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Hawkins believes in magic

Posted August 20, 2008

The Colorado football team was back at work for another round of two-a-day practices Wednesday after spending Monday night and Tuesday in what coach Dan Hawkins calls "team unity" functions.

So what exactly is that?

The Buffs spent Monday night at the campus recreation center playing dodge ball, having and diving/belly flop competition in the pool and a 3-point competition in on the basketball court. Then they went to Dave & Busters for video games and more fun.

Hawkins believes allowing his team some time together away from football during camp is integral to keeping fresh minds and spirits.

“I just really believe there is so much magic in the world and so much magic in people, and sometimes we let life trample that down," he said today. "And if I can get every single guy on our team to understand all those dynamics and believe in those dynamics and have that thing pumping in his heart, I mean, we’re going to graduate 100 percent of guys. We’re going to keep 100 percent of guys out of trouble. We’re going to win all our games. That’s my quest always with these guys is getting them to realize that. I think the more they connect with their families and us as a team, that’s a huge deal. Huge.”

...Darrell Scott suffered a sprained thumb in Wednesday's morning practice but was back in action in the evening. Hawkins cautioned reporters after the evening practice about not distributing injury information or other details of practices from this point on. Hawkins said he didn't think the injury would be a big problem for his star freshman.

...A reporter wanted to know whether Hawkins, a former fullback, planned to reward hard-working senior fullback Maurice Cantrell with a carry this season. Hawkins said he will get more than than. He said Cantrell will be a big contributor as a lead blocker in the running game, a pass blocker and a receiver.

“Every fullback gets the ball two times a year, whether he likes it or not,” Hawkins said.

...The Buffs will conduct the third and final scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. It is closed to the public and to media members. But they have made guys available for interviews in the past. So we might be able to give you some idea of how things went. By the way, the Rams are scrimmaging in Fort Collins on Thursday morning.

Hawkins said he hopes to get at least one practice in at Folsom Field before the season starts, but he didn't know Wednesday if that was going to be possible. They are trying not to disturb the new turf as much as possible to give it times to take root.

...I was standing watching the final minutes of the evening practice Wednesday being attacked by mosquitoes along with the rest of my media friends. Ed Meacham, one of the CU volunteers who watches over the gates to make sure people don't wander in to closed practices made this observation of us all slapping away the bugs.

"We look like a bunch of third base coaches," he said.

...Finally, I'm never shy about sharing links to other interesting stories about the Buffs from national media or hometown papers. Here is a good one brought to my attention by a reader on Wednesday. It's a good story in the Daily Pilot in Los Angeles about CU linebacker Shaun Mohler and walk-on fullback Matt Burgner. Check it out dailypilot