Hey there, fellow inhabitants of this crazy planet! Craig here, accompanied by Oliver, the self-proclaimed Master Feline of the Universe.

So, picture this: I'm on my 82nd lap around the sun, aiming for more laps if the creek don’t rise and ruin the party. But wait, hold onto your hats, because here comes the plot twist! My blood tests recently had me sweating bullets, thinking I might have to say goodbye to my Keytruda lifeline. Turns out, my kidneys are acting like they're auditioning for a trampoline show, bouncing all over the place with their levels. Apparently, I've got 45% kidney damage, thanks to a chemo cocktail from way back when. Who knew chemo could be so rude?

Now, instead of swirling wine like a pro, I'm chugging water like it's the latest health craze. It's like a sommelier's worst nightmare, but hey, I'll take it over kidney damage any day! And speaking of unexpected talents, I've become a regular at the acupuncture clinic, trying to keep my anxiety, fatigue, and rogue kidneys in check. Who knew poking needles could be so therapeutic?

But wait, there's more! My swallowing abilities decided to go on vacation without me, leaving me to choke on food like a newbie at a hot dog eating contest. Cue the panic! Thankfully, a Speech Pathologist is riding to the rescue, and I'm seeing them faster than you can say "Heimlich maneuver."

In the midst of all this chaos, art has become my saving grace. I'm gearing up for a gallery event, ready to show off my creations like a proud parent at a talent show.

Oh, and did I mention Oliver, my furry sidekick? He's been a bit feisty lately, probably because I'm smelling like all kinds of funky with my wonky blood values. Cats, am I right? One minute they're cuddling, the next they're treating your hand like a chew toy.

Now, onto the less glamorous part: medical bills. They're piling up faster than I can say "ouch," and it's like playing a never-ending game of financial whack-a-mole. If you've got a spare dollar or two rattling around in your pocket, consider tossing it my way. Every little bit helps, and I promise to shower you with gratitude that'll warm your heart faster than a microwave burrito.

My current unpaid copays balance is $4,750.To donate, please click on this link:

Thanks for being awesome, folks. Your support means the world to me, Oliver, and my ever-dwindling bank account.

Blessings, Craig (NCBuff)

BZ: FB -Auburn transfer Colton Hood excited for opportunity to play for CU Buffs, Coach Prime

CU AD: LAX - Buffs Fall to Stanford in Pac-12 Championship Game

CU AD: TEN - Buffs Ready For Second Run At NIT Championship

CUATG Blog: FB - Big 12 Notes – CBS Sports: Why Shedeur is a Top Five NFL Draft Pick

CUATG Blog: FB - Just Stick to The Facts

CUATG Blog: FB - Coach Prime v. The Athletic: “Great Theater for the Fall”

USA Today Sports: FB - Colorado in the mix for Arizona State transfer WR Elijhah Badger

CFN: FB - Top Games To Watch on the 2024 College Football Schedule - North Dakota State at Colorado, Week 1

Buffs Wire: fb -Colorado players who made the most noise this spring

Cheers!

Don’t like this myself but I’m sure others think it’s great. This makes me even more anxious for play to just start

BZ: FB - Football recruiting: Former Louisville defensive lineman commits to CU Buffs

BZ: MBB - Men’s basketball: Julian Hammond III to take charge of CU Buffs’ attack

CU AD: TEN - El Sayed, Stanojevic Named All-Pac-12

CU AD: T&F - Buffs Close Out Regular Season at Air Force

CUATG Blog: FB - Big 12 Notes – Cost to settle House lawsuit could reach $2.7 Billion

CUATG Blog: FB - Transfer Portal Tracker – Spring - Tawfig Thomas – DL

CUATG Blog: FB - 247 Sports Post-Spring Big 12 Power Rankings – CU in at No. 11

Ralphie Report: FB - Depth Chart: Who will start for the Colorado Buffaloes in 2024? (There’s a lot of fresh faces in Boulder)

Athlon Sports: FB - Deion Sanders, Colorado Expected To Face Difficult Transition To Big 12 In 2024

Sports360 AZ: FB - Mailbag: Utah’s post-Whittingham plan, Big Ten kickoffs, USC’s valuation, Colorado’s outlook, BYU’s win total and more

Buffs Wire: MBB - Four former CU Buffs invited to 2024 NBA draft combine

Buffs Wire: FB - Two uncommitted transfer portal players expected to visit Colorado, per reports

Cheers!

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He’ll have two seasons of remaining eligibility with the Buffs.

Understanding that not everyone was available, and also that it’s a work in progress with all the additional transfers coming in, can someone please list the starting O and D in the spring game last Saturday?

"Just win baby!" and Voilà, all this goes away.

While we’ve been watching the mass exodus of CU players to the portal (17 at last count,) CU fans have been saying “College football can’t sustain this,” and “This is crazy. It’s NIL-driven.” That’s been the chorus on this board, and also on other CU forums and among CU fans in general.

Now, let’s talk a little reality.

I had asked Nikki and our Rivals mods how CU compares so far with other schools with player losses during this Spring portal opening, but heard no reply. So, I put some numbers together by myself, and they’re sobering. Totally sobering.

We’re sitting here as CU fans in a bubble with our 17 players who have jumped in the spring portal. Why? Because CU is a total outlier. Other than Houston (15 spring portal losses so far,) not one P4 team I checked has half that many. Here’s what things look like nationally and in the Big-12 so far with spring portal losses:

Spring Portal Losses, Key National Teams:
Zero: Clemson, Florida, UVA
One: Oregon, UCLA, Tennessee
Two: Ohio St, Michigan, UNC, PSU, Georgia, Nebraska, Wisconsin
Three: Auburn, USC
Four: A&M
Five: Va Tech, Miami
Six: Texas, Washington
Seven: LSU

Spring Portal Losses, Big-12 Teams:
Zero: Oklahoma St
One: WVU, Baylor
Two: KSU, ISU
Three: TCU, BYU, ASU, Arizona
Four: Texas Tech
Five: UCF, KU
Six: Cincy
Seven: Utah
Fifteen: Houston
Seventeen: CU

Many CU fans have been saying that the portal is devasting teams, that recruiting out of high school just means losing players the following year, and that college football can’t sustain this. But let’s come back to reality. College football is ruled by a combination of ESPN/FOX and a small contingent of something like six power-brand schools – Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, Michigan, USC, and PSU, and maybe a few others. Add all of the spring portal losses for those six schools, the total sum, and you still don’t have the losses experienced by just one -- the Colorado Buffaloes.

Oh, we can tell ourselves that the Buffs haven’t been losing that many starters, real contributors. But we’re back-peddling, looking for excuses. The reality is that the shock and pain and dismay around CU as we’ve seen another mass portal exit has not been experienced by the powers of college football during the spring portal.

With our current coach, we’ve bought ourselves into a football revolving door that other schools have avoided, even with NIL. As Coach Prime University (nobody calls Bama “DeBoer U,” or The Ohio State “Ryan Day U”) we’ve given up continuity and connection for chaos. A total annual free-agency. That's what's not sustainable.

The bottom line: Yes, we can expect some tweaking of the portal and NIL among power schools (the basketball schools want it,) but it won’t be driven by the football bluebloods, and it’ll focus more on NIL than on the portal. The football portal is CU’s issue. Sanders wants to win before his kids leave, and he's willing to re-stock with cast-offs from other schools to try to get there. But the portal and spring portal exits, is hardly noticeable in Gainesville, Columbus, State College, College Station, Ann Arbor, or Tuscaloosa. It's not a huge issue other than in Boulder, Colorado.

BZ: FB - Football recruiting: Former Michigan State tackle Ethan Boyd commits to CU Buffs

BZ: WBB - CU Buffs women’s basketball adds Missouri State transfer Jade Masogayo

CU AD: LAX - Buffs Take Down USC, Will Play in Tournament Final Saturday

CU AD: WBB - Buffs Add 2023 MVC Freshman of the Year

CU AD: WGOLF - Ireland Junior Golfer Of The Year O’Shaughnessy Signs NLI

CU AD: T&F - Colorado Throwers to Highlight Air Force Twilight Open

CUATG Blog: FB - Big 12 Notes – Report: Athlete compensation may cost $30 million/year

CUATG Blog: FB - Transfer Portal Tracker – Ethan Boyd – OL

Ralphie Report: FB - Colorado’s Deion Sanders experience is going exactly as planned (This is part of the deal with Coach Prime on the sidelines)

Athlon Sports: FB - Deion Sanders and Colorado Make Massive Transfer Portal Addition

Buffs Beat: FB - Buffaloes roster going through another change

Star Local Media: FB - Popular Big 12 Newcomer In The Bottom Five Of Conference Power Rankings

Buffs Wire: FB - 12 Buffaloes who could hear their name called in the 2025 NFL draft

Cheers!

I didn’t know some of you guys would miss me so much. Fishing in Montana since Saturday and headed straight to jazz fest from here tomorrow.

Been checking in. Looks about like I thought it would and said repeatedly in the month leading up to spring game. Bunch of signings and prospective commitments for 25 too.

Have to dive in deeper - truthfully reading guys argue while your in Montana with great friends and new acquaintances isn’t really an interest. 😂😂

Glad to see no negative surprises and only what we expected to come out of that week. TP guys we all have to wait and see. Appears no major new hits but 25 recruiting, while way behind, looks off to a nice start. No surprise here.

Enjoy the week and for those of you who missed me and my ability to make this a cesspool by not agreeing with you. I miss you too. You complete me @buffticket 😘

After taking a look at Colorado this weekend, former Miami (Ohio) running back
Rashad Amos decided to commit and bring his talents to Boulder.


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BZ: FB - CU Buffs football notes: LB Jeremiah Brown settling into role

BZ: FB - Football recruiting: Former Arkansas safety RJ Johnson commits to Colorado

BZ: LAX - Women’s lacrosse: No. 24 CU Buffs hold off UC Davis to advance in Pac-12 tourney

CU AD: LAX - Buffs Defeat UC Davis, Advance in Conference Tournament

CU AD: VB - VB Recruits Buffs Welcome Three 2024 Recruits to the Team

CU AD: MGOLF - Biwer Headed Back To NCAA Regional Golf

CUATG Blog: FB - If they’re shooting at you, you must be doing something right

CUATG Blog: FB - Transfer Portal Tracker – Spring - Late announcement – linebacker Victory Johnson makes it 25 spring departures

CUATG Blog: FB - Big 12 Notes – CBS Sports weighs in: “Deion Sanders, Colorado facing another roster overhaul after losing 61% of 2023 class”

CUATG Blog: FB - Preseason Magazines - CU’s schedule ranked 13th-most difficult in the nation (4th in the Big 12) + Any game against an FCS team counts as 135 points, and neutral site dates are treated like home games.

Ralphie Report: MBB - Tad Boyle adds Elijah Malone to loaded transfer class (The Buffs will be competitive in the Big 12.)

On3: FB - Colorado CB transfer Cormani McClain eyeing decision in next few weeks

Next Impulse Sports: FB - College coach rips Shedeur Sanders

Buffs Beat: FB - Coach Prime heeds warning to transfers

The Spun: FB - Deion Sanders Claims He Doesn't Have To 'Sell' Anything To Recruits

ESPN: FB - Big 12 commish unhappy with CFP revenue plan, but 'look-in' helps

AZ Sports: FB - Deion Sanders has made a major mistake at Colorado and it's too late to get it fixed

Buffs Wire: FB - Former Buffs Xavier Smith, Chase Sowell respond to drama

Buffs Wire: FB - Colorado football stories that aren't getting enough national attention

Buffs Wire: FB - Arkansas transfer RJ Johnson commits to Deion Sanders' CU Buffs

Cheers!

Omarion Cooper started 8 games for CU last season at corner before moving to safety this spring. Was running with the second team defense on Saturday.

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Former Arkansas DB RJ Johnson commits to CU on his Instagram. Redshirted last season and was a 3-star recruit in the class of 2023.

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Clemson transfer offensive lineman Zechariah Owens has announced his commitment to Colorado as the big weekend continues for the Buffs.

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. . . Trust Prime.

The latest on some top targets here:

NE2S

BZ: MBB - Trevor Baskin ready to showcase hoops skills with CU Buffs

BZ: FB - Football: CU Buffs receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. aims for better season in 2024

BZ: WBB - Women’s basketball: CU Buffs guard Tameiya Sadler to transfer

BZ: LAX - Women’s lacrosse: Hard work, focus leads to monster season for CU Buffs’ Madeline Pisani

CU AD: CUsPYs 2024 - Several Honored With Top Honors at 2023-24 CUSPY's

CU AD: LAX - Four Buffaloes Tabbed Pac-12 All-Conference

CU AD: TEN - Buffs Extend Season with Second Straight NIT Bid

CUATG Blog: FB - Transfer Portal Tracker – Spring - Now are we done? Linebacker Kofi Taylor-Barrocks enters Portal on last day + Last one out? Defensive lineman Bishop Thomas becomes CU’s 23rd Transfer Portal departure

CUATG Blog: Big 12 Notes – “Deep Discussions” underway to reach settlement on House anti-trust suit

CFN: FB - College Football Schedule Rankings: Easiest To Hardest 1 to 134 (Colorado has 13th hardest schedule)

Heartland College Sports: FB - Five Transfer Portal Targets to Watch for Big 12 Football Teams

Buffs Wire: FB - Shedeur Sanders, teammates react to former Buffs player blasting Colorado

Buffs Wire: FB - Updated national transfer portal rankings after Colorado's latest commitments (6 - Colorado Buffaloes)

Cheers!

Found an interesting quote from Mantrez Walker posted on MICHIGAN INSIDER a bit over a year ago when he was committing to Michigan. "(They see me at) MIKE linebacker and I can also blitz off edge," Walker said. " I can bring violence and leadership. Fierce competitor that's going to really help Michigan (Colorado?) get to a national championship and bring a physical aspect to the defense. I'm also a field general and (ready to) make an early impact."

Sounds pretty good to me and thank you Coach Harbaugh for leaving and helping present this opportunity to CU

I believe this does NOT include money the conferences paid the schools from the TV, bowls and NCAA tourney money.

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BZ: FB - Coach Prime reiterates plan for long-term success with CU Buffs

BZ: FB - Football recruiting: Former CU Buffs starting CB Omarion Cooper enters transfer portal

BZ: FB - Video: Analysis as the CU Buffs wrap up spring football

BZ: FB - Men’s basketball: CU Buffs add NAIA All-American Elijah Malone

CU AD: WBB - Buffs Ink British Hooper Powell

CU AD: MBB - Colorado Adds Three Graduate Transfers

CU AD: WGOLF - Women’s Golf Celebrates 2023-24 Season With Awards Banquet

CU AD: Pac-12 Recognizes 59 Buffs On Winter Academic Honor Roll

CUATG Blog: FB - Coach Prime keeps reminding fans he’s staying: “I have work to do here. I absolutely love it here” + What became of CU’s players who left last year through the Transfer Portal?

Ralhie Report: FB - Colorado Buffaloes land four important young transfers
Coach Prime is adding some young talent to prepare for the future

On3: FB - Deion Sanders describes emotions of awarding Charlie Offerdahl a scholarship

Mike Farrell Sports: FB - Four Teams With Reason to Panic in The 2025 Recruiting Cycle

Buffs Beat: FB - What to expect from Coach Prime in year 2

Yard Barker: FB - Shedeur Sanders plans to take Colorado's offense to next level

USA TodaynSports: FB - Coach Deion Sanders, Colorado illuminate the pros and cons of wide-open transfer portal

KSL: FB - Post-Spring Big 12 Football Power Rankings For 2024 Season

Buffs Wire: FB - Visiting Colorado recruits share experience from spring game

Cheers!