Rich's sometimes disjointed rambling

A special Christmas present

2011-12-24T10:32:00.003-07:00

About a month ago while still in the hospital, Teresa asked me what I wanted for Christmas.

My answer was nothing other than for her to come home for Christmas.

As turned out, my prayers were answered; she's been home for nearly two weeks.

When we first got her discharge date a couple months ago, Teresa began planning ahead. As you would expect, she had many goals in mind, but her three main goals were to: 1. Get home, 2. Decorate the house for Christmas, 3. Cook for Christmas.

As it turned out, she fulfilled just one of those goals. Physically she just isn't ready for the last two.

We haven't really decorated (probably my fault) and we are ordering out for Christmas dinner (for Christmas Eve, as Teresa's mother is here but will leave for home on Christmas Day).

While decorating and cooking was something that Teresa wanted to do desperately at first, she has realized that this year was just too early for her to be able to do that. I expect that to change bext year, knock on wood.

In the meantime, things have gone well for her physically. The last two weeks have been hectic, to say the least. Between home health care aides (twice a day), home health nurses, physical therapy and social work, two different doctor's house calls (only in Wyoming, huh?), along with medical supplies being delivered on a daily basis, it has been a revolving front door.

Our dog Sam has greeted every person who has walked through the door, first with a bark, then with his tail waging a hundred miles an hour. Let's put it this way, he's a 120-pound black lab with the need to be in the way at all times. At the same time, Sam has stayed at Teresa's side since the instant she came home. He missed his Mama, too.

While I earlier said things have gone well physically for Teresa, it's been a little up and down mentally. While it has been very positive to finally come home after being in a hospital for 14 months, it has been a little concerning for Teresa as well. She is worried that her being home will be a burden for everyone. Let's face it, she still is a paraplegic and needs constant care with her medication and everything that the nurses did in her hospital stay. That needs to be done basically 24 hours a day, so sleep can be at a minimum at times.

When she is feeling down, I have to remind her that she is not a burden. She's my wife. She's my life. I take our vows of "for better or for worse" seriously. I have no doubt that if the role was reversed, she would have dropped everything in her life to take care of me. That's just the way she is.

A while back we had agreed to not buy each other gifts for Christmas. A couple days ago I found out that Teresa had talked to a friend about getting presents for me, her daughter Cassie and her mother.

Of course, that meant a quick trip for me to Wal-Mart.

Recently, I had to take my car into the shop for brake work that cost me over $800, which is probably the last thing that we needed as I'm only working part-time and we still have a lot of remodeling to do to get the house right for Teresa's disability. Then Friday we got a Christmas card that appeared to be just another Christmas card. But this card was a little different. Inside was a personal check from a long-time friend of Teresa's for $1,000.

When I showed it to her and told her exactly how much the check was for, she screamed (and cried) like we had just won the lottery.

Except for we already had won the lottery. Teresa was home.

Ghost kids in Teresa's hospital

2011-10-31T20:42:00.001-06:00

In Teresa's hospital in Denver there is talk about the facility being a little haunted, so to speak. Haunted in the sense that there have been sightings of ghost children, particularly of a little girl on the sixth floor.

The sixth floor is currently being renovated into a short-term nursing home. At one time, it was a pediatric ward.

The rumor is a little girl died in the elevator. Evidently, she still hangs around, constantly roaming the halls.

At some point somebody got a picture of her, which resembled mostly a shadow. But several people have verified they have seen her.

Teresa , meanwhile, believes she has seen a shadow figure of a little boy playing at the foot of her bed. She's even talked him, asking him what is his name and what he is doing. The boy has never answered, but he has apparently shut the bathroom door, the main door and has shaken the blinds on the window, when the window was closed.

At other times, he has apparently scared some of the nurses to the point whee they are afraid to go in certain rooms. There have also been various reports of doors slamming and elevator doors opening with no one there.

About three weeks ago, Teresa was puttering around in her electric wheelchair and by mistake went up to the sixth floor. It was in the elevator where she had an accident and the door smashed her leg, cutting it and actually breaking her fibula bone.

Teresa said she actually believes the ghost girl tried to help her by getting a construction worker's attention and he helped get Teresa back down to the fourth floor, where she resides.

Although one could also suggests that the girl ghost was trying to hurt Teresa by shutting the door on her, she thinks that that wasn't the case.

While telling an aide tonight of the ghost kids, the aide suddenly got goose bumps and she seemed a little spooked.

With it being Halloween, the ghost kids might do a little trick-or-treating tonight. It's a good thing we have plenty of candy.

2010-12-20T15:42:00.001-07:00

Shoot the ball

2010-03-04T16:19:00.005-07:00

If a team shoots well, its chances of success increase considerably.

That's frickin' brilliant, if I do say so myself. I need to start posting on the local sports message boards so I can test my sports knowledge with former junior varsity players who actually believe they can coach better than the current coach and school donors who automatically know more because they donate more.

This week for the Wyoming basketball teams, shooting well was the key in wins over Air Force.

The Cowboys broke an eight-game slide by hitting 9 of 23 3-pointers and playing solid defense. Now, 9 of 23 3-pointers isn't Earth shaking, but for the 'Pokes, that wasn't too bad. Actually, it was pretty darn good.

"As simple as it sounds, we made some shots tonight," Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said after the win over the Falcons. "When you make nine threes, that is going to give you a chance to win."

Earth-shaking stuff, huh.

For some reason, the Earth seems to shake in the Cowgirls favor against the Falcons. In two games, Wyoming has scored 165 points, connecting on 38 of 61 3-point attempts. If you saw Wyoming crush Air Force earlier in the season in Laramie, you saw a team hit an incredible 20 of 30 3-pointers. At that point, you would think that that could never happen again.

Think again, kind of. In Wednesday night's win, the Cowgirls connected of 18 of 31 attempts.

In Sunday's four-point loss to Utah at home, Wyoming was just 3 of 15 beyond the land of trey. In fact, between the two Air Force games, the Cowgirls had hit just 27 percent of their 3-pointers.

“Once again, we shot the ball extremely well against Air Force,” UW head coach Joe Legerski said.

Like I said, the better you shoot the basketball, the better you play. I just can't get over myself.

Thanks for the memories

2010-03-01T13:44:00.010-07:00

As I put my watch up to my ear, I expect to hear click, click, click, as each second moves forward.

Kind of like my current days as a sportswriter ... click, click, click.

For some reason, though, the watch is silent as it continues time.

Again, kind of like my current days of operating Wyoming Sports.org.

Yikes, cliche' overload here.

The simple fact is my sports website is probably on its last leg. I say probably because in two weeks I will begin a new job as news copy editor/designer for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne.

Not only will I not have the time to cover local sporting events in Laramie, I can see my new employers likely not wanting me to compete against the WTE's fine sports staff. It makes perfect sense and I totally understand.

When the position opened a while back, with my wife's blessing and encouragement, I decided to apply for the job. Friday night I was offered the position and I accepted.

I do admit it will be a little strange not being a sportswriter, something that I have done since my high school days. But it came down to having a full-time position again, something I haven't had since my departure from the Boomerang in October 2007. The WTE job is not in sports, but that's OK. I can adapt and I look forward to the challenge.

After that "departure" from the Boomerang, I did some freelance writing before starting Wyoming sports.org. I started the website for the simple fact that the freelance jobs had dried up a bit and I was still going to all of the local sporting contests. Why not still write about them?

Eventually, I was able to get the capabilities for advertising on Wyoming Sports.org with the intent of making a living off of what I love to do, being a sportswriter. The money aspect, however, just never picked up. I guess the timing wasn't right.

I was also to pick up a little time some part-time Associated Press work for home UW men's and women's basketball and a little airtime on local radio stations KOWB and KCGY as one of the hosts of Sportsline Live, as well as some part-time board work at the stations. That has been great and I truly thank David Settle for the opportunity for SLL. Depending on my days' off at the WTE, I hope to continue to be on SLL, as I will commute to Cheyenne for the time being.

With the recent rash of bad health of my wife, the need for a full-time job was critical, as Teresa is not able to work any longer. Hence, the looking for a job again in the newspaper business. I feel truly blessed that I have been able to find work again because I wouldn't wish being unemployed on anyone. I had worked full time since my college graduation in 1982, and under no circumstances, did I ever feel like I would be without a job. But it did happen. It's been a tough, tough last 2 1/2 years, to say the least.

I would expect to faze out parts of Wyoming Sports.org in the next couple of weeks. Will I drop it completely? I'm not sure yet. We'll see.

Regardless, I have enjoyed my little adventure in the online media business (other than not being paid). And here's a huge thank you to the University of Wyoming sports information department for keeping me credentialed and treating me like I still belonged. Thank you to my loyal readers in the last couple of years. Until I scaled things back a few months ago, the numbers were promising, so I knew that I had a little audience out there.

Oh yeah, make sure you read the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Facing UW usually means good things

2010-02-22T13:45:00.002-07:00

The Wyoming Cowboys have a little break this week, with their only action Saturday at Utah.

Good for the Cowboys, bad for the rest of the Mountain West Conference.

As a seven-game losing skid would attest, playing against the Cowboys lately does good things for a team and individual players.

New Mexico and BYU, both already ranked in the Top 20 in the various national polls, earned big wins over Wyoming last week. The reward: The Lobos have moved up to 10th in the AP poll and the Cougars have advanced three spots to 13th.

BYU's Jimmer Fredette, who scored 22 points against the 'Pokes on Saturday, was named this week's MWC Player of the Week. He also had 36 points in the win against CSU on Thursday. OK, that helped. It was also Fredette's fifth POW honors. Pencil him down for player of the year.

The way things have gone in league play this year, facing Wyoming usually gets you player of week honors. For the past three weeks, players who have faced Wyoming have earned the honors and five times out seven weeks that has been the case.

Several Utes might be licking their lips.

Utah to the Pac-10?

2010-02-12T20:27:00.002-07:00

If I was Craig Thompson, commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, I might be sweating at this time.

The news broke that the Pac-10 was looking at the possibility of expanding. One of the favorites for the move was Utah, along with Colorado. BYU would be a no go because the school doesn't play on Sundays for religious reasons. But if CU moves to the Pac-10, BYU could go to the Big 12.

It's a dominoes effect that could spell trouble, regardless, for the MWC.

Here's a link on an opinion piece of the possible moves recently in the Sporting News.

Davis leaves Cowboy basketball program

2010-02-05T21:12:00.005-07:00

I'd be pulling your chain if I said that I didn't see this coming, but sophomore A.J. Davis has left the Cowboy basketball team.

Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer announced the move on Friday in a short press release -- they are always short when a player leaves a program. The release stated that Davis left the program for personal reasons.

“We wish A.J. all the best in the future,” said Schroyer.

The quote of course is what all coaches say in this type of release ... just fill in the blank with the name.

That's fine. What else is the coach supposed to say?

Davis, a sophomore from Columbus, Ohio, had played in all 22 games this season. He was averaging 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 0.7 assists per game.

In Mountain West Conference games, Davis was averaging 4.4 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 0.4 assists.

My money is on the latter of his season stats as to the reason for Davis' departure.

On Wednesday against UNLV, Davis stole the opening tip and took it in for a layup. As it turned out, they were his last points as a Cowboy, as he was fouled and missed the free throw, then missed his only other shot in the game. He played eight minutes and stayed on the bench after his third straight turnover and fourth in the game.

In the release, it was stated that Schroyer will not have any further comment.

As will I (not have any further comment).

Drunk Packers fan

2010-02-02T11:27:00.003-07:00

One of my favorite websites, The Onion, has updated its site and is looking good.

To kick off the new Onion, what would be more enjoyable than making fun of Packers fans.

So, here's my Onion clip of the week:

Drunk Packers fan

Record setting day

2010-02-01T16:52:00.005-07:00

It was understandable if, despite your allegiance to the Cowgirl basketball team, you decided to sit Saturday's game out.

After all, it was against Air Force, a team the Cowgirls have only lost to twice in their program history. You're thinking, we'll just wait for next Saturday's game against rival CSU.

Well, by now you know that by missing the 98-37 Cowgirl slaughter, you missed somewhat of a historic game.

Here's what you missed.

MWC games only records set:

1) Field goal percentage (.775, 37-for-49 shooting)

2. Assists in a single game (34).

3. Points scored (98)

4. Hillary Carlson -- shooting percentage (10 of 11, 909).

MWC games only records tied:

1) 3-point field goals made (20)

The Cowgirls 37 field goals are also the second most in a conference game and the 20 3-pointers broke a Wyoming record of 14 set against Air Force in 2004 and Dakota State at the Wyoming Shootout earlier this season.

Obviously, the biggest thing about the win, Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said, is the way his team shot the basketball.

"We can shoot the basketball, we're a good shooting team," Legerski said. "But you don't go into any game thinking you are going to shoot 75 percent from the field or 84 percent in the first half. Shooting is contagious. We all know that it is easier to shoot when we are up 20 points than when we are up two. We got off to a great start and we were just able to continue it for 40 minutes."

Just the game before, the Cowgirls hit just 1 of 9 3-pointers in the loss at Utah. On Tuesday, Wyoming will travel to UNLV and face an up and down Rebels team that beat Utah in Salt Lake City, but just got by Air Force last week by one point.

Legerski knows it is tougher on the road shooting the basketball and he doesn't expect anything close to Saturday when they face the Rebels. chances are, if the Cowgirls shot half as well, especially from the 3-point line, he would probably take it.

Oklahoma State overwhelms UW

2010-01-29T21:45:00.005-07:00

Losing close matches often doesn't reflect the final team score in collegiate wrestling and that was the case as No. 4 Oklahoma State rolled past the Wyoming Cowboys 31-3 in front of a record wrestling crowd of 2.566 Friday night in the Arena-Auditorium.

Oklahoma State won three one-point matches, five (including one in overtime) bouts by three points or less and another by four points. Yet, the final score was lopsided.

to say the least, Wyoming head coach Mark Branch, a former All-American, national champion and assistant coach at Oklahoma State, wasn't happy with just wrestling close.

“The crowd was great, the band was great, the cheerleaders were great and we weren’t great,” Branch said. “That was the difference. We were OK. If I was OK with close losses, then I would be real happy, but I’m not OK with close losses.”

For more on the match, check back later on Wyoming Sports.org.
---
No. 4 Oklahoma State 31, Wyoming 3
125 -- No. 10 Chris Notte (OSU) dec. No. 11 Michael Martinez 3-2.
133 -- No. 5 Jordan Oliver (OSU) dec. Cory VomBaur 4-3.
141 -- No. 8 Jamal Park (OSU) dec. Chase Smith 8-1.
149 -- Cole Dallaserra (WYO) dec. Luke Silver 3-0.
157 -- No. 17 Neil Erisman (OSU) maj. dec. Jimmy Belleville 13-0.
165 -- No. 9 Alex Meade (OSU) dec. No. 10 Shane Onufer 8-6.
174 -- No. 7 Mike Benefeil (OSU) dec. Brock Smith 7-3.
184 -- No. 10 Clayton Foster (OSU) dec. No. 6 Joe LeBlanc 8-5, overtime.
197 -- No. 7 Alan Gelogaev (OSU) dec. Alfonso Hernandez 3-2.
Hwt. -- No. 1 Jared Rosholt (OSU) pin. L.J. Helbig 2:30.

Clank goes the free throws

2010-01-28T12:25:00.004-07:00

Evidently, when a basketball team struggles at the free-throw line, it is only a concern when the team loses.

In close losses to TCU and New Mexico, the Cowboys struggled at the line. Looking back, if there is one thing that cost them the wins, it was probably poor free-throw shooting.

On Wednesday, if the Cowboys had shot free throws like they did against TCU and New Mexico, they would have likely been up by double digits down the stretch, rather than the game going down to the wire in the 75-69 victory.

"It's kind of like how it was the last few games. If we had made our free throws, those would have been games that we would have had wins," Wyoming sophomore Adam Waddell said.

They were head scratching, mind boggling bad at times on Wednesday at the charity stripe. Free throws were not free.

Wyoming had to hit 7 of 9 down the stretch just to get over the .500 mark, finally settling on 23 of 44.

Forty four attempts were more like it, as Wyoming is one of the top teams in the country in free throws attempted. Twenty three makes, however, don't really cut it.

“There's no question that if you miss that many free throws, you put yourself behind the 8-ball,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. “We made enough to win, especially down the stretch, which was big,”

True and true.

For a while, though, it was hard to watch. Wyoming was 7 of 20 from the line at one time. For some strange reason, the Cowboys were ahead despite those shooting woes. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Somehow, the Cowboys survived, and that's a good thing.

"Coach said he has never been part of a team that has missed 21 free throws and we won,"said Waddell. "We battled back and that is definitely something we are going to keep working on, keep working on."

And if these free-throw shooting woes continue, then it will be time to get a little worried.

"We made just enough to win," Schroyer said.

Today's NFL prediction is ....

2010-01-24T12:31:00.003-07:00

The good thing about a blog is I can come back and change things at any time.

So here it is, my NFL championship predictions.

The Saints and Colts in the Super Bowl.

It's about one-half hour before the Colts and Jets face off, as the original timeline of me writing this blog will attest to that. Now, I can come back later tonight and change my mind and the timeline will be the same. Thanks Blogger.

Now that I have that in your head, you're wondering did he really pick the Colts and the Saints? If you listened to Sportsline Live on Friday, that's what I said.

I also said I wouldn't be shocked if it was the Vikings and Jets. I'm covering my behind on this a bit, I admit, but, like they say, "On any given Sunday..."

I pick the Saints for one main reason -- they are home in the Superdome. If this game was in the Metrodome, I'd pick the Vikings, as much as that pains a Packers fan to say.

This could be an offensive shoooout, to say the least. With that said, the game will probably be decided on a defensive play, like the Cardinals-Packers.

I pick the Colts because they are a better team, period, and they have Peyton Manning. That doesn't mean I think it will be an Indy rout. I have to admit, I've been impressed with the Jets, but they are a New York team and that's all I will say about that.

So here it is: Colts vs. Saints in the Super Bowl. Or Colts vs. Vikings; Jets vs. Saints; Jets vs. Vikings; Colts vs. Vikings.

I'll let you know tonight who I really picked.

MWC video

2010-01-17T16:30:00.001-07:00

Saturday's Mountain West Conference video action from The Mtn.

The Cowboys big but

2010-01-17T15:00:00.007-07:00

With three home games in their first four, the Wyoming Cowboys needed to hold serve to get out to a decent Mountain West Conference start.

Instead, the Cowboys lost two of the three home games and are off to a 1-3 MWC beginning.

The reward for the start? Improved play, head coach Heath Schroyer said.

Reality, however, has the Cowboys still just 1-3 and BYU on tap Wednesday night in Provo. BYU of course, is now the lone Top 25 conference team and arguably now the best team in the league.

Did I say the game was in Provo? Yeah, I did.

“We are getting better," Schroyer said. "A month ago, we wouldn’t have been in this game. If we can continue to make strides like we have, we’re going to be a tough team the rest of this season."

Schroyer is right. The Cowboys are better than they were a month ago. The only problem, though, is the 'Pokes were pretty bad a month ago or so. Losses to South Dakota State, Hampton and Monmouth will attest to that.

Many Wyoming fans will add Colorado State to the bad loss category. Any loss to CSU, in Brown and Gold glasses, is bad.

But, if you give Wyoming wins in those three early losses, the Cowboys would stand at 11-7, instead of 8-10.

To go a little further, if the Cowboys somehow managed to make the plays necessary in the two-point loss to New Mexico and the three-point loss to TCU in Fort Worth earlier this week, and the Cowboys would be 3-1 in league play and (add the three early losses) and 13-5 overall.

As Pee Wee Herman said, "Everyone I know has a big but." None of that has happened and the Cowboys big but is that they are 1-3 in league play and 8-10 overall.

I did say that the Cowboys are at No. 18/17 BYU on Wednesday, didn't I?

The glass is half full reasoning does say that, just one-fourth into the league season, the Cowboys have been close lately, but not able to quite break through. They're close. If they play like they did in the upset win over San Diego State, they can play with anybody.

"We're a heck of a lot better now than we were a month ago. ... It doesn't make people feel any better, but it doesn't matter to me," Schroyer said. "The guys that matter to me are my coaches and the guys in the locker room. I'm not really concerned with wins and losses as much as I am getting better. The wins will take care of themselves."

The glass is half empty reasoning says that the Cowboys, other than the win over San Diego State, they can't win the close game and can't energize themselves to beat their biggest rival, CSU. The rest of the league season -- now with more road game than home games -- isn't very promising.

Basketball certainly can be a cruel game. Close isn't good enough. Winning is what matters in the end.

We'll see what happens.

The proof is in the picture?

2010-01-10T22:17:00.010-07:00

I'm still not complaining. Well, kind of not complaining. OK, I'm complaining a little bit.

I, along with about a zillion other Packers' fans, saw a facemask by the Cardinals' Michael Adams on the final play of Arizona's wild 51-45 overtime win over Green Bay Sunday in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs.

Apparently, the officials didn't see it and the talking heads who, when not looking in the mirror, analyzed the game afterwards and didn't see it. Oh yeah, the Cardinals fans did not see the facemask either.

First of all, the Packers didn't get cheated with the missed call. It happens. They lost the game because they made too many costly mistakes and couldn't stop the Arizona offense. Rated the No. 2 defense in the NFL, their performance was perplexing, to say the least.

But check out the picture by Matt York of AP Images. Somebody please tell me that his hand is not on the facemask. In the close-up video of the play, it shows that Aaron Rodgers' head is yanked around from it.

Maybe I just don't know the rules well enough.

Again, the Packers lost the game for other reasons than this play, but as a fan who always wants his team to win, I saw the play through green and yellow glasses. And of course, Jerry Rice fumbled (no instant replay then) a couple of plays before Terrell Owens' TD catch to beat the Packers in the 1999 playoffs.

I can't help it.

With that said, I'm done complaining.

Who am I fooling. I'll complain Monday night on the radio (Sportsline Live).

What others (me) are saying

2010-01-10T11:57:00.007-07:00

Here's what others were saying about the Wyoming men's and women's basketball matchups with San Diego State on Saturday.

Wait a minute. One of the others was me for SignOnSanDiego, the web site for the San Diego Union-Tribune. For the past three or four years I have freelanced for the Union Tribune for the UW-SDSU game in the A-A.

Note the comments on the bottom of the page from angry Aztecs fans. I guess losing to little Wyoming is about the end of the world. Sports fans are always so angry. Time to "Lighten up Francis" (quote from Stripes).

Here's the link to that story: Cowboys corral SDSU

Here's also the link from the local story for the Cowgirls-Lady Aztecs game: Lady Aztecs rout Cowgirls.

Cowboys keep on shooting

2010-01-03T16:35:00.003-07:00

To say A.J. Davis has struggled with his outside shot since joining the Cowboys as a true freshman last season would be ... well, somewhat of an understatement.

Going into Saturday's game with Adams State, Davis had hit three 3-pointers in 44 attempts. This season, he was 1 of 22.

On Saturday, Davis was a perfect 2 of 2, as he went on to score a career-high 26 points.

After the game, Davis grinned when asked about his outside shooting. Despite his previous numbers, he said he has to just keep plugging away.

"Confidence is just getting into the gym and shooting more," Davis said. "Coach has said to just shoot it and don't worry about it."

Evidently, shooting is contagious. The Cowboys hit 9 of 25 3-point attempts in the game, a season high. Going into the contest, Wyoming was hovering at about the 21-percent range from the land of three.

Senior Ryan Dermody hit 4 of 8 3-pointers en route to his season-high 19 points.

Dermody said that shooting is big on rhythm and confidence.

"As a team, it was big for us to knock down some outside shots so we know that we are capable of it no matter what the score is or who we are playing," Dermody said.

And again, shooting is contagious.

"When you see a teammate knock down a shot a shot it gives you confidence," Dermody added. "Everyone gets the momentum built up and guys feed off of that energy on offense and defense."

Now it will be interesting to see if the Cowboys can shoot the basketball from the outside in league play, as they open Wednesday against Colorado State.

Rich is on Twitter

2009-12-29T22:35:00.001-07:00

Rich is a twitt. No, Rich is on Twitter. That's it.

www.twitter.com/wyomingsports

Hammerschmidt returning to CSU

2009-12-29T22:01:00.003-07:00

Dan Hammerschmidt is heading back south of the border.

The long-time Colorado State assistant coach is returning to CSU after a year with the Wyoming Cowboys.

“Dan and I talked leading up to his decision to return to Fort Collins and coach at Colorado State,” Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen said. “I realize that his decision to return to Colorado State was made based on what he felt was best for his family. He has his two young children, Holly and Michael, to think about.

“Dan did a great job in the 12 months he has been at Wyoming. He made our program better, he helped us get back to and win a bowl game and he was a positive influence on the young men in our football program. We thank him for his contribution to Wyoming football this past year.”

Hammerschmidt joined Christensen’s original coaching staff at Wyoming in December of 2008. He was the assistant head coach and coached the Cowboy receivers and tight ends in his one season at Wyoming in 2009.

Cowboys win New Mexico Bowl

2009-12-19T18:23:00.004-07:00

New Mexico Bowl game stats

The Wyoming Cowboys overcome low expectations -- even going into the bowl season -- but come out a winner, beating highly favored Fresno State 35-28 in two overtimes Saturday in the New Mexico Bowl.

The game-winner came on a 13-yard pass from true freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels to junior wide receiver David Leonard. The Wyoming defense then stopped Fresno State on downs to secure the victory.

Under first-year head coach Dave Christensen, the Cowboys finished the season at 7-6.

More on the game later on Wyoming sports.org.

New Mexico Bowl on Twitter

2009-12-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

Cowboys-Bulldogs on www.twitter.com/wyomingsports.

Rich is on Twitter

2009-12-12T15:52:00.002-07:00

www.twitter.com/wyomingsports

Manzano leaves Cowboy program

2009-12-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

University of Wyoming head basketball coach Heath Schroyer announced on Thursday that Thomas Manzano has decided to leave the Cowboy basketball program for personal reasons.

“We wish Thomas nothing but the best in his future endeavors,” Schroyer said.

Manzano, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. who transferred to Wyoming from Garden City Community College, played in all eight games this season. The sophomore was averaging 7.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

Schroyer will have not have any further comment.

Ranking the bowl games

2009-12-08T15:57:00.003-07:00

Not that I really care about what an ESPN writer has to say, but I did find Mark Schlabach's ranking of the bowl games interesting.

Schlabach ranked the 34 bowls from 1-34, and surprise, surprise, he rated the Citi BCS National Championship Game between Texas and Alabama as No. 1. I guess that is a gimme. A national writer on ESPN.com writer has to rank the title game as the top game, whether it is or not.

He did rank Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, that features No. 4 TCU and No. 6 Boise State, as the second best bowl. I've give Schlabach credit for that.

Here's what he said of that game:

"Yes, it's a rematch of last season's Poinsettia Bowl, in which the Horned Frogs defeated the Broncos 17-16 in Boise's only loss of the season. But it's a heck of a lot better than trying to watch Iowa's offense score against TCU or Georgia Tech's defense trying to stop Boise State. It's a matchup of two unbeaten teams, and one of them could finish No. 2 in the country. TCU leads the country in total defense; Boise State leads the country in scoring."

In case you're wondering, Schlabach ranked the New Mexico Bowl matchup between Wyoming and Fresno State as the No. 30 bowl. No real surprise here.

Here's what he said of the game:

"Many college football fans will get to see Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews for the first time. He led the country in rushing yards per game with 151.3. Wyoming coach Dave Christensen would probably prefer not to see him after the Cowboys ranked 91st in run defense, allowing 170.5 yards per game."

Fair enough.

Bowl games ranked behind the New Mexico Bowl were:

31.) Roady's Humanitarian Bowl: Bowling Green vs. Idaho.
32.) International Bowl: South Florida vs. Northern Illinois.
33.) Eagle Bank Bowl: Army or UCLA vs. Temple.
34.) Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Marshall vs. Ohio.

The winner is ... Cowboy football

2009-12-07T16:26:00.012-07:00

Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman must have felt like he was presenting himself an award on Monday. It turned out to be a day of acceptance speeches.

New Mexico Bowl Executive Director Jeff Siembieda was to be in Laramie to officially extend an invitation to the Wyoming football team to play in the bowl game. He only got to Denver, though, and decided to head back to Albuquerque because of the Rocky Mountain winter.

So Burman was left to extend the invitation in place of Siembieda.

If Burman was in Hollywood, he probably would have said: “The Academy Award goes to ….. me.”

Well, maybe not quite. Wyoming coach Dave Christensen and the Cowboys were the recipient of the bowl invitation.

Burman would be the producer of the movie that won the Academy Award.

“We are here to finally accept the invitation to play in the New Mexico Bowl,” Burman told the gathering at the Rochelle Athletics Center, just a few minutes past 1 p.m. “We are so very, very proud to accept that invitation. We can’t wait until we officially get that offer from Jeff Siembieda in a matter of minutes.”

That is, if Siembieda calls in.

Burman glances over to Wyoming Associate Athletics Director Tim Harkins, who is standing to his right.

“Jeff Siembieda was scheduled to fly in today and as we look outside, he has not made it Laramie and he got stuck in Denver,“ Burman added. “But we were hoping that Jeff would be able to call in, but it doesn’t look like he has called in. Jeff asked me if I would make the formal invitation to Coach Christensen if he couldn’t do it.”

Insert official invitation.

“So on behalf of the New Mexico Bowl, Jeff Siembieda, who is the executive director, the bowl committee in Albuquerque, would like to formally invite Coach Christensen and the Wyoming Cowboys to the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 19.

Insert applause as Christensen walks to the podium.

“We are certainly appreciate of the invite, and on behalf of the 2009 Cowboy football team and one unbelievable senior class of leaders and the great coaching staff, we accept the invitation," Christensen said.

Remember when …
It was 20 years ago today, when Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play ….

Sorry, wrong thought.

It was almost a year ago, on Dec. 1, 2008, when Christensen was named the 31st head coach in Wyoming football history.

Twelve months and change later, he has guided the Cowboys to their 12th bowl game in school history and first since the 2004 season.

“It seems like it was a year ago at this time that I stood up here and was accepting the head coaches job at the University of the Wyoming,” Christensen said. “I made a couple of proclamations at that time, and they weren’t promises of number of wins or those types of things, but we set an expectation level, and we set that expectation level with our football team and to our fan base. That was, we expect to win, we expect to complete for a conference championship and we expect to play in bowl games. In a short year we have been able to reach two of those expectations --- winning and going to a bowl game. We hope that there is no stopping at that.

“There has been a lot of hard work in the last 12 months by this football team and this coaching staff. They have worked extremely hard to find as way to come up with enough wins to get a bowl invitation.”

Get your tickets while they last
There plenty of reasons as to why Burman, Christensen and the Cowboys were all smiles on Monday. Not only did they get to a bowl game in this first year of reclamation, but they are going to Albuquerque. While the city is the home of a Mountain West Conference foe in the University of New Mexico, the community has often been kind to the University of Wyoming and their fans.
In recent times, the Cowboy basketball team enjoyed its stay in the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Albuquerque. The Cowgirls did the same in 2008. In both cases, local New Mexico fans joined Wyoming fans in support of the UW teams.

The third time could be a charm again for the Cowboys.

Earlier in the show, Burman encouraged the UW fans, either at the news conference or via the live radio or Internet feed, to get their tickets now.

“We are confident that our Wyoming faithful, our fan base, will be in Albuquerque for that game,” Burman said. “It is very important that our fan base travels there and has a great showing and shows our Wyoming pride. For those who can’t make it, there is a wonderful opportunity to buy tickets and donate them back to the university, where we in turn will donate them back to a military base outside of Albuquerque. We’ll also use some of those tickets to promote the game.

“But it is essential that we sell 4,166 tickets to this game. The good news is that we haven’t officially gotten an invitation (before he officially made the invitation) and we have 2,500 of them sold right now. We are well on our way to eclipsing that 4,166 and we’re very excited about that.”

Christensen also echoed Burman’s thoughts and praised the Wyoming faithful. After all, this bowl game is for them as well.

“I would also like to thank our fan base for all of the support that we have had this year,” Christensen said. “We were down at Boca Raton, Fla., and I looked up at the crowd and I was amazed of the number of people from Wyoming that made that long, long trip. They have been at all of our road games. It’s my plea to all of our fans to, if they possibly can, to get down to Albuquerque and support this team. We would like to make this a yearly tradition of going to bowl games. We’re excited about it and we’re thrilled to go to the New Mexico Bowl.
“Let’s get win No. 7.”

Insert applause as Christensen walks away from the podium.
　

I can't wait

2009-12-06T12:36:00.006-07:00

I've come to the conclusion that I am not very good at waiting.

As I write, I'm waiting for the official announcement of the bowl game scenario for the Wyoming Cowboys, although it is probably a foregone conclusion that they will compete in the New Mexico Bowl.

I'm waiting for the Broncos-Chiefs game to get over as I do the (radio) production board in a studio that has topped out at 56 degrees. I guess it is better than being outside at about 8 degrees.

I'm waiting for my wife to get out of the hospital as she recovers from her back/spine fusion surgery. I can't wait until she improves so she can begin leading a normal life again. She has gone through a lot recently and deserves something positive to happen.

I'm waiting to hear about a job that I applied and interviewed for. This job would take me out of Laramie, but after two years of only part-time employment, I need this not only mentally but financially.

Of course, I've been waiting for something positive financially to happen with this site, Wyoming Sports.org, but my timing obviously bites. Hence, the need for a full-time paying job, which would take away (and has) my work on Wyoming sports.org. I'm sure you have noticed.

I'm waiting for my Ford Explorer to be fixed (it was damaged in Teresa's accident on Nov. 10). As much as I like driving the GM Canyon pickup that I am renting, my bank account would prefer me to drive my own vehicle.

As I think about all of the waiting I am doing, I googled waiting in music and the site has 35 songs about waiting.

Here's a sample:
The Waiting-Tom Petty; Waiting for a girl like you-Foreigner; Wait-White Lion; Waiting on a friend-Rolling Stones.

I guess there isn't a song about waiting for your car to get fixed. Sounds like a country and western song: "Waiting to get my pickup fixed as I wait for my momma to get out of prison." Hmmm....

I know what you're probably thinking. You're waiting for this to make any sense.

Well, join the club.

The GreatestPokesFanEver

2009-12-01T08:41:00.006-07:00

As I sit in my parents basement waiting for my mother to call me for dinner, I ponder my next sports message board post.

It's hard to come up with something original, because I have already written about every problem the Wyoming men's basketball and football teams have had in the last five years, as well as the administration.

I have solved all of those problems with my posts, and if you don't agree with me, you're an idiot. Although I was never an athlete and I have never attended a practice or talked with anyone ever associated with the teams, no one knows more about the Cowboys than me.

O course, if I was in charge of Wyoming athletics, there would be no problems. If I could coach the Cowboys -- football or basketball, if doesn't matter -- I would never lose.

Signed, The GreatestPokesFanEver

Yeah Mom, I heard you. I'll be up in a minute. Jeeeeez, give me a break, I'm not a kid anymore. I'm 43.

Cowboys beat Rams, are going bowling

2009-11-27T15:04:00.006-07:00

With one boot, the Wyoming Cowboys got the Bronze Boot back. And they're going bowling.

Walk-on true freshman placekicker Ian Watts kicked a late 33-yard field to to live the Cowboys to a thrilling 17-16 win over the Colorado State Rams Saturday at Hughes Stadium in fort Collins.

With the win, the Cowboys, 6-6, are bowl eligible, and with their fifth-place finish in the Mountain West Conference (five MWC teams earning bowl bids), Wyoming will now wait to see which bowl it is going to.

Dave Christensen became the first first-year Wyoming head coach to take his team to a bowl game since Paul Roach did it in the 1987 season.

It was another typical Border War, as the two teams traded leads throughout. The Cowboys led 7-6 at halftime (thanks to a blocked extra point kick by senior John Fletcher), only to see the Rams regain the lead at 13-7 with a touchdown to begin the second half.

Wyoming went up 14-13 in a 49-yard TD run by true freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, who also had an 8-yard TD run. CSU added a short field goal to regain the lead at 16-14.

That set up the winning drive that has extended the Cowboys season.

The Onion post of the week

2009-11-26T17:36:00.004-07:00

As a Packers fan, as well as an Onion reader, I got a kick out of this post.

Besides, I haven't had an Onion post lately, so enjoy:

Packers afraid to tell Aaron Rodgers he has turf in his teeth

Another look at Black Hills State

2009-11-23T21:49:00.006-07:00

I was one of the 30 or 40 fans to watch the Black Hills State women's basketball games back in the day as a student in Spearfish. I'm sure, just like at UW, attendance has picked up considerably, with the Yellow Jackets recent success on the national NAIA level.

Seeing BHSU on the Cowgirl basketball schedule certainly caught my eye and I'll be an interested party while covering the game Tuesday night for The Associated Press, Wyomingsports.org and even the Rapid City Journal.

The game will be an exhibition for Black Hills State, but will count for the Cowgirls. The Yellow Jackets are 4-2 on the season, with the surging Cowgirls 4-0.

Here's a little different look on the game from the Rapid City Journal. There are some interesting quotes from BH coach Mark Nore. Link: Yellow Jackets face tall task.

In case you're wondering, here's a couple of famous Black Hills State graduates: Paul Roach and former Laramie Lady Plainsmen girls' basketball coach Bruce Schmidt.

Looking back at my grades and behavior while a college student, I'm probably more infamous than famous.

Talking about Sheep Week

2009-11-23T20:13:00.005-07:00

It's all about beating the sheep this week for the Wyoming Cowboys.

Sorry, it's all about beat the Colorado State University Rams for the Wyoming Cowboys.

For you actual sheep that surf the web, I apologize.

Wyoming turned its attention to Colorado State for Friday's game about the time that Cowboys head coach Dave Christensen walked out of the locker room Saturday after the 45-10 loss to TCU.

With the way things went in the second half for Wyoming, maybe sooner than that.

While the UW coaches and players didn't say it publicly, the CSU game has at least been what most UW fans have been pointing to since the Cowboys knocked off San Diego State the previous week.

One more win and the Cowboys are in a bowl game. Yes, six wins just make them bowl eligible, but with the Mountain West Conference affiliated with five bowls, a win over the Rams would give Wyoming fifth place outright in the league.

Of course, a win over TCU last Saturday would have given the Cowboys that sixth win, but let's be realistic: the Horned Frogs are the 4th-ranked team in the country and possibly better than that. A Wyoming upset would have monumental and in many minds, very, very, very unlikely.

Beating a down CSU team that has dropped seven straight games is more likely.

Every UW player and coach interviewed this week by the local media will talk about how it is important for the Cowboys to win in order to get to a bowl game. They'll talk about it until they turn green.

Whoops, bad choice of color.

They'll talk about with brown and gold in their veins. That sounds better.

Daily means daily

2009-11-22T15:26:00.002-07:00

I know what you're thinking: Rich's Daily Blog? What the heck? There hasn't been a post in a week. How's that a daily blog?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of like for several years when the Laramie Boomerang was the Laramie Daily Boomerang and didn't publish on Monday.

I'll try to keep up a little better. Then again, you're probably thinking, don't hurry back.

For those who know me personally, though, you know that it has been a difficult last couple of weeks for me and my family. My wife, Teresa, was in a pretty serious car accident and her recovery has been slow. There's been a lot of driving back and forth to Fort Collins, so I have been a little distracted. I even got a speeding ticket on Friday about 5 miles from Laramie trying to get back in time for Sportsline Live. Oh well, let's just call it a $60 donation to the State of Wyoming. Can I write it off on my taxes?

Teresa has been getting better every day, so the news has been positive. She has a long way to go, but she'll get there because that's just the way she is.

With all of this, Wyomingsports.org has been a little off and on recently and that will probably continue. With these tough economic times (yeah, hope and change my ass), this site is only part-time anyway. Sorry about writing ass, mom.

Like I said, I'll try to keep up as much as possible and you'll still hear me (or shut me off) on Sportsline Live two or three times a week on KOWB/KCGY.

But don't be too shocked if you hear me asking, "you want fries with that?" anytime soon. Either that or "Welcome to Wal-Mart, would you like a cart?"

In the meantime, I'll try to come up with another blog for Monday.

Late night quotes from UW-SDSU

2009-11-15T10:25:00.004-07:00

From the San Diego State media relations department after Wyoming's 30-27 come-from-behind win over the Aztecs.

Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen
On the Cowboys' 24-point fourth quarter: "We started making plays. It wasn't like (the Aztecs) were shutting us down all game, but we had some opportunities where we didn't get 6's a couple of times and we had a fumble. When it came time for the fourth quarter, we played extremely well. At halftime we talked and said that a time was going to come when we were going to need guys to start making plays, and in the fourth quarter, we had a lot of guys making plays."

On kicker Ian Watts before his last-minute field-goal attempt to win the game: "I told Ian, if you miss it, it's no big deal; we're going into overtime. You need to treat this as a PAT and relax. And he sure did."

On his decision to use bloop kicks against the Aztec special teams: "We were having problems placing the ball and the Aztecs had two players who looked like they didn't spend a lot of time returning kicks. We felt it was better off to bloop it to them and not allow anyone else to return the football." On the biggest play of the game:"The blocked field goal was the most pivotal play of the game, because they had a chance to go up by 10. To scoop up the ball and get great field position, that's probably the biggest play of the fourth quarter."

San Diego State coach Brady Hoke
Coach Hoke's opening statement: "Obviously, it wasn't very fun out there at the end. We got out willed by a team. They played harder, they executed and that's pretty much how the game went ... (We) had some penalties in the first half and we hurt ourselves a little bit with that. You get a field goal blocked that (could have) put you up by 10. That's not executing, that's not being disciplined, and they did a much better job of coaching and playing the game."

On whether they thought about going for it on fourth and short: "No. You needed to get points on board and go up by 10."

On Wyoming's hurry-up offense: "That's them. They have that tempo. That wasn't any different really, to be honest with you. Our kids got set, they knew the calls. I don't think that was much of a factor. I think we had opportunities to make plays on balls and that we just didn't make plays."

On the change in confidence from the first half to second half: "I think it was the fourth quarter, because we had a 94-yard drive (in the third quarter), and I don't know how much time it took off the clock, but it was a pretty quick quarter. I think they got some momentum, they capitalized on some good plays that they had, some bad plays that we had, and then the wheels came off. I guess if you want to say that to some degree, but we still were in position to make some plays on balls that we didn't make."

My wife, one tough lady

2009-11-12T22:25:00.010-07:00

It's been an eventful time in the Anderson household in the last couple of weeks, but not a time we want to go through again anytime soon.

It has especially been a tough last couple of weeks for my better half, Teresa. Last week she went through a pretty serious surgery. On Tuesday, she was involved a very serious automobile accident.

She had to be taken by ambulance to the Medical Center of the Rockies trauma ward in Loveland, Colo.

For those who know my wife, you know what she has been going through health-wise the last few years. Teresa is a fighter and battles each and every day with pain I can't even begin to describe, nor would anybody truly understand.

A long-time nurse herself, Teresa has spent much of her adult life trying to make others feel better. She's also spent a lot of time in the hospital this year as a patient at Ivinson Memorial, Poudre Valley Hospital and now at the Medical Center of the Rockies. Nurses share a common bond, which has been the case in each of these facilities.

The emergency room nurses who helped with the transition at MCR Tuesday night did a great job of making sure Teresa was as comfortable as possible. They also visited with her, with the talk centering around Teresa and her work at the Cathedral Home for Children, what she has had to deal with with her chronic illness and her recent surgery and accident.

Wednesday afternoon, one of those nurses came up to her ICU room to see how she was doing. They had a nice, brief conversation as the hustle and bustle of the hospital didn't allow them a lengthy talk.

The MCR nurse ended the visit by squeezing Teresa's hand and telling her: "I can't tell you enough how much I admire you."

Teresa was a bit stunned, as was I. We both began to tear up a bit.

As I was driving back to Laramie later that day, I began to think about that conversation. My initial thought went back to that nurse, whose name I don't even know, nor do I think Teresa remembers. I admit, it struck me initially as a little odd that a basic stranger would say what she said.

Then I realized something that I already knew. It was not odd at all; my wife has a way of leaving those impressions on people.

How can you not admire Teresa? Even though her body is physically breaking down, I only wish I was half as strong as she is.

She is truly my better half.

P.S. -- Teresa, Our neurotic dogs (Sam and Otis) and possessed kitten (Fezzywig) are going bonkers here at home without you. Hence, they are driving us that way as well.

So get well soon, sweetheart, so you can straighten them out.

P.P.S. -- Cowgirl basketball season is upon us and they need their biggest fan back rooting for them, even if it means some of those sitting around you have to get up and leave because of all of the loud cheering.

P.P.P.S. -- In case you didn't know, Teresa (Poindexter) Clift Anderson lettered for the Cowgirls from 1985-87.

Cowgirl basketball, volleyball announce signees

2009-11-12T22:16:00.003-07:00

It was a busy week for the University of Wyoming women's basketball and volleyball squads, as both programs announced the addition of new Cowgirls.

Signing to play basketball next year for Joe Legerski was Hays, Kan., guard Kayle Hoffman, while head volleyball coach Carrie Yerty announced that Lakewood, Colo., setter/libero Rachel Keyes will come on board next fall.

Hoffman,at 5-foot-10, is a three-time first team all-league selection while attending Thomas More Prep-Marian High School. She was also selected first team all-area by the Hutchinson News and Hays Daily News. As a junior, Hoffman was a first team all-state selection while helping her team to a 21-1 record overall and the runner-up spot in the 3A State Championship.

She averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists during that time. She was selected to several All-Tournament teams during the past couple of years. Besides lettering in basketball, she also earned letters in softball and volleyball. In softball, she earned first team all-state, all-league and all-area honors three times, while helping her team to two state championships in 2007 and 2008. During her sophomore and junior years, she was selected first team all-league in volleyball. An excellent student, she is a member of the President’s Honor Roll, while being involved in several scholastic activities.

“We are pleased to had Kaylee Hoffman to the Wyoming basketball program,” said Legerski. “She has great size and plays with a great deal of intensity, while providing depth at the guard line.”

Keyes, 5-7, is a four-time first team All-Centennial League selection while attending Mullen High School. Her team is currently 23-3 overall and earned a share of the Centennial League Championship. They won the Regional Championship last weekend and go into the 4A State Championship as the second seed. She was named to the AVCA All-American Watch List, RMR Junior Qualifier All-Star Team and a RMR Junior Regional All-Star in 2009.

A first team 4A all-state and all-tournament Team selection in 2008, she helped her team to the runner-up spot in the state tournament. A three-time team captain, she is coached by Vilis Ozols. Keyes played for the Juggernaught volleyball club. An excellent student, she is a member of the National Honor Society, the First Honor Roll and was named Academic All-State First Team in 2008-09.

“Rachel is a very dynamic athlete who has the versatility to play at the libero, setter and outside hitter positions,” said Yerty. “She has competed and played at a high lever with one of the top club programs. We are thrilled to have her in the Wyoming program. She will challenge for playing time as she is an incredible floor leader, and has a positive and spirited attitude.”

Cowboy basketball gets verbal from Chicago prep star

2009-11-09T21:26:00.004-07:00

The Wyoming Cowboy basketball program has dipped into the Chicago and Midwest area once again, as guard Cameron Harvey announced that he will join the Cowboys in 2012.

Yes, 2012.

Harvey, at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, averaged 15 points, six assists and five rebounds a game last year as a freshman at St. Joseph High, gave a verbal committment over the weekend, according to several media sources. He and his family made an unofficial visit to Wyoming over the weekend. He plans to major in engineering at UW.

Harvey will be a freshman in the fall of 2012, and in the spring of that year UW could have to replace as many as seven players who are sophomores this season. Many recruiting services rank Harvey in the top five in terms of prep sophomore basketball players in Illinois.

Reports have Marquette, Baylor, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame and Xavier also having shown interest in Harvey.

If he plays for the Cowboys, Harvey will join fellow former Chicago prep stars Justin Williams, Jay Straight and Brandon Ewing, who were recruited by former head coach Steve McClain. Current Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer and particularly assistant coach Anthony Stewart, recently brought in Ohio high school stars Desmar Jackson and Daylen Harrison.

For more on Harvey, check out stories from:

chicagohoops.com

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

Casper Star-Tribune

Jackrabbits win exhibition

2009-11-09T21:20:00.002-07:00

The Wyoming men's basketball opponent Friday in this season opener -- South Dakota State -- played its lone exhibition of the season on Monday night and beat Dakota State 72-58.

The Cowboys downed Regis University 78-60 in its exhibition on Saturday. Comparisons between Regis and Dakota State -- Regis is D-2 and Dakota State is NAIA. Other than that, who knows?

For more on the Jackrabbits game with Dakota State -- click here

UW-Regis basketball tweets

2009-11-07T17:32:00.002-07:00

Hopefully this goes a little better than football tweets. Check out UW-Regis men's basketball tweets on www.twitter.com/wyomingsports

Wyoming HS football playoffs

2009-11-06T23:06:00.005-07:00

Semifinals
Friday's Games
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central 27, Gillette 10
Sheridan 9, Kelly Walsh 7
Class 3A
Douglas 56, Worland 14
Cody 32, Buffalo 14
Class 2A
Glenrock 28, Greybull 7
Thermopolis 33, Kemmerer 13
Class 1A
Southeast 42, Wind river 12
Saturday's Game
1 p.m. -- Lingle-Ft. laramie at Cokeville
6-Man
Guernsey 46, Hanna-elk Mountain 34
Kaycee 58, Midwest 56
---
State Title Games
In Laramie
All game played at War Memorial Stadium.
Friday, Nov. 13
11:30am - 1A Championship: Southeast vs. Lingle-Ft.Laramie/Cokeville winner
2pm - 2A Championship: Thermopolis vs. Glenrock
Saturday, Nov. 14th
10:30am - 3A Championship: Cody vs. Douglas
1pm - 6-Man Championship: Kaycee vs. Guernsey
3:30pm - 4A Championship: Central vs. Sheridan

Lobos soccer goes MMA

2009-11-06T09:48:00.006-07:00

Caught this on ESPN, then on YouTube. It's the highlights of BYU-New Mexico women's soccer MWC semifinals.

I guess if you want some national recognition without winning, this is the way to do it. BYU beat New Mexico 1-0 in the match, but check out the dirty play of the Lobos Elizabeth Lambert.

In case you are wondering, New Mexico beat Wyoming 1-0 to earn a spot in the semifinals.

New Mexico dirty play

On Friday Nw Mexico head cpoach Kit Vela announcd that Lambert is prohibited from taking part in practices, games and conditioning, coach Kit Vela announced Friday.

"Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship," Vela said.

Also on Friday, Lambert apologized for her actions.

"I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary," Lambert said. "This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am. I am sorry to my coaches and teammates for any and all damages I have brought upon them.

"I am especially sorry to BYU and the BYU women's soccer players that were personally affected by my actions. I have the utmost respect for the BYU women's soccer program and its players."

If you are in Albuquerque anytime soon, my advice, especially for the players in the crowd, don't tick off Lambert

The return of Devin Moore

2009-11-01T10:18:00.007-07:00

UPDATE: The official statistics of Saturday's Wyoming-Utah game were changed with the correct players after the writing of this blog.

I don't think there were too many fingers flashed Saturday night, at least by the Wyoming coaching staff.

But evidently, the Cowboys are the Rodney Dangerfield of Mountain West Conference football to Utah officials. The don't get any respect.

At least, according to the official game statistics when they were first released Saturday night into Sunday afternoon.

If you saw the stats when they first came out, you would have noticed that Devin Moore was back with the Cowboys. In fact, Moore not only caught a 30-yard touchdown pass, but he also completed 19 of 30 passes for 121 yards.

Maybe the NCAA needs to investigate this as Moore graduated last spring.

Also, the touchdown Moore caught came from Eric Benson. Uh ... say what?

Well, Moore didn't sneak into his own Wyoming uniform and fool the Utes. His old number, evidently, fooled the game officials. Yeah, No. 5 now is freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels and the TD pass he caught came from second-strong quarterback Robert Benjamin.

But according to the first official stats, neither Carta-Samuels or Benjamin played. Other notable former Cowboys who came back for one more game included Ward Dobbs, Mike Jurgens and Derrick McMahen.

And Brandon Ribble, who is now running track at CSU, also caught one pass for six yards.

I wore No. 88 at Hot Springs (S.D.) High School in the late 1970s. I hope they didn't confuse me with Orlando Arnold.

Indians roll past Plainsmen

2009-10-31T15:24:00.003-06:00

Cheyenne Central scored the game's final 30 points to thump the Plainsmen 44-14 Saturday in the first round of the Class 4A football playoffs in Cheyenne.

Seventh-seed Laramie, 3-7, and the second-seed Indians were deadlocked at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter, but Central scored three times in the second quarter and never looked back.

The game was postponed from Friday night due to weather conditions.

Central will face Gillette in the semifinals.

First round state playoffs scores

2009-10-30T22:23:00.005-06:00

Class 4A
Friday's Games
#1 Sheridan 41, #8 Natrona 17
#5 Kelly Walsh 38, #4 Green River 20
#3 Gillette 27, #6 Rock Springs 20
Saturday's Game
#2 Central 44, #7 Laramie 14
Class 3A:
Friday's Games
#1E Douglas 40, #4W Lander 6
#2W Worland 38, #3E Riverton 37 2 OT's
#2E Buffalo 21, #3W Star Valley 0
#1W Cody 19, #4E Torrington 6
Class 2A
Friday's Games
#1E Glenrock 38, #4W Lovell 7
#2W Greybull 42, #3E Big Horn 20
#2E Thermopolis 25, #3W Big Piney 0
#1W Kemmerer 27, #4E Wright 9
Class 1A
Saturday's Games
#1E Southeast 42, #4W Riverside 0
#2W Wind River 14, #3E Lusk 2
#2E Lingle-Ft. Laramie 49, #3W Rocky Mountain 13
Monday's Game
1 p.m. -- #4E Pine Bluffs at #1W Cokeville
6-Man
Friday's Games
#3E Hanna-Elk Mountain 41, #2W Little Snake River 20
#2E Midwest 72, #3W Meeteetse 32
#4E Kaycee 48, #1W Ten Sleep 43
Saturday's Game
#1E Guernsey 73, #4W Farson-Eden 6

Waddell has knee scoped, out 2-3 weeks

2009-10-29T16:20:00.001-06:00

Cowboys basketball coach Heath Schroyer announced on Thursday that sophomore center Adam Waddell had successful arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday to repair cartilage damage in his right knee. The Cody native is expected to miss only two to three weeks of practice.

Waddell started 24 of 33 games as a redshirt freshman last season. He averaged 5.1 points per game, 3.9 rebounds and blocked 21 shots.

Schroyer said that he would have no further comment on Waddell’s injury.

Christensen only looking forward

2009-10-26T21:31:00.001-06:00

For those old enough, you might remember the old 1960s TV show, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. If not, then ask your parents.

Regardless, there was a skit on the show called, "The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award."

Wyoming’s version of that award came two years ago when then head football coach Joe Glenn, not happy with what he perceived as Utah coach Kyle Whittingham running up the score when the Utes tried an on-side kick with a big, big lead in the game, gave Whittingham the finger.

As one would expect, the middle finger salute was the talk of the town … Salt Lake City, Laramie … any college football town actually.

Oh yeah, the Utes blasted the Cowboys 50-0 in the game. In fact, Utah has outscored Wyoming 175-30 in the last four games in Salt Lake City. Utah also belted the Cowboys 40-7 last year in Laramie.

The Cowboys – not Glenn, but new head coach Dave Christensen – are going back to scene of the finger this week to take on another good Utah team.

On Monday, Christensen was asked on his weekly teleconference about the history lately between the two programs.

Come on guys, you really think that Christensen was going to get into that. For those who have worked with Christensen or even just listened to him this season, his response was expected.

What history?

“I have no clue what has happened with this matchup in the past,” Christensen said. “It makes no difference. It’s a different program, it’s a different year. This game doesn’t have anything to do with the past. We’re different in everything we’re doing and they are different than they were a year ago.

“I don’t spend a lot of time talking to our kids about what has happened in the past, just what is going to happen in the future.”

My guess is, though, the recent past will be brought up again and talked about or written about sometime this week.

That’s what we do.

Plainsmen win; qualify for playoffs

2009-10-23T22:54:00.004-06:00

What a gutsy effort by the Laramie Plainsmen, as they rallied to beat Cheyenne East 35-28 Friday night in the regular-season finale at Deti Stadium.

For both teams, it was win or likely stay home for the playoffs. Late in the third quarter, it looked as if the Plainsmen would be on the wrong end of the final score once again against the T-Birds. East had won 11 straight against Laramie, and in fact, the Plainsmen had dropped 21 straight games to the Cheyenne schools (East and Central).

Those losing skids, however, are in the rear view mirror. Laramie rallied from 11 points down to score the game's final 18 points, including the game-winner on a 2-yard run by Jon Sorenson with just under a minute to play.

Unlike last week when the Plainsmen defense couldn't stop Green River in the final seconds in a tough 42-35 loss, Laramie came through in crunch time when Nathan Cowper intercepted an East pass to clinch the win.

The Plainsmen, the seventh seed, will face No. 2 Cheyenne Central next Friday in Cheyenne.

I'd love to give you more details, but I was working the game broadcast in the KOWB studio, so for now, this will do. I'll look to get a few more details on Saturday.

Regardless, it was a great night for Plainsmen football and their fans. Bob Knapton, his staff and his players should be commended for an outstanding effort to get Laramie High School back in the playoffs where it belongs. It's been a tough go of it this decade, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Rich's Tweets on Twitter

2009-10-10T12:12:00.003-06:00

More of Rich's disjointed rambling on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wyomingsports/

Trojans roll past Plainsmen

2009-10-09T21:47:00.002-06:00

It was a tough night for the Laramie Plainsmen in snowy Casper, as fourth-ranked Kelly Walsh rolled to a 46-6 victory Friday night.

Kelly Walsh, 5-2, took advantage of several Laramie fumbles and good field position to dominate from the start. KW led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and 32-0 at halftime.

The only core for the Plainsmen came in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard pass from quarterback Billy Hysong to wide receiver Kelby Wilkison.

Laramie, 2-5 on the season, will return home next Friday to host Green River.

UW fans have New Mexico's back, just not Saturday

2009-10-09T19:41:00.006-06:00

This is a guest blog by Teresa and Cassie Clift

One thing I must say about New Mexico Lobos fans is that they are extremely supportive, not only of their own team, but also of the rest of the Mountain West Conference.

Back in 2008, our family traveled down to New Mexico in order for Rich to be able to cover the first and second rounds of the NCAA Women's Basketball championships, in which both the New Mexico Lobos and our very own Wyoming Cowgirls were taking part.

To make a long story short, when UW was playing Pittsburgh in The Pit, the Lobos fans cheered just as much for our girls as would be expected of them to cheer for their own team. It was almost like if the Red Sox and Yankees fans coming together.

Not only were they supportive in the stadium, they were also extremely receptive and hospitable to the Wyoming fans and are surely some of the most welcoming people it has ever been our pleasure to meet. Even after the game in the parking lot, we met up with some fellow Wyoming and New Mexico fans and chewed the fat about the MWC. Ever since then, we have felt the urge to root for New Mexico’s sports teams whenever we heard about a game they were playing.

However, that does not apply to games played against UW, including our homecoming game Saturday with New Mexico. We appreciate and thank you for all your support, Lobo fans, but on Saturday we won’t bleed red, but brown and gold because we are true to the Cowboys.

Here's my The Onion fix

2009-10-08T13:43:00.005-06:00

It's been a while since I posted a story by The Onion. This one was too good to pass up.

Remember, for those not familar with The Onion, this is not a real story.

ESPN-Brett Favre

And while we're at it, here's a parody on the Rockies.

Adorable Rockies

No hype for Christensen against Lobos

2009-10-07T20:48:00.003-06:00

Whether it is New Mexico’s ineptness or Wyoming’s improved play, the Cowboys are favored by 10 points Saturday in their homecoming contest.

Yes, I said that Wyoming is favored by 10.

What exactly does that mean? I’d say it is a little of the Lobos struggling big-time at 0-5 and the Cowboys, winners of two straight, beginning to put things together and are at home again.

It’s somewhat of an unfairly position for the Cowboys lately. When was the last time Wyoming was a 10-point favorite against a 1A team?

It’s been a while and those times have been few and far between.

So, 10-point favorites and a chance for three straight wins. The last time Wyoming won three straight was in the 2006 season with wins over New Mexico, Utah and Colorado State, coming off a four-game losing streak.

Just what does Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen think about being a favorite or the importance of winning streaks for his team?

If you guessed not much, then you are correct.

“Beating New Mexico is important to me. That is the bottom line,” he said. “I’m not going to get caught up in how many we’ve won in a row. The bottom line is we have a game on Saturday, 12 o’clock at War Memorial Stadium versus New Mexico, and that is all that matters.”

And as would be expected, Christensen isn’t being caught up the talk about New Mexico’s struggles this season, on and off the field. He certainly isn't going to talk about it to the press.

Instead, Christensen said the Cowboys have a lot of challenges against the Lobos. He certainly isn’t going to provide the Lobos any bulletin board material.

“You look at who they have played, and I guessing that four of the five teams they have played will probably end up in bowl games,” he said. “They’ve played good people and they have good schemes on both sides of the ball."

Looking back at the scoreboard, the Lobos have been defeated by Texas A&M (41-6), Tulsa (44-10), Air Force (37-13), New Mexico State (20-17) and Texas Tech (48-28).

My guess is that New Mexico State is the lone team that won’t be bowling this year.

Christensen also sees challenges in basically all facets of the game from the Lobos.

“They’ve got an experienced, athletic quarterback (Donovan Porterie), which has been the common theme this year. You have to hit him and disrupt him, so that will be a challenge for us," he said. “They play three running backs. They have a good offensive line. Based upon who they have played, they might not have had success that they want, but they’re getting things rolling and they put 28 points on the board last week. Defensively, they have some athletic guys, some physical guys. They have a linebacker (Carmen Messina), who leads the nation in tackles 913.8 per game). They have talent.”

And while it is likely the furthest from Christensen’s mind, there’s also some past history with the two teams. Wyoming last win against New Mexico was in that 2006 season. We all remember what happened in Laramie two years ago. It was the beginning a miserable season for the Cowboys. Last year, Wyoming was blanked in Albuquerque, 24-0.

The Lobos have won eight of the last meetings between the teams.

On paper, this game looks very promising for the Cowboys. But like the old sports cliché says, games aren’t played on paper.
　　

Twins pull it out

2009-10-06T22:25:00.007-06:00

The picture sometimes says it all. Carlos Gomez scores the winning run in Minnesota's wild 6-5 win over Detroit (12 innings) in the AL Central tiebreaker game. Great picture by Brian Peterson of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

The Twins trailed the Tigers by seven games on Sept. 7 and by two games with three to play before forcing the tiebreaker game on Tuesday.

Minnesota will now face the New York Yankees Wednesday afternoon in New York in the American League Division Series.

Nerve-racking for Twins fans (myself, since the late 1960s), but when this happens, it's all worth it.

Now, if the Twins could just beat the Yankees.

You're never too old to dream.

Two weeks and running for Carta-Samuels

2009-10-05T22:46:00.005-06:00

At first glance, it looks a little surprising that Wyoming freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels was named Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the year.

I say that because Carta-Samuels didn't throw a touchdown pass.

First glances can be deceiving, and in this case, it was. Carta-Samuels was 29 of 38 (76.3 percent) passing for 223 yards and had a quarterback rating of 120.35. He added 69 yards on the ground. He would have had nearly 100 yards if not for some QB sacks. He finished with 292 yards of offense.

Maybe the most impressive stat, though, was the fact that he led the Wyoming offense once again to a come-from-behind win with a gutsy 12-play, 91-yard scoring drive. On that winning drive with just under five minutes to play, the true freshman rushed for 28 yards and passed for 18 yards, accounting for half (46 yards) of Wyoming's 91 yards on the scoring drive.

He was clutch in a tough situation.

On the first possession, Carta-Samuels had his block knocked off, literally. OK, it was his helmet. But when he went to the sideline, he was cut and bruised. Wyoming trainers then glued him back together and he was the glue for the Wyoming offense for the second straight week.

"He looked like he had been in the Civil War with that band aid on his head," Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen said Monday during his weekly media teleconference. "He took a shot, his helmet came off in the first series and split his head open. We had to glue it back together. He didn't miss a play. He had a number of cuts, lacerations on his arms. He was hit a number of times, but he just kept coming back."

Christensen would prefer that Carta-Samuels doesn't take that much physical abuse each game ... he needs him to run the show. But he is assured that his QB can take a punch and fight back.

"We also have to deal with whatever it takes to win a football game," Christensen said. "I talked to him about some things he could do to alleviate some of those hits ... getting ready for the football and not having to make every single play. He makes a lot of plays and believes every play he can make. As the competition level increases, chances of that is going to go down."

It hasn't taken the California kid long to become Wyoming Tough.

"The respect you get from your teammates and the leadership that you provide when you do the things that he did ...," Christensen added.

Carta-Samuels has started just two games in his young collegiate career and he will only get better.

MWC Offensive Player of the Week. At this rate, Cowboy fans can get used to hearing that beside their quarterback's name.

Cowboys hold off Owls

2009-10-03T17:47:00.006-06:00

Game statistics

The Wyoming Cowboys moved to 3-2 on the season with a come-from-behind 30-28 win over Florida Atlantic University Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Cowboys fell behind early, but led 17-14 at halftime and were up by 10 in the third quarter before the Owls battled back to regain the lead at 28-24.

Wyoming freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels, however, engineered a 12-play, 91-yard drive in the fourth quarter to put the Cowboys on top. freshman running back Alvester Alexander scored from 15 yards out for the game-winner. Alexander had three touchdown runs in the game.

How to win friends, by Ed Graney

2009-09-27T20:56:00.007-06:00

Ed, you should have been here.

It was a beautiful day in Laramie on Saturday; sunny skies with temperatures in the 70s. There was also a beauty of a football game going on at War Memorial Stadium between your UNLV Rebels and those “stinky” Wyoming Cowboys.

I really am surprised you weren’t here. Well, maybe not. After all, you don’t like Wyoming. It’s not your style. Vegas, baby, that’s where it is at.

But then again, who doesn’t like Vegas. I like Vegas.

But I also like Laramie. I’ve lived here for over 20 years. I must like Laramie. Sure, I complain about the weather on occasion. You know, 70 one day and snowing the next day. We live here, though, so we have the right to complain. You don’t live here, but you still do.

Earlier in the week, as a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, you described our home like this: “Bland and bleak environment that is Laramie, where you might swear the world comes to an end at nearly 7,500 feet.”

Personally, I think you're nuts. After all, we do have a Hilton, a Holiday Inn and a Carl's Jr. I mean, what more do you want?

Of course, the jist of the column was based on UNLV, which had lost 19 straight road games (now 20), coming to Laramie and thumping the Cowboys because, let’s face it, as you penned: “Here is this week's moment: Wyoming stinks.”

You then added: “You can't lose to Wyoming this year and be taken seriously. You can't lose to Wyoming and even whisper a thought about contending in league without being laughed out of the nearest locker room.”

I did peek online on Sunday (I had to find one of them computer things because, you know, there’s only a couple in Laramie), to see if you had anything to say about the Cowboys’ 30-27 win over the Rebels. I saw some coverage from Mark Anderson (no relation …although I have a cousin named Mark Anderson, but I know he is not him).

There must be budget restraints at the Review-Journal, or else you would have been in Laramie on Saturday. I know times are tough in Las Vegas. What’s the unemployment rate there, about 60 percent?

OK, I’m exaggerating just a smidgen. It’s probably only about 20 percent. Or does that have something to do with the murder rate? I get mixed up sometimes.

You did have a column about the racing Busch family. Sorry, I really didn’t read it, although I did skim through it and saw that you somehow pieced together a reference about the Wyoming-UNLV game, particularly the botched Rebels field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter that could have tied the game.

You wrote: “Tom is the father of Kyle and Kurt, both of whom will race today in Dover, Del. It is the second of 10 Chase for the Championship events, a run Kurt qualified for but Kyle didn't because of a points system that makes about as much sense as being called for delay of game coming out of a timeout when lining up to attempt a game-tying field goal in a conference football road game.

(If only a crystal ball had informed me what might transpire with UNLV on Saturday, I would have crawled to Laramie, Wyo., to witness the inexcusable nonsense firsthand.)”

I would say very clever, but …

Your absence was actually the smartest thing you did this week. Let’s just say, you’re probably not on Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen’s Christmas card list. In fact, you were the opening talk of Christensen’s press conference after the win over the Rebels.

I’m sure by now you’ve seen the clip.

Christensen said: “I’m going to start out by saying something that has been on my mind all week by a reporter by the name of Ed Graney in Las Vegas. When talking about Laramie, Wyoming, he said, ‘a bland and bleak environment, that’s Laramie and you might swear you have come to the end of the world.’“Well, if you were in my locker room after that game, you might have thought you were at the end of the world. We take that stuff personally. Here is this week’s moment: Wyoming stinks.”

Christensen then threw the copy of the column down and added, “Well, he stinks. Let’s move on to you guys.”

I’m guessing now that UNLV head coach Mike Sanford isn’t crazy about you at this time either.
　

UW-UNLV updates

2009-09-26T12:39:00.001-06:00

Check out updates of Wyoming-UNLV on www.twitter.com/wyomingsports or open this link and follow on the right side of the page.

Carta-Samuels in at QB

2009-09-21T19:44:00.004-06:00

To no one's real surprise, Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen will go with true freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels as his starting quarterback Saturday against UNLV.

Carta-Samuels played most of the game against Colorado, coming in for starter Robert Benjamin. He also played more snaps against Weber State than Benjamin.

Christensen said that he wouldn't be rotating quarterbacks against UNLV and barring injury, Carta-Samuels will play the entire game.

Christensen also said that freshman walk-on Ian Watts would take over the place-kicking duties for field goals and extra points. Austin McCoy would continue to punt and Jake Scott would kick off.

Look for more on Wyoming Sports.org on Carta-Samuels later tonight and Watts on Tuesday. Also look for a feature on freshman receiver Chris McNeill later in the week.

UW-CU football updates

2009-09-19T14:19:00.003-06:00

Check out UW-CU updates on www.twitter.com/wyomingsports or open link and look on right side of page.

Laramie Rangers coverage

2009-09-18T11:15:00.004-06:00

I guess I don't normally publish letters to the editor, but this letter was submitted to the Boomerang on Aug. 4 and was not published.

The fact that I was mentioned has everything to do with me putting it on Wyoming Sports.org. When I try to pat myself on the back these days, all I do is pull something. This is a little easier.

"Thanks for the great coverage.

We would like to thank the Laramie Boomerang, Wyomingsports.org, and KOWB radio for their continued outstanding coverage of the Laramie Rangers Legion baseball.

Reporter Ryan Lucas and the Laramie Boomerang have provided another season of great coverage with articles and photos that not only give a recap of the previous game, but provide an inside look at the players and the team overall. Time is taken to interview coaches and players to give a complete look at our local team. Out of town fans can go online for the same great coverage.

Rich Anderson of WyomingSports.org also has provided great coverage and it is very evident that hours of time is spent writing articles and adding photos that include quotes from the coaches and players. The article that provides the results of the game just played is posted that same day. Local fans as well as out of town fans are just an on-line look away from getting a complete look at the Ranger baseball.

Finally, David Settle and KOWB have provided outstanding coverage of Ranger baseball. David arrives well before the first pitch gaining interviews with coaches and players and the entire broadcast includes a pregame show, the game itself, and then a complete wrap up during the postgame show with many highlights and the play of the game, as well as the player of the game. Hours are spent to cover just one game. Every inning the Ranger’s are playing at the State tournament were covered, regardless of what town it is in, or whether they play back to back games. David does an incredible job of providing stats and facts with a positive look at the players and the team during the many times during a baseball game that require “fill-time”.

Having had a player on the Ranger baseball team for the better part of the last decade, I can tell you that very few other communities cover their team as well. You might think being in the same town as the only major university in the state, that high school sports and local baseball might take a backseat to UW athletics. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, all of these athletic events are well covered by the Boomerang, WyomingSports.org, and KOWB. The commitment these people have to our local kids is unmatched. Thanks again!

Dustin Joy
Go Rangers!"

I agree with Mr. Joy. Gillette covers the Roughriders very well, but you won't find any other community that covers their youth like Laramie, whether it is in the newspaper, on-line or by radio. That especially includes Casper and Cheyenne,

Time for some changes

2009-09-17T13:27:00.009-06:00

I've always got a little kick out of this statement: "I love my job so much, I would do it for nothing."

Every once in a while you hear this from a professional athlete ... you know, for the love of the game. Then, next season, he holds out for more money.

When you look at it, the concept of loving your job so much that you would do it for nothing is ideal. If your job is your profession, then you should love what you are doing.

But what happens when your job, your profession, what you love to do the most is taken away from you?

Would you do it for nothing?

Suddenly, you realize that when you hear that, whether those words come from a professional athlete, an entertainer or even a sportswriter, it's all a bunch of crock.

For the most part in the last two years, I've been doing what I love, for nothing.

The previous 25 years or so, I was a sportswriter who went to work five days a week, if not more, loving what I did but doing so with the idea that I would be compensated monetarily for what I do.

I was no different than you.

But that leads me to about two years ago when that was all taken away. Not ever dreaming of doing anything else and not wanting to up-root my family, I made the decision that for me to continue to do what I loved and stay in Laramie, I would start my own website, Wyoming Sports.org.

There are just a handful of ways to make a living this way: Charge readers to be on the site, solicit advertising or just ask for donations for the cause.

Charging readers was not an option, nor was begging for donations. That leaves advertising.

In the last two years, I've found some disappointing aspects of seeking advertising. No. 1, I'm not a salesperson. It's just not in my blood. No. 2, the economy hasn't helped. I evidently picked a lousy time to seek advertisers. Just my luck. No. 3, and nothing personal to everyone, but I evidently had this delusional thinking that in my covering local sports throughout the years in Laramie, some of my business-oriented acquaintances would be there for me.

You know, I scratched your back, now it is your turn to scratch mine. Remember all of those stories I did about your athlete son or daughter?

Well, that's my fault. Life doesn't work that way, nor should it.

So now what? I have been told that this kind of venture does take time, and my apparent lack of patience isn't helping. Readership has been steady and improving the last few months, which has been encouraging. But, it comes down to working for nothing, and that is going to have to change.

With that said, I'm taking a little step back. I tried to report on this site like I did as a newspaper reporter. That was a mistake on my part. Just too many years in the business, I guess.

For now, along with my part-time work at KOWB/KCGY, I'm going to have to take a couple other part-time jobs.

I'm not giving up on Wyoming Sports.org. Far from it. I'll still be at the games, to do what I love to do best. That will never change.

But there are going to be some changes. Stay tuned. I've got some different ideas and I'll run them by you soon.

Cowboy basketball on the tube

2009-09-16T20:53:00.003-06:00

Although basketball season is still down the road a bit, it's never too early to think basketball. UW finalized the men's basketball schedule on Wednesday, while the Mountain West Conference released the television schedule on Tuesday.

The Cowboys will be on the tube 16 times this season -- 15 in MWC play. The long non-conference viewing is Dec. 15 when the 'Pokes travel to Tennessee. The game tips off at 5 p.m. (MDT) on ESPN U.

The Wyoming men are scheduled to be televised in all but one league game -- the Jan. 27 home matchup with Utah.

Here's the UW men's basketball television schedule:
Dec. 15 -- Wyoming at Tennessee, 5 p.m. (ESPN U)
Jan. 6 -- CSU at Wyoming, 6 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Jan. 9 -- SDSU at Wyoming, 4 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Jan. 12 -- Wyoming at TCU, 5:30 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Jan. 16 -- New Mexico at Wyoming, 1:30 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Jan. 20 -- Wyoming at BYU, 6 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Jan. 30 --Wyoming at Air Force, 1:30 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Feb. 3 -- UNLV at Wyoming, 8 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Feb. 6 -- Wyoming at CSU, 7 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Feb. 10 -- Wyoming at SDSU, 8:30 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Feb. 13 -- TCU at Wyoming, 1:30 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Feb. 17 -- Wyoming at New Mexico, 7 p.m. (CBS College Sports)
Feb. 27 -- Wyoming at Utah, 4 p.m. (The Mtn.)
March 2 -- Air Force at Wyoming, 7:30 p.m. (The Mtn.)
March 6 -- Wyoming at UNLV, 2 p.m. (Versus).

Just a little note: Versus is still off of DIRECTV, so you might want to make other plans to watch the Cowboys on March 6.

Also, the Wyoming football game at Colorado on Saturday is on FOX College Sports. In the state of Wyoming, the telecast will be available through Bresnan Cable’s Sports Entertainment Package. For DIRECTV customers, it will be on Channel 617. It won’t be televised on FOX Sports Rocky Mountain.

Looking back at Texas

2009-09-14T21:50:00.006-06:00

I think all of those who experienced the Wyoming-Texas football game Saturday at War Memorial Stadium, whether you were a player, coach, fan, media person, UW employee, or whatever else you are out there, came away with a little extra adrenaline in your veins, regardless of the outcome.

Without trying to be in awe, it was hard not to feel that way. After all, the Cowboys were playing one of the top college football programs in college football history, the Texas Longhorns ... in Laramie.

Sure, the Cowboys have played the likes of Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, Ohio State throughout the years -- and played them pretty well for the most part -- but they had to play those powers away from home. They wanted no part of 7,220.

Heck, even Nebraska and Colorado have avoided Laramie. The Cornhuskers are coming to Wyoming in the future, but CU ... well, that's another story.

But Texas said, "Go to Wyoming? Why not." Of course, UW will have to go to Austin twice in the deal, but the 2-for1 trade-out is well worth it.

Head coach Dave Christensen, before coming to Wyoming, had been a part of much larger crowds and games while an assistant at Missouri. But the words electric, awesome and incredible came to mind when talking about the atmosphere after the game.

It's Christensen's goal to have 30,000 plus for all Wyoming games "when we get this thing turned around."

As a longtime media member covering Wyoming football (currently in 21st year), I think about that possibility and, to be honest, I can't quite imagine it yet. I've seen too many games with 12,000 to 15,000 to realize that 30,000 a game would be very difficult.

With all of Wyoming's success throughout the years, there have been plenty of years of disappointment, including recently. A consistent winner and consistent, disciplined program will go a long way in achieving Christensen's goal.

Maybe I can be convinced. Let's hope so.

Saturday was a huge, huge step in the right direction. Sure, it would have turned out better if the Cowboys had given the second-ranked Longhorns a better game in the second half. That didn't happen.

But how about that first half? Thanks to be blocked punt and touchdown, the Cowboys were leading mighty Texas with just over a minute left in the second quarter. The national media suddenly was paying attention to the game. An upset watch was forming.

The Longhorns, however, showed why they are a strong candidate to win another national title and are as talented as they are. They showed why they are the second most winningest program in college football history.

Christensen said after the game, and again Monday during his weekly media teleconference, that he is not into moral victories. He wanted to win, and I think the Cowboys, whether they truly believed they could or not, were in the game to win as well.

In fact, Christensen admitted that being down by three points at halftime was the first time he had ever -- and he emphasized ever -- been that close to a Top 5 program at halftime in his coaching career.

Never with Toledo; never with a Top 25 program at Missouri.

Not a bad start as head coach, if you asked me.

Because I was also a photographer on Saturday, I had originally planned on taking pictures in the first quarter and then coming up to the press box for the rest of the game. With the way the game was going, I found myself walking the sideline over and over again, following the football.

Of course, my pictures pale in comparison to most of the media photogs there, but I didn't care. As far as getting up to the press box to blog the action, that was going to have to wait.

Maybe some day, playing a team like Texas will just be another game. For now, being down on the sidelines, just a few yards away from the action, was an adrenaline rush I won't soon forget.

Texas 41, Wyoming 10

2009-09-12T13:23:00.019-06:00

For the first 29 minutes, Wyoming fans were in seventh heaven and Texas fans were in somewhat of a daze. The Cowboys were up 10-6 with a little over a minute to play until halftime.

Could the Cowboys actually have a shot at beating No. 2 Texas? As it turned out, no. The Longhorns put together a late second-quarter drive and led by three at halftime and then put the game away with 28 unanswered points in the second half.

As it turned out, the Longhorns 41-10 win was about what most had predicted.

The Cowboys, showed the ability to play with one of the top college football programs in the country, if not in talent but with determination. Talent, however, won out like it usually does.

Here's a look at Saturday's game at War Memorial Stadium, going back to the beginning:

Eight minutes before kickoff, the stands are almost full. Still some late arrivals, but it is an awesome site to see the stands full. Cloudy and cool at kickoff, 53 degrees. Quite a difference from last week's 80 degrees at kickoff.

I will be back after the first quarter as I am heading down to the field to take some quick pictures.

Well, so much for quick pictures. I ended up staying on the sidelines for the entire first half.

At any rate, here's an update: Texas 13, Wyoming 10 at halftime. My guess is that there is not one Longhorns' fan in War Memorial Stadium who truly believed that it would only be a three-point game at this time.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they are not up at the half. Despite a 237-99 total yards advantage for Texas, it could easily be 10-6 or 14-13 Wyoming. The Cowboys inability to get in the end zone after the gift and foolish run attempt by Texas punter John gold should have been turned into a touchdown by the 'Pokes.

Wyoming, however, got a little revenge on Gold as freshman Luke Ruff, who was a called for a roughing the punter (it should have been running into the punter) earlier in the first half, got a hand on the ball this time and fellow frosh Ghaali Muhammad grabbed it in the end zone for the score.

Texas, however, had the last laugh of the first half when Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback Colt McCoy, found Jam Kirkendoll for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left to give the Longhorns the halftime lead.

Well, so much for momentum to open the second half. A poor kickoff by Jake Scott, along with a 41-yard return, put the Longhorns in prime field position and they took it to the house in just five plays. McCoy ran it in from 9-yards out.

Texas 20, Wyoming 10, 13:24 left in the third quarter.

Alvester Alexader fumbles after as first-down run on the UW 37 and Sam Acho recovers for the Longhorns. The Cowboys survived, as Texas tried a fake field goal and was stopped for no gain.

When things begin to go wrong, they go way wrong. Wyoming senior John Fletcher appeared to have McCoy sacked on third down, but McCoy slipped through his arms and found a wide open Dan Buckner for a 33-yard touchdown reception.

Instead of another big stop, Texas goes up 27-10 with 7:07 left in the third quarter.

The game is now turning into what most thought it would, as the Longhorns converted a 4th and 5 and then scored on a 13-yard run by Tre' Newton, to make it 34-10 with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

The Cowboys appeared to be putting together their best drive offensively, but lost the ball on downs. Wyoming had 3rd and 2 from the Texas 25-yard line, but a false start, run for no gain and incomplete pass stalled the drive.

At the end of the third quarter: Texas 34, Wyoming 10.

Freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels in at quarterback to begin the fourth quarter. After an initial first down, the Cowboys have to punt.

The Longhorns are basically wearing down the Cowboys physically and looking like a No. 2 team in the country. Another short scoring drive puts Texas up 41-10 with 8:52 left. McCoy hits John Chiles on a 26-yard touchdown pass, with Chiles doing most of the work, running through the Wyoming defense for the score.

Garret Gilbert in at quarterback for the Longhorns. McCoy finishes 30 of 47 passing for 337 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Official attendance: 31,017.

Martin glad to be a Packer

2009-09-07T14:44:00.006-06:00

Former Wyoming Cowboys defensive back Derrick Martin is looking forward to somewhat of a "fresh start," with the Green Bay Packers these days.

Martin became a Packer on Saturday when he was traded by the Baltimore Ravens for offensive lineman Tony Moll, who was likely going to get cut by the Pack.

Martin, who played in just four games last season with a torn labrum that required surgery, went untendered as a restricted free agent before re-signing with Baltimore for the veteran minimum. He was having a good camp and is expected to be the Packers No. 3 safety.

Here's a writeup in the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Here's another writeup in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Game recap: UW 29, Weber State 22

2009-09-05T18:27:00.006-06:00

Final game statistics

The Wyoming offense looked good early, scoring on its first possession, highlighted by a 44-yard touchdown run by true freshman Alevester Alexander -- on his first carry as a Cowboy.

Weber State then countered on a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cameron Higgins to Tim Toone, who got behind the Wyoming secondary in the right corner of the end zone.

While junior quarterback Robert Benjamin showed the ability to move the ball (6 of 8 passing for 66 yards, 3 rushes 19 yards), Wyoming coach Dave Christensen went with true freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels in the second quarter.

Mistakes have hurt both teams in the first half and the Cowboys are taking advantage of the Weber State miscues. Early on, the Cowboys lost a chance to maintain a nice drive with a holding penalty, then lost the ball on a fumble after a nice drive. The Cowboys then missed out on a chance for a touchdown after being forced to a field goal after first and goal on the 3-yard line. A procedure penalty pushed UW back.

Weber State hurt itself on a running into the punter penalty on third and 4. Later in the drive, the Wildcats had an illegal substitution penalty that gave the 'Pokes a first down.

Seemingly in trouble on 4th and 10, Carta-Samuels avoids the rush and finds Travis Burkhalter down field for a 28-yard pass to the 4-yard line. Darius Terry then scored his first career TD on a 2-yard run for a 16-7 Wyoming lead (missed extra point by Austin McCoy).

Weber State had nine penalties in the first half and Higgins threw two interceptions. Wyoming up 16-7 at halftime. Cowboys 290 total yards of offense, Wildcats 175 (negative 5 rushing).

Second half
Benjamin back in at quarterback. Cowboys go three and out with two incompletions.

Wyoming, however, gets the ball right back when freshman Shamiel Gary picked off Higgins on the Weber 15-yard line. Terry scores three plays later from 1-yard out. Benjamin has 13-yard run to the 2-yard line. Austin McCoy kick to make it 23-7 with 13:12 left in the third quarter.

Cowboys get another interception -- tipped by linebackers Brian Hendricks to Gabe Knapton to Gary to the Weber 32. Wyoming goes for it on 4th and 5 from the 12 and incomplete pass.

Weber has 16-yard punt to UW 30. Carta-Samuels back in at QB. Cowboys can't move the ball -- lose 17 yards on penalty and sack.

Gary gets third interception at UW 43, but Cowboys again can't move the ball.

Thanks to a 49-yard run by running back Treyvn Smith, the Wildcats are driving. Down to the UW 11. Still 23-7 after three quarters.

Wildcats settle for field goal attempt and have it blocked by UW's Knapton.

Wyoming goes 72 yards in 11 plays and gets a 25-yard field goal by McCoy to take a 26-7 lead with 9:45 left in the game. Nice runs by Alexander and Terry, but Cowboys have to settle for a field goal.

Cowboys called for iffy pass interference penalty on fourth down and Wildcats take advantage with 4-yard TD pass from Higgins to tight end Cody Nakamura. Smith's 2-point conversion with 4:20 left cuts the Wyoming lead to 26-15.

Weber fails on on-side kick and Cowboys take over on Wildcats 38. Cowboys Carta-Samuels 20-yard pass to Orlando Arnold. Pokes in good shape to run out the clock, but kick a field goal for 29-15 lead.

Weber State made a late touchdown drive to cut the lead to seven in the final seconds. UW recovers on-side kick and Cowboys win 29-22.

Coming up in the next couple of days on Wyoming Sports.org, stories on the UW running game, featuring a pair of firsts for Alexander and Terry, the big game by Gary (three interceptions), Christensen's first game as head coach, the quarterback shuffle of Benjamin and Carta-Samuels and more.

Second half summary

2009-09-05T14:57:00.014-06:00

Robert Benjamin back in at quarterback. Cowboys go three and our with two incompletions.

Cowboys, however, get the ball right back when freshman Shamiel Gary picked off Cameron Higgens on the Weber 15-yard line.

Darius Terry scores three plays later from 1-yard out. Benjamin has 13-yard run to the 2-yard line. Austin McCoy kick tomake it 23-7 with 13:12 left in the third quarter.

Cowboys get another interception -- tipped by linebackers Brian Hendricks to Gabe Knapton to Gary to the Weber 32.

Wyoming goes for it on 4th and 5 from the 12 and incomplete pass.

Weber has 16-yard punt to UW 30. Carta-Samuels back in at QB. Cowboys can't move the ball -- lose 17 yards on penalty and sack.

Gary gets third interception at UW 43, but Cowboys again can't move the ball.

Thanks to a 49-yard run by running back Treyvn Smith, the Wildcats are driving. Down to the UW 11. Still 23-7 after three quarters.

Wildcats settle for field goal attempt and have it blocked by UW's Knapton.

Wyoming goes 72 yards in 11 plays and gets a 25-yard field goal by McCoy to take a 26-7 lead with 9:45 left in the game. Nice runs by Alvester Alexander and Terry, but Cowboys have to settle for a field goal.

Cowboys called for iffy pass interception penalty on fourth down and Wildcats take advantage with 4-yard TD pass from Higgins to tight end Cody Nakamura. Smith 2-point conversion with 4:20 left cut the Wyoming lead to 26-15.

Weber fails on on-side kick and Cowboys take over on Wildcats 38.

Cowboys Carta-Samuels 20-yard pass to Orlando Arnold. Pokes in good shape to run out the clock. Heading to locker room for interviews.

Cowboys get a field goal and Weber State made a late touchdown drive to cut the lead to seven in the final seconds. UW recovers on-side kick and Cowboys win 29-22.

First half summary

2009-09-05T14:11:00.007-06:00

The Wyoming offense looked good early, scoring on its first possession, highlighted by a 44-yard touchdown run by true freshman Alevester Alexander -- on his first carry as a Cowboy.

Weber State then countered on a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cameron Higgins to Tim Toone, who got behind the Wyoming secondary in the right corner of the end zone.

While junior quarterback Robert Benjamin showed the ability to move the ball (6 of 8 passing for 66 yards, 3 rushes 19 yards), Wyoming coach Dave Christensen went with true freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels in the second quarter.

Mistakes have hurt both teams in the first half and the Cowboys are taking advantage of the Weber State miscues.

Early on, the Cowboys lost a chance to maintain a nice drive with a holding penalty, then lost the ball on a fumble after a nice drive.

The Cowboys then missed out on a chance for a touchdown after being forced to a field goal after first and goal on the 3-yard line. A procedure penalty pushed UW back.

Weber State then hurt itself on a running into the punter penalty on third and 4. Later in the drive, the Wildcats had an illegal substitution penalty that gave the 'Pokes a first down.

Seemingly in trouble on 4th and 10, freshman Carta-Samuels avoided the rush and found Travis Burkhalter down field for a 28-yard pass to the 4-yard line. Darius Terry then scored his first career TD on a 2-yard run for a 16-7 Wyoming lead (missed extra point by Austin McCoy).

Weber State had nine penalties in the first half and Higgins threw two interceptions.

Wyoming up 16-7 at halftime. Cowboys 290 total yards of offense, Wildcats 175 (negative 5 rushing).

Cowboy football gets new 18-wheeler

2009-09-03T15:15:00.006-06:00

Let's see, new coach, new look (spread offense). New uniforms (Nike), new look. New wheels, new look.

I think there's a theme here.

The Cowboy football team, when it hits the road for the first time this season down to Boulder to face Colorado, will take notice of a sharp new design on the team’s equipment truck.

The Cowboys’ 18-wheel equipment truck, which carries all of UW’s football equipment to road games, was recently given a new appearance.

The truck’s new design features the text “Cowboy Football” and a massive Cowboy football helmet. It also features a Nike logo, representing Cowboy football’s new relationship with the apparel company. The logos of the truck’s sponsors are displayed proudly on the sides and back of the trailer.

The equipment truck itself is provided by Arrow Moving and Storage of Cheyenne, the tractor is provided by Peterbilt of Wyoming in Cheyenne, and the project is financed by Jonah Bank and the Cowboy Joe Club.

The redesigned truck pulled into Laramie on Thursday.

Oliver Wilson loses battle with cancer

2009-09-01T16:16:00.005-06:00

With the second UW alumni basketball game set for Saturday night, I can't help but think about last year's event, organized by former Cowboy great Reggie Slater, with proceeds going to help another former 'Poke player, Oliver Wilson, in his battle with cancer.

Wilson, given just a couple of weeks to live nearly three years ago, finally succumbed to that heinous disease when he passed away on Monday at the age of 44.

To go back to last year's coverage of the event, here's some pictures and a couple of stories on Wyoming Sports.org. Alumni basketball.

Here's also the website link for the Oliver Wilson Cancer Fund. I urge you to go back and visit it and read about Ollie and his fight in his own words and from his wife Sandy.

Wilson will be remembered as a family man and a fighter, a man who gave his all on and off the basketball court. He was a great friend to anyone who knew him. He will be missed.

Is there less gloom in the doom?

2009-08-26T21:27:00.008-06:00

In newspaper articles, sports talk radio, the message boards, you name it, there was somewhat of a “here we go again” attitude for the Wyoming offense after the second and third scrimmages of the fall.

First-year head coach Dave Christensen and his staff certainly weren't happy with the team, particularly the dropped passes, as they looked to build steam to the season opener Sept. 5 when they host Weber State.

But as we all seem to do these days, we jump to conclusions. Evidently, according to Christensen, the sky isn’t falling after all.

At least, that's the case based on Wednesday’s fourth and final scrimmage at War Memorial Stadium.

-------------------------------
Cowboys find more consistency
-------------------------------

“For the most part, I think our kids have come out and worked extremely hard each and every day,” Christensen said after Wednesday’s scrimmage. “In complaints, there were a couple of scrimmages that I wasn’t very happy about because that is game day, that is show time. That is when it has to be all working. But they have given great effort everyday in practice. There might one or two practices that weren’t great, but they weren’t bad. For the most part, about 19 times (out of 23) we’ve had great effort, great execution. We’ve come a long ways from Jan. 1 as a team to where we are today. Are we a finished product? By no means. But our goal is to be a better football team than we were yesterday and we are.”

Granted, it was a scrimmage, but the Cowboys were a pretty good team on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Christensen said they were mentally focused and came out prepared and ready to go. On Saturday, he didn’t like their mental toughness as a team.

Now, he said they are where they want to be at this point and time.

“We have a lot of building to do here,” Christensen said. “It doesn’t happen over night. I know this football team now is stronger than it has ever been, it is faster than it has ever been, it is in better shape than it has ever been. We’re making progress in a lot of areas. Like they say, Rome wasn’t built over night. We have a lot of work to do. We’ve made a lot of strides and I think in the last two or three days, we’ve made a lot more to be closer to where we need to be.”

The Cowboys have now concluded their scrimmage portion of fall camp. They practice again Friday, Saturday and Sunday. After a day off on Monday, Christensen said he will release his depth chart for the Weber State game on Tuesday and prepare for the Wildcats.

It’s game time for the Cowboys. The question is, are we, the media and ‘Poke fans, ready to play this game.

Is this the Rockies year?

2009-08-24T23:43:00.004-06:00

I know what you're thinking: "Gotta' work in the morning, I've got to get to bed." The Rockies are going to lose anyway, trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 14th.

It's understandable.

Tell me you at least DVR'd it, just in case there is a miraculous rally.

You didn't?

Ryan Spilborghs' walk-off grand slam home run, however, changed everything and the Rockies got a huge, huge, huge 6-4 victory.

This could go down as one of the Rockies biggest wins in team history. I say could if they hold off San Francisco to win the wild car or even pass the Dodgers to win the NL West title.

And you missed it. Wait a minute, this sounds like a DirectTV commercial for its NFL package. And I'm not Peyton Manning.

It was pure redemption for Spilborghs, who hit into an inning-ending double play earlier in the game. The Rockies missed out on a couple of chances to win earlier, but wiffed. Facing a three-run deficit, with no position players left to play, Jim Tracy jumped for joy after Spilborghs' blast.

And Spilborghs? It might have been the fastest home run trot in team history and it might have been the best mugging in Denver away from Colfax Ave. in many years.

On the Rockies Radio Network, Spilborghs admitted he went from zero to hero in a hurry.

The Rockies will now host first-place Los Angeles for three more games before facing the Giants again this weekend for three in San Francisco.

You might want to invest in a DVR for the rest of the season.

I can't remember if I forgot

2009-08-24T22:01:00.010-06:00

I'm not sure where I was on April 14 when it was announced that the Las Vegas Bowl would become the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas.

For the life of me, I can't remember if I knew about the name change and new sponsor and I just can't remember. Maybe I was busy (unlikely) and just didn't hear about it.

I'm thinking that forgetfulness is probably sneaking up on me like my ever-expanding waistline. Heck, I forgot my physical therapy for my aching back on Friday, and all I need to remind myself of those aches and pains is just getting up from sitting down.

At any rate, the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas announced an extension with the Mountain West Conference winner and a team from the Pac-10 Conference. Here's the link to the MWC story if you would like to read more.

The MAACO Bowl Las Vegas is scheduled for Dec. 22. Somebody needs to remind me before the game.

Always something to improve on

2009-08-22T22:30:00.007-06:00

When asked if Saturday's scrimmage was a little more even between the offense and defense, Cowboy defensive end Mike Neuhaus pondered the question with some hesitation.

With a politician's politically correct response, Neuhaus finally agreed to the statement. But walking away, Neuhaus wanted to disagree to a point. While the Wyoming defense once again looked strong, he found enough fault to give he Cowboys plenty of reason to improve.

That seemed to be the tone after the third scrimmage of fall drills, albeit much harsher from first-year head coach Dave Christensen's standpoint.

The Cowboys weren't happy with their performances in the last two scrimmages, even with some good and some bad. If they want to finish 4-8 -- even with the daunting schedule -- then Saturday's performance was good enough.

I'd say 4-8 won't be good enough. The more I think about that attitude, the more I like it.

Yes, the passing game sputtered with 12 dropped passes. Yes, the running game wasn't quite up to par, as was the case with the offensive line. And probably more important to Christensen, there was a lack of mental toughness on Saturday.

With two weeks left until the season opener against Weber State, followed by what could be the biggest game in Wyoming history with No. 2 Texas coming to town, all of those problems are a concern.

Yet, they can all be improved on in the next two weeks. If that happens, regardless of the final overall record, things will be looking up for the Cowboys this season.

Is the glass half full or half empty?

More "I hate Brett Favre" ranting

2009-08-21T15:59:00.005-06:00

I probably should see somebody about this, but I can't stop dumping on Brett Favre. Well, this seems to be normal for most Packers' fans these days.

I caught a blog by Green Bay Press-Gazette assistant online editor Jeff Ash that I found amusing.

Ash blog

I kind of fell off my ESPN and NFL Network boycott last night and this morning. I admit, I did check out both networks. Well, at least until the latest Favre love-fest. Of course, it was just a warm-up for tonight's Vikings-Chiefs preseason game. More loving to come.

Two MWC volleyball teams ranked

2009-08-18T20:40:00.002-06:00

Utah earned a No. 17 ranking, while Colorado State nabbed the No. 24 spot in the 2009 AVCA Division I Coaches Top-25 Preseason Poll released Tuesday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

Defending MWC regular-season champion Utah returns three starters (10 letterwinners overall). The Utes participated in their 10th NCAA Tournament all-time in 2008, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001. Utah opens its season Aug. 28, vs. Arizona State as host of the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City.

Colorado State welcomes back three starters and eight letterwinners to a team that advanced to the second round of the 2008 MWC Tournament. The Rams kick off the 2009 season on Aug. 28 hosting the Asics/Coors Classic vs. Pepperdine.

The MWC has had at least one team ranked in the preseason top-25 10 out of the last 11 years.

The Wyoming Cowgirls will open the season on Aug. 28 when they host the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic.

Fletcher on Lombardi Award watchlist

2009-08-18T20:34:00.002-06:00

Thirteen Mountain West Conference student-athletes, including Wyoming senior defensive tackle John Fletcher, are among the 153 individuals named to the 40th annual Rotary Lombardi Award watch list.

Also named to the list from the MWC were Air Force's Nick Charles, Colorado State's Shelley Smith, New Mexico's Erik Cook, TCU's Marshall Newhouse and Utah's Zane Beadles are among the offensive lineman competing for the honors, while BYU's Jan Jorgensen, TCU's Jerry Hughes and Utah's Koa Misi represent the MWC candidates on the defensive line. Linebackers Daryl Washington (TCU), Jason Beauchamp (UNLV) and Stevenson Sylvester (Utah) are also on the list, as is BYU tight end Dennis Pitta.

Beadles is the stepson of Wyoming women's basketball coach Joe Legerski.

The 40th annual Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Houston's Rotary Club, honors the top lineman in the Football Bowl Subdivision. A list of, semifinalists will be released on Oct. 14, with four finalists announced on Nov. 11. All of the finalists will travel to Houston for the ceremony to announce the winner on December, at the Hilton Americas.

Any Football Bowl Subdivision player who meets the basic award criteria - a down lineman on either side of the ball, including tight ends, and linebackers who line up within five yards of the ball - is eligible for consideration from the Rotary Lombardi Selection Committee. This committee is comprised of more than 500 members, including all past winners and finalists, all Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The Rotary Lombardi Watch List, intended as a reference tool for the Selection Committee, will be periodically updated and revised through the conclusion of the voting to determine the, semifinalists for 2009.

A different look at Josh McDaniels

2009-08-16T14:27:00.002-06:00

For you Broncos' fans who aren't enamored with new head coach Josh McDaniels (especially after Friday's preseason performance), you might get a kick out of this "fake story" by The Onion.

It's been a while since I posted something from The Onion, so here you go:

McDaniels -- The Onion

And speaking of the Broncos, it is early and it was the first preseason game, but Kyle Orton hasn't done anything to win over the fans. How about getting booed at practice and following that up with three interceptions in the first half in the loss to the 49ers.

We'll see what happens, but it could be an interesting year for the Broncos.

An early look at the first scrimmage

2009-08-14T13:20:00.006-06:00

Here's some early observations from Friday's Wyoming scrimmage.

Robert Benjamin has the tools to run Dave Christensen's offense.

Now, that doesn't mean he will be the starting quarterback when the Cowboys open the season on Sept. 5 when they host Weber State. It is still somewhat of a learning curve for Benjamin, as he wasn't able to get to Laramie until late this summer after completing his courses at Phoenix college.

Senior Karsten Sween probably has grasped Christensen's spread offense a little better with his experience and his work this spring and summer. But there is no denying that Benjamin can do some good things. He has a strong arm with touch, which was evident on a beautiful 45-yard TD pass to Travis Burkhalter. He can run, which was obvious on his 38-yard touchdown scamper.

All-in-all, it was a nice get to meet the new quarterback for Wyoming fans, as he finished the day with three touchdown passes and the one TD run. He did throw one interception, but credit big John Fletcher for jumping high and grabbing the pass at the line of scrimmage. It was more of a great play by Fletcher than a bad play by Benjamin.

Sween had a decent day as well, highlighted by a 20-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stewart. In fact, it really wasn't a bad day by all of the quarterbacks, as junior Dax Crum did some good things, as well as true freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels.

It is apparent, though, that the QB battle will go down to Sween and Benjamin, although Christensen didn't rule out the other two signal callers.

It was probably one of the better scrimmages or practices for the Wyoming receivers. There were a few drops -- still too many for Christensen's liking -- but overall, they did a good job of catching and running with the football.

The ground game looked solid behind Darius Terry and freshman Alvester Alexander.

Defensively, the Cowboys forced four turnovers, which Marty English likes and Christensen doesn't for his offense. In fact, Christensen said turnovers are still a problem and something they must overcome.

But when it was all said and done, I think most Wyoming fans came away with the thoughts of promising and encouraging in their heads. Still plenty of work to do, but it appears the Cowboys, especially offensive, are heading in a better direction.

Of course, this was just one of four scrimmages before the season opener and a lot can change for the good and the bad.

In an injury note, freshman receiver Chris McNeill appears to be OK after taking a tough hit on a reception that left him motionless for several minutes. Christensen said that McNeill had feeling and movment in his entire body and was taken to Ivinson Memorial Hospital for precautionary reasons.

Fletcher also strained his knee and sat out a good chunk of the scrimmage, but the injury doesn't appear to be serious and he should back to practice in a couple of days. Freshman outside linebacker Devyn Harris, who had a big pass interception return early in the scrimmage, hurt his knee as well and his prognosis is unknown at this time.

UW-CU on TV

2009-07-28T20:58:00.002-06:00

The Wyoming Cowboys’ Sept. 19 football game against the Colorado Buffaloes will be televised live by Fox College Sports (FCS). The game will kick off at 1:30 p.m., Mountain Time from Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. A total of nine of Wyoming’s 12 games in 2009 are now scheduled for television.

The last time the Cowboys and Buffs played was Sept. 27, 1997. That game went down to the wire before CU recorded a one-point victory, 20-19, in Boulder.

Colorado will be the second of two consecutive Big 12 opponents for the Cowboys during the 2009 season. Wyoming will host the Texas Longhorns in Laramie on Saturday, Sept. 12, the Saturday prior to traveling to Boulder.

The two Big 12 opponents will be familiar foes for Wyoming’s first-year head coach Dave Christensen. Christensen spent the previous eight seasons (2001-08) as the offensive coordinator at Missouri, where the Tigers captured back-to-back Big 12 North titles in 2007 and 2008.

Laramie baseball goes 2-2 on Friday

2009-07-24T23:55:00.002-06:00

Thursday was a perfect day for Laramie area baseball teams, as they all combined to go 4-0. Friday was up and down.

For the Laramie Little League all-stars teams, it was another big day in Wheatland as the 11-12 year-old all stars pulled out a tough 6-4 win over Cody in the semifinals, while the Laramie 9-10 year-old stars rolled past Riverton 16-2.

The Laramie 11-12 stars will face host Platte County in the title game at 3 p.m. The Laramie 9-10 stars will play for the title at 1 p.m. against Gillette.

The Legion teams had a tough day, as the Rangers A squad fell to the Cheyenne Hawks 9-4 in the semifinals of the State B tournament in Sheridan and will look to stay alive Saturday at 1 p.m. when it faces the Casper Drillers.

In the South District Tournament at Cowboy Field, the Rangers AA team, after hanging tough with Post 6 (trailing 6-5 in the fifth), fell to the strong Cheyenne team 16-5 and will look to keep their season going Saturday when they face Green River at 1 p.m. A win over the Knights automatically qualifies Laramie for the state tournament next week in Rock Springs. A win will also put the Rangers in the third-place game at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Here's to a good Saturday for Laramie baseball.

Wyoming to be featured on ESPN

2009-07-24T15:49:00.001-06:00

The state of Wyoming will be featured on ESPN’s College Football Live “50 States Tour” on Tuesday, along with the states of Alaska and New Mexico. The show will air at 1:30 p.m., Mountain Time on ESPN.

The “50 States Tour” focuses on each state’s football history, including the top college and high school programs, rivalries, coaches and players from each state.

Fans are encouraged to vote for the top teams, coaches and players, from a list developed by ESPN leading up to each of the “50 States Tour” shows, by going to the following link.

www.Sports.espn.go.com/sportsnation/news/story?page=50StatesTour

MWC still plans to fight

2009-07-23T13:16:00.009-06:00

Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson's battle with the BCS is apparently not over.

Thompson said Wednesday at the MWC football media days in Las Vegas that the conference still planned to stay on the offensive in pushing for changes to a playoff football format.

Thompson agreed that change will not come fast -- it could take five years to get any change to the Bowl Championship Series system.

"We feel a change needs to be made and inclusion needs to be broader," Thompson said.

The MWC conference backed down a bit in its efforts last week when it became the last conference to sign a broadcasting contract with ESPN for the 2011-14 seasons.

Thompson says the conference agreed to the ESPN deal so MWC athletes wouldn't be denied a chance to compete in the nation's showcase football games.

"We couldn't take our kids voluntarily out of the chance to play in a BCS bowl game," Thompson said. "As much as we would like to see change in the system, it is the only system."

Six conferences -- the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC -- get automatic BCS bids.

The Mountain West has proposed an eight-team playoff featuring first-round play in the four top current BCS bowls -- Sugar, Orange, Rose, Fiesta. Winners would advance to a championship.

Thompson said the MWC would continue its $265,000 contract with a Washington lobbying firm to keep the BCS issue before Congress, which held hearings on May 1.

For more on Thompson's state of the conference address, click here.

Overanalyzing the preseason poll

2009-07-21T19:26:00.004-06:00

Don't be mad, don't be sad, but especially, don't be glad.

If you are a Wyoming football fan, don't get twisted over the fact that the Cowboys were picked last in the annual MWC media preseason poll, or as we in the media like to say -- dead last.

It was no real surprise that the Cowboys are getting no love from the rest of the league's media. Why should they?

You also have to remember that the media has never really given Wyoming a lot of credit in football or basketball, for that matter -- even when the Cowboys were pretty good.

Besides, the media are just a bunch of blowhards. Wait a minute, I'm the media. I guess I have been called worse.

The thing is the Cowboys don't deserve anything much higher, based on past results and the fact that Wyoming felt compelled to fire its popular head coach, Joe Glenn.

And let's face it, UW's schedule isn't going to do them any big favors, with back-to-back games against Texas and Colorado in non-conference play and back-to-back games in the MWC against BYU and Utah.

And TCU is favored to be the cream of the MWC crop.

Christensen and the Wyoming football program have to prove itself on a consistent basis to get any respect from the rest of the country and the conference. Even then, it will likely be doubtful that the Cowboys will be a favorite, at least anytime soon.

I think the Cowboys will finish in seventh place. Maybe I am optimistic, maybe not.

I will say that although the Cowboys were probably picked where they belong, Christensen, the Cowboys and their fans aren't satisfied with the selection, although preseason polls really mean nothing.

Nobody wants to be thought of as a last-place team, especially next year.

Maybe we should just get the season started. Then, we'll know for sure.

***

As we in the media like to say on occasion, "and in other news at the league meetings, " the Mountain West Conference Board of Directors announced that MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson has agreed to a contract extension through June 30, 2012.

Thompson was the Mountain West Conference's first employee when he was named Commissioner on Oct. 15, 1998. The MWC became an official NCAA Division I conference on July 1, 1999 and will enter its 11th season of competition in 2009-10.

And that's about it

Like father, like son

2009-07-17T21:18:00.004-06:00

OK, how many of you have ever said, "Dad, can you get me a job?"

In my case, it was more like, "I've got plenty of work for you to do outside, so get going."

I got going.

So what do you do if you are former BYU basketball player Austin Ainge?

In his case, dad is Danny Ainge, general manager of the Boston Celtics.

According to the Web site, http://www.ridiculousupside.com/, Austin Ainge is excpected to be the first head coach of the Maine Red Claws. The Red Claws will begin their first season in the NBA's Developmental League this fall and will be affiliated with the Celtics.

Austin Ainge was a scout for the Celtics last season after coaching one year as an assistant at Southern Utah University.

Well, at age 28, I guess Austin Ainge is old enough.

Say what?

2009-07-17T20:43:00.005-06:00

Tell us what you really think, Jeff.

New Mexico volleyball coach Jeff Nelson was reprimanded by the Mountain West Conference for his remarks in the Albuquerque Journal July 12 about the television schedule for the upcoming season and comments "disparaging other member institutions."

Like the conference likes to say, "The actions of Coach Nelson were in violation of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Sections 4.2-e and 4.4.5. "

Has anybody ever actually looked up MWC Sportsmanship Rule Sections 4.2-3 and 4.45? Someday, I think I will.

The Lobos are on TV twice, but not at home.

"I'm very upset about the schedule," Nelson said. "I think we got snubbed and I think the venues (The Mtn.) chose don't represent our conference well. We don't have a home game televised and we were in the top 20 nationally in attendance. Some of the venues that do have televised games only draw 200 to 300 people. That's not showcasing our product. It's ridiculous."

He's probably right, but like mom has said a time or two, "if you can't say something nice ...."

I'm guessing Nelson isn't to worried about the reprimand. He got his point across and was just slapped on the hand. Kind of like a basketball coach intentionally getting ejected from a game to fire up his/her team.

There will be 15 matches televised this season on three different networks -- BYU Television, The Mtn. and CBS College Sports. BYU has six home dates televised live by its own network that will be taped delayed on the The Mtn. Six other matches will be live on The Mtn., with the three of CBS college Sports tape delayed.

Utah, San Diego State and UNLV have two home TV matches each, while TCU, Colorado State and Air Force will host one television match each. New Mexico and Wyoming will not host any TV matches.

And the Cowgirls will be at Air Force on Sept. 24 on The Mtn. Getting 200 to 300 fans there might be pushing it.

Maybe New Mexico should get its own TV network.

MWC football just around the corner

2009-07-17T12:56:00.005-06:00

The 2009 football season officially begins next week in Las Vegas with the annual MWC Football Media Days Tuesday and Wednesday at the Green Valley Ranch Resort.

Representing the Cowboys will be first-year head coach Dave Christensen and senior defensive linemen John Fletcher and Mitch Unrein.

Each of the Mountain West’s nine member schools will bring their head coach and two student-athletes to the event, which will also be attended by media representatives from around the Mountain West Conference.

Except for yours truly. No summer Vegas vacation in the scorching heat for the Anderson family.

It would be a good preseason media days to go to, as Christensen will be one of three new head coaches in the MWC in 2009. He will be joined by New Mexico’s Mike Locksley and San Diego State’s Brady Hoke as first-year head coaches.

New coaches are usually the story of these type of events.

During the two-day event, the Mountain West will release a preseason media poll ranking the conference’s teams, and will release a preseason All-Conference squad, also selected by the media.

Here's my vote: 1. BYU, 2. TCU, 3. Utah, 4. Air Force, 5. Colorado State, 6. UNLV, 7. Wyoming, 8. New Mexico, 9. San Diego State.

Cowboys on the preseason team: Fletcher.

What's your thoughts? Do the Cowboys, under Christensen, deserve a higher pick? If they deserve to be picked higher, as UW fans, is our optimism clouded by the newness of the program, especially the spread offense and what appears to be improvement already in the recruiting?

I think it is way too difficult to begin predicting wins and losses with this team at this time. Until the Cowboys get out on the field and play some games, it's a crap shoot. With a tough non-conference schedule that includes Texas and Colorado, and another good league, wins will be hard to come by, even in improvement. Patience is a key. It will be worth the wait.

I do believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just how long it takes to get there remains to be seen.

I'm curious, what say you?

Bzdelik on the move?

2009-07-16T20:43:00.006-06:00

Jeff Bzdelik to the Minnesota Timberwolves?

According to Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn, Bzdelik had a "casual" conversation with the Timberwolves about their head coaching vacancy.

The current Colorado men's basketball coach has some NBA experience, as the Nuggets head coach from 2002 until midway through the 2004-2005 season when he was fired. He then coached at Air Force before taking over the still-struggling CU program a couple of years ago.

What exactly does casual mean when talking about a NBA head coaching position?

According to the Associated Press, Bohn told the Daily Camera in Boulder he believes Bzdelik will stay with the Buffaloes. Any further discussions with the Timberwolves would require permission from Colorado.

Bzdelik told the Rocky Mountain Independent in Denver earlier Thursday that he spoke with Timberwolves general manager David Kahn at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

I guess that's casual.

If Bzdelik is offered the T-Wolves job, does that mean former Wyoming head coach Steve McClain, now an assistant at CU, takes over?

I'm just saying.

Four Cowgirls named to academic team

2009-07-14T13:48:00.001-06:00

The University of Wyoming track and field team had four Cowgirls named to the 2009 Division I All-Academic Track & Field Team, announced by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), earlier this week.

For the Cowgirls, three juniors were named to the list: Erica Anderson, Emily Higgins and Johnna Jeffries, while freshman Lindsey Simmons made the cut.

The USTFCCCA honors Division I individuals for their academic and athletic achievements during the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field Team, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met either the NCAA Division I Indoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard or the NCAA Division I Outdoor regional or national qualifying standard in their respective event

Martin shines for Colts in MCBL all-star game

2009-07-12T15:32:00.002-06:00

Not a bad day for Laramie Colts first baseman Casey Martin.

Martin won the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League's home run hitting contest as part of the MCBL All-Star Game activities on Saturday, then hit a home run and knocked in four runs to lead the Wyoming All-Stars (Laramie-Cheyenne) to a 10-4 win over the Colorado All-Stars (Greeley-Fort Collins).

The Colts, 17-17, are back in action Sunday night at 6:35 p.m. when they host Fort Collins.

UW wresting recruits ranked in top 20

2009-07-10T15:10:00.003-06:00

Dave Christensen is not the only Wyoming coach doing some heavy lifting on the recruiting trail, as wrestling coach Mark Branch is quickly getting his Cowboys noticed nationally.

An incoming freshman class with national credentials has earned the UW wrestling program three additional top-20 rankings from media organizations close to the sport.

D1CollegeWrestling.net, InterMat and TheOpenMat.com have each recently released their top-25 recruiting class rankings for the 2009-10 season, and UW was mentioned in all three.

TheOpenMat.com ranked the Cowboys at No. 15, D1CollegeWrestling.net placed Wyoming at No. 16 and InterMat had the ‘Pokes in their No. 20 slot. UW was the only Western Wrestling Conference school ranked in any of the three listings.

Earlier this summer the Cowboy program has was tabbed as having the 13th best incoming recruiting class in the nation according to W.I.N. Magazine.

Jimmy Belleville of Tumwater, Wash., Tyler Cox from Gillette, Jake Eitzen of Estes Park, Colo., and Patrick Martinez from Hemet, Calif., are all incoming freshmen who signed National Letters of Intent to wrestle for the Cowboys.

Kyle Komata, Woodinville, Wash., is another newcomer who will bolster the Wyoming line-up this fall. He was undefeated as a high school senior en route to a Washington 4A state title.

Belleville, who is expected to wrestle in college at 149 or 157 pounds, and Cox (125) both are four-time high school state champions. Eitzen (133), Komata (125/133) and Martinez (165/174) each have high school state titles to their credit as well.

Cowboys apparently land three-star Florida QB

2009-07-10T14:35:00.007-06:00

Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen keeps on up-grading his talent for the future, with another three-star athlete said to be on his way to Wyoming in 2010.

Wyoming has apparently landed Tampa, Fla., quarterback C.J. Bennett, who Scout.com said gave a verbal Thursday to become a Cowboy. Verbal commitments are non-binding, but this is truly another good sign that things are moving on the plus-side for UW football.

Bennett, ranked 71st in the nation at QB by Scout.com and among the top quarterbacks in Florida by Scout.com and Rivals.com, is listed at 6-foot and 198 pounds and will be a senior this fall at Tampa Alonso High School.

Geoff Vogt of SunStateFootball.com ranked Bennett fourth among pro style quarterbacks in the state of Florida and had this to say about the future Cowboy:

"All Bennett does is make throw after throw in Alonso's spread offense. Extremely accurate with great touch, Bennett is college ready today. His ability to make quick reads and get the ball out on time are qualities that offensive coordinators covet."

Last season, Bennett completed 251 of 411 passes for 3,017 yards, 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 136 yards and scored two more touchdowns as a junior. He was an All-Suncoast Second Team QB.

Bennett was also offered earlier in May by Navy and participated in a one-day camp at the end of May at Wyoming. It was after that performance that the Cowboy coaching staff offered him a scholarship.

"I came out for their one-day camp and I guess they liked what they saw," Bennett told Mike Bakas of Scout.com on May 31. "It's really nice out here with all the mountains and everything, and the ride after flying into Denver wasn't bad at all."

Bennett joins QB Sam Stratton of Chatfield High School in Littleton, Colo., for the 2010 class. Stratton is rated two stars by Scout.com.

Other verbals for 2010 include Green River wide receiver Drew Martinez (6-1, 165), running back Nehemie Kankolongo (5-11, 200) of Coquitlam Centennial High School in Maple Ridge, B.C., defensive end Sonny Puletasi (6-3, 215) of Lawton (HS), Okla., defensive end Ray Stovall (6-2, 185) of Booker T. Washington High School (Tulsa, Okla.), defensive tackle Tyler Strong (6-3, 270), Niwot High School (Colo.) and defensive end Desmond Tautofi (6-3, 270), Kiamuki High School (Honolulu, Hawaii).

Tautofi is also a three-star recruit by Scout.com, while all but Martinez are all two-star recruits.

The upcoming Cowboy freshmen recently completed summer "classes and will head back home until camp begins, Christensen said on Twitter, and "what a great group of athletes! 56 days till Weber State!"

I'm trying to think when the last time the Cowboys had a pair of three-star recruits, with most of the rest rated two stars? I'm not sure if it has happened in a while, at least. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Anderson let go as Children of the Corn manager

2009-07-08T13:27:00.008-06:00

Children of the Corn owner and general manager Richard Anderson has announced that he is relieving himself of his managerial duties effective immediately.

Children of the Corn, out of the Yahoo Public 293730 fantasy sports baseball league, is languishing in eighth place out of 12 teams in the 14th week of the season. The Children, after challenging for the title the last three seasons, are just 57-66-7 this season, 19.5 games behind the front-running Mets.

Last week the Children just got past last-place ItsHighltsFar 5-4-1. It should be noted that ItsHighltsFar has several players on the disabled list in the lineup, which usually means its owner has given up on the season.

The straw that might have broken the camel's back was when Anderson mistakenly forgot to put White Sox utility player Paul Konerko back in the lineup after an off day on Monday. On Tuesday, all Konerko did was hit three home runs and finish with seven RBI.

Children of the Corn is trailing the Mets 6-3 after two days of play this week and those three lost home runs would have, at the very least, made it a 5-4 score and a much better chance to winning the weekly head-to-head series.

Anderson also forgot to insert starting pitcher Mark Buehrle back into the rotation and Buehrle picked up the win against the Indians on Tuesday.

"With the season at the half-way mark, for Children of the Corn to make any type of move in the standings, it has to get going," Anderson said. "Leaving two of your best players out of the lineup, for whatever reason, is inexcusable. The lack of offense has been the biggest problem this season, and we need a manager to bring the best out of his players. I feel I'm just not in a position this year to do exactly that."

Konerko, who is hitting .301 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI this season, was shocked when he found out that he was on the bench and not in Children of the Corn's lineup.

"I'm coming off one of my greatest nights offensively in my career, then I find out Children of the Corn had me on the bench," Konerko told a local Yahoo Sports! reporter after the 10-6 win over the Indians. "I guess that tells you why Children of the Corn can't be considered a threat this season. It's too bad, because Richard Anderson has always had a keen eye for fantasy talent and this mistake is puzzling. Maybe he should just stick to fantasy football."

Anderson, the general manager and owner, quickly inserted Konerko back in the utility position for tonight's game with the Indians. Asked who would manage the team for the rest of the year, Anderson said he didn't have a clue.

"If I cant handle it, I don''t know who can," he said.

Anderson admitted that he had been relatively silent in the last few weeks on the free agent wire, and he should have been a little more active right after the computer draft to begin the season.

"You know, these weren't all of my players. I gave them some time to get going, but I can't hit for them, I can't pitch for them. They're Major Leaguers, for gosh', darn sakes. All I can do is make sure that they are in the lineup. That's where I failed, I guess."

Despite his struggles this season, Anderson said it hasn't soured him on managing in the future.

"I'll be back," he said. "I have no ill feelings towards Children of the Corn or the owner and general manager. They're all good people. In the meantime, I'll just lay low the rest of the season and see what is on the table for next year. Maybe this is a good time to get ready for fantasy football. It's never too early, as they say."

Will Nike make Cowboys look like a winner?

2009-07-07T19:44:00.012-06:00

New Wyoming head football coach Dave Christensen is bringing in a new sense of respectability in the recruiting process.

Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman has built quite a football schedule that includes hosting Texas in the second game of the season and traveling to Colorado the next week.

Now, the Cowboys will be dressed in new Nike uniforms. See full story, picture.

Better recruiting, better schedule, better uniforms. Like they say, "at least it is a start."

It's hard to find any fault with the way things are progressing for the Cowboys. Of course, they haven't played a game for Christensen, so the end result of winning and losing remains to be seen.

How about this: "To be the best, you have to play the best." Playing Texas certainly qualifies.

With the slicker look, will we be saying, "at least we look good."

I like the new unis, though. I especially like the fact that we have different uniform combinations for different situations.

At home, the regular combination will be a brown jersey with gold pants. For special home games, the Cowboys will also have the option of wearing a brown jersey with white pants. On the road, when UW plays on artificial turf, it will wear white jerseys and white pants. When playing on natural grass on the road, the combination will be white jerseys and gold pants.

I have no idea why, but I'll buy it.

Wait a minute; what about the all-yellow uniforms? Oh yeah, not real good memories. Box those puppies up.

That leads me to wonder; what do you do with the old uniforms? How about a big garage sale? I've got a few old T-shirts to get rid of as well.

Rating the MWC

2009-07-06T19:18:00.012-06:00

Just completing its 10th year, how good is the Mountain West Conference overall?

According to the conference, it was very good this last year. On the league's website, a story said so with about 800 achievements (my exaggeration). Check it out at MWC.com.

The MWC was also among the leaders, conference-wise, with the Learfield Sports Director Cup's All-Sports Standings, which rated TCU 42nd out of 271 programs, and BYU 47th and Utah 51st.

In case your really want to know, Wyoming was ranked 192nd (last among the MWC schools). Rankings.

The ESPN.com author of the story -- Graham Watson -- also mentioned Boise State in the middle of ranking some of the league's schools. I'm not sure if Graham thinks Boise State is part of the MWC or I just mis-interpreted the sentence.

Or, as Rogers Clemens likes to say, maybe she mis-remembered which conference Boise State belongs to. ESPN.com link

Regardless, those rankings put the MWC in a favorable light, I guess.

I think the conference's recent BCS playoff proposal raised some awareness about the league as a whole, but in the end, it was rejected without much fanfare.

So, what do you think? Is the MWC making progress as a conference? I think most who are involved, whether you are a league official, athlete, coach, media or fan, think it is improving.

What does the rest of the country think about the MWC? Do other sports fans even know that it is a conference?

My guess is not much and not a lot.

Rule book gives Rangers the win

2009-07-06T12:53:00.005-06:00

As they say, rules are rules.

With that in mind, the Laramie Rangers officially beat the Colorado Bandits 1-0 Saturday night in the annual Firecracker Invitational at Cowboy Field.

When yet another rain shower forced the players off the field in the top of the sixth inning, the Rangers trailed 2-1. As it turned out, they would never return as weather conditions won out once again.

According to American Legion rules, when a rain-out occurs and it is an official game, the results go back to the last complete inning. Hence, it was a 1-0 win for the Rangers. The Bandits scored twice in the top of the sixth, but because Laramie didn't have an opportunity in the bottom half of the inning, it goes back to the previous inning.

It certainly wasn't the way the Laramie coaching staff would have preferred to get the win. The two teams had hoped to pick up where they left off Sunday at 9 a.m., but the field conditions were still too bad to compete. The rest of the tournament was cancelled.

Regardless, it was another good tournament for the Rangers, who will compete this weekend in the Scottsbluff tourney, where they will get another shot at WESTCO (Scottsbluff), which defeated them 9-2 in the opening round last Thursday.

With the win over the Bandits, the Rangers are now 19-9 on the season. Laramie will have one more home game (July 15) when they host Rock Springs, before hosting the South Districts July 23-26. Laramie will look to to put it all together July 29-Aug. 2 at the state tournament in Rock Springs.

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

2009-07-01T20:43:00.008-06:00

I have officially joined the world of Tweeting, signing up on Twitter a few days ago.

I'm really not sure why. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be on Facebook and Twitter, I would have called you crazy. Evidently, I am the crazy one.

My parents, like a lot of parents, would say to me as a kid, "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you follow them?"

Of course, being the smart #$% that I was, I said yes.

I got an invitation to join Facebook from my oldest brother a while back and blew him off for a long time. I didn't want any part of it, thinking it was just for kids. I eventually gave in and joined. For the most part, I'm glad I did. It's a good way to keep in touch with family and friends, although I don't really give a hoot when somebody goes to bed or what they had for dinner, nor do I really care about some of the attention-seeking drama that goes on with some people with their woe is me posts.

But there are positives. When my wife was really sick this spring, I asked my friends and family to pray for her and they did. She is doing much better these days, thank you.

And believe it or not, even my 80-year-old mother is now on Facebook. I am a little worried about her, though. Mom, please don't post any pictures of any wild sorority parties from the night before. Just kidding.

I really had no desire to join Twitter. For a long time, I didn't even know what it was. But evidently, you're nobody if you don't Tweet. It's the new social network for the really important people. It's the exact opposite of what I care about.

So I signed up.

I guess I'll try to work it in with my online blogging and writing on WyomingSports.org and CowboyBlitz.com (if Scout.com ever sends me the paperwork ... hint, hint.). Evidently, it's the thing to do in reporting the news as well.

You're seeing a lot of coaches and athletes Tweet now. Evidently, there are ways to get around on the recruitment trail on Facebook and Twitter, which is OK with the NCAA. In fact, Wyoming football coach Dave Christensen has a Wyoming football Twitter page, as does the University of Wyoming athletics department.

Several other Mountain West Conference coaches are on Twitter, as well as most of the big college football and basketball coaches in the country.

I remember when I started using a computer (with floppy disks) when working on stories, instead of the typewriter. That was technology and progress, I thought.

Now I have to figure out how to Tweet from my cell phone.

I'm getting too old for this.

Texas linebacker can't drive

2009-06-29T23:00:00.009-06:00

This is either typical lawyer talk or there is a little more to the story than released.

Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle drove his car into an apartment building recently -- apparently text messaging -- at 1:50 a.m.. He then fled the scene because "he knew he was hurt at the time and that he needed to go home to go to bed," according to his lawyer.

Kindle apparently suffered a concussion.

OK, I'm not a doctor, but if he knew he was hurt, he probably should have gone to the emergency room, not to sleep.

I'm just saying ....

Maybe Kindle will use that type of common sense when he and the Longhorns come to Laramie to play the Cowboys.

I'm just hoping ...

I could be wrong. Here's a wire story on ESPN.com that quotes Kindle's lawyer explaining the accident.

Kindle can't drive and text at the same time?

Oh yeah, apparently it isn't against the law in Texas to leave the scene of a property accident. I guess it is OK, then.

Shanklin competes in USA championships

2009-06-29T12:59:00.003-06:00

Graduated UW senior Jake Shanklin finished in 21st place (out of 33) in the hammer throw over the weekend at the USA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Shanklin had a best throw of 209-feet, 5 inches. The title went to A.G. Kruger, who was competing for the Nike track and field team with his throw of 247-1. Shanklin’s throw was the sixth-best at the meet by any collegiate athlete.

The top-three finishers will be representing Team USA in Berlin, Germany, this August at the IAAF World Championships.

“It was a great experience for him and he represented the Cowboys very well,” said assistant coach Paul Barrett. “Jake’s plan is to stay here and continue training with the throws crew next year at the professional level. He has had an amazing career and it will be nice to have a three-time All-American working with the talented young crew we have coming in next year.”

Dembo, Ratliff to make Capser appearance

2009-06-26T14:50:00.000-06:00

Former Wyoming Cowboy and NBA basketball stars Fennis Dembo and Theo Ratliff will be in Casper on July 11 to sign autographs at the Super Stars & Sports Cards Show in the Sunrise Shopping Center.

Dembo and Ratliff will sign items from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the annual sports card show for donations to the Oliver Wilson Cancer Fund.

Wilson is a former University of Wyoming basketball player (1984-87) who is fighting cancer. The fundraiser will help with costs associated with his growing hospital bills and to assist his family.

Anyone interested in donating to Oliver Wilson and his family, or to learn more of Oliver’s story, may do so on the internet at www.owcancerfund.org. For those interested in donating, but who are unable to attend the Casper event, contributions can be made through UniWyo Federal Credit Union in Laramie. Designate ‘Casper Event’ on the memo line and mail to UniWyo Federal Credit Union, c/o: Oliver Wilson Cancer Fund, 1610 E. Reynolds St., Laramie, WY, 82072.

Call ‘Behind the Glass’ in Casper at 307-265-2133 for further information concerning the event.