PLATI-'TUDES: REMEMBER ME?
A notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 21st year as Colorado’s Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations.
Welcome to Plati-?Tudes... I must tell you, I’m sad the election season is over. I mean in one day, I had messages from George Bush, Pete Coors, John Elway and Rudy Giuliani on my machine at home. But they were all nervous before they would leave me a message, because all four were silent for about 3 seconds before having the courage to start talking. They had to be nervous, because they were reading from a script, kind of like some of us did (not me!) in high school when were calling up an “it” girl for a date...
Okay, it’s been awhile since the last ?Tudes, so some of these notes are all over the map, but hopefully still interesting! So here we go:
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU?Name the first pair of Buffaloes teammates to with both a conference championship ring and a Super Bowl ring together. Seinfeld?The three main supporting cast members to Jerry had no real success at their own sitcoms after Seinfeld ended its run in 1998; however, many who had cameo roles have gone on to success. Name three who have and their Seinfeld roles. Seinfeld Bonus?Jerry’s TV dad, Barney Martin, also was a father in what renowned comedy classic?
HOW ABOUT THOSE CROSS COUNTRY BUFFS?... In the nine-year history of the Big 12 Conference, the Buffaloes have now won 17 cross country titles?one short of the maximum. The men have won all nine and the women eight; head coach Mark Wetmore was named the Big 12’s coach of the year for a 14th and 15th time in his tenure. If there was a national cross country Hall of Fame, he’s surely be one of the first coaches in it. Perhaps we should start work on one before some other city gets the idea!
CONGRATS TO SIMPSON... Congratulations are in order for head golf coach Mark Simpson; he will be inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame this coming January 12 in New Orleans. Simps, in his 28th year as CU's head coach, is being inducted for a multitude of assorted reasons, the top two likely being his heavy involvement in collegiate golf administration for the last two decades, as well as his longevity as a head coach and the players he has produced. Mark asked yours truly to present him for induction; an honor that positively floored me and one I gladly accepted (I've been on the golf beat since I wrote a truly horrific story my first crack at one in back in April '79).
SPOON AILING... This next passage is the focus of my column in this month’s Stampede Magazine; I felt it was too important not to mention here as well. I want to draw attention to how one of our own recently has taken ill, and what he meant to our program at a critical time in our history. Former CU fullback Anthony Weatherspoon, one of the key players in CU’s turnaround in the mid-1980s, has been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and is in need of a bone marrow transplant. Married and the father of three young daughters, Weatherspoon resides in Orange, Calif., and has been on leave from his job as a financial advisor with Household Finance since July, when he first took ill. Taken to the emergency room after coughing up blood and dizzy spells, testing revealed that he had Myelodysplastic Syndrome, OR MDS, as well as Myelofibrosis. It is a rare blood disease where the bone marrow doesn’t produce the right kind of white blood cells in the body to fight infection. And the even scarier part is that it could turn into acute leukemia at any time. Doctors believe it is still in the early stages and if a matching donor can be found, Weatherspoon can beat the disease. The first donor didn’t produce a match, and a second donor’s marrow is currently in the lab, but it takes anywhere from 10 to 15 days to obtain the results. Weatherspoon is currently in decent spirits, and is also looking at a possible move to Texas to be admitted by MD Anderson, a progressive hospital in the area of blood disorders. “Spoon” as he was known throughout his playing days at CU between 1984 and 1987, is at peace with what has happened to him, but is concerned for his family. His wife, Jacqueline, not only has to take care of him, but his three daughters, Tasha (8), and two special need children, Julissa (7) and Destiny (4). “God’s blessed me with it (MDS), so there must be a reason for me having it,” Weatherspoon said. “You can’t waste time worrying about why; maybe that’s because you mature when you have a family and kids, and that’s how I see things. “My wife’s done absolutely everything, and she’s been a true blessing. What a diamond, a very special woman.” He’s been taking chemo pills to combat the illness and to try to keep the symptoms from advancing, but was hospitalized again the first of November after a persistent nosebleed while the search for a matching donor continues. Spoon has received a lot of support from his former teammates and coaches at Colorado, something that he also feels blessed with. “I’ve talked to probably 20 teammates through all this, and when I was able to do it, I’ve been trading e-mails,” he said. “It was also very uplifting to talk to Coach (Bill) McCartney. He’s has a way with that and he hasn’t changed. So it’s encouraging to me that so many people care.” Weatherspoon was a key player in CU’s switch to the wishbone offense under McCartney in 1985. That season, he led the team in rushing with 569 yards, and was second the following season with 581. His 1,193 career yards stands 35th all-time at the school. He rushed for 101 yards in a 21-17 win over Oregon in 1985, his top single-game yardage effort. But he played one of those positions that did a lot more than what normal statistics could ever indicate. Most will remember No. 44 and his hulking 6-foot, 240-pound frame, clearing out lead blocks for the likes of Mark Hatcher, Ron Brown, O.C. Oliver, Sam Smith and Mike Marquez, to name a few. He cleared the way and was credited with over 20 touchdown blocks in his career, as well as finding the end zone himself a half dozen times. His abilities played a big role in fellow fullback and his road trip roommate, Eric McCarty, switching to linebacker prior to the 1986 season. “He was flat out good,” McCarty recently recalled. “He’d lay out some steamrolling blocks and could run over people, a truly dominant fullback.” McCarty, no slouch, went on to lead the team in tackles from his inside linebacker position as a senior in 1987. It all amounted to the Buffaloes turning a 1-10 season in 1984 into a 7-4 campaign the following year and the school’s first bowl berth in nine years, and more importantly, laying the groundwork for the late 1980s and CU’s run to its first national title. Another of Spoon’s former teammates, Jim Smith, has taken an active role in keeping other players informed about what has been going on. “I think that this is a time that we can reach out and offer our support. Let's not leave a member of the Colorado family to fight this fight on his own,” Smith eloquently wrote in one of several e-mails to former Buffs. Money is tight for the Weatherspoons, and a fund has been set up to help the family pay some of the mounting medical bills. Those interested in donating can do so by contributing to The Anthony Robert Weatherspoon Fund, c/o Quaker City Bank, 8160 East Santa Ana Canyon Road, Suite 184, Anaheim Hills, CA 92808 (714-279-8900 If you’re able, now is the time to do what you can to help out a member of the CU athletic family, one who definitely had a role in creating the foundation for what Buff football would become. Here's a link to a local story in California done about Anthony and his battle:
THE IN CASE YOU MISSED IT DEPARTMENT... This release, written by Mike Liguori of CU News Services, didn’t get much play in the mainstream media, so I’ve put it here for all to see:
The University of Colorado at Boulder athletic department donated pay-per-view proceeds of $11,000 from last season’s football game against Washington State to the CU-Boulder Libraries. The donation was first announced before the Sept. 11, 2003 game. The funds were received this summer by the libraries’ new “Top Drawer Society” donor program, which honors donations of $10,000 or more.
“We hope the athletic department’s donation sets a precedent for other departments at CU-Boulder to support the University Libraries, which serve the entire campus,” said James Williams, dean of libraries. The athletic department will be permanently recognized for its donation with an engraved nameplate on the Top Drawer signature sculpture in the east lobby of Norlin Library. All Top Drawer Society donors receive a nameplate, invitations to exclusive events of the dean of libraries and Friends of the Libraries, specified library privileges and a variety of memorabilia
The libraries are not the only campus department to receive support from athletics. For the past seven years, the CU Athletics Ticket Office has partnered with the College of Music, Shakespeare Festival and theatre and dance department to support the ticketing needs of performing arts on campus.
“It is a little-known fact that the performing arts ticketing system on campus runs off a computer server housed at the football stadium,” said College of Music box office manager Sandy Miller. “In addition, the staff at the athletics ticket office recently helped negotiate contracts with shared software providers -- contracts which will facilitate the possibility of real-time online ticketing for the arts.
“The athletics staff has continually provided outstanding technical support to their arts partners as well as assuming many costs associated with upgrading computer hardware and software,” Miller said. “Without the support of the athletics ticket office, the arts box offices on campus would incur thousands of dollars of additional hardware costs and software fees each year.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT REMIX... On ESPN Game Day’s College Football Season Preview Show that aired on July 31, here’s the transcript of an exchange between host Chris Fowler and sidekicks Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit. It’s nice to see the comments from Corso and Herbstreit to counter this new tabloid-esque side of ESPN (Fowler, a CU grad, does root for his alma mater, but keeps his comments neutral, when it comes to the Buffs).
Fowler: “One guy who does have a good track record is Gary Barnett at Colorado -- on the field. But he, although he keeps his job, a bizarre four-month suspension. He is back, but it is still not a dead issue there. All of the off-the-field problems at CU, four hours of testimony by Barnett to a grand jury. The question is, even though he keeps his job, is he going to continue to be effective on the field short term and long term? They lost some assistants, they lost some recruits, they lost some players to transfer, it was not a great recruiting class and there are some concerns on the field because of what's gone on off the field.”
Corso: “He's going to make it long term, short term and any other term. Why? Because he's a good football coach, he's an honest human being. He won at Northwestern, when you couldn't -- nobody has won at Northwestern. Then he went to Colorado, he's running a clean program. The biggest problem with Gary Barnett was his choice of words when he demonstrated he was trying to talk about that kicker of his. So I think Barnett will make it, the recruiting will go well. Colorado is a beautiful school, you know that (to Chris). They'll get a good education. They'll have people who will go there. The players love him. I think they're going to play harder for Barnett this year than they did last year.”
Herbstreit: “Well that's what they're talking about. I was in Boulder a few weeks ago and I think the big thing they're counting on is all this adversity bringing them closer together. Lee is right. If you talk to any of Gary Barnett's peers -- I'm talking to a man -- any coach in Division I-A college football, you can't find one coach say anything bad about Gary Barnett and they way he goes about his business as a head coach. Joel Klatt, the quarterback there, when I talk to Joel, he gets very emotional about his feelings towards his coach.
Chris asks a good question. Can he recruit? Would you send your child to go play for Gary Barnett? I would, Lee would (who chimes in, “Absolutely” over Kirk's comment), Chris would. The thing for him to help himself politically is to have a good year this year to be able to go into those homes and sell I'm not only a good guy, but this program is heading in the right direction. This is a big year for Gary.”
N.Y. TIMES DROPS FROM BCS... Interesting that the New York Times withdrew its computer poll from the BCS Standings for ethics considerations, doing so on June 24. Its rankings, like most if not all of the others, claim to be unbiased; yet I’ve always wanted to someone to explain the validity of preseason computer polls when 117 teams are 0-0. But talk behind the scenes by some in college football had started to openly wonder why the BCS would use the N.Y. Times poll, since the paper has had a recent history pf presenting a less than favorable view of the sport. So, good riddance to it; now, how can we get rid of the others? I still want four human polls as I’ve addressed before in this column.
KUDOS TO SACCO... You know what was great to see? John Elway thanking long-time Bronco PR man Jim Saccomano in his NFL Hall of Fame induction speech. Sacco’s been with the Broncos since 1978 and handled Elway with the media for all 16 years of his professional career. Way to go, Sacco?he was one of maybe six non-family members or coaches that Elway mentioned.
GOOD LUCK, LINDSAY!... We’ve lost one of our own here in Athletic Media Relations, as Lindsay Anhold decided to take the big bucks and a new challenge in leaving sports and entered private business in late August. Easily one of my top five assistants in my 21 years as director, she’s entering the computer software business after toiling away for almost eight years in the Fieldhouse Annex. Lindsay most recently handled PR for women’s basketball and the indoor/outdoor track teams, but the lure to do something closer to what she attended graduate school for was most attractive. Good luck in your new gig, Linds, and we’ll take you up on your offer for cheap game day help!
EYE OPENING... I attended the annual Colorado’s Associated Press Sports Editors meeting this summer, and the guest speaker that day was none other than CU grad and former Sports Illustrated writer Doug Looney. Looney, an excellent public speaker and solid presenter, addressed the group on several subjects. One I found most interesting was his list of 10 things he felt those who cover sports needed to improve on. I thought many of his points were right on target and made sense; remember, Looney is one of the most respected sports journalists in the nation. Here’s his list:
1. Focus more on creative and imaginary story ideas;
2. Have creativity in the approach to game stories, more inside stuff and things that the casual fan has no way of knowing or
finding out;
3. Are you working hard enough? Too much research is simply done just on the Internet and other traditional sources are being
ignored;
4. Reporters often are guilty of relying too much on press releases and press conferences;
5. There is too much sloppy work;
6. Jot down questions in advance, especially for profiles; work on the quality of questions, and give the person a chance to
produce a quality response;
7. Concern about sports columnists; there is too much popping off, showing off and screaming; in short, where have all the Red
Smith’s and Dick Connor’s gone? Opinions are fine, but many are getting too doggone juvenile. Plus, too much time is being
spent on television and radio, and many are now in this to get on those mediums, and they like the added attention;
8. A lot of us are too arrogant in our approach to our jobs;
9. If you don’t like this business, get out of it. Love it, devote yourself to it, but if you whine about it, just get out and do something
else;
10. Don’t try to just meet the standards of your boss, try to be better than the people you work for.
Now, not to think I'm picking on the media, we PR directors aren’t immune to criticism and critique as well. I don’t know if I could come up with a list of 10 things, but one thing would be that if you get into the business of public relations, please like working with people. Every now and then I come across someone who just seems to have that gruff exterior and doesn’t want to work or cooperate with people. Another would be to return phone calls and answer e-mails; someone took the time to contact you, so acknowledge them and do so in a timely fashion. Guess if I really thought about it, coming up with 10 probably wouldn’t be hard...
AND THIS... Sports Illustrated’s E.M. Swift had this to say (well, write) regarding the media and U.S. gymnast Paul Hamm: “This is what it has come to in my profession. The media a willing conduit between the rulers of the sport and the athlete, feeding the story, refusing to let it play out on its own terms, hoping to push the button that will get someone to melt down. Not reporting the news, but creating it. Destroying the Olympic experience for a great athlete and a good man. Diminishing all of us.”
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM... ESPN did some pretty cool lists in celebrating its 25th year on the air (and no, ESPN doesn’t stand for the Excessive Self Promotion Network), but I felt its list of top 25 sports movies missed a couple of obvious ones. Hello, Rocky. Or even Rocky IV, up until the Politburo started chanting for Rocky. But where was The Longest Yard? Or North Dallas Forty? Or Brian’s Song? Or Something For Joey? Or Kingpin? (Face it, Kingpin is to bowling as Caddyshack is to golf.) On the other hand, not ranking Heaven Can Wait was applauded in the P-?Tudes camp, as was ESPN’s own Season On The Brink's portrayal of Bobby Knight (as well as its movie about Pete Rose, starring Tom Sizemore as Shemp). I mean, couldn’t anyone teach Warren Beatty how to properly drop back into the pocket without looking like he was applying ear medicine? Hoosiers at No. 1 is hard to argue with, and I won’t; but I felt 61* didn’t get the respect it deserved. If you haven’t seen it, find a copy and watch it, especially if you’re a Yankees fan or if you were caught up in the McGwire-Sosa-Bonds home run chases the last half-decade. Incidentally, ESPN originally stood for the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network when it debuted September 7, 1979.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
P-TUDES SURVEY... I did an August survey on some broad based questions regarding favorites spots on campus and Boulder; here’s the feedback:
What’s your favorite spot on campus?
Folsom Field was the most popular answer (34 responses), but followed closely by Varsity Pond/Bridge (30), Norlin Quad (27), UMC Fountain (26), Old Main (22) and the area around Macky Auditorium and Sewall Hall (8). Other answers included anywhere with the view of the Flatirons, walking from the Hill to Norlin, the front of the Engineering Building, Mary Rippon Theatre, and behind the rec center overlooking a snow-encrusted Boulder Creek in the winter. P-Tuder Steven McBryant had a great answer: “The west stairs of Norlin library. I remember studying and reading there in the afternoons as the sun went over the mountains. "He who knows only his own generation remains forever a child" (the inscription atop the library fa?ade). Love that.”
What's your favorite place to go pregame (football)?
Assorted tailgaters was the runaway response (55), but from the 143 respondents, there were roughly three dozen different answers. Some of the others included the Heritage Center, the Hill, the Sink, Rocky Mountain Joes, the Village Coffee Shop, the fieldhouse to watch the band march through, walking the Boulder Creek path, Dolan’s and the C-Club tent.
What's your favorite place to go postgame (football)?
Back to the tailgates was another popular answer, along with the Harvest House (to wit, "insert owners name" Harvest House, wrote Brent Vaughan). Other responses included any of Boulder’s original restaurants like Zolo’s, Turley’s, Q’s and the Chautauqua Dining Room, the Pearl Street Mall, Dolan’s, the Boulderado, the Table Mountain Inn (Golden), Neo’s (Nederland), Old Chicago’s, Juanita’s, the Sink, the Lazy Dog. Two original answers: the car, to listen to the postgame show on KOA, and “home.”
I also queried those on their preferred start times for football and basketball games. Here’s how those played out:
Football?1:00 (37), 5:00 (32), 6:00 (17), 1:30 (14), 12:00 (4), 2:00 (4), 12:30 (3), 7:00 (3), 11:00 (2), 5:30 (1), 7:30 (1), 8:00 (1).
Basketball (weeknights)?7:00 (42), 7:30 (30), 6:00 (12), 6:30 (7), 8:00 (4), 5:30 (1).
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************
WHERE ARE THEY NOW... Recently heard from former Buff wingback Emery Moorehead, who lives in Northbrook, Ill., with his wife Tony. Moorehead electrified CU crowds in the mid-1970s, averaging 18.8 yards for his 40 career receptions (still the fourth highest average in school history for a player with 35 or more catches), and then went on to play 12 seasons in the National Football League, where he starred as a tight end.
Emery finished his career as the second leading receiver for tight ends in Chicago Bears history behind Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka. Leading the Bears in receiving in 1982; he even recorded the NFC’s longest pass reception in 1986 (86 yards). Emery was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.
After his playing days, he started selling real estate three years after the Bears won the Super Bowl following the 1985 season (CU linebacker coach Brian Cabral was on that team as well) and has been with the same firm, Koenig and Strey GMAC Real Estate, ever since. Emery gets out to Colorado every chance he can, and spends a lot of time in the mountains. He remains in touch with teammates Mike McCoy, Jeff Austin, Larry (Flash) Williams and Kazell Pugh the most, and follows the Buff games on the Internet when they are not on television. In 2000 Emery founded Moorehead Construction Services, a firm that provides quality construction services and representation for property and business owners.
Still finding time to be involved with charities, Emery is currently on the Executive Board of Directors for the Northeast Illinois Council of Boy Scouts and currently heads the council’s Outreach division. Since 1986 he’s co-chaired the Chicago Boys and Girls Club Marshall Square Golf Outing. He also serves on Illinois Secretary of State Jessie White’s Business Financial Advisory Council and is President of the National Football League Players Association ?Retired Chicago Chapter.
Emery is an equally versatile speaker serving many colleges, universities, corporations, and organizations including Baxter, Sara Lee, Chicago Convention and tourism groups, Ameritech Security Link, and the Union League Club of Chicago. His topics include such areas as motivation, teamwork, religious, and football talk.
He is the father of two grown children from a previous marriage, with son Aaron in his second year as a receiver with the Indianapolis Colts after playing collegiately at the University of Illinois, where his daughter currently attends college. Any former teammates who want to give him a ring can certainly do so at his office number (847/945-8200).
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
THE P-?TUDES MAILBAG... Here are some recent questions I’ve received that could have some interest to all, so here we go:
Q: A while ago, you explained why some games are and some aren’t on television when it comes to CU football. Could you post that again?
A: To quote the late great Stooges, “Soitenlee.” I last addressed it in October 2001, and the answers is essentially the same:
First, a reminder that television money is a major necessity enabling collegiate athletics to exist at the level that they do, and that conference schools work together with their television partners to protect exclusivity. That being said, the networks select the games, really with little or no input from the Big 12 Conference. They work around minimum and maximum appearance limits (i.e., seven times over two years on ABC, not counting non-conference road appearances), logistical issues, financial issues and even travel issues.
The contracts call for ABC to select first, usually to fill the 1:30 p.m. mountain time slot, though at times it has a 10 a.m. or 6 p.m. window. The contract also allows for ABC to select games up to 12 days in advance, and two times per year, up to six days in advance. After ABC is finished making its selection(s), the prime-time window (5 p.m. MT) is the next to be filled; as in 2003, that window is now shared by Fox Sports Net and TBS, with one selecting a Big 12 game and the other taking a Pacific 10 Conference game. Once that slot is filled, then Fox Sports selects a third game for syndicated broadcast, which is the 10:30 a.m. window in our time zone. The only other way for a game to be televised is to receive permission from the conference and the networks to televise a game via pay-per-view, or we could televise locally outside all the broadcast windows, but that would mean kicking off by 7 a.m. or after 8:30 p.m. to avoid conflicts, and that’s not going to happen. Thus the reason why a game could be on PPV or not at all.
The networks have worked with Colorado’s issue?being the lone school outside the central time zone?more than people might realize, as six times since 1996, ABC and Fox Sports Net worked together to allow the syndicated game, produced by FOX, to kick off at 11:30 a.m. mountain time, a full hour later than the contract calls for. While this doesn't sound like a major issue, it really is, because those games finish well into ABC’s afternoon window (1:30-5:00 p.m.).
Q: What is the history of the large COLORADO on asphalt in the sound end zone?
A: In 1967, the stadium was lowered when the track was removed, and that area remained basically a dirt hill for the next four years. Senior associate A.D. Jon Burianek said that the department tried to grow grass and place bushes there, but nothing took. There was a small spring on that end of the field, and it often made the area muddy and even affected the field. The first artificial surface was installed during the summer of 1971, and that area was then covered with asphalt and the large, block COLORADO was painted on it, then in all-white block lettering. Trim was later added, and at one time, when blue was one of the school colors, the incline area painted blue instead of the familiar black it is today. It’s become a tradition at CU, and very few, if any schools, have something similar.
Q: Where would you have gone to college if you didn’t get admitted into CU?
A: Dad? Is that you? Well, I went to high school just outside New York City, but I wanted out, preferably back to Colorado where I went to grade school. So I applied to five schools, three in Colorado?CU, Colorado State and DU. I also applied to Michigan State (my Mom urged that one), and of all places, the University of Dayton (they were the first college I was solicited by in the mail, and it cost like $10 to send in an app). I was accepted at all, but if CU had turned me down, I would have picked between CSU and DU. But I had offers from all three... to help keep stats in the sports info office.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
MARKS HAS GOOD SUMMER... Larry Marks (Wrestling '62) sent in an update on his talented daughter Dara. She took second in the national championship race (XC Mountain Bikes) held in Mammoth, Calif., the last week of September. It was an exciting race with the top five finishers all within 30 seconds of each other (most of which are based in Colorado). To see the race summary go to www.usacycling.org and click on the Mammoth race.
WEBSITE OF THE ?TUDE... For a trip down nostalgia lane, take a visit to: www.playboy.com/on-campus/allamerica/. Sports editor Gary Cole has put photos of all the preseason All-America teams on the web, and this gives a good look at some former Buffs of past lore, and since they’re in a color, a great look at some of our past uniforms. Not to mention the hairstyles of Dave Logan (1974) or Matt Miller (1978). Colorado had players on the following teams: 1961, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974. 1976, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999. In addition, for those of you wanting a music link of the ?Tude, here ya go: http://www.popculturemadness.com/Music/WORST8.html. Some of these songs are forgotten, but you’ll remember how bad they are!
THIS WEEK’S NUMBER... 642. That’s the number of games coached at CU by women’s basketball coach Ceal Barry, who is entering her 22nd season at the reins of the program. That is the most events coached by any head coach in CU history, as she passed Frank Potts (640) at the end of last season.
TRIVIA ANSWERS: CU?Ah, bet many of you thought it would Brian Cabral and Emery Moorehead... they were members of the 1976 Big Eight champion team, along with Mike L. Davis and Odis McKinney, but the latter pair won a Super Bowl ring first with the Oakland Raiders in 1980. Seinfeld?Okay, there are a bunch; here’s four: Brad Garrett (Tony the mechanic in Seinfeld; Robert in Everybody Loves Raymond); Teri Hatcher (“they’re real, and they’re fabulous”; went on to star in Lois & Clark and now in Desperate Housewives); Debra Messing (Dr. Beth/Will & Grace’s Grace); Marcia Cross (Jerry's dermatologist girlfriend, a.k.a., Pimple Popper MD, also now in Desperate Housewives); for one of the best lists of all-time Seinfeld characters, go to: http://www.stanthecaddy.com/seinfeld-characters/. Seinfeld Bonus?Martin was Liza Minnelli’s dad in the movie, “Arthur.”