Rich's sometimes disjointed rambling

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.

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 Tour nament 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 ...

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

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 i...

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-conferenc...

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 A inge , 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.

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....

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 V egas 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 conferenc...

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-Wolv...

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

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.

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. D1 CollegeWrestling .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, D1 CollegeWrestling .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 13 th best incoming recruiting class in the nation according to W.I.N. Magazine. Jimmy Bell...

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...

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 14 th 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 ...

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 h...

Just completing its 10 th 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 42 nd 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 th...

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 cancelle...

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 w...