PLATI-'TUDES HOLIDAY EDITION
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... Shocked that there are two in back-to-back months? Well, so am I! All I can say is that the below Q&A with Colorado’s Heisman Trophy winner, Rashaan Salaam, made me find time to get this one done; it’s as they say, “good stuff”...
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU?Marcus Hall scored 20 consecutive points for Colorado in CU’s 98-87 loss at Oregon State on December 4. That tied the school record set by Donnie Boyce at Oklahoma State in 1994. Who held the record prior to Boyce’s outburst? Seinfeld?Which of Kramer’s friends eats horse? Is it A) Bob Saccomano; B) Franklin Delano Romanowksi; C) Lomez; or D) Jay Reimenschneider.
BRUCE PLASKET’S THIRD AND LONG SERIES... Many of you out there may not realize that Bruce Plasket, the Longmont Times-Call writer who first took another look at our “ordeal” last February, was granted special access by the football staff to observe the team this season and how it has responded to the tumultuous off-season. His series, entitled “Third and Long,” takes a very unique look at the team, the 2004 season and th events from start to finish; it is a must-read for any Buff fan. Links to all the articles in his series can be found at: http://www.longmontfyi.com/forms/commentary/thirdandlong.asp.
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Q & A WITH A BUFF... Believe it or not, it’s been 10 years since Rashaan Salaam won Colorado’s first (and only) Heisman Trophy. The 70th Heisman Trophy will be awarded this Saturday, so it was only fitting to catch-up with Rashaan this week to revisit his experiences when he captured the 60th one in 2004.
Q: Does it seem like 10 years since you’ve won the Heisman?
Salaam: “Yes, it does. I have a few more gray hairs on my chin, so it does feel that long. It seems like I’ve been through a boatload of changes as far as my career and my maturity are concerned, so it does feel like a long time. The way I am now is not the way I was back then. I was just 20, and at the time, you don’t admit that on a lot of levels, you’re really an immature college kid.”
Q: What are some of your favorite memories from that season?
Salaam: “My favorite is honestly the summer reporting that season. We were a team; we had a 100 percent workout rate for summer workouts, because the whole team felt like we were going to have a special season. When I look back at it even after 10 years, the anticipation we had before that ?94 season was just big.
“I really felt that we were one of the best collegiate teams put together in the history of college football. That loss to Nebraska, to this day, still carries a sour taste in my mouth. That loss pretty much null and voided “The Catch,” our win in the heat in Austin, and everything else we accomplished. It punched us in the stomach, and was just a sick feeling. It comes right back talking to you now. Most of us didn’t want to continue on for the rest of the season the first few days after that loss, with the Orange Bowl likely out of the picture. Up to that point, it had been a really special season, we had a lot of things go our way, but after Lincoln, we felt a little cursed.
“Looking back, the season was beautiful. We had a lot of record breakers, a lot of award winners, and face it, not many teams go 11-1 playing the kind of teams we played. But not having a national championship banner hanging in the stadium for that team, and not to have a ring, even a Big Eight ring, is what’s disappointing to this day.
Q: Your favorite game from that year?
Salaam: “The way we beat Oklahoma down (CU won 45-7). Personally, I was knocked out of the OU game the year before with that eye injury (orbital fracture), so I had a little pent up aggression for them. So to steamroll them like that was personally satisfying. Maybe they finally got their revenge for that in this year’s Big 12 championship game; it was practically the same in reverse.”
Q: When you were going for 2,000 yards, Mac asked for the total to be updated on the scoreboard after every carry. Was that embarrassing?
Salaam: “You know, Mac was the ultimate coach, and he was able to keep me level-headed and humble, so it had to be a big deal for him to do that. I didn’t want to offend Iowa State (CU’s opponent that day), and Kordell was going for the Big Eight total offense record, and I hated the spotlight. Those last two games I was so tired, but the offensive line really wanted me to get to 2,000, even more than I did. They really pushed me, so it was a team effort. The last run at home (67 yards for a touchdown against Iowa State that propelled him to a 2,055 total) is something I will always remember, not so much for eclipsing 2,000, but for my O-line, and the rest of the team, right behind me to celebrate the accomplishment as a team. I think we drew a penalty for it, but we didn’t care.
“I wanted those guys there at the (Heisman) ceremony. Like I said, I was never a spotlight guy, and I felt like I was getting all the credit when they were reason for a lot of if not most of the success. It’s not golf or tennis where individuals can shine. With my running style, I needed the kind of help my offensive line gave me.”
Q: What are your favorite or most vivid memories of the Heisman weekend?
Salaam: “That’s easy: I’d say the reaction from my friends and family that day. You for sure know I was kind of reluctant winner, and I didn’t want to do a lot of the interviews you set up for me going in, but to see everyone’s reaction after I was named the winner made it enjoyable because they were so happy. It was also really cool to meet people like George Rogers, Tony Dorsett and Mike Rozier, guys I followed growing up and idolized. I mean, these guys were icons, but to meet them and to find out they were regular people was special. I was just in football heaven for a couple of days.”
Q: What was the most fun about the trip? The least fun?
Salaam: “The most fun was the chance to meet the fellow candidates and getting to know and spend time with them, guys like Steve McNair and Warren Sapp. The least fun aspect was that I felt Kordell Stewart should have been there as well. He was more worthy than a couple of the others who made the trip, and he had better stats than a lot of them. I felt in my heart he should have been there to enjoy it. Another thing I really didn’t like was being away from my team for that long.”
Q: That was a whirlwind week, between heading to Dallas for the Doak Walker Award, then to Orlando for the College Football Awards Show and then on to New York for the Heisman. You’ve experienced that, yet it all happens when you should be in final exams and practicing for the bowl game. Did you really enjoy it or was it just too much jammed back-to-back?
Salaam: “It’s one of those things where you feel pulled in so many directions. At the time, you don’t realize or appreciate that it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and there is a certain degree of fun to the whirlwind aspect of being shuttled here and there. I barely remember meeting Mayor Giuliani at City Hall and couldn’t tell you if it was on Monday or Tuesday. You had to go nuts managing me as well as the other guys you had to get to places, but it was great to be on hand when Chris Hudson got the Thorpe Award. But you also want to be with your team, preparing for a bowl game. Being away from the workouts and my regimen got me out of sync.”
Q: Would you like to see all the awards pushed back to January?
Salaam: “That’s a good question. I think the time of year comes with a lot tradition, so I think it’s good to award the honors in December, when college football is still king. But it would be nice to have the ceremonies and dinners in January, or in February, like the Walter Camp weekend. That was so much more relaxed and everyone has fun.”
Q: Of all the awards you have won, which remains the most special?
Salaam: “Parade All-American. Seriously. I am proud of and enjoy my collegiate awards, but to play 8-man football and to be named a Parade All-American was just big for me.”
Q: Where is your Heisman Trophy?
Salaam: “I gave to my Mom when I won it, and she still has it.”
Q: We lost your position coach, Ben Gregory, to a heart attack less than three years later. How often do you think of Ben and in retrospect, what did the association with him meant to you?
Salaam: “Like everything, I really regret not spending more time with him when he was here. He was a big source of support for me, a father, a brother, a friend, a mentor, a disciplinarian. Without him being behind me, I never would have achieved what I achieved. I could talk to him about anything; football wasn’t his life, family was his life. He was big on that, and that’s what he really helped me with. When I first got to CU, like most wide-eyed freshmen, football was my life. He taught he that there were other things in life, mainly family, but to also take the time to appreciate everything possible outside of football.
“He was a special, humble human being, and not a day goes by where I don’t think of him. He had a way of coaching, and teaching, that brought the best out in you, on and off the field. That sounds like a clich?, but if you have a person like that in your life, you know it to be fact.”
Q: Who do you remain in touch with from that team?
Salaam: “Mainly, T.J. Cunningham and Michael Westbrook, but I talk to a lot of the guys pretty regularly. We were a close knit group, and when we cross paths, it feels a little like yesterday.”
Q: BCS or playoffs?
Salaam: “That’s a hard one. I love the tradition of the bowl games, but with the parity today, there has to be a way to implement some kind of playoff structure into the bowl games. But it’s time to find a playoff system to Division I-A football. I guess if there had been a four-team playoff in 1994, we’d have played Penn State and Nebraska would have played Miami with the winners meeting. We could have had a second shot at the Huskers and that feeling I talked about might have had a chance to go away.”
Q: Any regrets? Do you wish you had stayed your senior year?
Salaam: “Yes, I do have some regrets. I really wish I had been more serious about my academics, which would have made it easier to stay for my senior year. And I wish I would have made some better choices off the field and with some things I said. I should have been more willing to accept people’s advice when I was younger, that I would have been more receptive to people’s comments. When I left CU, I still needed a lot of guidance; I still needed that kind of mentor (Ben), and needed to be mentally stronger. At least financially, I was never really a spender, into flashy cars and all that. I did listen to good advice from my family, I put my money away and didn’t spend foolishly.”
Q: People are often quick to slam what Heisman winners accomplished in the NFL, but you were the NFC Rookie-of-the-Year in 1995. Are you just as proud of that accomplishment?
Salaam: “Definitely. To come into the NFL and to be the youngest person to ever rush for 1,000 yards is still very personally satisfying to me. The older I get, the more appreciation I have for what I did accomplish. When I look back at it, I felt I had a good degree of success, but injuries did me in. The way I ran, I didn’t need any broken bones, so after the ankle reconstruction I wasn’t the same kind of runner, even though I was in some of the best physical condition of my life.”
Q: It’s also been 10 years since the “Miracle in Michigan.” You had a big impact on that play that often goes unnoticed, but when you see that highlight or that game being replayed, what goes through your mind?
Salaam: “That I’m a heckuva blocker. Seriously, being in the heat of battle and wanting to see the outcome of the game be positive. I think everyone on the field for that play did something extraordinary. The Michigan player, Trevor Pryce, slipped Tony’s (Berti) block and I was fortunate enough to be in the right position to help hold him off, and then Tony came back and just pancaked him.”
Q: What are you doing these days? Where do you call home?
Salaam: “San Diego is my home, but I’m headed to Beijing. I have a sports energy drink out and I working to get that out in circulation. So I’m headed to China to promote that as well as mixed martial arts tournaments.”
Q: How closely do you follow the Buffaloes?
Salaam: “I follow them all the time. I celebrate when we win and suffer when we lose. When I see the black and gold, it really brings back good memories for me. I wish we could get some more San Diego guy out there!”
Q: You’re 30; are you through with football, or is there one last comeback attempt left in you?
Salaam: “Nah, I’ve seen the writing on the wall. I miss it, it’s obviously a big part of my life, and it allowed me to see America. But you have to let it go, and I’m fortunate enough to be doing something else that I love that has my full interest.”
Q: Have you returned to Heisman Weekend?
Salaam: “Yes, four times. But since 9/11 it’s not the same (the building has been closed as it was a block over from the World Trade Center) and that has hurt the mystique of the Heisman ceremony. The building itself was legendary, traditional. Plus, everyone should experience the feeling of a Downtown Athletic Club shower. The rooms were antiquated but cool in their own special way, and there was nothing like the hot-and-cold shower. Temperatures can’t possibly fluctuate as fast as that, but they did.”
Q: Former Heisman winners have a ballot; have you voted and if so, who did you vote for in 2004?
Salaam: “It’s already in. It’s a privilege to vote, so I don’t understand why it’s never 100 percent. But Reggie Bush, one; Alex Smith, two; Adrian Peterson, three.”
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SUPPORT OUR TROOPS... This was an e-mail that caught my eye, and I'm going to participate; feel free to so and/or pass on to others if you are as so moved:
Walter Reed Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001
MORE ON THE BCS... Once again, there’s some controversy surrounding the BCS and the arrival of what schools made it to the national championship game. And once again, despite calls for the coaches to make their ballots public (more on that below), the real reason for much of the controversy lies in the computer polls. Schools e-mail one another with arguments presenting their cases, which is dangerous as the one thing to be careful of in this business is to never promote your school (or player) by lining up negative facts against others (I certainly could of in promoting our punter, John Torp, who was eliminated from consideration for the Ray Guy Award because he had too many punts returned, despite the fact that most went nowhere, if not in reverse).
So for the umpteenth time, let’s do away with these computers, as they are as biased as anything else (if not, once again the simple question of how can they have preseason rankings prior to any games being played?). Add two more human ones, one already in existence (Football Writers national poll, which starts in October, another good idea), and the one I’ve lobbied for, a national broadcasters poll. That one would immediately rise to the top in credibility, as they are the people who see the most teams. Not the media, which are quick to say the coaches don’t, when actually the coaches see more games (most watch football on Thursday nights and when their games are done on Saturday; the writers are usually writing).
As for the coaches to make their ballots public, don’t think for one minute the only reason that is called upon is that the media would have a whole new area of which they can be critica and create ill will (two of our beat people admitted as much). Take for example the California-Texas controversy: a Big 12 coach votes California ahead of Texas, and the take would be he’s not loyal to the conference; if he votes Texas ahead, it would be when did he elevate Texas ahead of Cal, and so on. It’s just another source to write negative stories, and Gary Barnett, like many coaches, would stop voting. I say if anything, perhaps the coaches should have their ballots subject to review by the AFCA Director, and anything really questionable could result in that coach not voting the following year and leave it at that.
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THE P-?TUDES MAILBAG... Here are some recent questions or comments I’ve received that could have some interest to all, so here we go:
Q: What is your favorite sports publication?
A: I’m still a big Sporting News fan; always have been. I think it does the best job covering college football, and regularly devotes the most space to non-game coverage. But if it’s a special section you want that tops them all, nothing comes close to Sports Illustrated’s Golf Plus insert. That’s a must read for any golfer or golf fan.
Q: I notice you haven’t written much, if anything, about the troubles CU has faced this year. Any particular reason?
A: I get that question a lot (sorry I rewrote the S word, but I refuse to reference it); so I’ll address it: I just feel this isn’t the appropriate forum, especially since the lawsuits are still in the courts. And isn’t it nice to read something about CU that has nothing to do with that subject matter? We have a lot of good stories here that get buried, so I try to showcase some of those here when I can.
Q: Are the bowl budgets for schools the same or different in the Big 12?
A: They are quite different. Senior associate AD Jon Burianek reports the numbers as follows: BCS bowl participants get $1,480,000; the tier II bowl participants (as determined by payouts: Cotton, Holiday, Alamo) get $925,000; and the others (Independence, Houston, Champ Sports, Fort Worth) receive a $625,000 allotment. All schools also get an additional $165 per air mile to get to their sites (one-way).
Dear Dave: I met Craig Doering in Sam Kuczun's History of Journalism class in the spring of 1980; I believe you were also a member of that class (I was). Well, after many years of friendship (including a lengthy run together as members of the "Party Monsters" Trivial Bowl team), Craig and I have stayed in touch even though I now live in his native Massachusetts. Craig came out from Colorado to Boston for the World Series this year (his mom has had season tickets since the mid-70's) and I got to sit with him at Game 2. We both had to put it ahead of sitting together at Lincoln in 1990 and in Ann Arbor in 1994 for greatest sports moment viewed. I used to work at Bank One with Todd Peters in the mid-90's and my last job in Boulder was as a lender at U of C Federal Credit Union when I moved to Massachusetts in 1997. I just wanted to share this cool sports moment with the "Round Mound of Profound". We both were wearing Buff Sweatshirts among our many layers that night. I enjoy Plati-?Tudes and urge you to continue cranking out the column. Sincerely, Jamie Tiernan (Journalism-Advertising ?81).
Ah, that is a cool moment, just wish I still wasn’t as round, but I am what I am. Jamie, you will also be pleased to find out that our quarterback, Joel Klatt, is a huge Red Sox fan, and celebrated with you and many others when they won. I’m a life-long Yankees fan, but it was good to see if only for people to lay off Bill Buckner!
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW... One of the all-time great Buffs e-mailed in recently, as Garry Howe (football ’90) checked in with me. He is working for Wells Fargo in Des Moines, Iowa, and was married (Connie) in May of 2002; they have two little boys, Nathaniel, who was born in February 2003 (stop counting months... the honeymoon was obviously eventful,” he wrote), and Benjamin, born this past November 18 (at 3:30 a.m., checking in at just under 7 pounds and 20 inches long). He lives in Ankeny, which is just north of Des Moines. “I don't get many opportunities to see the Buffs, but I do attend the games when they come to play Iowa State.” Anyone wishing to get in touch with Garry can do so at garryhowe@mchsi.com.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW II... Former gymnast Eric Singer also contacted me recently, informing me of something I never knew. Iowa State was the king of gymnastics in the old Big Eight Conference, that is until the Buffaloes knocked the Cyclones from their perch in 1968, becoming the only school to claim a league title other than ISU between 1965 and 1975. The Cyclones won the ’65, ’66 and ’67 titles with the Buffs the runner-up each of those years; but in ’68, CU outpointed ISU by 178.85-177.05 to claim the school’s only conference crown. Singer finished second in the parallel bars, with teammates Gary Pomeranz and Tom Casey tying for second in the floor exercise. Pat Edwards and Jack Ryan finished 1-2 in the side horse, with Ben Blea taking second in the horizontal bars. Those six top two finishes paced CU to the championship, with Pomeranz third and Blea fourth in the All-Around.
Singer became the German National Coach from 1978-84 (women's gymnastics) and currently lives in North Carolina, where he formerly owned two large gymnastics schools in the Charlotte area. Eric is currently fighting MS; any former friends and teammates interested in contacting him can e-mail him at Carolinantiques@aol.com.
LESSONS FROM THE BIG 12 TITLE GAME... Even though CU lost, I learned something, thanks to the Daily Oklahoman shipping its Sunday newspapers to all Kansas City area hotels where OU fans were staying. In sports, the outdoor section talked about the opening of hunting season for “fur-bearing” animals. This included a specter of creatures, including raccoons, opossums, badgers and weasels. Weasels? I for one have never heard, “I can’t wait until tomorrow... it’s the first day of weasel season.”
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PROMOTIONAL SECTION... Looking for a great gift for parents, teachers, co-workers, neighbors? Dave Marcus, one of my buddies from my high school days at Woodlands (Hartsdale, N.Y. ... we were the Falcons), has written the true story of suburban kids who get in trouble and find help. It's both chilling and heartwarming. It's about to be published by Houghton Mifflin. You can order it on Amazon and other sites and it'll be shipped soon (it's a bargain at about $16). Dave spent four years observing teenagers. Please give a boost to an author who made a huge financial sacrifice to do an important project. Of course, it's even nicer if you support a local bookstore. And please send this note to everyone you know. Dave is starting a nationwide tour; he'll be on NBC's Today show. See www.DaveMarcus.com.
THIS WEEK’S NUMBER... 21. That’s the number of national championships Colorado has now claimed, thanks to only the fourth-ever sweep in men’s and women’s cross country accomplished by the Buffaloes on November 22. Mark Wetmore, who has won more coach of the year awards than Vince Lombardi, Red Auerbach, Casey Stengel and Scotty Bowman combined, felt last August that these could be two of his best squads ever, quite a statement since he already owns NCAA titles in 2000 (women) and 2001 (men). This year’s pair join those two, 16 in skiing and one in football to account for the 21 in school history.
TRIVIA ANSWERS: CU?Cliff Meely held the old mark of 11, which he set against Iowa State in 1971. Seinfeld?The answer is D, Jay Reimenschneider (“He gets it from his butcher.”).