Colorado Sports Hall Of Fame Names Plati Official Historian

DENVER — With Colorado gearing up to celebrate its 150th "birthday" as a state a year from today, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in the coming year will commemorate the milestone by highlighting the 150 greatest sports stories in the history of the Centennial State.

The stories will be counted down — from 150th to first, likely five or so at a time — on the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame website (coloradosports.org) beginning early in 2026 and likely in one or two other ways. Story No. 1 is expected to be divulged just before August 1, 2026, the day the state turns 150 years old.

In conjunction with the project, the Hall of Fame has designated University of Colorado sports information director emeritus Dave Plati its official Colorado Sports Historian. In that role, Plati will coordinate the 150 greatest sports stories project, working with a small, select committee. Plati is the chair of the CSHOF Selection Committee (and is also on the boards for the Colorado Golf and Colorado Music Hall of Fames).

"Dave brings a long history of knowledge and passion for sports history in Colorado," said Tom Lawrence, the President & CEO of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1964 by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White. "As chairman of the CSHOF Selection Committee, with the help of his some of his fellow selection committee members from Colorado sports media, his statewide perspective of sports history is second to none. We are excited for Dave to share his knowledge of sports history in Colorado with the citizens of this great sports state as the official state sports historian."

Plati -- currently the sports information director-emeritus and official athletic historian for the University of Colorado – is beginning his 48th year working at CU, his third in a semi-retirement capacity. During his career, he has worked for several other area sport entities, all while working for the university: the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies (official scorer), Denver Bears, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado Golf Association, Rocky Mountain News, Colorado High School Coaches Association, Colorado Open Golf Tournament – which add to another combined 86 years between all -- and for all but two of the 45 BOLDERBoulders.

He was also a talent statistician for NBA games for WTBS for five years in the 1980s, and has served as the stats man on KOA broadcasts since 1998 for Dave Logan starting in his second year handling the play-by-play role for the Broncos. Plati has also worked the last 16 Rose Bowl games and all 11 College Football Playoff championship games, coordinating pre- and postgame notes and miscellaneous statistics.

"When I was a freshman at CU in 1978, (the late) Irv Brown was on our staff and he encouraged me to do everything I could to build a great resumé, whether (the job) paid or not," Plati said. "I took that advice to heart and started dabbling in everything I could get my hands on. My boss at CU, Tim Simmons, was very supportive and is the one who suggested I'd be a good addition to the Broncos stats crew and tossed a few other gigs my way. And I was also lucky to have as one of my mentors, the legendary Jim Saccomano. CU allowed me the freedom to freelance, as it was also a great way to promote the Buffaloes in nearly everything I did on the side."

"Anyone who knows me is that I love a good research project, so it's truly an honor to become the historian for the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. I look forward to creating other avenues to promote our state's history." The position is of a volunteer nature.

Over the last 60 years, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame has inducted 291 individuals. The first class of inductees — in 1965 — featured White, Earl "Dutch" Clark and Jack Dempsey. The CSHOF Museum, located at Empower Field at Mile High, opened in 2001 and strives to preserve the legendary stories that make sports an important part of the state's social fabric.

Colorado Sports Hall Of Fame Names Plati Official Historian

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