CU FOOTBALL AND LAWRENCE WELK — IT’S A BUFFSBLOG MAILBAG!!!

Welcome one and all to the 2nd BuffsBlog mailbag.  And yes, these are actual questions from actual readers (with the exception of the last question — and please, if you read nothing else, read the last question).   This is an ongoing schtick, so please send questions for the next mailbag to [email protected]. And yes, I love that our email address explains that it is an email address.  Oh, and shout out to Bill Simmons.

Mailbag question: “What is the best stadium in college football?” –David in San Francisco.

 Ah, starting off easy I see.

I’m going to limit this answer to college football stadiums that I’ve been to. Off the top of my head, that includes games at Stanford, Cal, UCLA, USC, New Mexico, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Colorado State, Air Force, Wyoming, Utah, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, UCF and….that’s it? I think? You’ll see I haven’t been to many SEC games (I’ve been to 0 SEC games if we’re not counting games at Texas or Oklahoma). An SEC roadtrip is on my list for this fall.

I’m partial to the Big House (Michigan), where you can fit an entire mid-sized city and still have room for emotional baggage. At Notre Dame, you can literally feel the history when the team runs onto the field while the band plays the Notre Dame Victory March. Sunsets at the Rose Bowl are fantastic, and I love that UCLA pulls food trucks up to the stadium for in-game meals. Kinnick Stadium is underrated as a stadium (try not to tear up while doing The Wave — I dare you!), and Lawrence, Kansas is underrated as a city (I snuck into Phog Allen Fieldhouse as a 19-year old, saw Dick Vitale filming a bumper for that night’s ESPN Big Monday game, asked him for tickets, and he replied “I wish I could, baby!” as only he can).

But let’s be real: Folsom Field is the answer. Sure, you might not hear quite the same deafening roar at Death Valley, but where else can you get sunburned and frostbitten in the same quarter while thinking, “Man, Boulder really is beautiful”?

Mailbag question: “You have been named Commissioner of College Football — congratulations. You beat out luminaries such as Bob Bowslby, George Kliavkoff and Larry Scott. What is one rule that you would change right away?” — Brad in Monrovia, California

The college football replay system — a.k.a. the REPLAY POLKA — is ridiculous. It needs to be changed.

Here’s the scenario: Team A completes a pass to the sideline against Team B. Team B thinks the wide receiver didn’t get a foot inbound, and tries to slow down the start of the next play to give its coaches enough time to review the play. Meanwhile, the offense runs up to the line of scrimmage as fast as possible to snap the ball before Team Bs’ coaches know whether to challenge the play or not. Then, Team B coaches finally challenge right before Team A can snap the ball and the OFFICIAL REPLAY POLKA begins.

“Ah one, an ah two, and……. “……the official blows the whistle….and then very slowly runs down to the other side of the field, because the replay machine is always on the other end of the field…..”Ah three and ah four…..” ….the official then reviews the play on a screen smaller than my cellphone and makes the final determination, before turning around and running back to the other end of the field…….and then the out-of-breath official makes the replay annoucement, except the fans can’t understand what the ref is saying because of the damn sound system at Folsom….the process has taken 5 minutes and killed all momentum in the game. “Wunnerful, wunnerful….”

The polka sucks. I instead propose the 2 FAT GUYS ON A COUCH replay system.

SCENE:

2 fat guys are watching the game on the couch somewhere in, say, Colorado. Let’s pretend their names are John and Chris.

There’s a coaches challenge! Joel Klatt cues up the national TV audience and says, “Let’s cut to today’s fat replay guys.”

Camera cuts to John and Chris, sitting on John’s sofa. They’re eating pizza and wings and drinking adult beverages.

“Show me the replay,” John belches.

A replay flashes across the field.

“He’s out of bounds,” says Chris.

“Yep,” says John.

They text the ref to tell him that there was no catch.

The entire scene takes about 10 seconds. If the fat replay guys can’t make the determination within 10-15 seconds, the call stands.

And SCENE.

This college football replay system would be way better.

Think about it: at any tennis tournament, the replay system can tell us within 15 seconds whether a 130-mph serve touched one-tenth of the baseline, but the NFL continues to be overwhelmed by any ambiguous touchdown or out-of-bounds play, and it still measures first downs with chains and pudgy white guys like it did in the 1920s.

The other rule change that would be more siesmic but I’m less enthusiastic about because it might eliminate my “2 fat guys on a couch” replay system: implelent digital tracking of the football. The fact that games are decided by old guys spotting the ball based on a “hunch” is beyond dumb and costs teams and programs repeatedly — yet people are so immune to the stupidity of the system that they don’t even see how ridiculous it is anymore.

Mailbag question: “What’s Coach Prime’s leadership style in one word?” – Dan R. in Denver

Swarovski?

Mailbag question: “What do you think of the Denver Donkeys’ off-season?” – Erich K. in Napa, California

Editor’s note: Can we please make these uniforms the “official” team uniforms going forward?

Here’s a scalding hot take:

The Denver Broncos will win the AFC West in 2025. Eat grass, Patrick Mahomes.

Denver’s defense is already one of the league’s saltiest. Keep DJ Jones (an unheralded player but one of the better pass rushing defensive tackles in the division), and add safety Talona Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw, draft corner Jahdae Barron, and look out!

Hufanga gives Denver significant playmaking alongside Brandon Jones at safety. After self-scouting sessions this off-season, Denver brass knew that the team needed additional pop at safety. Hufanga fits the bill, as the 2022 All-Pro gives them a sure tackler in the run game. Also, he just turned 25 this past off-season, which means he should just be entering his prime…..if he stays healthy, he’ll have 4+ interceptions this upcoming season due to the sustained QB pressure Denver is able to generate without a lot of blitzing.

Greenlaw gives Denver some additional speed at linebacker, something the team has missed over the last few seasons. He’s a sideline-to-sidline off-ball linebacker that pairs well with Drew Sanders and Alex Singleton (assuming Singleton recovers from a torn ACL suffered in week 3 last year). Although Greenlaw has suffered from injury problems over the past 2 seasons, he is a front-line player with 4 80-tackle seasons and 2 100-tackle seasons on his resume. He’s one of the league’s best off-ball linebackers when healthy.

Greenlaw’s PFF score in limited action last year would have ranked him second on the Broncos team, behind only Pat Surtain. He’s the torpedo that the defense has been missing.

Baron gives the Donkeys a ton of flexibility. Denver can line him up in the slot, at safety, and at outside cornerback. He allows the Broncos to change formations without having to make substiutions. The man that stole the Thorpe from Travis Hunter (sorry not sorry) was the 2nd best defensive back in college football last year (sorry not sorry) and will be a Pro Bowl player sooner rather than later.

Add 2-time All Pro Evan Engram to the offense and the team starts to look like a strong playoff team. I believe they’ll be strong enough to finally unseat the Kansas City Chefs and win the AFC West.

Mailbag question: “Favorite WR on this year’s team?” –Mac from NYC

One of the things I noticed at the Spring game is that CU could use a tall outside WR. While CU’s wide receiver room is still very dynamic — Drelon Miller, Omarrion Miller, Kam Mikell, Tulsa transfer Joseph Williams, FSU wide receiver Hykeem Williams and true frehman like Quanell “X” Farrakhan Jr. and Quinten Gibson and — CU doesn’t have anyone over 6’3″ outside.

Enter Sincere Brown.

Brown is a 6’5″ WR that dominated the FCS last season for the Campbell Fighting Camels. He had 61 receptions for 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns for Campbell. His highlight video shows uncanny speed — something that is highly unusual for someone as tall as Campbell. Campbell has been timed on a Catapult system running 23.39 miles per hour — faster than anyone on CU’s roster last year. He presents unique problems for a defense that no one on CU’s roster can duplicate. I strongly believe he’ll be a bona fide NFL wide receiver.

Mailbag question: “What are some of your favorite college football websites?” — Dan D. in Mead, Colorado

I’ve got a lot of favorite football wesbites, but first on my list is MGoBlog.com. If you want to know how highly we think of them, check out why we’ve made this website: https://buffsblog.com/about/

I think Josh Pate does a great job with his YouTube videos. He’s not a hot-take maven, he’s smart, and he’s balanced. Those are 3 hard-to-find qualities in an industry that is more about getting clicks than being smart and nuanced. Here’s one of his more recent videos:

Now, for another site that I’ve recently stumbled upon that I really like, check out Hardcore College Football History on YouTube.

The videos are filmed in the basement of a Nebraska Corndogs fan’s’ house. Despite their inglorious origins, however, the videos are fantastic. They combine history with college football better than 99% of college football content, and they’re an easy way to learn about college football’s history over the past 100 years. One of the videos that I highly recommend is the video on the Single Wing offense, which dominated college football from 1910 to about 1945. The single wing offense also happens to be the offense coached by my youth football coach, Dan Rushing, which we used to great success in the Longmont Junior Football League in the late 1980s. Hajek Chevrolet Football (and the Rushing family) forever!!!!

Another great Hardcore College Football video covers the history of the T formation, which dominated college football starting in about 1945 until the early 1970s (at which point the T morphed into the option football schemes that dominated football through and until the 1990s). There’s no more beautiful play in college footabll than a perfectly executed triple option.

If you’re a fan (and since you’re on this website, so you’re either doing me a realllllllly big favor or you’re a fan), check out Hardcore College Football History. It’s a great site. If you’re so inclined, support them via patreon.

Another YouTube channel that I’ve enjoyed is GFed. Think of his site as the internet’s stadium tour guide — except he typically isn’t invited into the stadium and therefore has to “find” his way inside. Over the last 2 years, he’s visited every Division 1 football stadium in the country and has the videos to prove it. I’m a sucker for college football stadiums, so his site is a great way to see diferent stadiums around the country, including lesser visited stadiums that are worth a look.

Last, there are a ton of CU-related YouTube channels. So many, in fact, that it’s probably impossible to consume all of them on a regular basis…and many of them are part of the CU Sponsored State Media. However, I do recommend YouTube Premium for those that are online a lot. It’s the best streaming service out there, particularly for CU fans given all the CU-centric YouTube content.

What other websites / youtube sites should I be aware of? Drop a comment below!

Mailbag question: “Is there a way to get All 22 film of CU games on a regular basis?” –Dave in Boulder

This is the holy grail and I haven’t found it. If anyone is aware of a way to get “All 22” film of CU (and their opponents) during the regular season, please let us know!

BuffsBlog is going to do film breakdowns and previews during the football regular season, and this practice will be much, much easier (and the content will be much, much better) if we can access All 22 game film. If you have a source, please drop me a line at [email protected] (again, the email address that explains that it is an email address). Dave, I’ll let you know what I hear. TIA!

Mailbag question: “What do you think of the Denver NWSL team’s new stadium?” –Clare in Longmont, Colorado

The stadium’s renderings looks great, the location is solid and ownership is only using $70m of taxpayer money for the new stadium (insert sarcasm font).

The stadium project will be located within the Denver city limits at Santa Fe Yards, adjacent to the Broadway Light Rail station and right off I-25. The plan includes a 3.5 acre park as well as a mixed-use development, and will open in the Spring of 2028. The stadium seats 14,500 fans and includes large canopies to protect the fans from the elements.

The team begins play in 2026 at a temporary stadium in Centennial.

It’s impossible not to notice the massive investment that the Denver NWSL ownership group is making in bringing the team to Denver. The group is paying $110 million as an expansion fee, at least $350 million for the new stadium, and a material amount (estimated to be about $100m) of money on the team HQ and training grounds/temporary stadium. This team, and the stadium, should be a game-changer for women’s sports in Colorado and reflects the passion of Denver and the NWSL’s continued growth.

Now for my one concern — Santa Fe Yards, while great for public transportation, is not well suited for driving / parking lots. And there are those of us that don’t live near light-rail stations, or that don’t have easily accessible bus rides to the stadium location — like those of us driving up from Longmont (as an aside — RTD, where’s the light rail that we’ve been paying for over the last 25 years?!?!?!). There needs to be enough general parking that some of us can drive to the game easily and without too much hassle.

And no, we don’t hate the enviornment.

Mailbag question: “What are the downsides to playing another team in the Spring game?” –Heath in Berthoud, Coloardo

Great ideas are in rare supply in 2025.

Pick up a newspaper. Turn on the TV. Check your twitter feed. We live in an idiocracy.

But then, like an oasis in the Sahara, along comes Deion Sanders and a new idea.

His idea? For Coloardo to play another team in a competitive Spring game. And the fans all said HALLELUJAH.

While other teams are cancelling their Spring games, Deion Sanders channeled his NFL experience and petitoned the NCAA to schedule joint practices and a competititve game on national TV. This is common sense. This is what fans want. This is what TV executives want. This is what players and coaches want.

It’s not what the NCAA wants. But the NCAA, the Stegosaurus after the meteor strike, knows that spring games are coming in the next 2-3 years.

So do haven’t there been spring games before between 2 competitive schools setting aside NCAA incompetence?

Because no one wants to be first. Folks are terrified to be first. Deion Sanders wants to be first.

I can hear some low-IQ folks (Nebraska Corndogs fans perchance?) with objections. “This is the perfect opportunity for other teams to scout your players and poach them!” they may say. But this is the wrong way to think in modern college football. Instead, programs should focus on creating more exposure, more publicity, and more TV time. Players are attracted to programs that are high profile and that get them on TV — not programs that are afraid to put players in the spotlight. Deion Sanders undertstands this better than anyone. After all, the NFL Network broadcast CU’s Pro Day on April 4th (!).

Re: Corndog’s fan’s objections, the post-Spring transfer potal is going to go away (probably next year), so we’ll start to see more competitive Spring games in the near future regardless of the merits of this objection.

“This creates unnecessary additional injury risk for players,” Corndogs fan says. And then I remind them of math. In a competitive Spring game, Colorado will have 11 players on the field, with the opposing team having 11 players on the field. Compare this to a Spring football game, when all 22 players are Colorado players. That’s 1/2 of the injury risk, folks.

“This wastes valuable practice days on game preparation,” Corndogs fan says. Deion Sanders was not just scheduling a game — he was trying to schedule a week of practice againt a big time division one opponent. That practice time that will give coaches the invaluable ability to self-scout their own roster for weaknesses.

“Fans want other forms of fan engagement in 2025, which is what other teams are doing instead of having Spring games,” Corndogs fan says while nervously looking over his shoulder at Matt Rhule. This is ludicrous. You know what football fans want to watch more than a dodgeball game or tug-of-war or playres running drills? Football games.

So well played, Deion Sanders. You may have had 2025’s one great idea. Too bad the NCAA screwed it up.

Are the Colorado Rockies the worst team in MLB history? — Caroline D. in Denver, Colorado

We here at BuffsBlog refuse to write about the Rockies until Dick Monfort sells the team. But we will say one thing — we here at BuffsBlog will actively root against the Rockies until Little Dicky sells the team. I think, in this case, pictures say it best.

Sell the team, Dick.

What can we do to support this website, John? –John near Longmont, Colorado

Editor’s note: yep, we’ve been fans for a long time. That’s me and the squad from about 35 years ago.

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