Plati-'Tudes Madness
Welcome to a notes and comment column, now in its ninth year, penned by CU Associate Athletic Director
Plati-?Tudes No. 80 ... It’s March Madness time, which also means NCAA Skiing, college golf heating up and spring football prep; and at CU, it also means to keep a watchful eye on Jenny Barringer, as it’s record-breaking season for her ... Speaking of spring football, we’re out to top our all-time record crowd of 17,800 set last year and have a 25-plus person committee conjuring up ideas on how to increase attendance for the April 25 (1:00 p.m.) game.
Trivia Questions
The opening four mind teasers:
CU?The ski team heads east this week to try and bring home the school’s 18th championship in the sport. This is the third time the championships will be held in the state of
Who Am I?? I am technically now a “senior.” I grew up in eastern
Music?Name the five legendary artists that joined Bob Dylan on stage at
Name That Tune?What song is this lyric passage from: “Going down to the ocean ... Gonna lay in the sun ... The only boss I have ... Is singing ?Born to Run’ ...
*********************************************************************************************************
Quick Hits
The skiers take the national stage this week, and it will mark the final two career races for senior Maria Grevsgaard. How good has she been? She has 34 podium (top three) finishes in 45 career races, tied for the most in school history with Lucie Zikova (’08). The two overlapped careers for three years, so think about this number: the duo produced 68 top three finishes between them over a five-year span, simply an incredible number ... I don’t personally like the proposal the Mountain West Conference submitted for a football playoff (I’ m a plus-one guy), but I do think there should be some kind of review as to which six conferences comprise the BCS. Face it, there are MWC schools (BYU, Utah) that have BCS caliber budgets (or close to it), and when the Big East reorganized after three schools fled for the ACC, schools without the history of most of the MWC schools all of a sudden were BCS material ... Did you the great news? TBS cancelled Frank TV, so no longer during the baseball playoffs will we be inundated with those seemingly endless promotions. The show was about as funny as watching someone hammer a rusty nail through their big toe ... Former Buff hoopster Dominique Coleman (’08) continues to light up the NBA Developmental League. Through 33 games for the Broomfield-based Colorado 14ers, he remains the team’s third leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, while leading the squad in rebounds (8.4) and steals (2.8); the 14ers were 23-10 at week’s end ... Thanks to the many of you who have written in with your support for my Dad and his fight against Hodgkin’s’; the early signs are that the chemo is working, the lymph nodes are shrinking and he’s in good spirits. He turns 78 this week as a matter of fact, so hopefully it’s the first of many more birthdays!
Behind The Scenes Buffalo Passes Away
Art Tanner, who lettered at halfback from 1945-47 and went on to serve as the dentist for CU’s athletic teams for more than a quarter century, recently passed away at the age of 82. Also a three-time letterman in swimming, he remained close to the program and even had his last rites administered by former coach Bill McCartney a day before he died (Feb. 25); his son, Mike, also played football at CU and was a graduate assistant coach in 1979. He spent the better part of three years, 1944-46, as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy, and later would also serve three years as a military dentist. The elder Tanner may very well have invented the first face mask; he’s pictured with one in Coloradan Yearbook photos and there are none to be seen worn by anyone else in any other photos. The story has it that Tanner built it for himself in the Mechanical Engineering building to protect a fractured cheek bone, and he wore it the rest of his career but no one saw another until around 1950. The highlight of his playing career was an interception deep in CU territory, near the goal-line and snaring it away from a receiver as time ran out to preserve a 14-7 win over
Two Dreams Finally Become True
 |
It was better than great news last week with the announcement that Vista Ridge Golf Club had been purchased and is being transformed into Colorado National Golf Club, set to be the permanent home of CU’s men’s and women’s golf teams for at least the next 30 years. A grand re-opening and celebration of all things
The men’s golf “beat” was handed to me when I walked in the door as a freshman in August 1978, and after I failed miserably trying out as a walk-on for the team, ham-and-egging it around
Steve Kerr was recruited to CU from
In the three years hence, Steve worked to make the dreams of his two coaches and friends come true; he put together a group to purchase
Rocky Mountain News Fallout
It was a sad day on February 28 when the Rocky Mountain News closed its doors for good, publishing for the final time literally within 24 hours of its employees being told the paper would in fact be going out of business. We basically had six beat writers over the last 65 years at the News, with the last, B.G. Brooks, serving the longest:
1944-1959 Chet Nelson
1960-1974 Leonard Kahn
1975-1977 Dave Nelson
1978-1984 Mike Madigan
1985-1986 Clay Latimer
1987-2009 B.G. Brooks
What does this mean for CU? Well, as with all the sport teams, we’re left with one newspaper in
There will also one less newspaper selecting All-Colorado and All-State teams for the high schools; perhaps another
What was typical in the News’ last days was spreading the blame around for why newspapers are failing, and the only reason not listed were how biases and opinions were turning off many in the mainstream. The biggest factor? Who knows, most likely the Internet, but my neighbors who have stopped getting papers through the years either get the Wall Street Journal (highly unbiased) or nothing at all. They have told me they tired of biased reporting, editorials telling them how to vote based on personal agendas, and in general, poor reporting as was the case during much of our ordeal earlier this decade. So it is playing some role, they just won’t admit it. I’ve had neighbors wanting the return of school lunch menus and positive community news instead of expanded police blotter coverage and in general anything that has to have some kind of controversial spin. Hmmm, maybe the general populace really doesn’t give a darn about Brittany, Lindsay and gang.
One thing I don’t understand, and maybe it’s happening, but any new buyer had to have at least $100 million to acquire the Rocky Mountain News, and no one could be found (and this was for “only $100 million” ... in the ridiculous “porkulus” bill pushed through by Congress, billions are handed out like Twix bars at Halloween; I used the word ridiculous because the thing was something like 1,000 pages long and most admitted they didn't read it before voting for it. How does that work?). That price included a lot of debt. Now why can’t anyone who was interested motor right into town, pluck off the RMN staff, and start from scratch? Use it as an opportunity to change the format, maybe more magazine size to save paper (re: Colorado Alumnus) and combine it with what The Sporting News is doing with TSN Today.
Ticket Increase
We received what I would term minimal negative feedback on the slight ticket increase ($8/game) for two of our five levels., raising the price of our best seats in the bowl to $58 per game. Including the Buff Club donation of $300 per seat (per season ticket), the total cost is $108 per game. I got to wondering how that compared to other teams and events in a comparative location, and as it turned out, the answer was quite favorably. It’s often hard to compare with ticket packages, discounts for season tickets, scaled houses, etc.; for example, our $108 seats are basically for seats between the 20s; at the Broncos, it’s $110 for seats between the 4’s (but our high single game cost, $58, is their second lowest). Take a closer look (club/suite seating at all venues not factored in for any comparison’s sake):
Event Cost
Rolling Stones (November 2005) $ 400
Madonna (November 2008) 380
Fly Fishing (
Paul McCartney (November 2006) 250
Colorado Avalanche (net/rinkside) 155
Denver Nuggets (center prime) 135
Colorado Avalanche (net/prime loge) 130
Denver Nuggets (lower center) 115
Denver Broncos (field level) 110
CU Football (field level prime) 108
Bruce Springsteen (April 2009) 105
Pole Creek (golf/cart; any day) 99
Vail (one-day lift ticket; ages 13-64) 97
Vail Golf Club (golf/cart; any day) 94
Keystone (one-day lift ticket; ages 13-64) 92
*
(*? $100 opening day, $75 firework games)
All concerts at
Bisnow A Hit On YouTube
Junior long snapper Austin Bisnow recently wrote a song and made a music video for it, and it’s currently “airing” on YouTube (I guess once something airs on YouTube, it’s likely there forever). The song is entitled One Heart, and the video also features CU offensive tackle Sione Tau. They’re quite talented; take a look:
Misery Loves Company No one is satisfied that the men’s basketball team went 1-15 in Big 12 Conference play, but sans a couple of laid eggs, the team was competitive for the most part (eight single digit losses). We firmly believe things are looking up for the future, especially since we basically had to implode the program internally and start over on a few fronts. I perused the nationwide standings and was surprised to find out there were several “name” basketball schools in the same conference record “boat” we were in. Check out these other final conference records for 2008-09: DePaul 0-18, Air Force 0-16, Indiana 1-17 (Indiana!), Detroit 2-16, Oregon 2-16, Rutgers 2-16, Arkansas 2-14, Georgia Tech 2-14 and Georgia 3-13 (and Texas Tech went 3-13 in the Big 12, who would have thunk that?). *********************************************************************************************************** The P-?Tudes Mailbag The usual grab-bag of questions fired my way by P-?Tudes readers and others that I thought others would be interested in: Q: Was CU upset that it didn’t have anyone on ESPN’s A: Not overly, that was just a gimmick and not taken that seriously, which is fine. I felt Byron White should have been on the team instead of Goose Gossage (nothing wrong with the Goose, but look at what White did his entire life). The others who made it were John Elway (no-brainer), Joe Sakic (questionable in my mind since the Avs have only been a part of the landscape for 13 years) and Todd Helton (kinda iffy, same reason?15 years for the Q: What is going on with Miami-Ohio game in football. It seems like it’s dragging out, when will we know for sure? A: Any day now has been the standard answer for the last month because that’s the truth. First of all, this thing goes on all the time, an opponent wants out of or to delay a game for a variety of reasons, but seldom has it ever been as public as this one has been. That’s in part to a newspaper report in Q: You’re in PR; what’s your take and your peers’ take on President Obama’s flak, Robert Gibbs? A: I haven’t discussed it with any of my peers, though I think most would agree to be fair at this point, incomplete is the fair answer. But it’s obvious he’s no Ari Fleisher (the best I’ve ever seen) or George Stephanopoulos at present, but that could always change. He seems to call out and mock those in the media who question anything he or his boss has to say, and in that role, eventually you’ll branded as a stooge or hack if it keeps up. Say what you will be about the last administration, but you never saw that out of Fleisher or a Tony Snow. *********************************************************************************************************** Things That Make You Go Hmmm.... Besides NBA officiating? Check out this bit from the Conan O’Brien Show last fall about modern technology with comedian Louis C.K. Funny stuff, like the person he mocks for being frustrated with his cell phone taking time to connect: “Give it a second, it’s going out into SPACE.” Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk7nKjr9Keo. Website(s) of the ?Tude Courtesy former CU assistant SID Matt Finnigan, who has a knack for finding these weird ones: make your own church sign at the church sign generator: http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/classic3.php. Congrats Shouts ? To “Pasta Jay” Elowsky, who was recently inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame. The long-time owner of Pasta Jay’s (corner of 10th and ? To former CU student assistant SID Patrick Ridgell, who was honored with a writing award in the breaking news and game story categories by the APSE (Associated Press Sports Editors). And kudos to the Boulder Camera for making the top 10 dailies (sports section) with a circulation of 40,000 or less. ? To former Buff golfer Blake Moore, who is playing professionally on the Hooters Tour. He’s be playing in three events over the next month in J.K. Update Former Buff Jonathan Kaye (’93) has now played in four tournaments in his bid to regain full-fledged status on the PGA Tour. He made the cut and finished in the mid-20s in his first two efforts before missing the cut his last two times out. He needs to win $743,805 in 13 tournaments on his medical waiver to reclaim his Tour card. We’re charting his progress and keep wishing him luck! Tournaments Played: 4 (9 remaining) Earnings: $ 80,898 To Go: $662,907 This Tudes’ Number: 179 Speaking of golf, I was perusing Hale Irwin’s bio the other day while updating the golf guide, and I stumbled across some pretty amazing numbers. Many may realize that Hale won 20 times on the PGA Tour, including three U.S. Opens, and he’s the all-time leader on the Champions Tour with 45 victories. On the PGA Tour, he finished second 25 times and third 24 times, and on the Senior/Champions, he has 43 runner-up efforts and 22 third place showings. He has played in 977 professional tournaments, making the cut 842 times through March 8. He has gone on to finish first, second or third 179 times, or 21.2 percent of the time (better than one in five times). Wow. Trivia Answers CU?The Buffs shared the title with Who Am I??Steve Jones. A graduate of Music?In order, Roger McGuinn (of the Byrds, who originally recorded the song), Tom Petty, Name That Tune?Callin' in Gone by the Boat Drunks. Never heard it? If you like Buffett, you'll like this song, you can find it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovIRrkOeOqk.
“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.