Rich's sometimes disjointed rambling

Rich is a twitt. No, Rich is on Twitter. That's it. www.twitter.com/wyomingsports

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.

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.

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

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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.

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 ...

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 ...

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 posi...

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.