Plati-'Tudes: Cross Country And Nebraska
Nov. 21, 2001
BOULDER - A bi-weekly notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 18th year as Colorado's Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations.
Okay, okay, I know... I've redefined bi-weekly as, "whenever." I've had requests for an All-Nebraska Plati-Tudes, but face it, I don't want anything that'll wind up on the Husker bulletin board. Assuming they could (Stop! That'd be too easy)...
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU -- What did Colorado do three times against Nebraska between 1971 and 1996 that it has done three times in the last four games? Godfather -- Who else besides Marlon Brando was considered for the role of Vito Corleone?
QUOTE OF THE WEEK... I punched this in last month, but it still works. From Bob Brenly, Arizona Diamondback manager and former FOX sportscaster on hindsight by the media: "If you cannot point something out ahead of time, it becomes the lowest form of journalism, as far as I'm concerned, to come in after the fact and say what should have happened." Ah, he was testy because my Yankees had won every game in New York to take a 3-2 lead in the Series, but he is also probably right.
CONGRATS... To CU's men's cross country team, our fellow Fieldhouse Annex inhabitants, on winning their first NCAA Championship this past Monday. It's the 19th national title in school history, and the sixth team to win one (depending on how you want to count 'em up: men's skiing, women's skiing, (combined) skiing, football, women's cross country and men's cross country). Does Coach Mark Wetmore know what he's doing or what?!
A REMINDER TO CHECK OUT THE BUFFS ACROSS THE BOARD... The timing worked out last month that I could attend the Big 12 Cross Country championships in the morning in Norman and make it back easily for our football game later that night in Stillwater. It'd been a few years since I attended a cross country meet (they usually coincide directly with a football game, or the prep for one), but it served as a reminder that these things are fun to attend. You get an appreciation for the talent, team chemistry and the dedication that exists. What was also cool to see was head coach Mark Wetmore take the time to personally thank all the fans that made the trek to Oklahoma to watch CU win its sixth men's and fifth women's Big 12 titles. All CU fans should make an attempt to attend one non-football or basketball event per year and take in a different flavor of CU Athletics.
CU'S THE MONKEY WRENCH... An interesting scenario had Washington and Oregon possibly meeting in the Fiesta Bowl, if: One, neither is in the national championship game; and two, if the Big 12 Champion is in the title game. CU is thus a monkey wrench in this scenario, because if the Buffs win out, odds are a 2-loss team won't be in the BCS and the Fiesta is aligned to take the Big 12 champion, which would be CU if the Buffaloes beat Iowa State and Nebraska to get to the league title tilt and then defeat the South Division champ. Washington and Oregon did not play this year, as in the Pac-10 rotation, they don't play in '01 or '02; the spirited rivalry is one of the hottest in college football and to match them in a bowl would probably guarantee a sellout.
EATING SOME CROW?... After CU lost at Texas 41-7 in October, in a game where turnovers wreaked havoc on the Buffs, Keith Whitmire of the Dallas Morning News thought he was making a joke when he asked me after the game if Gary (Barnett) was going to take any of our players to Texas Stadium on the way out of the state... didn't really appreciate that after such a loss, but Keith's a pretty good guy and he tried to make a "funny" that didn't work. It's been well documented that at the Big 12 media day in Dallas in July, Gary took Michael Lewis and Andre Gurode by the stadium after the press conferences. The irony here is that whether Colorado goes to Dallas or not, the South Division representative likely won't be from Texas, either, unless Oklahoma loses to Oklahoma State Saturday. And if Colorado does win and earns the right to go, I can answer Keith's question with, "Yes he is. About 100."
TIME (ZONE) WARP... What was reported earlier this year is now official. Times have been set for the next three CU-Nebraska football games. Due to the Texas schools desiring afternoon kickoffs in the UT-A&M series, CU-Nebraska will have to have its share of morning kickoffs in the future on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The 2002 kickoff at Lincoln will be 1:30 p.m., mountain, the 2003 kickoff in Boulder will be at 10:00 a.m. mountain (yep, 10 a.m.), and the 2004 kickoff in Lincoln will be at 10 a.m. MT as well. Plan for the early riser now!
MY TOP NEBRASKA GAMES... Here are my top 10 Nebraska game memories since I've been working at CU (since 1978), but based more on some of the kooky things that have happened. And it's chronological... you try to separate your feelings between '86, '89 or '90!
1) 1978. Nebraska 52, Colorado 14. My first CU-Nebraska game... Howard Ballage's 100-yard return for a touchdowns... what I remember is that it was a 14-14 game at halftime, and then dark clouds moved in, and it was some kind of omen, as the Huskers outscored CU 38-0 in the second half. But it was still quite the experience.
2) 1983. Nebraska 69, Colorado 19. I remember this for two reasons; first, my Dad was mad at ABC because when we talked later that night, he said he thought it was a game at halftime because the score ABC posted during some Big 10 game they had to watch was Nebraska 14, Colorado 12. Seeing the final score, he thought they transposed the first two digits and CU was actually down, 41-12. I had to tell him that, no, it was in fact 14-12 at halftime. I went down to visit Kim Christiansen (now a 9NEWS vet) at the end of the half, and by the time I made it back up to press box, it was 35-12 with 11 minutes left in the quarter. Though against my Buffs, it was something to see Mike Rozier and company score 48 points in a single period. I'm still waiting for that to be matched, so we can get the heck out of the record book...
3) 1984. Nebraska 24, Colorado 7. CU led 7-3 after three quarters, prompting a run to the office to see when the last time was that the Buffs led after three periods. The answer was since the last time CU had won, 21-16 in 1967.
4) 1986. Colorado 20, Nebraska 10. We opened 0-4, eked out a 17-12 win at Missouri and then bounced Iowa State pretty good; Nebraska was 6-0 and ranked No. 3. But that 52-yard option pass from O.C. Oliver to Lance Carl to open the fourth quarter after NU had cut the lead to 10-7 late in the third made everyone believe that the Buffs might win the thing. ABC called and had us dispatch Bob Beattie to the roof, and he was somehow wired to provide live updates into I believe a Penn State game airing that day.
5) 1989. Colorado 27, Nebraska 21. From "the pitch" from Darian Hagan to J.J. Flannigan to the fans tearing down the goal posts. And me and college buddy Chris Yuhl roaming the Pearl Street Mall later that night chanting, "Daio, Daio... CU's going to the Orange Bowl..." Okay, you had to be there for that one. Ah, the days of Pearl's and Potter's...
6) 1990. Colorado 27, Nebraska 12. In the cold and rain. But remembering Eric Bieniemy coming back from five fumbles to score four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, which overshadowed a couple of acrobatic, leaping grabs by Mike Pritchard to set up two of those scores. Then, after David Gibbs sniffed out a fake punt and CU went up 20-12, watching Alfred Williams and Kanavis McGhee standing on the team bench, waving goodbye to thousands of Husker fans leaving before the game had ended. That was sight, if you can only imagine Alfred at his best.
7) 1991. Colorado 19, Nebraska 19. The lumbering two-point defensive extra point by Greg Biekert (some 85 yards), the three timeouts Coach Mac called to freeze Nebraska's placekicker, and then the Greg Thomas block to preserve the game. The stat of this game was that Nebraska ran six times at Leonard Renfro for a net four yards in the first two-plus quarters; after Renfro left with an injury, they picked up something like 60 on that side. And of course the minus-whatever wind chill and me wearing my tuxedo I had rented for the Ski Ball the night before-and trying to defrost the press box windows with some cheesy aerosol spray.
8) 1994. Nebraska 24, Colorado 7. I still believe we were the better team, even though Nebraska went on to win the national title. Rashaan Salaam may have separated from the pack in this one, though, in his race for the Heisman, as he ran for 134 yards and tried to keep Colorado in the game. I think this was the year that Husker Vision debuted, and I remember a clip of former NU linebacker Trev Alberts saying hello to the crowd and that he hoped Nebraska was winning by 60 points or something to that effect. It had an effect on our team, alright... but my payback won't get approved by my peers: I want to run the South Park clip where Cartman's family is driving from Colorado to Nebraska for Thanksgiving, and if you haven't seen it, you have to cue it up when the family wagon crosses state lines from Colorado into Nebraska. Those CU alums Parker & Stone had a great one there!
9) 1999. Nuff said.
10) 2000. Nuff said.
AIMED AT US? NAH... Anyone notice Sonny Lubick's comment in the papers on Tuesday (Nov. 20)? "I would like to be in some of those conferences where you play Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma State, beat all those teams and then play a couple of non-conference games and you've got an automatic bowl bid." I wondered if that was directed at us, so I checked our files for a quote from anyone like, "I'd like to be in one of those conferences where you play teams like New Mexico, UNLV and San Diego State, beat all those teams, teams that beat teams like East Tennessee State in their non-conference schedules, and you've got an automatic bowl bid." But no such quote existed so I doubt he was referring to CU.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW... Caught up with WR Loy Alexander the other day... he lettered at CU between 1983 and 1985, and is still 13th in receiving yards (1,107) and 14th in receptions all-time at Colorado (78); TE Daniel Graham passed him both lists in recent weeks. Loy has his own temp business he is running in Dallas, where he enjoys helping people find jobs.
CU INVOLVED IN THE TOP FIVE DENVER COLLEGE BROADCASTS ON FSN... The Colorado-Iowa State game recorded a 7.3 rating on Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain, the third highest college football rating all-time for the local network. The 1999 CU-Colorado State from Denver is still number one (8.4 rating), followed by a 1997 CU at Oklahoma State affair (8.1). In fourth is the 1997 Kansas-CU game (6.1), with number five being the 1998 Baylor at CU (6.1).
LAST IN A GOOD THING... A recent story and survey on Big 12 football media guides done by the Associated Press office in Houston showed that Colorado is tied for last in the conference in... the cost to the public. Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma State all charge just $10, a pretty good buy; Oklahoma was on the opposite end, charging $25. Nebraska, Texas and Texas Tech all charge $20, Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas State price theirs at $15, and Missouri and Texas A&M go for $12. CU came in first in pages per dollar (42.8), followed by A&M (30.7); Texas Tech was last at 12.8, followed by Oklahoma with 17.1. This note brought to you by the "At least it took up space" department... If we raise the price in 2002, it won't be by much ($15 or lower; I like this $12 thing).
IF THE PUBLIC ONLY NEW... It amazes me how many media people will lose or misplace their credentials or parking, and automatically expect it to be replaced. That wouldn't happen with an Olympic credential or some other upper echelon event; but in sports, on the pro and college level, these passes are usually replaced. Could you imagine calling the Avalanche prior to game seven of the Stanley Cup finals and telling them you misplaced your tickets? "Sure sir, would you like us to improve your location?" Things do happen, but it is uncanny how many credentials are lost-I've issued 12 dupes for the Nebraska game (and if any of the first 12 surface, believe-you-me the police will enter the picture-major fraud on someone's part).
E-MAIL OF THE MONTH... Last month I received the following E-mail from one of our many alums living in New York City (it was dated October 15). I thought I would share it with you; it was from Jeff Tahler ('95), who now works for Miramax Films:
"I am a CU alumni class of 1995 living and working in NYC for the last 6 years. I felt compelled to drop you a line this morning because with all that has happened over the last 5 weeks both here and across the country, we have been looking for things that will bring a little joy to our lives, if only for a couple of hours.
After watching the Fresno State game I was wondering if the Colorado Football program was ever going to return to where it was when I was in school. Now, I am not under any delusions, we have a tough game this weekend (Texas) and even if we win and run the table, we still have Nebraska and we all know what that means. But, with that being said I have to say that the last few weeks have been wonderful. We watched the K-state game at the Sporting Club in Tribeca (only 7 blocks from Ground Zero) which is actually in the same building where I work and the energy that was in that room was unlike we have felt in quite a while.
I just wanted to let you know that there are a group of us here in New York looking for something to brighten the day and Coach Barnett and the boys have given us just that for the last couple of Saturdays. It is Monday and we are already figuring out what we are doing for the game this Saturday. So please thank them for us and tell them that from all these miles away they are helping us move forward, cheer and smile again. We all applaud their effort. Now you have to excuse me as I look for an airline ticket to Denver for the day after Thanksgiving. Go Buffs!" -- Jeff Tahler
PAY LITTLE ATTENTION TO... This week's release of the Big 12 Academic teams in football. CU had seven players earn their way on the team, with four on the outside looking in that missed qualifying by less than a tenth of a GPA point. The team is based solely on grade point average, a pretty ridiculous way to measure things considering the difference academically from school to school. In fact, one recently disposed head coach (in a most visible sport) muttered to one of his local beat writers that he could, "Get a dead body through __________." That school was not Colorado, consistently at the top of the league in assorted academic rankings compiled around the country. This is why this team is not fair; I guarantee we have student-athletes with 2.5-3.0 grade points that would easily by 3.0-plus at other schools with their curriculums. Plus, I worked four Hula bowls; I met so-called Academic All-Conference players and knew CU's kids had more on the ball. So don't tell me GPA is a fair measuring stick-it's not. My proposal, which received little attention because I conjured it up too late in the process, called for each school to have the same number of players make the conference team-and then leave it up to each school to decide upon the requirements. And I was really miffed that I have been trying in vain to right this wrong since 1985, and the conference put a committee together and Colorado had no representation. So here's hoping the next time it comes up we can correct this travesty.
WHAT WAS THE THICK PACKET... that sports information officials (myself, former Assistant SID Ollie Kirkpatrick) left with Michael Westbrook at the last Bronco game? Simply a 2001 CU football media guide and a note from me. I actually had a couple of e-mails asking what we gave Michael, who caught nine passes for 204 yards and a touchdown in Washington's 17-10 win on Nov. 18.
INTERESTING FOLLOW-UP... Forgot to mention, but a few people were burned on this one: remember back in the summer how a couple of local papers went with a story based on what they thought former CU placekicker Katie Hnida wrote on one of those anonymous message board sites? Guess what-her father told me that it wasn't Katie who wrote it. I didn't think so, for several factors, mainly because she despised those sites for many nasty things that were written about her, most of which were never removed by sysops. The danger here is that stories were written in the legitimate news media world based on an unconfirmed posting attributed to Katie, who by the way, is doing well at her new location (the family would rather not have any fanfare about where she currently is).
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... 2-1-1. That was Colorado's record as a ranked team against Nebraska when Gary Barnett was an assistant coach at Colorado between 1984-91.
TRIVIA ANSWERS... CU -- And the answer is... have more yards of total offense. CU outgained the Huskers in 1997, 1999 and 2000, after doing it only three times the previous 27 seasons (1986, 1990, 1991). Godfather -- Laurence Olivier, Ernest Borgnine and Rudy Vallee. Ernest Borgnine? He couldn't have been available-he was eaten by rats in Willard!
"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.