Plati-'Tudes
May 2, 2000
A weekly notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 16th year as Colorado's Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations.
A short, but sweet edition, as Big 12 meetings in Dallas are abound! And the good feature I promised would debut this time is delayed one more week. Hopefully it will be worth the wait...
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU-Name all the members of CU's "Fab Five" who signed letters-of-intent to play basketball at Colorado who were recruited by Coach Bill Blair in 1977. Hint: one is featured later in this column in "Where They Are Now." Godfather-In Godfather, Part II, the journey of Vito Corleone was documented from Sicily to New York at the beginning of the movie. But was Vito's family's true last name?
THE "PLATYPUS" AWARDS... Okay, these won't be putting the Oscars, Grammys or even the Rasberrys out of business anytime soon, but here's both some recognition and a little fun at the people we work with:
Best Overall Coverage of CU Athletics-Boulder Daily Camera. As it should be, considering the proximity and the underrated sports section the paper has maintained for years under sports editor Dan Creedon. Since August 1 of last year, there have been maybe five days at the most when something CU related was not in the sports pages. Runner-up: Buffalo Sports News. It's 100 percent Colorado athletics, but couldn't surpass the Camera, which does come out every day.
Worst Overall Coverage of CU Athletics-The National Enquirer. All we can say is thank you.
Best Coverage of CU's Non-Revenue Sports-The Colorado Daily. They get the nod because sports editor Mark Collins does a great job in devoting quality space, not just agate, on a consistent basis to sports such as golf, skiing and tennis.
Homework Awards-These goes to the personalities that do a lot, and I mean a lot, of preparation for CU broadcasts, regardless of what some might think of their on-the-air work (and when I say some, that doesn't include this office). Those who would rather read our game notes than the will of a rich relative include Ron Thulin, Artie Gigantino, Drew Goodman and Dave Armstrong (FOX Sports), Brent Musburger and Tim Brant (ABC), Mike Tirico (ESPN), and Larry Zimmer, Jim Ryan and Tim Smile of KOA-Radio in Denver. In all honesty though, other than a couple of interesting personas who were on sideline duty, all the television personalities we've dealt with through the years have been into the research portions of their jobs.
Good Guy On-Air/Good Guy Off-Air-ABC's Keith Jackson. The guy is as genuine as they come, he knows college football better than many coaches, and any one who would treat this hack to a round of golf at Los Angeles Country Club wins this hands down!
Most Misunderstood-ABC's Musburger. I'm amazed at how many people have problems with Brent, either thinking he is one thing or another. Folks, Brent is a quality individual and has been nothing short of a joy to ever work with.
They Know More Than You Might Think Award-B.G. Brooks of the Denver Rocky Mountain News and Adam Thompson of the Denver Post are actively involved in other facets concerning college football. Brooks is a long-standing member of the Butkus Award selection committee, while Thompson is serving a two-year term on the Football Writer's Association of America's board of directors.
Hardest Workers-To the behind the scenes people, mainly the television producers who do an amazing amount of work to pull off a quality broadcast. These most definitely include Jay Rothman (ABC), Robert Steinfeld and Mike Helling (FOX) and Tim Corrigan (ESPN).
How come no real worsts? We don't care for it when media types assign grades to our student-athletes, so we won't stoop to that level. Recently, a local paper assigned spring football grades and awarded the offensive line an F. Well, most of the O-linemen now have no desire to speak to that particular reporter, and we'll have to pull some teeth to get some to do interviews at all. The coaches don't think much of it either, being graded by some people that often don't know the difference between a fumble and a fastball. Here's hoping media grades go the way of the Denver Post's Pike Peak-gone.
I DREAMED OF AFRICA... No, not the new movie starring Kim Basinger, but the upcoming summer adventures of some Colorado football players. Three Buffaloes will be on the continent at one time or another between now and when they report for camp in August. Freshman recruit Marcus Houston will return to Ghana for a second time as the guest of the Princess, and he'll be bringing educational materials and farming tools to the village where he has been named a chief. And juniors Albus Brooks and Nate Wright will be going with their church group to visit Uganda.
SOCCER UPDATE... The Colorado women's soccer lost to national powerhouse Santa Clara 6-1 last Saturday, prior to the Colorado Rapids' 5-0 loss to Kansas City. The spring game for the Buffaloes went largely unnoticed by the Denver media, other than a brief short in the Rocky Mountain News, and that only featured the Colorado players on the Santa Clara team. Left out was the fact that Tiffany Booth scored CU's goal on Crystal Gordon, the nation's top goalkeeper last year. And though some of the local media at times is on a mission to make it appear we don't want Colorado kids on our roster, the soccer team actually consists of 68 percent Colorado prep products-more than any other program at CU. We've only just completed our fourth year of existence and many good ones went to more established programs. Coach Austin Daniels is expecting to have his best team yet, and returns most of its letterwinners from last year's 11-8-1 team.
WHERE THEY ARE NOW... I recently caught up with Brian Johnson, one of Bill Blair's "Fab Five" recruits back in 1977. Brian is now living in Redding, Calif., and is working in nearby Anderson for Sierra Pacific Industries. He has been with SPI for eight years, is a sales and marketing representative and sells saw mill production all over the United States. If you recall, he was drafted by the Phoenix Suns following his senior year in 1981, but opted to remain in Boulder and give tight end a try on the football team. His football career was cut short by an ACL tear just a few games into the season (ironically, his wife recently suffered the same injury). He scored 840 points and had 628 rebounds in 105 career basketball games, but unfortunately stills holds the dubious school records for career fouls (356) and disqualifications (29)-he did carry that toughness over to his brief football career under then coach Chuck Fairbanks. He did try out for the Suns after his knee healed, and worked for about two years as a bartender at one of Boulder's great old haunts-The Broken Drum. He landed a job shortly thereafter with Boise Cascade, where he worked six years, and then with Bohemia for three before taking his current position with SPI. He has seen the paper industry's dramatic changes first-hand and loves what he does. He is married with two children.
ATHLETES-OF-THE-YEAR... We will be announcing the male and female athletes of the year as well as the senior career athletic achievement award winners this Friday. The recipients will be made public for the first time at Friday's Academic Recognition Luncheon, and we'll be posting a release later that day on this web site. Two of the winners were a slam-dunk for the committee, and two other were selected after much debate. Regardless, there were several quality nominees and all in the end were winners.
THAT IS MY LITTLE BRO... I guess VH-1 recently replayed it's "Storytellers" featuring David Bowie, and a fan out there wrote in asking if the guitarist with the funky hat was either me (yeah, right) or related to me. It is, in fact, my younger brother Mark. He plays 13 different instruments, has engineered a Grammy winning song of the year and has been a member of Bowie's band for about a year-though he has done mixing and engineering work for him for over five years. My musical talents cease with the kazoo, and even that's nothing to brag about.
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... Is six, as in the number of times women's cross country and track star Kara Wheeler has been selected CU's Athlete-of-the-Week. That ties the record set by Adam Goucher two years ago. Goucher holds the career mark with an amazing 10, followed by several with six, including Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam and hoop stars Bridget Turner, Tracy Tripp and Sean Vandiver.
TRIVIA ANSWERS... CU-The "Fab Five" included Craig Austin (Wheat Ridge High School), Jim Feeney (Boulder Fairview), Brian Johnson (Cherry Creek), Dave Netherton (Pueblo East) and Jack Tuz (Newport Beach, Calif.). Austin is a schoolteacher in Pennsylvania and has been for years; Feeney tore up a knee badly his freshman season and never played for CU again--he now lives and works in Boulder with his kids attending Fairview; Johnson you can read about above; Netherton is a Phoenix resident and is a manufacturer's rep; and Tuz, who reverted back to his given name "Jacques" by his senior year, had a prosperous basketball career for over a decade in Australia. Godfather-The family name was Andolini. Often at Ellis Island, immigrant's last names were recorded wrong or were transposed as the name of the town where they came from. If you're ever in New York, the Ellis Island tour is one of the most interesting things you'll ever do. The place was restored a few years back, and the original graffiti was maintained on the walls.
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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.