Plati-'Tudes: Becker A TV Star & The State's Best
March 1, 2002
BOULDER - The latest edition of Plati-'Tudes, a bi-weekly notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 18th year as Colorado's Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations.
Here come the scores from the judges for this Plati-'Tudes: 5.8 (USA), 6.0 (Italy), 5.9 (Easter Island), 5.7 (France), 5.8 (Sri Lanka), 5.8 (Madagascar), 5.8 (Russia), 5.9 (Sicily), 0.0 (Taliban). The tin medal goes to Dave (oh stop it, ya big ham)...
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU I--As we wind up winter, back in the 1930s, Folsom Field, then called Colorado Stadium, was also used for what purpose? CU II-And speaking of the old days, during the second world war, what unique plan did then-band director Hugh McMIllen come up with to field a marching band? CU II--In doing some media guide research, unearthed was a name golfers were often called in print back in the 1950s. Any guesses? Godfather--Al Pacino (Michael Corleone) and John Cazale (Fredo) did two Godfather movies together, and then branched out a appeared in a third in 1975 wher Cazale had more of a featured role. What was that movie?
HEY! DIDN'T HE USED TO BE A BUFF?... Is something many of you might be wondering on March 10 (6 p.m. MST) if you take a look at the first-ever ESPN movie, "A Season On The Brink." The character's name is Dan Dakich, a real-life assistant coach of the Indiana Hoosier basketball team that author John Feinstein covered one season from start to finish, chronicling a close look at IU coach Bobby Knight. Who is playing Dakich? It's none other than former Buffalo Dan Becker, who played three seasons at Colorado under Tom Miller, a former Knight assistant, from 1986-87 to 1988-89 (he transferred to CU in 1985, and sat out Tom Apke's final season at CU). Dan was a technical advisor for the film, handling all the basketball related details, it stars Brian Dennehy as Knight. Want to know more? Go to this address at the ESPN website: http://espn.go.com/seasonbrink/dan_Becker.html. The site also has a link to some behind the scenes photos, and in the team picture, you'll see that Dan looks pretty much the same.
SURVEY SAYS... At the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame banquet on Feb. 25, Colorado Avalanche president and general manager Pierre Lacroix, in an acceptance speech for the committee's King of the Hill Award, said that the Game 7 between the Avs and the New Jersey Devils last June was probably the most important sporting event ever in the state of Colorado.
That got me thinking, personally, it's in my top five, but what actually was the most important single game in state history will be a matter of personal opinion, obviously influenced by everyone's individual tastes. That, and I wanted to see what came to mind in relation to the Buffaloes. So I e-mailed the P-Tudes survey list (as well as a few others in my system heavy on Coloradoans) for their top two to see what the informal results might be. Here's what the survey came up with (two points for a first place vote, one for a second):
Event 1st 2nd Points 1977 AFC Championship (Denver-Oakland) 31 13? 75? 2001 NHL Game 7 (Colorado-New Jersey) 25 22 72 1993 MLB Opening Day (Rockies-Montreal) 19 16 54 2001 Colorado-Nebraska Football (62-36) 7 12 26 1989 Colorado-Nebraska Football (27-21) 10 5 25 1986 Colorado-Nebraska Football (20-10) 4 9? 17? 1960 U.S Open Final Round (Arnold Palmer's Charge) 2 7 11 1976 ABA All-Star Game (DT & Dr. J's dunk) 2 6? 10? 1990 Final Four (UNLV-Duke) 4 1 9 1987 AFC Championship (Denver-Cleveland) 1 3 5 1998 MLB All-Star Game (first at Coors) 1 3 5 1991 Day Rockies Awarded MLB Franchise (June 10) 2 - 4 1998 CU-CSU Football (first college game at Mile High) 1 2 4 1960 AFL Denver-Oakland (31-14, Oct. 2, first pro game) 1 - 2 1972 CU-Oklahoma Football (CU 20, No. 2 OU 14) 1 - 2 1972 (?) Day When '76 Olympics in Colorado cancelled - 2 2 1998 AFC Championship (Den-Jets, Elway's Last Home Game) - 2 2 1959 Day Broncos Awarded AFL Franchise (August 14) - 1 1 1977 Denver-Portland (1st NBA Playoff Game) - 1 1 1977 NHL Playoff (Rockies-Flyers) - 1 1 1986 World Cycling Championships (Colorado Springs) - 1 1 2001 NHL All-Star Game (first at Pepsi Center) - 1 1 1989 World Skiing Championships (Vail) - 1 1 1979 Denver-Omaha AAA Baseball (16-14, 9 in the 9th) - ? ? Total Number of Votes: 111
No one can say that Mr. Lacroix was wrong, as throughout the polling, last June's NHL Stanley Cup Game Seven and the '77 AFC Championship were never more than six points apart, in fact, Game 7 was on 47 ballots, the AFC title tilt 45.
I believe the results reflected the sport(s) most loved by who responded (111 is a pretty good sampling, but not an end-all). So when you get down to it, isn't that what it is all about, what's important to you? How great was the U.S. Open answer? And the cycling championships might seem odd until you realize that those were the first ever held outside of Europe.
As for the 1986 CU win over Nebraska, one responder simply said, "It was the first time I'd ever heard of Colorado football." That was from Clint Moles, an offensive lineman who would sign with the Buffaloes a few years later, so do you think that game had huge implications for CU recruiting and for laying the groundwork for CU to become a perennial top 20 team?
On Pierre's comment, someone added to their ballot: "The Avs have always been good since coming to Colorado. The Broncos and Buffs had both had their struggles, and to see them overcome them makes their achievements a bit more important." Others simply said, "He's right. It's hard to argue." But age and length of time in Colorado also played a factor, as those people I knew were young or weren't in the state in the 70s didn't list the '77 AFC title game either first or second.
The ABA All-Star game was pretty significant for those who recalled it, one respondent even knew Denver, led by David Thompson, scored 50 fourth quarter points to beat the all-stars from the league's other six teams. Perhaps the one thing missing from the list is the 1985 NCAA West Regional at the old McNichols Arena, as that paved the way for the '90 Final Four because CU and Denver proved to the committee that we could host a quality event.
My top two? The 1977 AFC Championship game (Denver 20, Oakland 17) at Mile High Stadium, I was glued to the set back in New York. And the first major league baseball game on April 9, 1993, also at Mile High (Colorado 11, Montreal 4), many also noted the excitement of Eric Young homering in the first Rockies at bat. Rounding out my personal top five: CU 27, Nebraska 21 (Folsom Field, 1989, it was No. 2 vs. No. 3, which is rare, and the winner was going to the Orange Bowl and to play for the national title), 4. 2001 NHL Game 7 (Colorado 3, New Jersey 1), and 5. CU 62, Nebraska 36 (hey, I work for CU so I'm allowed two CU slots). I was lucky enough to see my two through fives in person, and they were all great.
For those who said that the 2001 Stanley Cup was the first championship decided in our state, well of the big four sports, yes. But as P-Tuder Chris Hirsch points out, the '83 USFL championship was played in Denver (Michigan vs. Philadelphia), there was that '90 Final Four thing, and the Denver Bears won several titles with the clinching game in Denver. Numerous NCAA titles have been decided in the state, the obvious ones are skiing, but most don't probably remember that many of the early NCAA golf championship meets took place at the Broadmoor. And don't forget a heckuva lot of Big 7-8-12, Western Athletic, Mountain West and Rocky Mountain Athletic conference trophies as well.
And another questions raised on the importance of an event was if it was important at the time, as with the Avs game seven win, or if the importance of it grew within time (i.e., CU's 20-10 win over Nebraska in '86). Good point. But my final thoughts on the matter are that it was interesting to put together, and as CU's PR guy, I'm happy several games in our history are represented, though in all honesty, three CU-Nebraska games probably wouldn't come out Nos. 4, 5 and 6 in a wider, more scientific poll. But who cares! We're all Coloradoans!
SACCO SAYS... Though still under construction, my good friend and colleague from the Denver Broncos, Jim Saccomano, has his own web site: www.saccosays.com. He's already done some interesting research on Gary Zimmerman and the NFL Hall of Fame. This could become a favorite among Bronco fans once Sacco gets it going. How'd he get the site? It was a Christmas present from his son, Jeff.
COMBO COUNTS... With the Kansas men going 16-0 in Big 12 play, that countered the KU women going 0-16; both were Big 12 firsts. What would the standings be if the men's and women's league records were combined? Practically a whole lot of .500 or so, at least for this year: Oklahoma 27-5,Texas 20-12, Texas A&M 18-14, Kansas State 17-15, Oklahoma State 17-15, Colorado 16-16, Baylor 16-16, Kansas 16-16, Missouri 14-18, Iowa State 13-19, Nebraska 10-22, Texas A&M 8-25. In the "big three" television sports (football, men's basketball and women's basketball), only three teams enjoyed winning (over .500) records in more than one sport: Oklahoma and Texas (three each) and Colorado (two). Eight schools had one, and just one, Texas A & M, had none (but the Aggies were 4-4 in football).
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP COUNTS... Through this year's Big 12 Indoor Track Championships, Colorado is faring well in the six-year history of the conference when it comes to conference champion teams. On the men's side, Texas stands first with 14, followed by Nebraska with 10 and then Colorado and Oklahoma State with seven. It's tighter when counting only those sports that CU sponsors (seven): NU has nine, UT eight, CU seven and then Kansas with four. For the women overall, Nebraska has 20, Texas 18, Oklahoma seven and Colorado with five, again, things tighten up a bit if just looking at the eight sports CU competes in: Texas 14, Nebraska 12, Colorado five and Oklahoma four. Combined, Texas has 32 titles and Nebraska 30, with the Buffs third (12) and Oklahoma State fourth (10), lop off the sports CU doesn't compete in, and the standings read Texas 22, Nebraska 21, CU 12 and OSU six. All 12 have won at least one women's title, while Kansas State and Missouri are the lone schools to not have won a men's crown. Skiing does not figure in the above as CU is the lone school that has it.
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... 34. That is the number of people that have significant ties to the University of Colorado who have been inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. It increased by three earlier this week with the addition of Fred Casotti, Bill Fanning and Bill Marolt. The Hall started in 1965 with the induction of Byron White, Earl "Dutch" Clark and Jack Dempsey, and there are now 158 members. Better than one in five have some kind of connection to CU, meaning they played, coached or worked for the Buffaloes.
TRIVIA ANSWERS... CU I--The field was flooded with water, which made for a most spacious ice-skating rink when frozen. CU II--With many men away due to the war, McMillen assembled an all-woman marching band, believed to be the first of its kind west of the Mississippi. CU II--Golfers were often called, "swatsmiths." Huh? Assuming that's similar to black- and locksmiths, guess golfers were also called swatters at some point. Godfather--The two starred in Dog Day Afternoon about a New York bank robbery that went awry (and with a couple of kooky twists).