Blue Ribbon, Purple Heart

For the past seven or so years, I've been a contributor to the Blue Ribbon Yearbooks that preview the college football and basketball seasons. It's great to be part of a respected national publication and it keeps me watching college sports when, left to my own devices, I'd probably watch nothing but NFL and MLB on the teevee.

But it's not the easiest writing. I sometimes think of it as the literary equivalent of the "meatball surgery" the doctors on "M*A*S*H" performed -- churn through it with competence and accuracy, but not much flair or artistry. It's darn tough to weave a thematic element through a 5,000-word piece on a college football team, or even a 1,800-word piece on a hoops squad.

Fortunately, the BR stable includes a number of talented writers so the burden is shared equitably. I usually write four football stories each season -- each checking in at 5,000 words or more -- and then get one or maybe two conferences in basketball, where there are more teams and shorter stories. Still, that's about 20,000 words per book, so it's no wonder that my fingers are screaming for combat pay as I pull back from the smoking keyboard after each marathon Blue Ribbon session.

This is a roundabout way of providing links to my football stories. It seems BR has signed an agreement with ESPN.com in which we give them our content to share with their readers, and they advertise the 800-number which you can call to order the book. It appears you have to be an "Insider" (i.e. paid subscriber) to view these, but if you're not an Insider and you're truly interested in reading these, let me know and I'd be happy to share my password with you (sorry, Bristol, it won't happen again, I promise).

• Colorado
• Iowa State
• Kansas
• Missouri

I really like Mizzou this year -- I think they're going to benefit from the experience of last year's collapse after a 6-0 start, and will challenge Nebraska for first place in the Big 12 North. Colorado is interesting because they've got some young talent and a second-year head coach who was the main architect of that Boise State program that had everybody talking after last year's Fiesta Bowl. ISU and Kansas are also-rans as ever.

Hard to believe the football season is less than a week away -- even harder for me to believe it because I'm up to my elbows in my BR basketball stories as we speak.