April Plati-'Tudes Brings May...
April 14, 2003
Welcome to Plati-'Tudes, always Michael Moore and Peter Arnett-comment free... Only 10 days to Jimmy Buffett! (am I a parrothead or what? It'll be my 25th J.B. & the Coral Reefer Band concert)... Recently back from New York, where there is a Boulder Creek Steakhouse in Yonkers! Wonder if the city or county got any dough for that one.
OPENING TRIVIA: CU-Six coaches in CU history have led their programs to 10 or more appearances in various NCAA Championships (full teams, not individuals). Four are current Buffalo head coaches; name them (and for a bonus name the other two). Seinfeld-In year one, what soap opera did Kramer get caught up in watching that led to Jerry's apartment being robbed?
CONGRATS ARE IN ORDER... To junior guard Kate Fagan, a member of CU's Sweet 16 women's basketball team, as she has scored an internship with the Conan O'Brien Show this summer in her native New York. She's creative; if you haven't seen her site on CUBuffs.com, check it out-The Kate Fagan Files-icon on the right side with her picture. She was awarded the internship over hundreds of applicants after paying all her own expenses to be interviewed in early March. With that many interested, the only way to rise to the top was to dazzle 'em in the interview, which if anyone knows Kate, that's one of her strong points. Congrats!
TWO COACHES ON THE INJURED LIST?... This is a first: two CU head coaches are on the injured list: football coach Gary Barnett had surgery on April Fool's Day (pun intended) on his left shoulder to mend some chronic problems that have plagued him (chronic since he lost a wrestling match with former QB Zac Colvin). This week, basketball coach Ricardo Patton goes in for a knee scope to clean up some chronic maladies. He'll be back on the golf course before Barnett, though...
NORTHERN COLORADO BUFF CLUB BORN... About 20 people turned out for the inaugural meeting of the Northern Colorado Buff Club, founded by Marc Teets to get support for the Buffaloes from such communities as Greeley, Windsor, Fort Collins, Loveland and Berthoud, to name a few. Teets, a three-time letterman in basketball under Sox Walseth, played alongside the likes of Cliff Meely, Scott Wedman and Dave Logan during his career (1970-73). Those interested in joining the organization can call Marc at 970/221-0700.
DENVER BUFF CLUB GOLF SET FOR JUNE 24... The inaugural Denver Buff Club Tournament is all set for Tuesday, June 24, at The Ridge at Castle Pines North golf course (a sweet golf track for those who have never played it). A shotgun start is a 1:30 p.m., and organizer Mark Helton promises a "terrific afternoon of golf, fun, food and drink." The DBC is in need of a few volunteers in the areas of corporate sponsors, marketing and advertising and pre- and post-tournament activities. Those interested should contact Mark at 303-663-1223 or via e-mail at markmartha@earthlink.net.
S.W.A.T. TEAM WITH DOC... About 20 members of the Boulder police department's S.W.A.T. recently came under the tutelage of E.J. "Doc" Kreis, Cu's popular strength coach. Maybe it's because they heard that Doc is going to be a member of the inaugural class into the Strength Coaches Hall of Fame later this spring. Congrats, Doc!
SUTTER REFRESHER... Congratulations to former Buff Ryan Sutter, who was Trista Rehn's pick last month for her man on ABC's "The Bachelorette." He actually brought her around the department one day, and met many associated with the football program. Here's a quick refresher for you on Ryan, who Bill McCartney invited on the team as a walk-on in 1993 from Fort Collins High School. Sutter, who wore No. 36, was placed on scholarship prior to the '96 season by Rick Neuheisel, and he responded with a big junior year on special teams with 53 points, a school record. He then earned a starting position as a senior in 1997 at free safety. He wound up leading the team in tackles with 170 (the second most ever in a year by a Buff), with 98 solo stops and three interceptions, returning one for a TD at Texas. He had 28 tackles at Michigan that year, the second most in a single game in school history (the most ever by a DB). Sutter is also CU's all-time career special teams point leader with 123, including 64 tackles.
WHAT IF... (Former) Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf was CU's SID instead of me? Well, you'd probably be reading, "More With Mo" instead of P-Tudes, but why don't we take a look at how Saeed al-Sahhaf, a walking Saturday Night Live skit, would have handled some occasions in our history:
Q: What happened with the
NCAA investigation into CU's football program last year?
Saeed al-Sahhaf: "There was no investigation. The NCAA never
came to Boulder. They were never here. Illusion!"
Q: Are you alarmed that you
lost two assistant football coaches to another school?
Saeed al-Sahhaf: "What? That is a lie... that is a lie. They
are still working here. I would show you personally, but they are
very busy and cannot be disturbed."
Q: The CU men's basketball
team went to the NCAA's for the second time in the last seven
years, but didn't go the previous 27. Why was that?
Saeed al-Sahhaf: "What are you talking about? We went. Every
year. Is it our fault that infidels erased our results from the
record books of history?"
Q: Sir, why did CU cut
seven sports in 1980, baseball being among them?
Saeed al-Sahhaf: "We cut no sports. In fact, we added 15,
including camel racing and oil well fire starting. A western media
creation. Our baseball team is ranked No. 1 in nation, and is doing
very well."
Q: Ceal Barry once had a
class taking their final in French in the Events Center removed so
her team could practice.
Saeed al-Sahhaf: "False. Totally untrue! France is our good
friend. We would never kick out young people learning a useful and
romantic language so a basketball team could practice.
Illusion!"
Q: Wasn't there some
trouble at a CU-CSU game in Denver a few years back?
Saeed al-Sahhaf: "I don't know what you are talking about...
things were in complete control. Trouble? Do you call being pelted
with debris from enemy fans trouble? I certainly
don't."
Q: CU has some tough media
covering them. What do you think of guys like Neill Woelk who enjoy
taking swipes at your program?
Saeed al-Sahhaf: "Infidel! He chooses to write non-truths,
but he will soon drink the ink that he pens his lies, and it will
cause him to die the death of a thousand media!"
Q: What do you have to say
about the "Fifth Down" at Missouri in 1990?
Saeed al-Sahhaf: "Not five downs, four. That is another
fabrication. Never happened. How could a team get an extra down?
Illusion!"
Okay, stop me when I'm funny (and for the record, I cleared Neill's with him--he laughed out loud!)
OUR OFFICE GOES HOLLYWOOD... Well, we have to admit that one of the seven CU students who star in the upcoming spring break reality flick "The Quest" is Athletic Media Relations' (and Penrose, Colorado's) own Eddie Macsalka. Now, I won't go into details about what the quest is about, but suffice it so say it wasn't about getting an A in Calculus or discovering ancient Mayan ruins while on spring break in Mexico. Macsalka, a junior and one of our top students, starts with six of his friends in the Universal pictures film that is due for nation-wide release on May 9.
MARCH MADNESS THOUGHTS... A quick look back at the men's Final Four:
+ You know, with all the public complaining about what team gets sent where, maybe the NCAA should drop the geographical names of the brackets and go with the something like Region I, II, III and IV, or honor four greats of the game. There would be nothing wrong if a team was assigned to the "Naismith" or "Chamberlain" regions, for example. Kind of like the old NHL, with the Norris Division, Campbell Conference, etc.
+ An interesting men's Final Four this year, and CU fans should take note that only three teams dealt two of the four participants a loss in 2002-03: Colorado, of course, posted wins over Kansas and Texas; Arizona did the same; and Notre Dame topped Texas and Marquette. UConn technically has two wins over the Final Four entrants-it beat Syracuse twice. Syracuse, the eventual winner, also topped Texas and Kansas, and beat Oklahoma State and Oklahoma en route to the Final Four; the Orangemen also defeated Missouri in the regular season.
STUPID COMMENT OF THE MONTH... Goes to Los Angeles Times columnist J.A. Adande, who recently wrote regarding the alleged scandal at Georgia: "College athletes have less to do with the campus than the school's custodial staff. At least the janitors set foot in the classrooms." Well, aside from insulting custodians across the nation, he took a cheap shot in trying to be funny. Didn't work. What is scary is that all that does is add to the perception that's been out there for years that student-athletes don't go to class. Hey-I teach in the journalism school, and there are plenty of class absences by students who aren't athletes, J.A. I'm willing to bet most of our athletes have a better attendance record than he had, wherever he went to school, and am positive student-athletes across the country have as good or better attendance records than their non-athlete peers. Give it up, J.A., and try not to finish last all the time on Around The Horn.
THE SOAPBOX... Things that occasionally irk me:
1) I don't know what bothers me more: reporters who support Title IX to look politically correct but never come to a women's sporting event to help publicize it, or those who rip Title IX and never show up at a game or match to see what our women are all about. I still say the perfect example of Title IX at work is our ski team; coed, each unit dependent on the other for success, expenses pretty much split right down the middle other than in-state/out-of-state tuition differences.
2) I study TV news, especially in time of crisis. Some national bubbleheads are better than others (and yes, I do like Bill O'Reilly), and I'd rate Fox News just a smidge ahead of the rest, but the difference is really almost negligible. But the rule at Fox seems to be to interrupt their on-air guests with breaking news that really isn't all that breaking, adding to the so-called "show." You can easily tell who is a journalist and who is an actor who can read a teleprompter in a time of crisis.
3) Does anyone else besides me ever notice that despite the fact that our athletic department is around 93% self-funding through assorted revenue streams, that other 7% we get in support is spent on EVERYTHING that a sports-hater has a problem with? For example: What, we spend $40,000 on hotels on Friday nights before a football home game? That must come from the 7% that is somehow connected to tax-payer money. To me, whenever something like that is written, it's proof that the person doesn't understand budgeting. It's like the ingredients to a pie, and as I always have said, revenue from one ticket could go toward a player jersey, or seven pens currently in my desk. We need X dollars to operate, and those are generated by X sources!
RMN UPDATE... Well, it's been almost three months to the day since Rocky Mountain News columnist Dave Krieger wrote an insulting and uninformed column relating to our football program, and the paper has yet to apologize for it (a long shot, anyway) or run a letter from UCB's Black Student Alliance taking issue with what was written. Many often ask if the News' ever did anything about it, or if they ever ran the BSA's counter, but we're not expecting anything. But people have not forgotten about the piece, which many closely associated with the program deemed to be racist.
BURKE WAS JUST PLAIN BAD... A few people wrote or called in complaining about ESPN's Doris Burke, who handled the color commentary of CU's Sweet 16 game against Villanova. Well, I was on the road in California and watched and listened as this alleged analyst was more of a 'Nova cheerleader than any kind of unbiased observer. Below are excerpts from a letter of protest I sent to the NCAA and ESPN (no response as of yet):
"I have seldom made a habit of criticizing the selection of an announcer for any game, and in fact, this is the first time in my 25 years as a sports information director I've ever felt compelled to write a letter, but I feel a tremendous disservice was done to our program and to the families of our women's basketball team during ESPN's telecast of the Colorado-Villanova Mideast Regional game on March 29.
Doris Burke, in my opinion (and I've watched a lot of sports telecasts in my day), was one of, if not, the worst color analysts I have ever heard for a game of that magnitude. Not for style or enunciation, but for content. It was like listening to the late Harry Caray on a Cubs broadcast, except he would at least compliment the opponent. And do homework on them; Sean McDonough and Jimmy Sykes were professional enough to call and ask for care packages of info to be sent in advance; my assistant, Lindsay Anhold, never heard from her. If the producers don't provide us addresses, which doesn't happen much in basketball, the announcers must take it upon themselves to call.
(I found out afterwards from Lindsay that the former head coach at Providence who now is an associate at Villanova recruited Burke. Then it made a little more sense. Either that or it was a playing conference favorites thing.)
I have never seen a color commentator go to the extreme she did in trying to convince the public that our center, Tera Bjorklund, was lowering a shoulder and deserved a foul on any contact she drew. On a pivotal play in the final minute, when replays clearly showed three Villanova players around Tera, including an obvious foul by one of them, she still blamed Tera. Thank God a pro like McDonough tried to make it impartial. She harped on this constantly throughout the game, and rarely went out of her way to say much positive about CU. Most of her comments were what Villanova needed to do to get back into the game, instead of what perhaps Colorado was doing to build the lead.
I can appreciate the excitement of having a head coach such as Villanova's finally reach the Sweet 16 after 25 years of coaching, but Burke could have mentioned at some point what Ceal Barry had to go through during the week with her father suffering a heart attack. I saw all but two minutes of the broadcast, so unless I missed the part where it was mentioned, that went unrelated to the audience.
It seems to me that if the women's game is going to advance, people like Burke need to have the law laid down for them and do a better job, or should not be involved. Let people like her with a blatant interest in one team advancing buy a ticket if she can't do a better job of making things close to equal on a broadcast. ESPN has long been at forefront of promoting women's basketball; it's a shame Doris Burke had to ruin some of it for our fans, and myself, this year. That's how strong I feel about the disservice this "analyst" did to our program, and I am not alone in this belief in our program."
An apology would do nothing; a guarantee that we never have to have this Burke on any of our games in the future is what I'd like to have happen.
FOOTBALL TICKETS... We recently set the price for the 2003 CU football season ticket at $335, including the game against Colorado State at INVESCO Field at Mile High. The CSU, UCLA, Oklahoma and Nebraska games are all $50; the other three, Washington State, Kansas and Missouri are all $45. How does this cost compare nationally to some traditional powers? Pretty much in the ball park, even though CU's stadium seats several thousand less than many schools. Penn State just announced its season ticket is $280 ($40 for seven games), but charge $44 for single games, as there is a $28 discount for the season ticket ($4 per game). A single-game ticket at Michigan for non-season ticket holders for the Ohio State game is $59, otherwise single-game season tickets range in price from $46 to $54 for the prime seats. Ohio State's single-game tickets are $49.50, and OSU charges $5 for spring game tickets; CU's spring game is free, one of the few that actually is anymore. Michigan State's single-game tickets are $38 except for the Michigan game, which goes for $52. At Penn State, skybox seats go for $54 per game and chairback seats in the upper decks are $49; student tickets are $20 per game (compared to $30 for the season for CU students). Oh, and Penn State averaged 107,239 fans per home game last year, second only to Michigan nationally in attendance. Folsom Field, with the addition of club seating and suites, will settle in around 53,750 for its capacity once construction is complete this August. The most expensive road ticket for a Buff fan this fall will be the Kansas State game in Manhattan, with ducats costing $45; tickets were $55 for last year's game in Lincoln against Nebraska.
MEN'S BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE UP... Colorado was 14-1 at home in men's basketball, and that record along with defeating four top 25 schools buoyed the season attendance. The Buffs drew 102,875 for 15 games, an average of 6,858, the third highest in school history. Only the 1983-84 (7,659) and 1982-83 (6,915) teams averaged more per game. The 6,858 average for 2002-03 was 41.8 percent higher than the 15-year average since 1988. CU averaged 8,995 for Big 12 Conference play, a school best in the seven-year history of the conference and the third best conference games-only number in school annals. The ticket office also collected information from about 300 fans interested in becoming first-time season ticket holders for next season.
THE P-'TUDES MAILBAG... Some questions e-mailed in recently, the answers of which I felt were interesting or important enough to share.
Q: Is there any way for a
fan to get an authentic CU football jersey? I've been looking for
one for years with no luck. I know there are others out there
willing to pay for one of those tough, heavy ones the players wear
on the field, but Nike doesn't seem to be selling them. Any
help?
A: We'll be selling some old ones from 1998 at the spring
game, but there are no places to purchase the authentic ones the
players wear. Most of the jerseys out there for all sports aren't
authentic, equipment man Mike Smith tells me; they're authentic
replicas, and do differ slightly. Something about the twill,
whatever twill is!
Q: I've noticed a lot of
schools changing their logos over the past five or so years. Are
there any plans to change the current CU logo? Personally I love it
and would be happy if it never changed, but was just
curious.
A: There are no plans right now as far as drastically
changing our logo, but changes don't usually take years in the
making. Don't read anything into that, other than teams and schools
often change their logo in a matter of months or even weeks.
Suggestions of tweaking often pop up, but as of now, we're all
pretty happy with the logo (affectionately called the "pigalo"), as
well as our look, though new basketball uniforms will be unveiled
for 2003-04. Pigalo, you ask? Because when the logo debuted
back in 1980, then football coach Chuck Fairbanks looked at it and
said, "X%&#, it looks like a pig." I didn't like it much at
first either, but the thing grew on me pretty
quick.
Q: Why did the football
team wear all black at home and all white on the road last
year?
A: The players basically choose, and as is often the case in
sports, if you win while wearing a different look, teams often want
to wear the same uniforms. Part what the kids want, part
superstition as well.
This one came in to assistant SID
Lindsay Anhold:
Q: Recently I came across the women's basketball team's current
roster and noticed that Sara Fredrickson was listed as a member.
Any details? (Fredrickson was a senior on the CU volleyball
team last fall; she still has one year of eligibility remaining for
other sports).
A: She has been practicing with the team all semester, and
she was added to the website just prior to the NCAA tournament. Her
status for next season is to be determined.
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... 211. That's the combined scores of three freshmen on the men's golf team in the final round of the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational. Derek O'Neill (3-under par 69), Edward McGlasson (71) and Blake Moore (71) are all true freshmen, and along with senior captain Steve Carroll's 71, helped the Buffaloes to a 282 team score, with that 6-under par number the fourth best final round score in CU golf history. Coach Mark Simpson's team is going to be pretty darn good in the very near future, and for years to come.
TRIVIA ANSWERS: CU-- Mark Wetmore (16, eight y both his men's and women's cross country teams), Mark Simpson (14, men's golf), Richard Rokos (12, skiing) and Ceal Barry (11, women's basketball). The other two are Jerry Quiller (12, men's and women's cross country) and Bill Marolt (11, men's skiing). Seinfeld--Kramer left the door open to Jerry's place when he fancied an interest in "The Bold and the Beautiful."
"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.