CECIL SAPP ON ALL-TIME TEAM

You voted, Cecil "The Diesel" is in. With 53% of the vote, Cecil Sapp is clearly the best all-time running back from Colorado State. I would have to agree personally but I do think Kevin McDougal is a close second.


There is still time left to vote on CSU all-time receivers so make sure you vote. Here are your choices.

Voting closes August 16. Be sure to check out the All-Time Team Page.

Other Updates:
Ramifications Google Plus Page
Our plus page has been seized by Google for the past week and we are getting things straightened out as week speak. Google Plus has been having issues with businesses using their platform for promotional reasons and are trying to roll out a business specific Google Plus page for use. For Ramifications, this has been a bunch of bs for the past week and hope they get their act together soon.

We've reached our 100 LIKES goal
Our fan page on facebook has finally reached 100 likes. I can't believe it took so long but whatever. Let's set a new goal for 1000 with in the next few months. I'm pretty sure there are more than a 1000 CSU Ram fans out there so let's go people.

Fall practice is around the corner. Who's getting pumped for some Ram football?
Will defense be much improved over last year?
Will Pete have a break out season?

DIARY OF A WALK-ON: FRANK HERNANDEZ

Transferring from the Community College of Denver, Frank Hernandez has enrolled in CSU Global online classes and intends to walk-on to the CSU football this fall. He will have 4 years of eligibility. Who is Frank Hernandez you ask? He’s a 38 year old Army veteran with a fused ankle. Once that fused ankle is planted,  he claims the injury creates a powerful boot (55 yards) and sees competing with Ben DeLine for the starting kicker position. DeLine connected on nearly 73% of FG attempts last year, but Hernandez is confident. “Coming to take your spot bud.”

Frank with his bolted ankle or
what he likes to call the "Titanium Nightmare"

Originally from Puerto Rico, Hernandez attended powerhouse Josefa Pastrana HS in Aguas Buenas. Hernandez hasn’t played organized football since his sophomore year and picked it up again in the Army. Since Frank lives in Brighton, he will have to commute to the Fort Collins campus to compete with athletes almost half his age. Hernandez is optimistic that his transition will be an easy one. “The coaches and players are gonna love me.” When asked if Coach Fairchild was aware he had such a unique student-athlete ready to compete for a roster spot, Hernandez responded, “No, but I’m gonna email him.” Keep an eye on your inbox Steve!

Currently, Hernandez is working out trying to get into game shape. “I’m going to work on my legs and lower back.” He has a strict diet, sticking with Wheaties (no milk) and club sandwiches from the office cafeteria, in order to power up for these grueling workouts. Mentally, Hernandez will have the toughest test. “I’m going to wear my mouthpiece to work.”

It’s clear that Hernandez has the drive and passion to contribute to the Rams this season, but what’s his motivation? To prove others wrong? To test himself physically and mentally? The camaraderie and competition? Hernandez responded, “Where are all my pens? Oh, I know, I left them downstairs.”

More to come…

BVP AND WORLD LEAGUES

Bradlee Van Pelt playing for the Leicester Falcons (Photo courtesy of the Falcons)

 I was rooting around the interwebs trying to find some current info on former Ram and, hopefully, future ring of fame inductee Bradlee Van Pelt. I remembered something I read on RamNation (click here for article) about a year back from an update on where he was at the time. He was playing football in Italy for the Bergamo Lions and roaming Europe tasting wine. Then I came across this classic video that took me back to the old days at Colorado State. This some footage of Bradlee himself, proving that he still has wheels.

Head spiker still has it! After playing in Italy, he was offered a contract by the Leicester Falcons in England. The funny thing was, while I was thinking of where Bradlee could be, I found this great interview piece written by Steve Heimoff; a writer, blogger and a wine buff. He put together a two part series that is a great read.
Bradlee Van Pelt: an NFL Quarterback’s Wine Dream Part 1
Bradlee Van Pelt: an NFL Quarterback’s Wine Dream Part 2

Bradlee needs to come back and give our boys a little pep talk.

On a side note:
I never realized how many American Football leagues there actually are around the world. Here are some links to some of them.
European Football League
Belgian American Football League
German Football League
X-League (Japan) 
Urban Football League (Japan)

Pretty crazy stuff.

ALL-TIME TEAM RECEIVERS

You voted, here are the results! Looks like Bradlee Van Pelt runs away with it, just like he used to except he's spiking the ball on your head instead of a poor Buff.

Here are your choices for receiver. Voting for receiver ends August 16. Remember, you can vote as many times as you want. You kind of have to because we need two receivers voted in.

Be sure to check out the All-Time Team page to vote for the best running back.

KAPRI UPDATE

Kapri’s CSU career is over before it started, but he promised Ramifications that he will enter a Juco this fall and return to the Rams in 2012. Consider it a redshirt.

“Nothing is changing, I’m a Ram.”

Bibbs was denied enrollment to CSU over controversy regarding his ACT scores. The blue chipper took the test twice scoring an  18 on his first attempt and, with the help of a tutor, posted a 23 the second time.  According to him the second test was voided for unknown reasons.

“From the jump, it was suspicious and so that was it.”

The low test score combined with his 2.1 GPA at Plainfield North HS in Chicago was enough to keep him from becoming a Ram this fall.

Bibbs remains in constant contact with CSU coaches and is undecided on  a Junior College at this point. Contrary to reports in the Denver Post citing schools in  California and Utah, he stated “I don’t know yet.”

Bibbs is committed to the Rams after this year and tells Ram fans, “Be patient and when I come, I’m coming full steam ahead!”

The CSU train is going to keep on rolling and the coaches will have to rely upon players such as Raymond Carter, Derek Good and Chris Nwoke to pick up the slack and return the Rams to the power running team from years past.

Here’s hoping Kapri hits the books, hits the weights and hits the road back to Ft. Collins. But don’t hold your breath.

PUTTING ON THE PRESSURE

I know kid. I can't get those ugly defense performances out of my head too... wait. Wha?

Over the last 6 years the decline of the Rams as a whole has been well documented. The defensive secondary has seen some catastrophic declines in productivity throughout that time. Passing defense once ranked 28th in the country in 2006 declined to a woeful 74th in the country in 2010, albeit a slight recovery from 87th in 2009. Because of the time period, we know we can't just put it on the players. Larry Kerr the Defensive Coordinator, and Tim Duffie have the bulk of the onus of the steep decline.

What makes it even tougher on Kerr and Duffie is that the defensive secondary has had some real talent over the last few years, including Joey Rucks, who doubled as a DB and LB. The statistics point more to a lack of pressure in the defensive packages being called or at least their success when they're called. While it's easy to say that the defensive front just isn't getting the push, ultimately blitzes and overloads called by the coordinator are what lead to big plays, bad passes and forced fumbles. A few examples... In 2006 and 2007 the secondary got 5 & 5.5 sacks respectively. In 2010, bageled. In order to get 5 sacks from the secondary, safety and corner blitzes have to be called every few series in order to get opportunities for sacks and mix up the pressure. No sacks equals no pressure. To further the point there were also no secondary QB hurries to report in 2010. Although the stat is an arbitrary one to note. The logical assumption is that the coverage would be better, thus more broken up passes and INTs. At least the programmers in EA Sports NCAA Football make it that way every year. And the coverage should be better.... But only 7 passes broken up by DBs in 2010, a shocking tailspin from the last 5 years which averaged nearly 20 per year. Either we didn't have the talent to play man to man or competence to play zone.

Well, the good news is we have the players to make the plays this year. Returning starters and backups are abundant. Leading the way are the returning starters Strong and Free Safeties, Ivory Herd and Elijah-Blu Smith. Momo Thomas should be back from a season ending shoulder injury and surgery. Shaq Bell should see plenty of playing time with Dominique Vinson and Ezra Thompson seeing some significant playing time as well. That's 6 players all with full season experience. Most teams don't have huge size on the outside and the Rams are no different with Thompson sitting back row in photographs at a staggering 6'2 and a soaking wet 207.

Another plus the secondary got to make a lot of tackles last year with Herd and Smith 3rd and 6th on the team in tackles. Let's hope their tackle count dwindles a bit this year. The first 5 games should be a nice warm up before the biggest test of the year when Boise State comes to town. BSU and Kellen Moore should line up some wickedly clever offensive sets to test the mind and backbone of Kerr or any coordinator. And if Kellen Moore pulls a Ben Roethlisberger ala Miami Ohio v CSU, it might be the beginning of the end for Kerr. It would also be a record night at the concession stand for beer sales.

The Ram defense, in particular the shot callers, should start to utilize their experience in the secondary in bump and run and corner and safety blitzes which should be an frequent sighting. Kerr has no excuse this year for a poor performance by his squad. He has a solid secondary. He just has to put on the pressure and let them do the dirty work.

KAPRI'S QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Another beauty quote from the future rock carrier for the Rams. Fall camp is just around the corner. Let's only hope he can live up the hype. After talking to him, Kapri is a pretty confident kid that seems to think he can get the job done. Maybe his first job can be carrying Raymond Carter's and Chris Good's pads on and off the practice field for a little freshman hazing.

On another note. We're at 91 likes on our fanpage! Come on people. Let's hit that 100 mark.

A NEW LOOK

As you can tell, we've been going through a little renovation process so bare with us. We thought this would be the perfect time to revamp the site and to give a fresh look since it's mid-summer and fall practices are right around the corner. All the same stuff is still here, it may be shuffled around in the next few days to get it the way we want it. We hope you like it. Thanks for your patients.

If you're bored go check out this link.
Power Rankings the Top 75 Team Logos
I completely disagree with the top ten, at least. Especially one in the top spot.