Plati-'Tudes
April 3, 2000
A weekly notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 16th year as Colorado's Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations.
This week's edition of "Plati-'Tudes" for you to enjoy. I'm a little bummed though ... I went to both Bruce Springsteen shows last week, but he's yet to log-on to Plati-'Tudes. Okay, stop me when I'm funny! Keep those E-mails coming!
FLASHBACK... Colorado owns a 1-2 record all-time against Michigan State in men's basketball, but the Buffs have never played the other 2000 national championship game participant, Florida. CU's win against the Spartans came on Dec. 28, 1956 in the old Big Seven Preseason Tournament in Kansas City, as MSU was the guest school to fill out the bracket. CU won late that night, 90-87, thanks to 28 points from Dave Mowbray and Don Walker's 20 points and 14 rebounds. It was a foul-plagued game, as the teams combined for 47 fouls and 84 free throws-CU was 26-of-27 in the first half alone. The Buffs advanced to the tournament final with the win, but bowed to Kansas in the championship game.
AND FOR THE LADIES... CU has never played 2000 champ Connecticut, but owns a 1-3 record against runner-up and perennial power Tennessee. CU beat the Vols, 78-60, in their first ever meeting in 1981, but lost three games in the 1990s by a combined 18 points-including an 86-82 overtime loss in Knoxville in 1993. The two last met in the '97 Midwest Regional semifinal in Iowa City, with the Volunteers prevailing, 75-67.
FOLSOM FIELD LIGHTS... A couple of you have asked about where we stand on installing lights at Folsom. We are still in the designing phase (the funding has been approved), as it involves a lot more than one might imagine. But the goal is to have them up and running for the 2000 season if we can. They will also pay for themselves fairly quickly. In 1999, the Big 12 Conference paid the schools $61,000 if they hosted a night game -- money that goes to pay for the lights at schools such as CU which do not have them. So obviously if we have our lights, the money comes straight to us and not to a lighting company. Another plus is that when the television folks need you to turn on the lights in an afternoon game, they pay a partial amount-in the $30,000 range last fall.
TURF & GRASS... Received several E-mails about FieldTurf following B.G. Brooks' story in last Sunday's Denver Rocky Mountain News. We are investigating the possibilities of installing FieldTurf, the newest artificial surfacing in the business, for one of the practice fields located north of Boulder Creek. Due to the weather and the earlier start that is now preferred by the coaches for spring football, it makes sense to look at this option. The cost would be in the $650,000 range; for those who wonder why we just didn't transfer the old Folsom surface to the practice field, it would have cost much more than that. FieldTurf can use a sand base, which is present now, whereas the old Astro-Turf 8 surface requires an asphalt base. As for the rumor that FieldTurf will replace SportGrass in the stadium-well, that's just another unfounded rumor. SportGrass is like any grass field and needs some time for the roots to take hold and get established, and others who have the surface said it really comes into its own in years two and three. Folsom will remain au natural!
ALL-AMERICA FARM TEAM... Congratulations to Jonathan Prather, who recently earned first-team All-America Farm team honors. He is CU's top sprinter (100- and 200-meter dashes), and holds the CU record for the 60-meter dash.
MORE TRACK... Junior Mike Friedberg ran the 10,000-meters in 28:52.20 at the Stanford Invitational on March 25, the fourth-fastest time ever at CU. In the process, he became the first Buff to automatically qualify for the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Duke. The 28:52.20 time trails only Ted Castaneda (27:22.4 in 1973), Mark Scrutton (28:17.0 in 1982) and Mark Anderson (28:48.3 in 1980).
RALPHIE GOES HOLLYWOOD... Or at least Ralphie's logo does. Rod O'Neill E-mailed in to find out the history of the Ralphie decal on the bulkhead of the ship in the movie, Mission to Mars. Rod wrote that you get a good, long look at it, and it was the best part of an average film, at best. I've got a couple of calls into some Hollywood types to see if I can't get an answer for that question. If you're looking for a good movie, by the way, I went to the sneak preview of Keeping The Faith Saturday; it's pretty funny, as well as a good date movie!
SPRING FOOTBALL GAME... This year's tilt is set for Saturday, April 15 at 1:00 p.m. The Folsom Field gates will open at 10:30 a.m., with the annual Alumni Flag Football Game set for 11 a.m. At Noon, the first 100 kids to sign up will get to participate in pre-game warm-ups (stretching, etc.) with the Buffaloes, which was extremely popular last year (the sign-ups take place at Noon at Gates 1 and 7). All game day amenities will take place, including concessions, the band, Ralphie and BuffVision. There will also be a coloring contest and a postgame autograph session with the players and coaches. CU will be selling season tickets between 10:30 and 3:00, and admission is free.
WHERE THEY ARE NOW... Offensive tackle Derek West (1991-94) is back in the Denver area as he has been named the sports and entertainment marketing coordinator with Golden-based EAS. They recently opened a sport marketing division, and hired Derek to handle contracts and appearances with both professional athletes and entertainers. Derek gave pro football one last go last summer with the Arizona Cardinals, and joined EAS in late March after a marketing stint in auto racing with the Winston Cup Team. He graduated from Colorado in '94 with a degree in marketing, so he's using that good ol' CU education.
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... Colorado and Nebraska have been the saving grace for the Big 12 when it's come to performing against ranked non-conference teams. The four-year old league owns a 13-29 record against ranked non-conference opponents (including bowls) since its inception in 1996, and the Buffs own five of those wins. CU and NU are both 5-2 against ranked non-Big 12 foes, with both playing in the most games (7) as well. Other records: Kansas State 1-2, Baylor 1-3, Texas 1-5, Oklahoma 0-0, Kansas 0-1, Oklahoma State 0-1, Iowa State 0-2, Missouri 0-3, Texas A&M 0-4 and Texas Tech 0-4. CU and NU have combined for a 10-4 record, the other 10 schools for a 3-25 mark.
SAD NEWS... Carol Nielson, the mother of CU volleyball player Sonja Nielsen, passed away on March 18 from complications due to breast cancer. The funeral was held March 25, with head coach Pi'i Aiu attending to represent the University. Our hearts out to Sonja and her family during this very tough time and Sonja has left school for the remainder of the semester. A junior-to-be, she'll return to school either this summer or fall (her eligibility will not be affected).
Also lost to cancer was a colleague and friend of mine, J.W. Campbell. The sports information director at Western State for 25 years, he passed away March 26 at the age of 65, also from complications due to cancer. His career spanned 42 years at WSC, and he was honored by CoSIDA for career service and was a long-time member of the Colorado Sports Hall-of-Fame Committee. I knew him well from my days working as info director in the RMAC-he was a class guy and will be missed.
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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.