Plati-'Tudes

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A weekly notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 18th year as Colorado's Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

Welcome to "Plati-'Tudes," a bi-weekly (I hope) column of notes about University of Colorado athletics, with special features thrown in every so often. First and foremost, it will serve to feature those stories that may not get much play from the mainstream media. But it will also offer our take on issues raised by those who have an interest in the program, to answer questions and concerns, and to offer our point of view if we should disagree with what may have been written. Enjoy!

July 19, 2003

Welcome to Plati-'Tudes, written in the midst of my glory of getting the football guide finished and playing a lot of golf for some much needed R&R (golf = relaxation? Hmmm...). I've come to the conclusion, that while my handicap is the lowest it's been in over a decade (16), in 100 matches against Tiger Woods, I'd go 0-100... well, maybe 0-99-1 if I get him on his wedding day.

TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU--Name the only athlete in Colorado history to lead the nation in the same statistical category for two straight seasons. Seinfeld--A big to-do was made out of the revealing of Kramer's first name (it turned out to be Cosmo). But what other fairly regular character never had his or her first name referenced?

CONGRATS TO JK... CU alum Jonathan Kaye finally earned that elusive first win on the PGA Tour, when he won the Buick Westchester on the first playoff hole over John Rollins. He became the fourth Buff to win a PGA Tour event, joining Dale Douglass, Hale Irwin and Steve Jones; it was the 80th professional tournament won by U. of Colorado golfer (Irwin 57, Douglass 14, Jones 8, Kaye 1). Westchester's a great place to win, if not only because I got to play that course a few times my high school golfing days (nope, I never broke 80 there. Okay, not even 90-hey, us big guys don't like walking up No. 9 carrying our own bags!).

MORE CONGRATS... to former CU football coach and athletic director Eddie Crowder, who will be inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame this August 25.

AND EVEN MORE... Former hoopster Shaun Vandiver is now a full-time assistant coach, accepting a position at Bowling Green under head coach Dan Dakich. Shaun started as a grad assistant here at CU under Ricardo Patton, and served in a similar capacity last year for Steve McClain in Wyoming. Vandiver starred at center for the Buffs back between 1988-91; good luck, good ol' number 35!

THE USUAL SUMMER FIND... It's the time of year where we're always researching one thing or another, and I came a cross this tidbit from the Boulder Camera on Friday, October 21, 1966, about the CU campus being showered with leaflets from a low-flying plane. The "multi-colored circulars contained the following message for CU people: 'Fifteen thousand Nebraskans will be here to cheer. The Coloradans will be drinking beer. The Huskers will score and Nebraska will roar. The Buffs will try, but their fans will cry. Oh me, oh my.'" Say what? It was also in the Denver Post with the headline, "CU Bombed by Bad Poetry." Nebraska rallied to win the game in the final minute by a 21-19 score, but perhaps this is where some of the ill will between fans in the series was born.

MOSLEY STAYS DOWN UNDER... The Melbourne Tigers reached an agreement with former Buffalo Jamahl Mosley, meaning he will make his debut as a Tiger in their 2003-04 NBL opener this October 1. Mosley, a powerful dunker (and part time dancer), is the second former Victorian Giant who hopes to turn 'Giant killer' for the coming NBL season, joining D-Mac (Daryl McDonald) in his new uniform. Jamahl will be playing his third NBL season, in which time he has averaged 15.5 points per game, and 8 rebounds per game, whilst also winning the sixth man of the year accolade in 2002. He will be joining the club in late August when he returns from the United States and will wear number 32. From an Australian newspaper account forward from Andy Davis.

BEST OF CU 2002-03

I recently surveyed the Plati-'Tudes E-Mail Survey List with what they thought the greatest moments in CU sports were for the 2002-03 athletic year. Over 70 responses came in; enjoy!

Best Football Moment
READERS CHOICE: The 94-yard touchdown pass from Robert Hodge to Jeremy Bloom in CU's 35-31 win over Kansas State. Runners-up: Donald Strickland's fourth-down hit on Darren Sproles at the CU 3 in the same game, and the 28-13 win at Nebraska.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Even though CU lost, Bloom's 75-yard punt return against Colorado State for a TD on his first collegiate touch was pretty magical, though I have no problem with the choices above.

Best Men's Basketball Moment
READERS CHOICE: In a runaway, Stephane Pelle's 15-foot jumper in the final seconds to lead CU to its first win over Kansas in over a decade. Distant second: the win over Texas, proving the win over KU wasn't a fluke.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Can't disagree with that one! But the end of the Big 12 opening round game against Kansas State when Mookie Wright nailed the game-winning three was another solid moment.

Best Women's Basketball Moment
READERS CHOICE: Another runaway: CU's 86-67 win over North Carolina to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament; the two wins over Oklahoma were the second choice.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Certainly not the color commentary by Big East homer Doris Burke in the Elite Eight game against Villanova. Gotta go with the big win over the Tarheels.

Best Other Sports Moment
READERS CHOICE: Near unanimous: Jorge Torres winning the NCAA individual cross country championship. The only other item receiving more than one vote was Jeremy Bloom winning the Superstars competition (it got two votes).
P-TUDES CHOICE: The only thing better than seeing Jorge win the title was that he was awesome to work with for four years, and when he won the NCAA, it made it that much more enjoyable for those of us who know him.

Best CU Alumni Sports Moment
READERS CHOICE: There was no clear cut winner; four different occasions received between 12 and 15 votes. In order: Koy Detmer's performance at quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football (15); Jonathan Kaye's first PGA Tour win in the Buick Classic (15); Chauncey Billup's lighting up the scoreboard in the NBA Playoffs (13); and Ryan Sutter's being named the winning man in "The Bachelorette" (12).
P-TUDES CHOICE: I'm a Titleist head, so I give a slight edge to Kaye's first win, especially since he won it with an eagle on the first playoff hole on a course I played a few times in high school (nope, I never came c lose to breaking 90 on it, either).

Best Media Coverage
READERS CHOICE: Newspaper--Boulder Camera 63.0%; Denver Post 22.6%; Buffalo Sports News 8.2%; None/No Answer 4.1%; Rocky Mountain News 2.1%.
Radio--KOA 35.6%; KKZN (760, The Zone) 31.5%; KKFN (950, The Fan) 27.4%; KVCU (The War Room) 4.1%; None/No Answer 1.4%.
Television Station--KUSA (Ch. 9), 28.8%; FSN/Rocky Mountain Sports Report 27.4%; KCNC (Ch. 4), 23.3%; None/No Answer 15.1%; KMGH (Ch. 7), 5.5%.
Internet--CUBuffs.com 61.6%, Boulder Camera 19.2%, Assorted "Chat/Message" Sites 15.1%, None/No Answer 4.1%.
P-TUDES CHOICES: I selected my winners based on coverage of all our sports: Newspaper--Colorado Daily by a hair. They consistently run the most copy and have been very good to all of the non-revenue programs (but no weekend editions). Boulder Camera/Buffalo Sports News tie for second, though the Camera is more timely being a daily. Aside from those three, it's always a battle getting much in.
Radio--If it's not football or basketball, it takes an act of God to get coverage of something; KOA mentions the other sports during their broadcasts, and Irv & Joe (KKFN) do help out with the occasional mention of a non-revenue accomplishment;
Television--Fox Sports Net, as the Rocky Mountain Sports Report allows the most time and has done several non-football/basketball pieces. Otherwise, KUSA has the most presence up here, though KMGH and KCNC are right behind them; the other two stations usually need an act of God to get a camera most of the time, but KDVR (31) is sending Todd Mansfield on more and more occasions. KWGN is here when it can be.
Internet--I'm biased, but our own CUBuffs.com is the obvious choice. Where does the news always get posted immediately? Our site; others may take a while to get it up, but we post right after we send out to the media, usually within two minutes.

Best Writer
READERS CHOICE: Though the Rocky Mountain News finished last in the Best Coverage question (likely directly related to no Sunday edition), beat writer B.G. Brooks edged the Boulder Camera's Chris Dempsey. The Post's Adam Thompson was third, but was "in the hunt," and the BSN's Mark Collins was the only other to get more than one vote.
P-TUDES CHOICE: If you think I'm voting, you must be crazy!

Best Columnist
READERS CHOICE: This could be a small sampling of what people, at least CU fans, believe the state of columnists are in the area, and I kid you not: I received 73 responses to my survey, and the runaway choice for the best in the region was: None/No Answer, which received 56.2 percent of the vote. Kind of like in the movie Brewster's Millions, when None of the Above won the mayoral race for New York City. The Camera's Neill Woelk was next (20.5%), with the Post's Woody Paige third (11.0%) and Terry Frei fourth (5.5%).
P-TUDES CHOICE: While being ultra smart and not voting, I thought the Post's Jim Armstrong should have received more than the two votes he received. But then again, his columns are more notes oriented.

Best Announcer
READERS CHOICE: Larry Zimmer was the runaway winner, with Tim Smile taking second.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Again, I ain't saying a word, but kind of wondered how ESPN's Mike Tirico got a vote. He must have been really well received four years ago at the Insight.com bowl.

Best Story/Column
READERS CHOICE: There were a lot of submissions, but the one that pulled away from the pack was Neill Woelk's extensive piece on Sox Walseth that ran in the Camera last January. Multiple votes came in for Paige's column on the women's basketball team, especially after Kate Fagan and Tera Bjorklund challenged him to come to the Iowa State game.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Robbie Robinson's same day column on the death of Tom McMahon, because of the powerful emotion it evoked as well as how he had to write it immediately while dealing with his own personal grief.

Best Game
READERS CHOICE: Almost a tie, but the two choices far and away were the men's hoopsters win over Kansas followed by football's win over Kansas State.
P-TUDES CHOICE: That men's win over Kansas was hard to top... but make my next the women's soccer team recording its first Big 12 tournament win with a 1-0 verdict over Missouri; then the KSU and UCLA games in football.

Best CU Concession Item
READERS CHOICE: We must have one heckuva cinnamon pretzel, because it was the choice over second place lemonade by 2-to-1. Many made references to a cold beer at basketball games to take third.
P-TUDES CHOICE: I'm not qualified: I haven't bought anything at the concession stands since the Paul McCartney concert in 1993, and as a student concession employee for concerts, I helped cook hot dogs on occasion. Haven't had one of those since I had hair...

Best CU Game Day Experience
READERS CHOICE: Ralphie leading the football team on the field topped over 20 different answers, which included tailgating in the business school lot with the Flatirons view, the spring game football experience with the kids, the Events Center after people jumped on the Buff bandwagon last winter, the band marching into the fieldhouse during pregame, and brats on the UMC terrace.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Ralphie, hands down. That still fires me up, and I'm coming up on home game number 150 for me this year...

Best CU Uniform
READERS CHOICE: It wasn't even close: the black top and the gold pants for home games in football. One even wanted to see it in basketball (Hmmmmm...); the all black look only received a handful of votes, or less than the number of complaints about it; the all-white on the road received less votes (1) than what the golf teams wear (2); one even called the look "Marshmallow State." We'll take it upon advisement.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Darn, we do look good on the golf course... but me thinks the voters need to attend home volleyball a little more often!

Best Band Song
READERS CHOICE: The fight song, followed by Tuba Cheer; though I gotta wonder what Crazy Train is.
P-TUDES CHOICE: I'll cast my vote for Glory, Glory Colorado , thank you.

Best Public Address Announcer Schtick
READERS CHOICE: An oldie, but a goodie; Alan Cass' J... J... Billingsley brought back memories of the alphabet kids in the 1980s (J.J. Flannigan, O.C. Oliver). "Here... Comes... Ralphie" was easily second. King of the unique entries: "And it's 2nd and 15 for the CORNhuskers..."
P-TUDES CHOICE: I like the altitude reference (5,345 feet of Rocky Mountain altitude) prior to basketball games... unless we forget to omit it when we're playing a school at equal or higher elevation.

Best View When Driving Into Boulder
READERS CHOICE: In a walk, the view from U.S. 36 over Davidson Mesa heading in from the southeast. Several made reference to the flags hung last year by the Denver Buff Club and how cool/neat/awesome it was.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Well, none are like driving into any other league city, that's for sure, but for me, there's something about driving in west on Arapahoe as it crests between 75th and 63rd streets.

Best CU Head Coach
READERS CHOICE: Gary Barnett (football) outpointed Ceal Barry (women's basketball) and Mark Wetmore (cross country and track). Four others received votes.
P-TUDES CHOICE: See "If you think I'm voting, you must be crazy!" under Best Writer above.

Most Underrated CU Head Coach
READERS CHOICE: Wetmore edged Barry and Ricardo Patton (men's basketball) in this one, with five others earning mention.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Based on what his team did last year, golf coach Mark Simpson. He had one senior, one junior, one sophomore and six wet-behind-the-ears freshmen. They had the kind of season you'd expect of such a young team, but tying for a first division finish in men's golf in the Big 12 is no small accomplishment.

Best CU Assistant Coach
READERS CHOICE: Brian Cabral (football, linebackers) topped the list; what was apparent is that other than two votes for basketball assistants, the public is only familiar with those who help with football.
P-TUDES CHOICE: Yeah, right, like I only want one assistant coach out of our three dozen to call me back...

Most Underrated CU Assistant Coach
READERS CHOICE: Shawn Watson (football, offensive coordinator), topped four other football assistants.
P-TUDES CHOICE: We have a lot of diamonds in the rough here, i.e., Brad Neher in golf, Tanya Haave in women's basketball and Jay Johnson in cross country, among several good, young assistants who will be head coaches some day. But the job Dave Borbely did retooling last year's offensive line stands out, and he'll have a bigger task this year (no pressure, Dave!).

Male Athlete of the Year
READERS CHOICE: Chris Brown (football), edged Jeremy Bloom (football/U.S. ski team). Others receiving votes included Tyler Brayton and Brandon Drumm (football), Brad Hogan (skiing), Michel Morandais and Stephane Pelle (basketball), and Jorge Torres (cross country and track).
P-TUDES CHOICE: Torres. He was undefeated in claiming the NCAA cross country title, and that is no small feat.

Female Athlete of the Year
READERS CHOICE: Tera Bjorklund (women's basketball) was the runaway choice; others who had votes were Molly Austin and Sara Gorton (cross country and track), Mia Cullman (skiing), Fran Munnelly (soccer) and Dominique Lemperle (tennis).
P-TUDES CHOICE: Bjorklund; she set herself up for a run at All-America honors as a senior this winter.

THE P-'TUDES MAILBAG... Some questions e-mailed in recently, the answers of which I felt were interesting or important enough to share.

Q: I was wondering why a team like Oklahoma is our homecoming opponent? Don't most schools try to schedule an automatic win for their alums?
A: That's a great question. I can't speak for the old days, but I assume schools use to do that, and maybe some do. But at CU, we also have Family Weekend (formerly Parent's Weekend), and they actually get first pick of the dates. When CU added fall break a few years ago, that added another consideration into the mix. You can't have Parent's Weekend early; many were just here in August so it makes more sense for them to return in October. November is out for both (too late); as conference game dates are designated, and the standard being a school is at home for two of its first four Big 12 games, the opponent isn't the top consideration because it's challenging just to secure a good date (though the Family Weekend opponent needs to be one where we know we'll have 4-5,000 tickets for campus use). We recently selected future dates for both, and our homecoming opponents in the near future will be Oklahoma State (2004), Texas A&M (2005), Baylor (2006) and Oklahoma (2007). Here's a good trivia question: name the last time an opponent for a CU homecoming game was not a fellow conference member? Answer: Wyoming in 1997, the only time a non-Big Seven, Eight or 12 school didn't line up against the Buffs on homecoming since 1949.

Q: You are a self-professed stat geek. Is there an amazing stat you've seen through the years that stands out?
A: Well, other than when I calculated CU was 20-0 in football at one point when Haley's Comet was visible from Earth, I guess this one has always intrigued me. In Roger Maris' 12-year major league career, he was not intentionally walked over the course of an entire season just one time-in 1961, when he hit the 61 home runs. So, I got out my handy dandy New York Yankee tell-all encyclopedia to study his stats that season. He only had 16 doubles and four triples as his other extra base hits, meaning he had 81 of that variety to go with 78 singles (he batted just .269). But he only struck out 67 times in 590 at bats. That same year, Mickey Mantle only received nine intentional base on balls, meaning that managers and pitchers of the day at least pitched to sluggers; Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire a few years back had several weeks with nine intentional walks.

LINE OF THE SUMMER... So far goes to CU tennis player Dominique Lemperle, who has a summer internship writing for the Boulder Daily Camera sports department. She asked the Camera's Neill Woelk (CU '81) if he was in school with Doug Looney (CU' 65). Either Looney looks really young, or Woelk has aged a lot lately...

THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... 516. That's the number of pages in this year's CU football media guide (topping last year's record 464). What's made up the new 52 pages? A new section, "Past Buffalo Greats" highlights over five dozen players from Kayo Lam to Chris Brown, is the largest addition; the recruiting section up front grew from 24 to 32 pages, the addition of all-time conference standings dating back to 1890 added four; and natural expansion and the need for a page to start on a particular side accounted for the rest. It'll be the best one in my 20 years of putting the sucker together; if interested in obtaining a copy, go to the order form on the front of CUBuffs.com.

TRIVIA ANSWERS: CU-- Kayo Lam, Football: he led the nation in rushing in both the 1934 and 1935 seasons. Seinfeld--Why, hello, Newman! The closest reference to his first name may have been at the post office, when his supervisor once referred to him as "Postal employee Newman."

"Plati-'Tudes" features notes and stories that may not get much play from the mainstream media; offers CU's take on issues raised by those who have an interest in the program; answers questions and concerns; and provides CU's point of view if we should disagree with what may have been written or broadcast. Have a question or want to know CU's take on something? E-mail Dave at david.plati@colorado.edu, and the subject may appear in the next Plati-'Tudes.