Just wanted to highlight a very welcome addition to the roll. In fact, you could call this our sister blog. Our red-headed step sister blog. Yup, you guessed it: our friends at TSL have fired it up with “Off the Beaten TSL Path.” Welcome to the blogosphere guys.

UPDATE: Also, I’ve added the DP’s Hoos News forum. It’s kinda sorta acting like a blog — with posts about topics and room for comments — so no need to worry about formalities.

Another article praising Sween, but also the rest of the Wyoming’s strengths. I’ll cut through the fluff and hit the data points:

With or without taking credit, Sween’s experience — along with that of a veteran group of linebackers who ranked nationally in several defensive categories last year — is putting to rest a lot of uncertainty about Wyoming compared to this time last year….

More and more, Sween’s got his eye on a sophomore named Greg Bolling, who in last Wednesday’s scrimmage caught four passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns….

Like last year, Sween also will be throwing to seniors Michael Ford, who led with 674 receiving yards last season, and Hoost Marsh, who has evolved from being primarily a punt returner to taking on more receiving duty. Marsh had 280 yards receiving last season….

The key running back will be Wynel Seldon, who as a sophomore last year led with 610 yards rushing and added 114 receiving yards.

On defense, Luke Chase is among four seniors returning from last year, when Wyoming climbed to No. 3 in the nation for their best defensive ranking since the 1960s.

Sure, but can that offense contain our attacking defense?

If there’s any weakness, it’s on the offensive line, where three players have graduated: offensive tackles Chase Johnson and Hunter Richards, as well as center Jason Karcher.

The oldest of the bunch this year are juniors Kyle Howard and Tim Bond. The only other starting offensive lineman to return is sophomore Russ Arnold.

So, sounds like a little pressure from our DL and blitzing LBs might be just what the Cowboy ordered. It’s awfully hard for a promising quarterback to hit his favorite receivers while he’s lying on his back.

“Right now, it’s the most important game of the year.” — Vic Hall, on the first game of the year against Wyoming.

Nos. 5 and 8 on the Herbie awards. This poll needs some serious SJOTY-style ballot stuffing.

A profile on the young man who’ll be calling the signals on the other side of the ball:

A star was born in the desperation and despair of a double-overtime loss at Syracuse, as Glenn turned over the reins to freshman Karsten Sween with UW in a 1-4 hole to start the 2006 season.

It didn’t much matter that Sween couldn’t pull out a win against the Orange despite throwing for more than 200 yards off the bench. The new signal-caller was only beginning to shine.

He won in his first start the next week against New Mexico.And then again in his home debut the following week against Utah.

By the time Sween clinched his third straight victory to open his career in Laramie — and raise the Bronze Boot in the process — it was clear who was in control of the Cowboys…

Sween finished 5-2 under center as a freshman, simultaneously making Glenn look like a genius and sending expectations soaring for his sophomore campaign.

Well, sounds like our sophmore QB a bit, doesn’t it?  Came in untested, had an impressive game in a loss given the circumstances (road game against a tough D), and ended up winning a bunch of games down the stretch.  I realize that Sewell was (a) facing tougher competition and (b) playing with a serious wrist injury all season.  So comparisons can’t be perfect.  But both team had freshman QBs last season that exceeded expectations — and so both have some serious expectations to deal with now.

Anyway, the rest of the profile …

(more…)

So, let’s start this off by yanking some links.

First off, there’s a hoard of news articles on Wyoming over at the Newslink. I’ll try to dig into them this week, but there you go if you want to start your homework.

If you want a flavor of what their fans are saying (or if you’re in the mood for some smack talk), then you’ll find some links over at the Opponents Page. Looks like Wyoming Nation (such a creative name!) is the true fan site.

Okay, dive in fellow Hoos. There will be a pop quiz later.

It’s game week, Hoos. Can you believe it’s here? I finally received my nose bleed season tickets. I very much like the new ticket booklet. Very nice. I feel like some sort of backstage-pass-holding big-time football hanging out in the Terry Holland JPJ fundraising booth eating chicken tenders and … what was I talking about? Anyway, an improvement over that giant perforated sheet that reminded me of a grade school art project. I’m in a new section closer to the 50 — new seats, new season. Of course, the first home game isn’t for a couple weeks, so the tickets aren’t relevant right now. Instead, it’s time to worry about Wyoming.

This is the first football season ever for The Good Ol’ Blog, so this will be a growing experience for all of us. So, let’s kick things off by focusing on our first opponent. The team has shifted from training camp to game week prep, and so will this blog. Nothing fancy — I’ll just be checking that team out and posting about ‘em. Or maybe some huge controversy will explode in the JPJ, and I’ll get distracted by basketball all week. No, I promise that won’t happen.

Stay on target … stay on target …

Anyway, more of Wyoming tomorrow after I check out the message boards and blogs and news reports about the Cowboys. I’ll just say this for now — I hope the special teams have been practicing how to stop fake punts. I’m sure that goes without saying. Right?

“A realistic shot at 6-1″sounds good to me.

The Post’s sports blogger notices that Ralphie has a tendency to complain about his players being broken. I have to admit — it is completely unfair that the Terps suffer human injuries while his conference rivals’ players are robots who just need routine maintenance every 5,000 miles.

Or, as the post blogger notes, “maybe the joints in College Park are especially short-lived.”

Snark aside, Groh doesn’t continually complain about the injuries to his team if I recall correctly. I don’t have the research tools (or time) that a Post blogger has, so I can’t say for sure. I’m sure he’s mentioned injuries as they happen, but not these repeated attempts to pretend he can’t even field a team or have practices. Indeed, given that Groh has kept major injuries secret in the past, not much research (or time) is really needed to highlight the difference between these two guys when it comes to harping (or not) about injuries.

“Rangers chase Cabrera as O’s seek rally…. The Orioles are in a hole as they play the opener of a twin bill with Texas.” — Orioles.com title and tagline, as the O’s were down 30-3 against the Rangers.