Rich's sometimes disjointed rambling

Wednesday was a tough day for many longtime Wyoming and Colorado State fans, as well as the media, when we heard that Rich Bircumshaw passed away at the age of 54. Bircumshaw was a long time radio voice in Wyoming ( Riverton , Casper and UW ), before moving on to become the CSU play-by-play announcer. As talented as he was on the airwaves, he was a nicer man. I can't say I really knew him well, but throughout the years he always had a smile and hello to me when our paths crossed. He always left you smiling. Say what you will about the UW - CSU rivalry, but Bircumshaw truly loved both universities. Rich, rest in peace, you will be missed

Chris Stutzriem was true to his word. At the end of last season, Stutzriem said that if Joe G lenn wasn' t the head coach, he wouldn' t wear the brown and gold colors. Glenn was fired a couple of days later and Stutzriem eventually decided not to be a Cowboy again after some initial backtracking of his comment. Stutzriem , in a story by Todd Golden of the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, said he would transfer to Indiana State. He will be eligible to play this fall as he will transfer down one class. A big pro style quarterback, Stutzriem knew right away that he did not fit into Dave Christensen's no huddle spread offense and decided before spring drills that he would eventually leave Wyoming. Now, he'll wear blue and white. Here's the Tribune-Star link: Stutzriem

Devin Moore opened the flood gates for former Wyoming Cowboys wanting to continue their football careers. Moore signed with the Seattle Seahawks on S unday night. On Monday, three more former 'Pokes signed with NFL teams and another was invited for a tryout. Signing on Monday were Kyle Howard, an offensive lineman with the 49 ers , linebacker Mike Juergens, with the Carolina Panthers and running back Wynel Seldon, with the Washington Redskins. The fifth Cowboy who was invited to a tryout was long snapper Danny Dutmer , who was invited to work out for the Cleveland Browns. Howard was an honorable mention All-Mountain West selection this past year. He started the last 40 consecutive games of his college career for the Cowboys. Howard was a very versatile offensive lineman, starting at right guard as a senior and right tackle as a junior. Juergens recorded 56 tackles as a senior outside linebacker and led Wyoming in sacks with 5.0. Juergens was a two-year starter for the Cowbo...

Four Mountain West Conference running backs were selected in the NFL Draft on Sunday, but not Wyoming's Devin Moore. The league's second-leading rusher this season failed to be picked in the seven rounds. Moore, however, will get a shot at playing in the NFL, as he signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks Sunday night. Seattle, which was 4-12 last season, didn't draft a running back. The Seahawks , however, did sign North Dakota State running back Tyler Roehl as a free agent. If you remember, Roehl was injured and had just three carries against the Cowboys. There was no word by Sunday night on any other possible Wyoming free agent signings. In case you are wondering, the MWC running backs picked in the draft include Gartrell Johnson of CSU (Chargers), Frank Summers of UNLV ( Steelers ), Fui Vakapuna of BYU (Bengals) and Aaron Brown of TCU (Lions).

With the way our luck has been lately, I was expecting the worst on Saturday, weather-wise, for the Brown and Gold spring game at War Memorial Stadium. It was certainly chilly, but it didn't rain or snow, so I'll certainly take that, especially being on the sidelines the entire time taking pictures. And by the way, sometimes the running clock can come in handy. There have been many of cold Friday nights at Deti Stadium wishing the clock would keep on running. So, what did you think? I wouldn' t put this in the scrapbook as a masterpiece, but I have seen worse spring games. I think you have to take in consideration the Cowboys lack of depth with injuries on defense and even at wide receiver. Of course, more talent in those areas appears to be coming as well. What got head coach Dave Christrensen's goat was all of the dropped passes -- 35 incomplete throws between the two quarterbacks. With the way Christensen and his staff operate, my guess is that will be something ...

The Onion rules. Wade Phillips

Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson with yet another presentation on the conference's BCS playoff plan. This time it wa s made to BCS commissioners in Pasadena, Calif. MWC commish pitches playoff at BCS meeting Posted using ShareThis

You don't have to be a weight-lifter or football player to be in the ultimate strength and condition. Three Wyoming athletes -- a wrestler, soccer player and track athlete -- are just that. The National Strength and Conditioning Association ( NSCA ) recently awarded All-America Strength and Conditioning honors to Amanda Lathrop of Cowgirl soccer, Sharon Larrier of Cowgirl track and field, and Alex Rieder of Cowboy wrestling were recognized for their dedication to strength and conditioning training. Lathrop was selected by strength coach Kathy Crowe -Wagner. "Amanda is a coach’s dream. She has a great work ethic and willingness to do whatever it takes to improve," said Wagner. "She is a leader in the weight-room and is pound for pound one of the strongest female athletes at Wyoming." Larrier competes in sprint events for the Cowgirls. "Sharon was one of the few sprinters that stayed in town to train over the summer and did not miss a single training ses...

If I had the time or patience, I would try to look up the fact that there have been a few big innings in Major League Baseball this weekend. On Friday, the Twins scored nine runs in the eighth inning, capped by a grand slam home run by Jason Kubel (yeah) to beat the Angels 11-9. On Saturday, the Indians scored an amazing 14 runs in the second inning en route to a 22-4 crushing of the Yankees (yeah). On Sunday, the Dodgers scored seven runs in the sixth inning, including a grand slam by Jeff Kemp (yeah, he's on my fantasy team) in the 14-2 win over the Rockies (boo). Three teams -- 3 separate innings, 29 runs. I doubt that there is a record for something like this, but it would be interesting, if there was, how this weekend fared in that regard. It also seems a little strange to me because pitching usually dominates hitting early in the season. Oh well, that's why I love baseball. You go by the book and nothing goes as planned.

Those who have watched the Cowboys practice this season were initially stunned at the rise of intensity by Dave Christensen and his staff. Now, just one week away from the end of spring drills, amazement might be the definition now. During Saturday's scrimmage, it was still obvious that there will be no letting up. Christensen said that they feel that it is their job to keep on the players, regardless of the situation. "I'd like them to be more intense every day," Christensen said. "They were getting after it today, and we talked about at some staff meetings that we need to be a little more demanding of these players, to get them to do what we want them to do. I thought they came out and coached hard today and I thought the kids played hard today. There were a lot of positives today." It was another big day for the offense , as it rolled in the special scoring system, 59-24. In the three scrimmages, the offense has outscored the defense, 148-74. The offen...

It's didn't take Heath Schroyer long to get a commitment on the first day of the spring college signing period. Desmar Jackson, a 6-foot-5 guard from Warren G. Harding High School in Warren, Ohio, faxed in his letter of intent early on Wednesday. Jackson had verbally committed to the Cowboys earlier in the year. A Division I first team all-stater in Ohio (the highest class), Jackson averaged 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.3 steals per game last season. Other schools showing interest in Jackson were UConn , Ohio State, Akron and Kent State. Schroyer has one scholarship left and it has been reported that he has also made an offer to another Ohio prep star, Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent’s-St. Mary’s star forward Daylen Harrison. The 6-6, 220-pound Harrison comes from the same high school as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James. He averaged 17.2 points and 12.0 rebounds last season and was a second team D-II all-state pick. In November, Schroyer signed Casper Na...

The Chicago Bears have announced that they have made another big free-agent signing, to go along with the inking of quarterback Jay Cutler and offensive lineman Orlando Pace. Bears new free agent

Cowboy senior Brandon Ewing received yet another honor earlier this week as he was was selected as a Collegehoops .net Honorable Mention All-American, among high-major schools. He received the same honor from Collegehoops .net during the preseason. Collegehoops .net’s high-major classification is comprised of six conferences: the Atlantic-10, Conference USA, the Missouri Valley, the Mountain West, the WAC and the West Coast Conference. Ewing led the Mountain West Conference in both scoring and assists this past season with 18.5 points and 5.03 assists per game, the first player in league history to lead both categories. He also became the first player to lead the league in scoring three times, as he was also the MWC ’s leading scorer as a sophomore and junior. Ewing ended his senior season ranked 49 th in the nation in scoring and 37 th in assists. Prior to the 2009 MWC Championships, Ewing was named first team All- MWC by the league’s head coa...

With the conclusion of the NCAA title games for the men and women, the college basketball season is officially over. You're not done with college basketball, you say. If you still need a little college basketball fix, you can turn to the MountainWest Sports Network, as it airs the 2008-09 men’s and women’s basketball season review shows. The programs begin at noon on Saturday, with six of the nine shows airing, with the remaining three broadcasts slated for April 16. Each show will re-air several times through April. The Wyoming review (Cowboys and Cowgirls) will air Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Hosted by network anchors Marius Payton and Bill Doleman , along with with analysis provided by Larry Mangino and Marty Fletcher, each 30-minute program combines the men’s and women’s teams and features great moments and highlights for the nine member institutions. Interviews with coaches and student-athletes comprise key elements of each show. --- Saturday, April 11 Air Force-- 12 p.m. BYU --...

Dave Christensen had no choice but back off on Saturday. Back off with intensity, pace and physical play? No, Christensen and the Cowboy coaching staff had to whittle down the plays run in the scrimmage from about 120 to 85. The reason was obvious and unfortunate. The Cowboys' depth is a little thin at this time. “We cut it back before we even started today, because we were two deep,” Christensen said. “I would have run 120 plays if we were three deep. We had to cut it back.” Is Christensen and his staff concerned about the large number of players struggling with injury at this point of the spring drills? Not at this time. “We have to become a much more physical football team,” he said. “We’re going to improve on it, but now we have some guys banged up because of our emphasis of being physical. But that’s part of the program -- the program is not going to change.” What he is concerned about is the players being able to go at his pace. “We have a tempo that we use here,” he said. “W...

When is the last time the Wyoming offense won a spring scrimmage … heck, any scrimmage against the defense in the last few years. That was certainly a topic of conversation on the sidelines Thursday in the Indoor Practice Field. All-in-all, I thought Dave Christensen’s new spread offense showed some signs of hope. Granted, there were a few D-linemen missing because of injury or illness. But when has that ever given the UW offense an edge in these situations. The UW offense won the 69-play scrum, 38-27. First of all, that was not an actual football score. Christensen and his staff have developed a unique scoring system in these situations. This is the first time that offense has prevailed, and they will likely be wearing the brown jerseys in Sunday’s first full scrimmage. The scrimmage began with the offense running six series from its own 35-yard line, followed by seven series of plays from its own 45 and finally two series beginning at the defense’s 25-yard line. Here’s a rundown on...

As many of you know, the last year and a half I have been away from the newspaper business. I've done a little of this and a little of that, which translates into Wyoming Sports.org, freelancing for other publications, including the Associated Press, and now on the radio with Sportsline Live. Well, there will be a little more of this and that in the future, as I will also be helping out on the Scout.com I nternet site, CowboyBlitz .com. The site had been a little dormant for the past year with no real local UW coverage. That is beginning to change with a new publisher. The goal is to get CowboyBlitz .com on its feet as one of the top sites for Wyoming coverage. I'll try to help out with the local coverage and maybe in the future branch out with some recruiting stories. Now, that doesn't mean I won't still be on Sportsline Live or continue to operate Wyoming Sports.org. Both will still be in the cards. What you will likely see on Wyoming Sports.org, as far as UW ...

Wyoming living legend Kenny Sailors was featured in an online story by USAToday.com this week as the oldest living MVP of the NCAA Tournament. The story, written by Mike Lopresti of Gannett, features Sailors’ recollections of his playing days, his creation of the jump shot and his days after basketball. Sailors won the NCAA Tournament MVP award in 1943 when the Cowboys captured the NCAA Championship. He now lives in Laramie where he regularly attends University of Wyoming games, Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball practices and Cowboy football practices. At the beginning of this past college basketball season, Sailors No. 4 jersey became the first jersey in University of Wyoming history to be honored by hanging a replica of it from the rafters in Wyoming’s Arena-Auditorium. Kenny Sailors link