We All Underestimated the Colorado Buffaloes

During our podcast when we talked about the upcoming football season RD asked me about expectations for Deion Sanders and Colorado. I made sure to say that I thought they would be good, but it was going to take some time. I figured being in the Pac 12, the final year of the conference, all the transfers and just the jump from division 1-AA to division 1 was going to force some hard adjustments.

Colorado came out in week one and put it on TCU. The game was close throughout, but Colorado looked faster. Colorado looked more prepared. Shaduer Sanders looked ready for the big stage. Travis Hunter proved time and time again why he was such a coveted recruit. And Colorado won. They were 21 point underdogs, the game was played at TCU, TCU is coming off a title game appearance, and Colorado beat them. All of the talk was about how cool this was. I was happy for Deion and the players who stuck it out with him. I thought it was cool that they went into a hostile environment and got a big time win.

The Buffaloes had their home opener this past Saturday. Nebraska is not what they used to be, but they are no slouch. This is a Big 10 team. They got a new coach who some people like. They were hoping for a similar turnaround that Colorado is having right now. And the game was pretty close into the third quarter. I was nervous for a Colorado letdown. I figured that would give all the jackasses not giving them credit even more ammo. And then the floodgates opened. The score was 10-7 when I left my son's football game. When I got home it was 36-14. Colorado ran past Nebraska. Travis Hunter had another highlight play. Shadeur Sanders played another excellent game. They talked and backed it up. I loved the post game stuff with Shadeur Sanders. They are now the hottest team and hottest ticket in all of college football.

Colorado was very bad a season ago. They went 1-11. They had so much roster turnover. I loved the hire of Sanders, but again, I thought he needed some time. I was wrong. My expectations were way too low. Colorado is a legit college football team. They have the guys to have a special season. This could be one of those exceptional turnarounds in sports we see and love. They should be a bowl team. Shadeur Sanders is backing up the talk. Deion is backing up the talk. Travis Hunter could be invited to New York at the end of the year. He could be a first round pick already. When I look at their schedule I think they could finish as good as 9-3 or 10-2, and as low as 7-5. That is a massive shift from where they were a season ago. They have some tough upcoming games, that is for sure. They have to go to Oregon and play the Ducks, who's defense has been much better than I thought. They get USC at home. but Caleb Williams looks every bit the part of a guy who can win the Heisman again. They have to travel to UCLA, which is a winnable game, but a tough place to play. They do have to play Oregon State. And they finish the year with a trip to Utah. The schedule is not easy, but I think they like that. They want to prove people wrong. College football is also a fickle game. Crazy things happen all the time. Colorado could pull some upsets and end up being in the CFP talk late into the season.

I am a Michigan fan through and through, but I have bought into the Colorado hype. I love Deion and I like this team. They have been the best story of the young college season so far, and I think they will continue to be one of the top stories, especially if they pull off some massive upsets. This is fun and Deion Sanders is so perfect for the college game. My hat is off to Colorado and I am so very sorry for underating them going into the season. Colorado is legit. They are a very good team. Watch out for them the rest of the year. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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I Believe in Coach Prime at Colorado

Deion Sanders is moving from Jackson State to Colorado. I always figured Sanders was going to move on to a different job. I just thought it might be a bigger profile school.

Before I get into that, the job he did at JSU was incredible. In three seasons he had a record of 27-5. JSU went undefeated this season. They blew out almost every opponent. Sanders was able to pull in high profile recruits. "College Gameday" made an appearance at JSU this past season. Sanders was out there beating the drum for HBCU's, and he did a great job of getting them more recognition. I wonder what is going to happen now, with Sanders gone, to HBCU football. Time will tell. There are some big names coaching HBCU football teams, but they don't bring the same weight as Deion does, but they are still well known names. Now, let's talk about Deion taking the Colorado job.

I do not think this has to do with a paycheck. I know there are some rumors about money at JSU, but none of that has been proven. Deion is also already a very, very rich man. He played two sports professionally and played them both very well. He was a better football player, but he had the talent to be exceptional at two sports at the highest level and he was compensated as such. Money is not the issue here.

I think Deion took this job for the challenge. I think he did what he could do as best he could at JSU and he wanted another challenge, a tougher challenge. HBCU football is top notch now, so Deion was ready to try his luck elsewhere. Colorado is in bad shape. They have not had a winning record since 2016. They were bad last year and even worse this year. They won one game. Colorado was a big time player in the 90's, but they have not made a ton of noise since. Even joining the Pac 12 has not raised their level of play.

This is about as tough a challenge as Deion could get. This feels like a semi lateral move. I think Colorado is only a little better than JSU. But Deion is already changing things there. He told the current players to get in line or transfer out. He told them he was going to be bringing his own players over at crucial positions. The way he put the message out there was kind of messed up, but at least he was honest with them up front. And he is already showing his ability to bring over quality players. His son was the best QB in the SWAC last season. He is now a Buffalo. Travis Hunter was the number one overall recruit last season, Deion got him to commit to JSU on signing day and Hunter crushed in his freshman season. He is now a Buffalo. There are other players who have entered the portal and put it out there that they want to play for Deion. If I was a college player I would be tempted to go play for him. He was electric to watch when he played and I love the passion he has for the game. Deion is going to do just fine on the recruiting trail. The stuff that makes this job tough is competition. As I said, Deion will get solid players, top level recruits, but it is going to take time. Colorado is not a job that he will be able to switch in three years. It is going to take time. Colorado is not only very bad, they play tough Pac 12 teams. Travis Hunter should fit in fine at the D-1 level, but who knows about the other kids coming over from JSU. JSU is D-1, but they have not played athletes the caliber that they will see at Colorado. They are going to have to play Oregon. Oregon is very good and has top recruiting classes every year. Oregon State has continued to get better. Utah has won the Pac 12 twice. UCLA and USC have one more Pac 12 season before they bounce. The schedule is going to be hard at first. The weather is going to be a factor. It gets cold and snowy in Colorado. Some kids will have to adjust. The administration better give Deion time. He is going to need, at the very least, three years. I fully believe in him, believe in his recruiting and his excellent coaching. But he needs a long leash. The powers that be need to be patient. It will eventually pay dividends, but he needs time.

All in all I love this hire for Colorado. They had the best coaching hire in college football. Full stop. I also think this challenge is perfect for Deion because he is not afraid of anything. He will succeed. If he gets time. I'm so stoked to watch him coach.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Heartbreaking Sports Moments and Being a Grownup

Artistic representation of Wolverine fans after the Michigan vs Michigan State game

I feel absolutely awful for the Michigan Wolverine football fans. Here at SeedSing we talk a whole lot about sports, and our pop culture editor Ty is an unapologetic Michigan fan. His fandom drives much of the great writing on our website. Ty's fanatical support of Michigan, the Green Bay Packers, and the St. Louis Cardinals have afforded him many great sporting triumphs. He has celebrated these triumphs like most die hard sports fans. He has been gleeful, and sometimes a little annoying. Many times I have wanted to see his teams lose, just to bring Ty down a few notches. I am his older brother, and I am therefore legally, and spiritual, obligated to be an asshole to my little brother. 

I would never wish on any sports fan the agony of witnessing Michigan's heartbreaking loss in their game to in state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. I have witnessed many sports tragedies / miracles, and nothing comes close to the Wolverines defeat on the night of October 17th, 2015. The games was won, and a routine play by a position given no respect, goes horrible wrong. The Spartans are ecstatic for winning when there was no hope, and the Wolverines are crushed by watching certain victory be replaced by unbelievable defeat. This loss for Michigan fans is as bad as it gets, but they are by no means alone in the world of crushing sports moments.  Let me invite all Michigan fans to the RD Kulik gathering of watching your team lose in unbelievably heart wrenching drama.

I was a young pre-teen in 1985 watching my hometown St. Louis Cardinals go for their 2nd World Series victory in 4 years. This time the Cards were playing the cross state Kansas City Royalsin the "I-70 Series" (way cooler than the idiotic Subway Series). Both teams had a lot of legacy on the line. The Royals had baseball heroes like George Brett and Bret Saberhagen. The Cardinals were a mix of veteran superstars like Ozzie Smith and rising stars like NL MVP Willie McGee and stolen base machine Vince Coleman. This Cardinals team is the one all of my gen x St. Louis peers remember as their very own. The series was all going St. Louis's way until the fateful Game 6. Bottom of the ninth, Cards up 1-0, the Royals Jorge Orta hits a weak infield grounder that is fielded by Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark, who then tosses the ball to rookie pitcher Todd Worrell planted at first base. Umpire Don Denkinger was manning the first base side, and he called the Royals Orta safe. Replay clearly showed that Worrell beat Orta to the bag, yet Denkinger's call stood. After a few misfortunes, the Royals scored two runs and won Game 6. The World Series went to a decisive Game 7, and the Cardinals were still pissed about Denkinger's call the previous night. The Royals clinched their first (and only, so far) championship after crushing the Cardinals 11-0. Many St. Louis fans, including me, never got past Denkinger's bad call. That safe call at first broke a young Cardinals fan heart, and 30 years later it still stings. It stings, but I got over it. I am a grownup.

My beloved Missouri Tigers have had two heartbreaking moments over the last 25 years. The lowly Tigers (4-7 in 1990) had the dominate Colorado Buffaloes on the road to defeat. Missouri was leading 31-27 late in the fourth quarter when Colorado started to drive the field. With time running down, the Colorado Buffaloes were close to the goal line. The Colorado quarterback spiked the ball, on second down the Colorado running back was stuffed for no gain, the Buffs offense called a timeout on third down. The running back was stuffed again, and then the Buffs quarterback spiked the ball once again to stop the clock. During the Colorado timeout the umpire crew never switched the down marker from 2nd to 3rd down. Missouri, and myself, believed the game was won after a spike on fourth down. Colorado, and the refs, thought the spike was on 3rd down. On the next play, fifth down, the Buffalo's quarterback took the ball and dived for the end zone. Touchdown. Missouri loses, and Colorado goes on the share the 1990 NCAA College Football Championship with Georgia Tech. That play sucked, but I got over it. I am an adult.

In 1997 the Missouri Tigers were once again on the raw end of call concerning a team who would go on to share the National Championship. The Nebraska Cornhuskers came to Columbia Missouri with a #1 ranking, and a two plus decade winning streak against the Tigers. Missouri was starting to become a respectable football program, and beating #1 Nebraska would be a huge step forward. With Missouri leading 38-31, Nebraska seemingly missed a game winning touchdown as time expired. One of the Cornhusker players illegally kicked a ball in the air so another Nebraska player could catch it. Missouri fans stormed the field when the clock expired. Upstart Sampson had beaten mighty Golaith. Not so fast. The refs decided the kick was not intentional (the Nebraska player himself has said he meant to kick the ball) and awarded the Cornhuskers a game tying touchdown. In overtime Nebraska scored, Missouri did not. Another victory taken away by questionable officiating. Nebraska would end the season sharing the National title with the Michigan Wolverines. That moment sucked, but I got over it. I am a grown up

1997 was the last year the Wolverines have won a National title. The last decade and a half has not been very kind to Ty and other Michigan fans. Hope was starting to spring with the hire of alumni Jim Harbaugh. The Wolverine football team was climbing itself back into football respectability. They had their upstart in state rivals beaten, all they had to do was punt the ball. With that one simple play, everything went wrong. Hearts were broken. Michigan fans will never forget the end of that game. The Wolverine fans thought the name Kordell Stewart was going to cause the most pain, not any more. The game between Michigan and Michigan State on October 17th, 2015 will always sting with Michigan Wolverine fans. It will sting, but you will get over it, if you are a grownup.

Watching our favorite teams lose in heart breaking fashion will never leave our psyche. How we handle this heart break says a lot about us as civilized people. It has been 30 years, and I still shudder when I someone says the name of Don Denkinger. What would I do if I met Mr. Denkinger in real life? Would I spit on him? Punch him? Commit an insane illegal act upon him? No I would not. I may jokingly tell him that he broke a 10 year old's heart, and he would probably give a good natured laugh , and I would be happy to talk baseball with a man who witnessed some of the greatest times in the game I love. That is what a grown up does. Most Michigan fans who get to meet Kordell Stewart would probably give him some good natured grief about beating their team on a miracle throw, after that they would sit back and talk about a memorable game from a man who was there. That is what a grown up does. Our heart break creates bonds over the love of sports, and the love of our teams. No Cardinals fan hates their team because of Denkinger's call, and no Michigan fan hates their team because of a bad punt play. These bad moments make us love our teams even more. We love them for what the could have done. We love them for what we hope they do.

The psychopaths who use social media to threaten and destroy a college kid because of a bad play are not grownups. These animals are not even fans of the teams they are trying to protect. If you love the Michigan Wolverines, you are not someone who would anonymously threaten a NCAA student athlete. The fans of Michigan football will live with the pain, complain about what could have been, and will go on rooting for their beloved team. You jackasses who use the internet to harass a college kid, you are not the fans Michigan wants. Go away and leave the heartbreak for the true fans.

Sports fandom belongs to the idealistic 10 year olds and the hopeful adults. Denkinger, Colorado, and Nebraska will always be times that fill me with despair. These are also the times that remind me what being a fan is all about. I still root for my teams, I will not let any one person or event take away my fandom. The day after, the weeks after, the years after, will always suck. The victories of tomorrow will wash away that suck.

I am sorry for that horrible ending in the Michigan game. One day Ty, and all Michigan fans will have a great victory to wash away the pain. Being a grownup will make one appreciate that victory. Do not let the bullying, non-athletic, assholes tarnish that victory. Sports fandom belongs to the idealistic and hopeful. I am afraid for the Minnesota Golden Gopher fans, Michigan is going to be pissed.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor of SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He really wants to hear about your heartbreaking sports pain. Tell him all about it by writing for SeedSing.