Plati-'tudes
September 18, 2000
A bi-weekly notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 17th year as Colorado's Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations.
Well, 0-3 is not the end of the world, and I can say that knowing our coaches and players, that you also cannot see it from there. This group will be heard from, and read below for an interesting parallel in recent CU history.
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU -- Has CU ever been involved in games that ended in the same final score prior to this year? Yes-do you know when the last time occurred? Godfather -- James Caan played Sonny Corleone in the original Godfather. Sonny was not his given name. What was his real name and why was he called Sonny?
EERILY PARALLEL... The 2000 season is eerily parallel to the 1986 season through three games, which hopefully the team can draw some inspiration from (and the 2000 team has a bit more talent than the '86 squad; no insult intended). The '86 team opened with a loss to Colorado State en route to going 0-4 (losing all its non-league games), the last three of which by a total of eight points. The 2000 team opened with a loss to CSU, and is 0-3 (the only non-league contests) with the three defeats by a combined 10 points. In 2000, CU lost 17-14 at Southern Cal on a last minute field goal (:13 left), while in 1986, CU lost 13-10 at Ohio State on a last minute field goal (:25 left). In both games, CU was down by at least seven and rallied to tie the game. The Buffs missed a pair of field goals against USC (28 and 40 yards), and had missed a pair against the Buckeyes (37 and 38 yards). The good news is that the '86 team, Bill McCartney's fifth in Boulder, slowly but surely rallied to make a season of it. The Buffs won their next five games, including the first win over Nebraska in 19 years, to improve to 5-4. But with all five being Big Eight wins, CU found itself facing 5-0 Oklahoma in Boulder with the winner earning a trip to the Orange Bowl. OU won, 28-0, in a classic defensive battle, but eventually overwhelmed the Buffs as CU was only in the second year of the wishbone offense, the formation the Sooners ate, drank and slept for years.
MY TAKE... This is the 22nd football season that I have been a part of at the University of Colorado. Are we disappointed? Sure we are. We could easily be 3-0, 2-1 or at least 1-2 against a killer schedule. But there's no dissension to speak of, and in this case, the week off might be coming at the best time. The players know they can make something of this season, as well as set the table for next year; otherwise, ABC would never have selected this game for broadcast. Kansas State will be out to prove its ranking is legitimate, but have a history of struggling here (they haven't fared well in altitude, and in the '98 game, they were gasping for air at the end, despite having oxygen tanks). Also, this is where CU's schedule could prove advantageous. Say what you want about scheduling philosophies; Kansas State might very well be the best team CU will have faced to date, but CSU, USC and Washington are closer to Kansas State than CU is to Iowa, Louisiana Tech, Ball State and North Texas. CU has athleticism, talent and speed those schools don't possess, and combined with the altitude will give the Wildcats all they can handle, especially with an extra week to prepare.
FOOTBALL TV UPDATE... Playing the kind of non-conference schedule the Buffs have played does pay off in the television department. Despite being 0-3, CU's first four games are/were on the tube, and financially by the end of the year, it could be mean as much as in the vicinity of $3 million for the department (though a good portion of that is budgeted under conference distribution). ABC selected the CU-Kansas State game was a nice surprise, as we were really expecting the network to go with Tech at A&M or Missouri at Nebraska. Television the following week won't be known until Monday, Sept. 25, but there is no syndication game or prime time game that day, just two games on ABC (10:00 and 1:30 p.m., MDT). Oklahoma-Texas from Dallas is a mortal lock; the other game will likely be Nebraska-Iowa State, especially if both are undefeated, or the CU-A&M affair. The television windows are the usual three on Oct. 14 and 21 (ABC, Fox Sports Net and Fox Syndication), with four windows available on Oct. 28 (ABC will do a pair that day, making Oklahoma State-Colorado a possibility.
THARP ON NCAA MANAGEMENT COUNCIL... Though not really played up much by the local press, CU athletic director Dick Tharp's selection by the Big 12 Conference as one of its three representatives to the NCAA Management Council is big news around here. It's not gloss or window dressing; it means CU now has a voice in creating NCAA policy. Anyone who knows Dick knows he how much he cares for the student-athlete experience, in fact, it's perhaps his greatest passion. He is looking forward to having input on how to better their experiences.
CASOTTI SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCED... The formal announcement of The Fred Casotti Sports Information Scholarship Fund took place at last Friday night's Hall of Fame banquet. The annual scholarship will go to a promising young journalism student who has an interest in media or public relations (along with an internship in the athletic media relations office). The goal is to raise in excess of $100,000 to endow the scholarship on an annual basis. The purpose of the scholarship is two-fold; first, to honor Fred, CU's long-time sports information director (1952-68) and associate AD (1968-87). Fred was one of the true pioneers of the SID profession and is a member of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame, and received the loudest applause Friday evening (though he had already left; at 76, he's been going strong but has been a bit under the weather lately). Second, it will help bolster the School of Journalism in its quest to add a sports curriculum track. Currently, only a sports writing class is offered; being added next semester are sports marketing and sports information classes. I will be teaching the latter, which I'm really looking forward to (lots of guest speakers and field trips, the way most of us would have wanted an occasional class to be). "My" students will get to observe NFL draft day the Broncos, press boxes at the Buffs, Nuggets and Avalanche and working newsrooms at newspapers, and radio and TV stations.
SOCCER SNIPPETS... Austin Daniel's team rebounded from an 0-3 start to post four straight wins, only to see the school's second longest winning streak ever snapped in a 1-0, double overtime loss to San Francisco. It was also only the second home loss suffered by the Buffs at home (Pleasantview Soccer Complex) in its last 15 games. Meghan Swanzy scored the program's 100th goal in the 3-2 win over Air Force on Sept. 13, and Melissa Cartmell's two-goal effort in the same game was the first by a Buffalo in almost a year. Jessi Burgener's goal 3:39 into the game against Colorado College not only ignited a 3-0 CU win against the previously undefeated Tigers, it was also the quickest in school history. CU will be looking for its first win against either Texas (Sept. 22) or Texas A & M (Sept. 24) this weekend as the Buffs travel to the Lone Star State; the Buffs are a combined 0-9 in their history against the pair of southern soccer powers.
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... 22. That's the number of drives that the CU football team has started inside (7) or at (15) its own 20-yard line out of 34 possessions through three games this season. That's inordinately high (65%); the opponents have started 11 of 35 in the same instances, or 31% (and for more comparison, since the Broncos have me chart these items as well, Denver has started 14 of 35 drives at or inside its 20 (40%), and Bronco opponents 9 of 31 (29%). Glancing at the CU football stat sheet, this is one of very few statistics that is really skewed. It's helped lead to an 8-yard difference in field position, as CU is starting on the average at its 23, with the opponent at its 31. It may not sound like much, but an average difference of 8 yards in field position over a conservative amount of possessions for the year, say 125, is a difference of 1,000 yards.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM... Most of you probably saw the winning touchdown catch Florida had against Tennessee. Did anyone else think that the play made the one in 1993 by Stanford against CU look like an eternity? In that one, Stanford had a third-and-goal from the CU5 with less than 20 seconds remaining. Steve Stenstrom found Tony Cline in the back of the end zone, where he had the ball for maybe a split second before Dwayne Davis swatted it free. Most of us in Buff Land thought that it should have been ruled an incompletion, and it seems to me that the Florida kid didn't have the ball near as long as Cline did.
FINNIGAN REMINDER... The next Platitudes will no doubt feature a review of how former CU assistant SID Matt Finnigan did on his appearance on "Win Ben Stein's Money." He will grace the television airwaves the night of October 3, at 7:30 and 10:30 Pacific time (do check local listings).
TRIVIA ANSWERS... CU -- It was 20 years ago, as in 1980, CU lost to Missouri (Oct. 18) and then to Nebraska (Oct. 25) by 45-7 scores. Godfather -- His given name was Santino. And growing up Italian (not that I've switched), "Sonny" was commonly the nickname given to the first male born in the family; I still have relatives who call my Dad by that moniker.
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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.