rabbit hold that I’ve fully dived into.  There are six sumo tournaments per year, each lasting 15 days, and the first tournament of the year just concluded in Tokyo.  There were several wrestlers in the tournament on the precipice of being named Yokozuna, including Hoshoryo. The big Mongolian dropped a couple of early matches but stormed back to win 12 matches and tie fellow Sumo Kinbozan and Oho with 12-3 records. This then caused a unique 3 way playoff for the tournament championship, with Hoshoryo winning the sumo playoff and positioning himself to be named Yokozuna. In any event, I’m a fan of Ura, who has more moves than Travis Hunter.  Check out the move below. And, yes, I’m a strange person.  

• I finished watching American Primeval on Netflix.  The Peter Berg-directed series is about a mother and son that flee from their past by traveling through the very, very cruel and depressing American West. Part Western and part snuff film, I’d probably recommend folks pass on this one. The show is a relentlessly violent ride, and is too firmly planted in grimdark territory for me to recommend.  I did enjoy the performance by Betty Gilpin as Sara, the heart and soul of the show. If you’ve watched the show, let me know your thoughts and whether you enjoyed it. Bang! Another guy just got shot in the head. You do you, American Primeval.

• CDs Wings are the best that I’ve had in Colorado (slightly ahead of Outlaw Wings and the Wing Hut). They have a food truck for football games outside the Balch Fieldhouse that is a great option for in-stadium food. The Notorious BRG (Buffalo, Ranch & Garlic) as well as the Chipotle Ranch are FIRE. My only wish is that they open a Longmont location. If you have a favorite wing place, drop it in the comments and I’ll give it a shot.

• Last, calling out website development folks. I have bashed my head over and over while figuring out how to put this website together.  If you’re a computer person and have suggestions/thoughts on the website and how to improve the site from a technical standpoint, please let me know.