Chillin' All Over The World: Buffs Ready For Spring Practice After Spring Break
BOULDER - Fresh off a week free from school with spring break, the Buffs are rested and ready to get started on spring practice, which officially opens Tuesday at 4 p.m. with the first of 15 sessions that will culminate in the Spring Game April 25 at 1 p.m.
Most of the Buffs either stayed put in Boulder or returned home to hang out with friends and family during the week off, but a few Buffs took full advantage with trips to tropical places.
Quarterback Cody Hawkins celebrated his 21st birthday in style in Hawaii with his family. He took full advantage of the time off and spent a lot of time with his brother, Drew, who has a redshirt year under his belt at Boise State.
"Our big thing was on my 21st birthday, we went out for a burger at midnight," the elder Hawkins said. "It was good to hang out with him; we haven't seen each other much since he's been up there at school."
The two brothers also decided to learn how to surf, but didn't want to pay for lessons so they just got a board and self-taught themselves in no time.
"We figured it out pretty fast," Hawkins said. "When we got up, a bunch of sea turtles popped up right in front of us. That was the best part."
Hawkins came to the realization that he definitely wants to live in Hawaii at some point in his life and jokingly said he's unsure why his teammate from the islands ever want to leave.
Linebacker Bryan Stengel also visited the islands, although not with the Hawkins' clan. Stengel mainly spent time hanging out on the beach, but one day met some locals and they took him to a cliff diving location off the beaten path.
Tight Ends Luke Walters and Devin Shanahan escaped the Colorado blizzard by taking in a trip to Las Vegas while linebacker Tyler Ahles accomplished the same feat by taking in some Colorado Rockies' preseason games in Arizona.
Several Buffs traveled south of the border to Mexico, including cornerback Benjamin Burney, defensive tackle Taj Kaynor, cornerback Jimmy Smith and tailback Demetrius Sumler, who took the trip together and the highlight was a Snoop Dogg concert.
Defensive end Will Perciak also headed south to Cabo San Lucas where he hung out on the beach most of the time but did take a trip out on a fishing boat where he caught some ahi tuna. After catching it, the fresh catch was prepared for him right on the boat.
Trace Adams decided to venture over the Atlantic Ocean instead of the Pacific and met some friends in the south of Spain for a relaxing week.
Nate Solder, meanwhile, headed west on I-70 to Moab, Utah, to take in some mountain biking. He's an experienced rider in that he rides his bike a lot, but not necessarily on terrain like one sees at Moab. He tackled the famous slick rock, but admits he did almost have to get off his bike at a few parts of the trail.
Josh Smith also headed west on I-70 but only made it as far as Vail where he took in a few days of skiing while a few others were unluckily trapped in Boulder with the blizzard and either sequestered themselves inside like B.J. Beatty or ended up shoveling a lot of snow like Riar Geer.
Kevin Moyd took solace in the fact that he was able to stay at his house all day and watch the NCAA basketball games later in the week. The best game by his account with Missouri's upset over Memphis. Curtis Cunningham also boasted about the fact that he was able to lay on the couch and get caught up on all of his favorite TV shows and watch some movies.
Whether the Buffs were back at home hanging out with their families, south of the border or across an ocean, the one constant factor they all had on their minds over spring break was returning to Boulder where spring practice was waiting just around the corner.