Plati-'Tudes
February 26, 2001
A bi-weekly notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 17th year as Colorado's Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations.
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU -- The CU men's golf team opened its spring season this weekend in Puerto Rico, and was in position for a top five finish after 36 holes of play. When was the last time the CU men finished it the top five in its first spring appearance? Godfather -- In Godfather II, who is kissing Michael's hand in the first scene?
THE SPORTING NEWS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT RANKINGS... I had a good conversation with Steve Gietschier about his recent survey in The Sporting News regarding athletic department rankings. Colorado ranked 80th, and it caused a little uproar, so I thought I'd get some background information and see just how the Buffs arrived at such a number. "Information was gathered from a number of sources, but wins and losses were easy," said Gietschier, the magazine's senior managing editor for research. "We used the NCAA graduation reports, Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) reports the schools file with the NCAA, attendance lists, novelty sales, budgets, Sears Cup Standings, everything we could get access to." They didn't utilize local reporters much, if at all, in compiling the survey, so personalities played absolutely no role in the outcome.
Fair enough. I have to tell you, I have always felt that we've had a good relationship with TSN, and I'm the idiot that helped coerce the publication into selecting CU as the No. 1 football team in the nation back in the 1997 preseason (should have just let Penn State have it). I hung up with Gietschier satisfied that the research was fairly accurate for the most part and that based on the criteria TSN selected, CU, or anyone else for that matter, didn't get hung out to dry. While I did think CU should have been graded higher in a couple of areas, those were the two most subjective, and Gietschier never denied that. He didn't do this overnight; it took months and had a lot of thought put into it, and he gave the benefit of the doubt to the schools in tight situations. TSN assigned a "GPA" grade to all 115 Division I-A schools (though the number really is 114, Connecticut is not D 1-A yet in football) in four areas: Do We Win? Do We Graduate? Do We Rock? And Do We Play Fair? I'll address each and why Colorado received the grades TSN assigned us, and I think the alarms that may have gone off in the minds of some will ring false.
1. Do We Win (Colorado: D). Read the fine print - TSN made no bones about grading only two sports, football (2000 season) and men's basketball (1999-2000), the two sports it says why most of its readers turn to its publication. The grade was arrived at 50 percent each for both sports, plus bonus points for postseason play. CU was hurt by its three wins in football last fall; just two more would have raised it to a C, so the five losses by eight points or less came back to bite us again. But three wins are three wins, and TSN didn't factor in if losses were close or if wins were dominant. The men's basketball team was 18-14 last season, but we were hurt there because we had seven conference wins, did not get invited to the NCAA tournament and then lost a first round NIT game at home. This category didn't ring consistent though, take Washington for example. The Huskies were 11-1 in football and won the Rose Bowl, but were 10-20 in basketball and still managed an A-plus in this category. I would have thought to earn that grade, a major bowl win and several tournament wins would be required. The bottom line, however, in grading overall athletic departments was that 25 percent of grade came down to wins and losses in just two sports.
2. Do We Graduate (Colorado: D+). Taken straight from the graduation reports, but again for only football and men's basketball. This bounces all around the map from year-to-year for these two sports, also the two most affected by professional sports drafts. The four-year information was gathered for the 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 classes, allowing six years to graduate for each; the football rate was 49%, the men's basketball rate 13% (2 of 15). But a closer look at the hoop figure will indicate of the 13 players who didn't graduate, NINE of them transferred; the best possible rate of those who remained would have been 33%. Now graduation-reporting info isn't always consistent; we count transfers, as you are supposed to, but we also know other schools have not. For example, Tennessee and Duke have often referred to their 100 percent graduation rates in women's and men's basketball, respectively. They probably do graduate all that have finished up their eligibility, but we also know they've had transfers. Just one transfer in basketball can affect the graduation rate as much as 25 to 33 percent; if a school reports 100% with two graduates and ignores a transfer, it drops to 67% if the transfer is included. The NCAA recently started to acknowledge the transfer situation off to the side in its reports, but a transfer lost still counts against a school; if you pick up a transfer and he or she graduates, it doesn't count for you. Gietschier acknowledged this and knows it goes on at several places, but the NCAA report in its current format is the only real source for comparisons. He doesn't discount the fact that this column of grades might not be as accurate as it could be. I had a problem with this grade until realizing the grade was for only two sports; I figured we'd have a B across the board, and take the transfer equation out of the above, we'd be no less than a C+, still not what we want. We've stated publicly that as part of our Athletics 2010 plan, we want to and will increase our graduate rate, as well as work to retain more of our student-athletes so the transfer issue becomes less of a problem.
3. Do We Rock (Colorado: C). This wasn't meant to be an "emotional" rock, according to Gietschier, rather a summation of several areas, ranging from Sears Cup Standings to novelty sales. So, no points for Ralphie, "Super Fan", the Flatirons or Neil Diamond singing the national anthem at last May's graduation. This was the most subjective of the four areas, and I still think we should have been ranked higher, at least a B. We finished 43rd in the 1999-2000 Sears Cup Standings, and out of 114 Division I-A schools, that was in the upper 38 percent; CU is currently sixth in this year's standings. We have 17 sports, so we lost points because others are fielding in 20s, most of those emerging at the top of TSN's list. Gietschier agreed with me that an inherent problem the Sears Cup Standings have is that they do penalize those schools with less than 20 sports, the maximum number the formula utilizes to compile the standings (coed programs such as skiing aren't rewarded, either). Averages per sport would be better for CU, as we usually rise into the top 25 when applied in that manner. We had good home football crowds, but we were hurt in this area according to Gietschier because of men's basketball attendance.
4. Do We Play Fair (Colorado: B+). Colorado did benefit here for its graduation rate of its other student-athletes and Title IX compliance standing, referred to as gender equity score. Teams were penalized for being on NCAA probation or for dropping a sport, and others were rewarded for adding teams. CU had four-year graduation rates in excess of 62 percent for all but one of the programs separated out by the NCAA numbers, and is in Title IX compliance as certified by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Schools like LSU, Louisville and New Mexico received F's, so either the combination of the above did them in, or perhaps New Mexico fans were lobbing snowballs at a cross country meet last fall. Teams didn't seem overly penalized for being on NCAA probation, though; Purdue was slapped in men's basketball and it finished fifth overall.
There were no ties in the final standings despite schools often finishing with the same "GPA," so Gietschier went back and broke those ties, likening it to a 93 being a better A than a 91. He mentioned that it was "just a hair's difference between first and third," and even in Colorado's case, the difference between where we finished and some 25 spots higher was as little as three more wins in football and a couple in basketball. Or 20 points higher in the men's basketball graduation rate, which if transfers are accounted for, would have covered that as well.
In my humble but hopefully fairly educated opinion, this is a false alarm. The survey was nothing more than one publication's very subjective look at ranking the schools; another could come up with a completely different set of criteria and Colorado could be in the top 20. It makes for conversation, the magazine's aim, and we're not thrilled with a No. 80 ranking based on this set of standards. But we're not stupid, either: would we be crowing had we come out No. 1? You bet.
BUFF FAMILY LOSES MIKE VEEDER... On February 11, the CU football family lost Mike Veeder, a three-year letterman at defensive end for Eddie Crowder's Buffaloes in the mid-1960s, as he suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Park City, Utah. Veeder, 54, was a resident of Cary, N.C., where he was the general manager for Arch Aluminum and Glass, a major industrial supplier along the eastern seaboard. He lettered in football at CU from '65-67, and was the teammate of players such as Dick Anderson, the late Charlie Greer, Hale Irwin, Mike Schnitker and Ron Scott. He went on to play professionally for the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos, and had a coaching stint at Boulder High.
Veeder played a huge role in CU's 21-16 win at Nebraska in 1967, the last for the Buffaloes over NU until 1986. Anderson intercepted a pass and lateralled it to Veeden who took it some 45 yards for a touchdown to give CU a 14-7 lead just before the half. He also had five tackles in the game, along with a fumble recovery that he originally returned 61 yards; however the officials had ruled the ball down on the CU 14, but he stopped a Husker drive nonetheless. The Buffs improved to 5-0 with the win at the time, and rose the following Monday to a No. 3 ranking in the nation.
The elder Veeder, who was a high school star in Minneapolis, was last in Boulder for son Mike's wedding in January 1999, and attended the CU-Washington game later that year in Seattle. He is survived by his current wife, Lois; his ex-wife, the former Ann Hoffman, who is also a CU alum and former cheerleader; and his son. In lieu of flowers, etc., the family is asking that any donations be made in his name to the Golden Buffalo Scholarship Fund.
CU AND THE INTERNET... Neill Woelk informed me that someone called the Boulder Camera office saying that I had a negative post about my own athletic director on one of those anonymous message boards. I never post on those things, and neither does Dick Tharp or Gary Barnett, among others, who have had anonymous types post under our identities. I would hope that most people would understand that, especially considering how immature those posts under our names generally are, but at times some are fooled. And how about the one guy who told me to go have another donut or voted me the biggest SID in the nation (which I'm not, but alas, I'm in the top 25); sorry, but I guess those of us who aren't slender or ripped are the last bastion for those who want to criticize others, that is until we're branded as "differently bodied" and it becomes politically incorrect. One thing is for sure: no person of quality or maturity would post childish things like that, or leave it up for others to see for that matter. But they'd only bother us if we thought respectable people posted them.
And contrary to blatant lies spread by one individual (among almost too many to count) we don't hate the Internet, and don't give bad advice to our coaches about it. No one in our business likes the anonymous aspect of posts such as those mentioned above, or for example, one post last week (on BuffStampede.com) about one of our players having a shoulder injury that the local media had to check into. That post, which was 100 percent false, led to the head coach, an assistant coach, the trainer, the player's roommate, and the player's parents being called to find out what, if anything, had happened, and not only by the coaches and myself, but the media. The player in question strolled back into his dorm room some two hours after this started and was fine, but not before several people were upset, sent on a wild goose chase, or both. That's what we don't like about the Internet. Fortunately, those sites have more or less a cult following and the mainstream hasn't bought into anonymous messaging as truth.
Another blatant lie has emerged on one of those sites about the department and our office lying about injuries to Koy Detmer and Mike Moschetti. Typical. In one sentence, we're not believable, yet it drags on about players rights to privacy. Yet in both cases, neither player wanted the injury out, but that now doesn't matter because a cheap, yet frivolous shot can now be launched our way. But as far as our office lying, reference Plati-'Tudes from April 11, 2000, and you will see quotes from reputable reporters such as B.G. Brooks and Neill Woelk stating to the contrary. They'll back it up. And ask Neill sometime who was eavesdropping last week at the Events Center on a private conversation he was having with his sports editor and got busted.
Our website has consistently been ranked as one of the top college sites, thanks to the hard work that Boulder's own Curtis Snyder has done with our Internet host. They have made it possible for us to get event results up almost immediately (within minutes) after we finish the stories in our office, which doesn't happen at most places. We've offered a few unique features as well: game day live on the road in football, the web-cam at the Events Center, and this column are just some examples. Personally, I love the Internet for research purposes - blows away our old m.o. of waiting for faxes or mail, it saves us a ton in postage and we get our information into the media's hands by Sunday or Monday instead of Wednesday.
And other than vulgar e-mails (which haven't numbered many), we do our best to respond to all inquiries we get. No one here has ever professed to be perfect, and you can't please everybody. But if you read something negative or even unbelievable about us on the Internet, and do know that there is at least one person that has spread numerous lies about the department and some of our individuals, write in to us to get our take, which I guarantee to be truthful-we'll answer you. I've always adhered to Bill McCartney's advice to not lie in this business, though we sometimes have to "delay" the truth if we're not ready to announce something. People appreciate being up front in that regard, but outright lies come back and haunt you.
Our names are out there for all to see, you can find us; we're not just some anonymous moniker out there in cyberspace.
And by the way, CU is one of just a handful of schools that have a full-time Internet person on its athletic staff. Curtis' title is Assistant SID/Internet Managing Editor. Other schools are copying what we've done, and proof of that is that Stanford made a overtures at persuading Curtis to visit the Palo Alto campus as a finalist for its Internet job
FOOTBALL RULE CHANGES... The Associated Press ran this story last week, but I didn't see it get much play, so here's a summary: The NCAA Football Rules Committee approved eight rules changes in all, including moves to speed up play. The committee voted to eliminate radio and television timeouts during overtime, and also said a team timeout may be a minimum of 30 seconds, if desired by the team calling the timeout (as opposed to 90 previously). The biggest change will be that all penalties for offensive team fouls that occur behind the neutral zone will now be enforced from the previous spot, so no more 18-yard holding penalties because it took place eight yards behind the line of scrimmage. Hooray! Other major changes include stopping the clock when a runner's helmet comes off, and making the runner exempt from the rule prohibiting hurdling. The committee also approved the use of a camera, with no audio, on the cap of the umpire during televised games, but that change is subject to the approval of the NCAA Executive Committee. If approved, it would be used only with the permission of the umpire and the teams, and was used in several games in the NFL last season.
FINNIGAN FUN... Former assistant SID Matt Finnigan alerted us to perhaps the most ridiculous website ever" The T'inator. That's right, type in any URL address, and Mr. T takes over. Very fitting since the A-Team is making a comeback on Nick-at-Nite; check it out at http://firefly.sparse.org/~mrt.
THIS WEEK'S NUMBERS... 14 and 27. Those are the number of times out of the number of seasons in its history that the CU women's basketball team has won at least 20 games (and at least 22 on 10 occasions). Ten of those 20-win seasons have come under current coach Ceal Barry, and the last seven of those times, CU hosted first and/or second round games in the NCAA Championships.
TRIVIA ANSWERS... CU -- Eight years ago, or during the 1992-93 season, when Colorado finished fifth in the PING-Arizona Intercollegiate. CU skipped that tournament this year after seven straight finishes out of the top 10 to start the spring a little bit later, and the move looks like it will pay off. Godfather -- Rocco, who just happens to be the same man kissing his hand in the last scene of Part I as the door then shuts on Kay (Diane Keaton).
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"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.