A Must Read Plati-'Tudes
Jan. 25, 2003
What? Two P-Tudes in the same month? When the heck is the last time that happened you might ask? It was November of 2001, thanks to a certain event that ended 62-36...
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU--Colorado beat Kansas for the first time in men's basketball in 12 years when it edged the Jayhawks, 60-59, in Boulder last week. Who led CU in scoring the last time the Buffs won, 79-71, in Boulder on Feb. 20, 1991? Seinfeld--What? No more Godfather trivia? Well, I asked 50 assorted Godfather trivia questions since P-Tudes was born on March 20, 2000, and am basically tapped out. So, we'll shift to Seinfeld. We'll start very basic--Which main character did not make their debut in the first episode that aired in 1989?
McMAHON MEMORIAL FUND ESTABLISHED... Former CU assistant football coach and ardent supporter, Mike Tanner, has spearheaded the establishing of the Tom McMahon Memorial Fund. McMahon passed away from cancer last June, leaving a wife and two sons. Mike and Tom knew each other for 25 years, when Mike was at CU and Tom up the road at Colorado State. The fund has been created to ensure that his sons, Kyle and Kevin, will have the money necessary to complete a college education. Mike talked Tom's wife, Marilyn, into accepting the generosity, after naturally feeling a bit awkward at first. In life, it comes down to what kind of person you are, with some of the subject matter that happens to appear in this edition of P-'Tudes aside. The McMahon's are good people. If you would like to contribute, please send any donation to the Tom McMahon Memorial Fund, 1869 W. Littleton Blvd., Littleton, CO 80120; or call Mike Tanner for more info at 303-738-8994.
BREAKTHROUGH... Colorado's 60-59 win over Kansas in men's basketball snapped streaks left and right. It was Ricardo Patton's first win against (KU Coach) Roy Williams in 17 tries, CU's first over the Jayhawks since 1991, the Buffs' first over a top 10 team since January of 1977, and it also snapped a 10-game overall winning streak by KU as well as a Big 12 record 23 conference game winning string. Defending home court is always important, but it's extra huge in a conference the caliber of the Big 12. Through games of Jan. 25, home teams were 19-7 in conference play, a 73.1 winning percentage. Eight teams remain undefeated at home, and only five own a road win, with three of those coming at Baylor. There were several key stats in the CU win, led by senior Stephane Pelle scoring a career-high 27 points. But CU limited KU's three starting guards to just 9-of-39 shooting (23.1%). Sophomore guard Keith Langford was just 6-of-19 against CU, but he came back to score 27 against No. 1 Arizona on Saturday (on 11-of-19 shooting).
But something happened prior to the contest that reminded us all it's just a game; about an hour before tip, a just-arriving fan suffered a heart attack and could not be revived, even though paramedics were right there on the spot. It turned out to be Sia Sadri,the father of Nick Sadri, the loading dock manager at Invesco Field at Mile High; Nick was with him when he passed. The elder Sadri lived in Larkspur and was 67. Our thoughts are with the Sadri family in this tragic time.
GOOD: The CU win over Kansas was the lead story on ESPN's SportsCenter throughout the night. BAD: The announcers butchered the pronunciations of Stephane Pelle and Michel Morandais. C'mon guys; ESPN has a half dozen of our guides on the premises, and the pronunciation guide is on the inside front cover. And I guess I'll be keeping the studio number at my house as well as in my Rolodex from now on!
RESURFACED... Former CU head volleyball coach was named head women's volleyball coach at Arizona State this past Monday. Brad spent several years with the U.S. Olympic team after he left CU in 1996. Congrats!
BLACK STUDENT ALLIANCE, CU BLACK ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ISSUE REPONSE TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS COLUMN... I received the following e-mail from Kerry Kite, president of the Black Student Alliance (BSA), regarding a column last week in the Rocky Mountain News. She e-mailed it around to several media outlets (all major Denevr area newspapers, radio and television stations), but no one ran it as of Saturday, January 25. I believe it is certainly important enough to receive attention, as the column in question disgusted almost everyone I have talked to, many members of the media included (but not all). It was thus very disappointing not to see this receive any coverage. Krieger's column, in my opinion and those of many of us in athletics, brought forth many hurtful untruths, and it angered our student-athletes of all races. Thus I feel it would be a disservice not to share the e-mail with you, so here it is, verbatim:
"This following letter was sent to
John Temple, publisher of the Denver Rocky Mountain News today
(Monday, January 20, Martin Luther King Day) and was a joint effort
by the University of Colorado Black Student Alliance and the Black
Alumni Association.
On Thursday, January 16, Rocky Mountain News columnist Dave Krieger
wrote an article containing blatantly false, offensive and racially
charged characterizations of student-athletes from the University
of Colorado's football program.
Since then, many students, coaches and alumni of all races have expressed their disgust with the column. To characterize a group of student-athletes as "thugs," "morons," and "drinkers" was completely inappropriate, but to then go further and label these young men as "pimps" was not only degrading, but also slanderous.
More so, for Krieger to imply that a coach was solely hired to be a "gateway to the ghetto" and recruit African Americans from impoverished areas, not only demeans those student-athletes recruited by that coach, but it also adds to stereotypes that have crippled our society for years.
When he said that because there are only 416 African-American students on campus there is no place to take black recruits in Boulder, he suggests that there are no "black" places to take them. By implication, he again falsely supports negative stereotypes that young black men are unable or unwilling to associate with Boulder citizens of other races. Furthermore, he insinuates that African Americans may only feel comfortable in situations where alcohol and sex are readily available.
Krieger and the Rocky Mountain News should be ashamed for the insulting, demeaning and libelous generalizations expressed, and owe an apology to all the hard working, dedicated student-athletes of the University of Colorado.
We expect at least that, if not also an explanation of why a paper of the Rocky Mountain News' caliber and influence would choose to run such a heinous, not to mention dangerous, piece.
University of Colorado Black Student
Alliance (Kerry Kite, President; 303-492-1863)
University of Colorado Black Alumni Association (Milt Branch,
President; 303-492-8484)"
On Friday, we asked Kerry if she had heard from anyone from the News, and she had not. That's disappointing, but sorry to say, seems prevalent with this story. The Boulder Camera, for example, briefly discussed running the BSA's letter but adopted a stance of "not to get involved." They should be ashamed, and we hope that stance will be changed. Hardly any media have acknowledged the BSA's complaint, and despite the fact that media people I have talked to said the column was basically despicable, their organizations have not yet spoke up. The BSA is deserving of a response, we feel a public apology is owed our athletic program from Krieger and the Rocky Mountain News, and this thing is not over.
Several informed us they were going write letters of protest of the column, and a few appeared in today's (Jan. 25) edition. One that came my way is from Sylvia Williams, the grandmother of one of our freshman football players, Alex Ligon, an African-American. I wanted to share parts of hers with you, as there is no guarantee that the News will run it (it's long). Here's what Mrs. Williams had to write:
"I was dismayed (disbelieving, maybe) to read the article written by Dave Krieger about the football program at CU. Somewhere along his career path, he has learned how to tar everyone in the same ethnic/athletic category with the same brush. However, Krieger attempted to paint the CU minority students, especially those in the football program (except Marcus Houston) as ALL ghetto blasting, alcohol drinking pimps heading for trouble. He is sadly misinformed and succeeded in painting himself as a pen-wielding bigot who forgot the content of his Journalism 101 class. (I thought) all reporters must be objective and factual when reporting the news.
"Maybe he should spend more time on campus observing the student body as a whole. There are minority students on campus, particularly the football squad, who, like Marcus Houston, were raised to be courteous and respectful, who do not drink, do not assault other people, and have shirts, ties and the proper shoes in their wardrobe. My grandson is among them, and so is his roommate. They respect the coaching staff and understand that they agreed to follow guidelines set out for them when they signed their letters of intent. They elected to assist at this recruiting weekend because they believe in the program, have been treated fairly by the coaching staff and are determined to graduate at the end of their time by CU.
"From his photograph, Mr. Krieger is not a minority. My presumption is that he has not traveled, lived or moved in the black culture sufficiently to know that blacks are no longer living on plantations or in ghettos. They occupy position in all structures of society n d they are often more educated and refined than he. The Houston family is not an exception, but a fine example of the black community as a whole. Maybe he, Krieger that is, is not sympathetic to the need of those who must use the system to get ahead, because other ethnic groups tend to not see them. Who knows, I can only make assumptions, and mine are that he is a trying to discredit a good program because of sour grapes. All of the above is my personal opinion." Signed, Sylvia Williams.
I was fortunate enough last Friday to sit in on a meeting of Harris' Kids at Baseline Middle School. This is where our junior defensive end Marques Harris visits weekly with 10 underprivileged kids at what is basically considered a "have" school. These kids sometimes have trouble fitting in, and Harris' visits and involvement in their lives is making a difference. The hours he has spent doing this since last fall are not even counted among the 188 hours of community service logged by the football team alone last semester. All of those who contributed to the 188 are still enrolled at CU, by the way; it would have been nice for Dave to make an effort to find out about that. Those hours, in addition to all the quality things Marcus Houston has done with his Just Say Know program are making a difference, too.
That and just one year ago, senior safety Robbie Robinson was one of 11 football players honored by the American Football Coaches Association on its Good Works Team, recognizing those who served their community way above the call. Robinson is African-American.
SPEAKING OF APOLOGIES... Prior to the Fiesta Bowl a year ago, John Tournour, a.k.a., "JT The Brick," who hosts a national radio show, insulted Chris Brown on the air when he and his producer went around our office and cold-called him in his hotel room. They woke Chris up from a nap, and called him stupid among other things after abruptly ending the interview after Chris gave short answers while groggy. After being alerted to what happened from Chris, and having it corroborated by some others, including members of the media, we demanded an immediate apology from Fox Radio. I was told at the time it would be faxed to me later that day, and it never showed up. I gave it two weeks, called again, was again told the same thing, and nothing showed up. I then sent an E-mail nationally to my peers in the SID business, as we all tend to do when we have a bad experience with someone, just to warn them that they might want to think twice before dealing with someone. Twice during the past year, I had a producer call to apologize for him, but I wouldn't relent until I got one from Tournour. I know that two schools, Cincinnati and Florida State, had concerns about going on with JT after they heard about our experience.
Well, this January, I received an apology from JT. I will share that with you, as I believe it to be sincere, and will now permit our people to be guests on his show if he so desires. I have also e-mailed the SID membership that we have made amends. His apology:
"It has been brought to my attention that my name is in question throughout the sports department at the University of Colorado and at other major schools throughout the country due to an incident dating back to last year. Running back Chris Brown was woken up in his room by a FOX Sports producer and put on my show prior to the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. Due to a lack of sleep, Chris was not in a talkative mood, and didn't deliver a very compelling interview. I thought that Chris was disrespecting FOX Sports Radio, and I was upset that he did not put any effort into being on this nationally syndicated network. Following the interview, I made some harsh comments toward Chris because of his on air behavior.
"I would like to apologize if I offended Chris or the University of Colorado because I was not aware that the interview had not been scheduled properly. I have spoken with many notable sports figures in my career as an on-air personality, and I have a solid reputation throughout all of the major sports leagues. I, in no way, intended to disrespect Chris Brown, Coach Barnett, or the University, and I am asking them to forgive me so that we may put this incident behind us. FOX Sports Radio does not condone the questionable tactics of the aforementioned producer, as he is no longer with the network. My current staff and I can assure you that nothing like this will ever happen again. Sincerely, John Tournour."
SUPER BOWL TIME... I can't write a Plati-'Tudes around the Super Bowl without listing some "celebrity" prognostications. So here it goes:
Adam & Pat (CU sports
info mullets): Tampa Bay 24, Oakland 13. I assigned them each a
team and made them pick a score for just that team. Ha!
Al Bernstein (SID office sugar daddy): Tampa Bay 20, Oakland
14. Defense always wins championship games. See Ohio State.
Bo Carter (Big 12 media doctor): I'll be dad-gummed---don't
give the Raiders fans my private phone number ---Tampa Bay 24,
Oakland 21!
Kim Christiansen (CU J-school alum, 9News anchor, and personal
friend of moi): Tampa Bay 27, Oakland 10. I love Gannon, he's
so humble, but I love (Jon) Gruden. But I can't pick the
Raiders.WINNER! Picked Tampa Bay by the highest margin (17;
it was 27)!!
Allison Gomez (serious CU
student): I don't know... I'm studying. Tampa Bay by two
touchdowns.
Gary Barnett (CU football head honcho): Oakland... by
four.
Geoff Frank (CU finance alumni dude): Oakland 26, Tampa Bay
23 1/2. 1/2? Based on the scoring differential posted in the local
newspapers I will pick Tampa Bay to take advantage of the
difference. Must have something to do with Alan Greenspan...
Darian Hagan (Fifth Place, 1989 Heisman Trophy balloting):
Oakland 34, Tampa Bay 17. Who'd ya expect me to pick? I'm always
for a team with the rowdy fans.
Jeffrey T. Kosley (CIRES CFO & UFO): Oakland 31, Tampa
Bay 21. No further comment because I don't care anyway.
Brendan McNicholas (Colorado Rockies Assistant PR flak):
Oakland 27, Tampa Bay 23. Gannon is just too good.
Mark Plati (Rock star brother): Oakland 28, Tampa Bay 7,
Security Guards 14.
Scott Scheifele (CU Fundraiser Dude): Raiders 38, Bucs 17. I
hate to say it. You hate to hear it. However, I'm afraid the only
real question for this game is if we'll see more beer commercials
than shots of Al Davis slinking around his suite.
Rob Schubert (CIRES facilities guy/Ohio State fan): As both
teams appear to represent those of a "pirate" persuasion it is
indeed very difficult to predict a victor. Therefore after
calculating endless scientific equations and juxtaposing countless
historical data, I'm picking the Bucs because I hate the Raiders.
Tampa Bay 24, Oakland 20.
Jason Shelton (CU men's basketball scouting report guru):
Oakland 24, Tampa Bay 16. Gannon. MVP. How can he do what he
does?
Larry Zimmer (CU Announcer Guy): Oakland 24 Tampa Bay 17.
Porter, Rice, Brown, Garner, Gannon too much for Bucs defense; Romo
guzzles extra pills and leads
defense.
And...
Me (CU Internet Pundit): Oakbay 20, Tampa Land 17. Okay, enough
of that. Let's see: number of ex-Buffs in Super Bowl: zero. Number
of ex-Buffs that should have been in Super Bowl except that Oakland
dogged Greg Biekert in the preseason: one. Thus, my pick: Tampa Bay
23, Oakland 14. But may all of Martin Grammatica's field goals be
short ones because we don't need to see his celebration dance,
either.
THE P-'TUDES MAILBAG... Some questions e-mailed in recently, the answers of which I felt were important enough to share.
Q: I heard Sandy Clough and Jim Armstrong last week, and Clough accused CU of running a "cloak and dagger" program. What are your thoughts? A: Well, that's a bunch of BS. Cloak and dagger? Quite frankly, how would he know? He's never up here. I mean, never. If he's ever even been here, we're talking pre-1990, so that's insulting. I ran that by a couple of people who cover us, and they vehemently disagree with him as well. While practice is generally closed, the first 30 minutes of each is open for photographers and really even any media who want to come up. Player interviews are not policed; any of them are available without going through our office each day before practice, and by request afterwards. Spring practice has been and is open to the media. That is the opinion of someone who has never, EVER, had a presence up here. I also heard he called the Krieger column the definitive piece on CU football, and that was verified by Armstrong, and I don't need to tell you what I think of that comment.
I used to think most of it was schtick, mild KKFN propaganda against all KOA-Radio properties (Broncos, Rockies, Buffaloes), or sour grapes since KOA fired Clough years ago. (I know that even one morning they were railing on the announcers of our teams, while proclaiming the ones at KKFN as the best in the state. How bush league is that, I ask you? On a total side note, they do have some excellent ones there, especially Jerry Schemmel; but I've never cared for those who self promote at the expense of others. That's why in the postseason honors game, push your own players without dissing the other guys').
But I can't believe it's just schtick, not any more. When a radio host, or anyone in the media for that matter crosses the line and makes things personal, as Sandy has done when it has come to our last two football coaches, both of whom wouldn't know him if he passed them on the street, it's a sign of the times that some in the media attack just to attack, even when they really don't personally know the people involved. And they will tell you they don't need to, which is their prerogative, I guess. All I can say it's just one person, one opinion, and it has had little-to-no effect on anyone but those who don't like us anyway.
Q: We had problems picking
up the CU-Kansas basketball game in Denver. What gives?
A: The standard practice is that when the men and women play
simultaneously, the team on the road has its game aired on KKZN
(760 am), with the home team's game on KVCU (1190 am). We know the
ability to receive the signal can fluctuate for a number of
reasons, but that's the best solution we currently have available.
The KKZN signal is much stronger and can usually be received by a
decent portion of the Front Range, and the CU women deserve to be
heard as much as the men.
Q: You're a sports guy. I'm
interested in what local sports show you watch the most?
A: Actually, I try to monitor them all. But the one I wind up
watching the most is the Rocky Mountain Sports Report on FSN. They
obviously have 30 minutes compared to 3-4 for the Denver stations,
and quite often it comes early, after a Nuggets, Avs or Rockies
game, so it's natural to stay with the flow. And the show's format
has really improved from its inception, though I remain a Gordy
Hershiser fan and wish they had kept him on board. The best thing
the other stations have done in recent times was to scroll the
scores at the bottom, increasing their time for more stories and
less score reading. I do find myself watching less and less of
SportsCenter because if I want bad comedy, I'll watch the best of
Paula Poundstone on Comedy Central.
Q: What were your top CU
sports stories for 2002?
A: Yikes! I left this out of my first '03 P-Tudes. My bad, as
the saying goes. I would say my top five would have to include, on
the happy side, the women's basketball team's run to the Elite
Eight; the football team repeating as Big 12 North Division
champions; Jorge Torres' victory at the NCAA men's cross country
championships and the men's golf team finishing 14th at the NCAA
Finals. On the sad side, without a doubt, the passing of assistant
football coach Tom McMahon, who died of cancer on June
9.
SOX STORY... After reading the Q&A with Sox Walseth last month, Buff fan David Tedesco e-mailed in this story from an experience with Sox. "In December 1981, I was a freshman at Berkeley going through finals. CU was playing in a Cal sponsored tournament with Oregon and another school I don't remember. For a break I went to the CU-Cal game and was the only CU fan there, sitting right behind their bench. As there were only about 20 fans in attendance, I could hear everything on the bench. The girls played with heart and won. I can still remember the interaction between Sox and the team. They all referred to him as "Sox" instead of Coach, and offered suggestions during timeouts, making decisions by consensus. This was very different from what I expected. I saw them then play Oregon in the final, and it came down to the last seconds. During a last timeout, Sox was imploring the team to box out for the rebound, and he said, 'we've got to win this for our fan' (singular), obviously referring to me, standing right behind in the first row. Someone made a steal to win the game. I congratulated Sox after the win, and he thanked me for being their cheering section. You could tell he was a special person, well liked by the team."
BUFFS REMAIN A BARGAIN... With the recent announcement that the Broncos were increasing their ticket prices (just slightly), college sports remain a bargain up and down the Front Range. Here's a quick comparison of the most and least expensive single game seats (not including suites, club seating, student rates or special deals). Most expensive for each: Nuggets $262, Avalanche $212, Crush $125, Broncos $78, CU football $50, Rockies $38, CU men's basketball $20, CU women's basketball $15. Least expensive for each: CU football $35, Broncos $30, Avalanche $24, Nuggets $10, CU men's and women's basketball $7, Crush $7, Rockies $4. A reminder that the only entity that scales per opponent for single game is CU football, which does "scale the house" and charges just one price across the board to the general public.
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... 2-0. That's the quiet start the CU women's tennis team is off to, including a 4-3 upset win over No. 34 Oregon in Boulder on Friday.
TRIVIA ANSWERS: CU-- Stevie Wise scored 32 points to lead CU over No. 8 Kansas that day, with James Hunter adding 23 and Shaun Vandiver 15 as the trio accounted for 70 of CU's 79 points. Seinfeld--Elaine Benis (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) was nowhere to be found in the series opener; in fact, the waitress in the coffee shop, which wasn't Monk's, received billing in the opening credits.
"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.