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David Plati
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Welcome to a notes and comment column in its 10th year, penned by CU Associate Athletic Director David Plati, who is now in his 26th year as the Buffaloes director of sports information.
Plati-‘Tudes No. 85 ... The most famous Buff to wear 85? That would be All-American punter Keith English, who led the nation in punting his senior year (1988) with a 45.0 average (and a 42.9 net) ... Looks like there are more new scary movies this October/Halloween than ever before; that’s fine as long as no one conjures up Mannequin III: In The Beginning ... Don’t look now, but basketball season is upon us with the first practices this weekend. Wow!
Trivia Questions
The opening four mind teasers:
CU—Sophomore Kevin Kring equaled the school record for the most strokes under par, eight, when he shot a 64 in the first round of last month’s Air Force Falcon Invitational. College golfers are starting to regularly shoot in the mid-60s; CU’s school record stood at 67 for two decades until this golfer broke it with a 65 (or 7-under par). Who went mid-60s first for CU?
Who Am I?—I have been involved in CU athletics since Ronald Reagan’s second term as president. Never knowing where life leads you, I’ve become one of the classic Buffalo dinosaurs. The fall of the Berlin Wall was especially meaningful for me. Who am I?
Music—There are movies and videos famous for one long camera shot following the action; it’s famous at the start of the movies A Touch of Evil (thank you P-Tude reader Craig Brown) and The Player (awesome by the way if you’ve never seen this Hollywood parody) and for Lionel Richie’s music video for All Night Long. In between these two (Richie’s was in 1985, The Player was a ’92 flick) was perhaps the one done the best—from one of the all-time great movies, name the picture as well as the Song. The only hint: the group performing the song was The Crystals.
Name That Tune—What song is this lyric passage from: “You can tell her there’s a hot sun beating on the blacktop... She keeps talkin’ she’ll be walkin’ that last block ... She can take the subway back to the ghetto tonight.”
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Quick Hits
Kind of an emotional month September was, marking the 25th anniversary of Ed Reinhardt’s brain injury at Oregon and the 20th of the passing of Sal Aunese (cancer). One that went by quietly was the 30 years this past July that we lost J.V. Cain; perhaps the greatest tight end in school history, Cain suffered congenital heart failure on his 28th birthday while in training camp with the St. Louis Cardinals ... How about that classic photo from 1971 above? Courtesy of Ralphie Runner Rob Overfield (1971-72); it's one of the few color ones we have of the early Ralphie program ... No jinx! Sports Illustrated put former Buff tight end Daniel Graham on the cover of its October 12 issue (right) to highlight the 4-0 Bronco start; he joins Phil Irwin, Hale Irwin, Don Yowell and Michael Westbrook as Buffs who have made the cover, either during or following their CU careers. Those who don’t believe in the jinx, just ask Oklahoma State, which made the cover after beating Georgia and then lost at home to Houston after appearing on the cover; the Broncos went on to beat New England 20-17 in overtime to improve to 5-0 ... The Sporting News ranked Denver as the nation’s 18th best sports city/area for 2008-09; CU’s achievements are included when considered. Denver was voted tops in 1995 and 1997 ... Anyone else scream at their TV when Green Bay was at the Minnesota 48 with one second left in the first half? They went for the Hail Mary, but I wanted to see the trot out Mason Crosby (’06) for an NFL record 65-yard field goal ... Athletics and the university community lost a great friend in Bill Fischer on August 13, who passed away after battling cancer of the abdomen; those who knew Bill should visit the website the family created during his battle: http://www.billfischersjourney.net/ ... For those who may be wondering, B.G. Brooks, who is a contributing editor for CUBuffs.com, is also a full-fledged staff member of the department; he has access to things all staff members would have, which shall we say is a tad bit more than the mainstream media. And he has written stories that don’t include the “conflama” some of the others enjoy putting out there; just the facts, no misguided opinions to pull a few fans into their particular camp on a subject ... Associate head football coach Brian Cabral will celebrate his 300th game as a coach and a player next month (Nov. 14 at Iowa State). That’s a lot of Buff ball!
The Silent Majority
You know, these days it’s real easy for people to send E-mails demanding someone be fired or implying that we don’t know what we’re doing. And that’s fine, it comes with the territory, and unless they’re personally insulting or unsigned from a vague account, we try to answer all of them. Then there are those we receive that are encouraging, and while sharing our disappointment when things haven’t gone our way, can be generally uplifting. Here’s an example, courtesy CU grad Scott Hartman who has been with NASA for two decades. He addressed it to Coach Hawkins and copied Mike Bohn and myself after we dropped the first two football games of the season:
“You don’t need encouragement from me, but I’m going to give it to you anyway. No doubt, the last two weeks have been disappointing for Buff football fans and players alike. But watching both games reminded me of the similarities we share, working in Mission Control for Space Shuttle missions. We work in an environment that is very unforgiving of mistakes. The environment of space is not tolerant of mistakes and neither is a D-1 football game. Former Flight Director Gene Kranz was famous for saying "Failure is not an option," during the Apollo 13 mission. But I'm not sure that's true. The Apollo 1 fire, Challenger and Columbia would say that failure is not only an option, but that it's a distinct possibility if you don't keep your eye on the ball. In football, I guarantee you that 100% of the football teams went into last weekend, doing everything they could to secure victory. Only half were successful. The key is, ‘What do you do in the face of that failure? How do you react?’ If you've laid a strong foundation (for us it's honing our skills as spacecraft operators and engineers through study, training and analysis), you lean on the truth of that foundation, learn everything you possibly can from the failure and move forward stronger than before. That foundation keeps you for making knee jerk reactions. Even as an outsider, I can see the foundation that you are building in the football program and in the Athletic Department with Mike Bohn. From day one, I've seen you make personnel decisions that certainly hurt you in the short term, but were in keeping with the foundation that you were laying. Trust that foundation, learn from these failures and move forward!”
Records, Records and More Records
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Jenny Barringer
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Last time out, I argued that Jenny Barringer will exit her CU career as the school’s top female student-athlete in history, which turned out to be a very popular decision. Some of the best women’s performers in our history have made their marks at CU this decade, which is closing strong with Barringer setting the school record on CU’s home country course as soccer’s Nikki Marshall scoring four goals in a 5-1 win over Oklahoma (and assisting on the other). Had a few questions as to what records Jenny has set during her career, so thanks to ace track SID Linda Poncin, here’s the list (*—denotes also a CU record):
NCAA Records:
*Mile: 4:25.91
*Indoor 3k: 8:42.03
*Indoor 5k: 15:01.70
1500-meters: 3:59.90
Outdoor 5k: 15:07.64
Steeplechase: 9:25.54
CU records:
Outdoor 800: 2:02.56
Outdoor 5k: 15:05.25
Steeplechase: 9:12.50
Cross Country (5.8K): 19:25
Let’s Not Forget Jane
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Jane Frederick circa 1978
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Former CU assistant/head track coach Lyle Knudson wrote in after my last P-Tudes where I discussed if Jenny Barringer was the best female athlete in school history. As he pointed out, it was before my time here at CU, but that’s not good enough for me, since I try to champion the accomplishments of those who passed through a long time ago. He suggested an excellent candidate to add to the discussion: Jane Frederick.
Jane was a charter member of the CU women's track & field program (1969-73; before official it was an official program with a budget and scholarships) and was a 4-time Olympian in the pentathlon/heptathlon, her first while still a CU student at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. She set American record in pentathlon in 1973, when she was both the AIAW and AAU national champion in the event.
Lyle said if Jane’s not already in our Hall of Fame (she’s not), that she should be. And he’s right. (Lyle was the men’s assistant cross country and track coach from 1965-67 and the women’s head coach in both from 1969-75, though the sport became official in 1974-75.)
CU Gets Coolest School Honor From Sierra Magazine
In its September issue released August 20, Sierra Magazine ranked the nation’s colleges according to green initiatives. Colorado came in No. 1, with 100 points earned across eight categories plus bonus points. Categories included academics, administration, efficiency, energy, food, purchasing, transportation and waste management as they all relate to environmental issues. Middlebury and the University of Washington tied for second (98 points), followed in the top 10 by Vermont, the College of the Atlantic, Evergreen State College, UC-Santa Cruz, Cal-Berkeley, UCLA and Oberlin College. No other Big 12 school made the list, which isn’t all that surprising since I don’t recall even being able to recycle a soda can hardly anywhere else in the conference. (I got confused looks when I asked at Big 12 media day in Dallas where I could recycle a Diet Dr Pepper can!)
Correction On “Sun” Day Back In 1977
At some recent point in the past, I wrote in error that on a “sunny May afternoon” in 1977, Folsom Field entertained its largest crowd ever for one of the classic Sun Day concerts. A reader, Randall Shoemaker, corrected me on the weather—he was a freshman at Colorado State at the time and came down to the concert with some buddies—and was kind enough to send some pictures (below). As you can see, it was anything but sunny. Very cool to look at photos of the old stadium before the many improvements and how officials were able to wedge in 61,000 fans to see Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger, Firefall and Country Joe MacDonald. Randall made mention to a famous “Fish Cheer” that Country Joe was famous for, so that should bring back some memories; Google “Fish Cheer” and quite a few links appear.
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The P-‘Tudes Mailbag
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Darian Hagan
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The usual grab-bag of questions fired my way by P-‘Tudes readers and others that I thought others would be interested in:
Q: I saw in Mile High Sports Magazine where Joel Klatt ranked the five best quarterbacks of all-time at Colorado. Did you agree with his rankings?
(Joel’s order, by the way, was Darian Hagan, Kordell Stewart, Koy Detmer, Charles Johnson and John Hessler). Hard to argue the top three, but Joel also appeared to rank only those in his lifetime that he had seen. In my position, I always make sure to pay homage to history. In the era that Joel was looking at, the last 20 years, I’d go Hagan-Stewart-Detmer-Klatt and perhaps a tie between Hessler and Mike Moschetti. C.J. didn’t play all that much but has a special place in CU history thanks to his Orange Bowl and some late game heroics on occasion, which is parallel to what Bobby Pesavento accomplished in 2001.
All-time, you have to go back and see where guys would fit in like Byron White (’35-37), Ken Johnson (’71-73), Gale Weidner (’59-61), David Williams (’73-75), Bernie McCall (’64-66) and Bobby Anderson (’67-69). My top five, when combining stats with team accomplishments, would be Hagan, White, Stewart, Johnson and Detmer. Johnson, you say? How many sophomores anywhere in their first year as a starter won his first two career road games at LSU and Ohio State?
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Alexa Turzian
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Q: Are any of CU’s Nordic skiers have a chance to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver?
A: Straight from Bruce Cranmer, CU’s Nordic Coach: "There is a possibility for anyone to qualify for the Olympics. There are tryout races up until Jan. 10, 2010 and the team is picked basically on a points ranking system. Realistically Matt Gelso, Reid Pletcher and Alexa Turzian have a shot at making it. Of that group I would probably say Alexa has the best chance, but she isn’t really focusing on making it this time around, I think she is thinking more in terms of 2014, but any of them have a realistic chance, they’ll have to be in good shape, and have a really good couple of races.” As with long distance runners, Nordic skiers peak at a later age, often in their late 20s.
Q: You caught a lot of flak for giving Troy Tulowitzki a triple which gave him the cycle (on August 10). Can you defend why it was a triple?
A: The real key to the play in my mind was Tulowitzki’s aggressiveness. He took off like a bat out of hell out of the batter’s box and never hesitated as he rounded second base. He did not slow down to analyze anything; he was intent on going for it. Alfonso Soriano, in my opinion, had more of a misplay or a muff than an error or bobble and played absolutely no role in Tulowitzki making the move from second to third. That’s covered in rule 10.12.1, incidentally of the baseball rules, and is the only part of the play I questioned. On the back end, some questioned an error on the relay throw or the catch (the latter is tossed out as the ball has to be reasonably received); it’s a rushed situation where the fielder is trying to nail a speedy runner, and you have to take that into consideration, along with the fact that the runner is attempting to advance a base and not initially reach base. If it’s a ball hit to center, the runner sees he has a chance for a double and races straight to second, and the fielder may bobble it or throws wide on the relay, it’s always a double. Now, it’s an error if Tulowitzki would have been able to get up and then score, but it would have been scored a triple and an error in that instance (see 10.15.5). The Rockies’ other official scorer, Dave Einspahr, was in attendance and he, too, would have scored it a triple.
As usual, those that whined the loudest about it have never had to sit in that chair and make a ruling ... and probably have no idea of the written baseball rules, which all of us scorers try to adhere to as best we can. It’s always real easy to criticize from the cheap seats. Yes, I know Scott Van Pelt (ESPN) ripped me, and I guess I could rip him back, but all I would have is to point out he’s a non-funny failed comedian who reads the sports news that others probably write for him.
Q: Where can I find authentic CU team jerseys?
A: We get this a lot; the two best places straight from licensing director Bruce Fletcher are here:
http://www.collegejersey.com/store/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=49
http://www.cubuffs.com/sellnew/SellHome.dbml?&_MODE_=AUCTION&DB_OEM_ID=600
Q: What do you feel are three stats in football that generally don’t really matter?
A: First downs, time of possession and total yards. Check the linescores every week; you’ll find games decided by 28 points or more where the first downs are about even, or the losing team might have more. Time of possession is a factor in close games, then you can make a case for one team tiring late in a 21-17 game; otherwise, we once held the ball for like 42 minutes in a 49-7 loss to Indiana (or more recently, Miami had the ball over 45 minutes in an NFL loss to Indianapolis). Total yards? We outgained UCLA in 1980 in a game we trailed 56-0 at the half; the Bruins called off the dogs in the second half, but to look at the stats, you’d think it was a 28-24 game. Though I am sure no one ever had 35 first downs, 40 minutes of possession time and 600 yards of offense and lost, sans that same team having six turnovers.
Also had this stat question: Are the quarterback ratings in the NFL and NCAA computed the same way? Seems like everyone gushes over a pro QB with a 100-plus rating, yet in college they don’t make the top 100.
A: The answer is they are not. Both formulas were developed by those who designed them after the researched something like 25 years of previous data. The pros seal it at 158.3; that is single game or season perfection, while there is no ceiling for the NCAA rating (our single game best is 404.3). The NCAA formula is this: 1) completion percentage times 100, so .5628 becomes 56.28; 2) yards per attempt times 8.4; 3) TD percentage (TDs/Att) times 3.3 then times 100; 4) Interception percentage (Int/Att) times 2.0 then times 100. Add 1, 2 and 3 together and then subtract 4 for your ranking.
The NFL you need an algebra refresher. Whereas in the NCAA you have completion percentage times 100, in the NFL, it’s that number, minus 30, then divide by 20. And so on; the formula is readily available on-line for those who’d really like to know.
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Things That Make You Go Hmmm...
MLB does most things right, like all the pro organizations, but after being an official scorer for six years now, I have to wonder why no instant replay for close plays at any of the bases as well as home plate. Expand it a bit to justify the program. Not balls and strikes, seemingly the worry of many seamheads, but close plays at the bases, fair/foul down the lines and trapped or caught balls. Or give managers two or three challenges a game to keep it to a minimum, or better yet, a fifth umpire in the press box next to the official scorer who has access to all replays.
Mallory’s Men
A new website has been designed specifically for those players who played under Bill Mallory at any of the schools he coached, including Colorado. The website is mallorymen.com, and those former players who’d like to e-mail Bill directly can do so at coach@mallorymen.com. He was CU’s head coach from 1974-78, posting a 35-21-1 record those five seasons with two bowl berths and the ’76 Big 8 Championship.
Where They Are Now
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Darin Schubeck
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Recently heard from Darin Schubeck (’86), the Dave Jones (outstanding defensive player) and Zack Jordan (team MVP) award winners his senior year in 1986. He has since relocated to Pensacola, Fla., where he has his own Personal Physical Reconditioning Business, in addition to overseeing both the Physical Performance Department and the Wellness Center at The Rehabilitation Institute of the West Florida Regional Medical Center.
After his playing days, Darin was a defensive graduate assistant at the University of Florida for head coach Galen Hall, and while in that role, he received a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology and Sports Nutrition. He then moved into the role of assistant strength and conditioning coach at Florida when Steve Spurrier became head coach in 1990. Darin married his wife Melissa, a 7-time All-American Gymnast at Florida (she’s in the school’s Hall of Fame) and has been the color commentator for UF Gymnastics on Florida Sports South Television Network for the past 15 years. Former teammates who’d like to contact Darin can find him at darinsfitness1@bellsouth.net.
Former Buff Shay Davis (’96) has achieved worldwide success in the art world. Since his days as a reserve tailback at CU (his career was cut short due to injuries), he has become a world-class painter whose works in oils now hang in the homes of elite athletes, actors (Jane Seymour among them) and rock stars (including Greg Allman). Now a full-time San Diegoan, you can check out Shay’s work and profile at his web site, www.shayvision.com.
Former Buff running star Bret Schoolmeester is now with NIKE running; those looking to reconnect with Bret can find him at Bret.Schoolmeester@nike.com.
Website(s) of the ‘Tude
Check out http://www.mghelmets.com for all things imaginable when it comes to football helmets; but my favorite is where he takes the NBA logos and creates what helmets might look like for pro basketball! Former Denver Bronco running back Jim Jensen has started a new blog featuring his views on life as a former NFL player; very interesting take on things, especially where he notes the average life span of an NFL player is just 58. Read his thoughts and musings here: http://jimjensenusa.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/the-fourth-quarter-of-life. A couple of good baseball ones made their way to me, courtesy of Tom Smith (a 37-year umpiring vet who volunteers for the athletic department): http://www.digitalballparks.com and http://cascreamindude.livejournal.com. And Mason Crosby (’06) is in another commercial, this time for McDonald’s in Wisconsin; check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HegC3dX0gD8.
And check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3uc6qIp3tk; it’s a clip of a commercial for a program that former Buff Marwan Hage (’02) has developed in Ontario, where he is an all-star center for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. It’s called Hage’s Heroes, and each home game he hosts 40 underprivileged youth for lunch and the game, providing all with t-shirts as well. Congrats to Marwan for coordinating such a program as well as recently getting engaged!
Congrats Shouts
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Carly Newlands
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Ø To Carly Newlands (’06) who recently joined the Lobo Club staff as Director of Annual Giving at the University of New Mexico. Carly was most recently at Northern Illinois University, where she was the Assistant Director of Development for the Huskie Athletic Scholarship Fund for the past two years. While at NIU, Carly also earned a Masters degree in Sports Management. Carly earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from CU, lettered as a thrower in track and was heavily involved on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In her new gig, she will oversee the annual volunteer driven Membership Drive, handle priority seating and develop and coordinate annual fund strategies and provide oversight of the Gift-In-Kind program. Those who want to contact her can email her at newlands@unm.edu.
Ø To Jessica Peck-Corry (’02), former CU SID student assistant turned political columnist. She recently passed the bar exam and will now enter the world of the attorney. She’s been heavily involved in state politics since the days we had her schlepping around the press box and press row in hoops: www.jessicacorry.com.
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And a good luck one to Ceal Barry, former women’s basketball coach and current associate AD, and former hoopster David Kuosman (’89), who are both competing in Boulder’s version of Dancing With The Boulder Stars. Ceal, for one, has been training and rehearsing since mid-summer for the third annual event, which is set for Thursday, Oct. 15 at the Boulder Theatre. Local celebrities are paired with local dance instructors and audience members cast the votes for the winners, with all proceeds benefitting Boulder’s YWCA. Tickets are available at www.bouldertheatre.com.
Also, good luck to Ryan Sutter (’97), the former footballer turned firefighter who will run in his first New York City Marathon on November 1. He’s running for charity; those interesting in donating a couple of bucks his way can do so at http://www.grassrootsoccer.org/join-the-team/marathon/ryansutter/.
Golfer Updates
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Pat Grady
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Pat Grady (’09) finished second in the Rocky Mountain Open in Grand Junction on August 23, finishing just one-shot out of the lead. Did he come to play in Sunday’s final round? I’d say so... he shot a 62, including a 29 on the back nine. “I’d say it’s the best I’ve ever played in my life, probably,” Grady told G.J. Sentinel reporter Kent Mincer.
Steve Jones (’81) is recovering from his latest elbow surgery and still hopes to debut on the Champions Tour in the future. In the meantime, he has taken to the airwaves and host a Monday night golf talk show in the Phoenix area. For more info, check out www.stevejonesgolf.com.
This Tudes’ Number: 1
At the end of a camp practice, Matt DiLallo punted the ball through the uprights which then fell dead into the end zone and Dan Hawkins’ yelled out, “Rouge!” ... the 1-point play in Canadian football when the ball is dead in the opposing team’s goal area. But did you know there’s a 1-point safety in the NCAA? Here’s a very good summation from Wikipedia:
College football rules allow either team to score a one-point safety after a touchdown. Say that Team B blocks Team A's extra-point attempt, and a player on Team B picks up the ball on the 1-yard line. Looking for an opening, the player with the ball runs backwards voluntarily into his end zone, where he is tackled. Team A receives one point for the conversion safety, and the score is now 7–0. Team A then kicks off from its own 30-yard line, as after any touchdown. A conversion safety has occurred at least once in the NCAA, in a game between Texas and Texas A&M in 2004. Following the Longhorns TD from a blocked punt, the ensuing PAT was blocked and recovered by a Texas A&M player on the one yard line. The player tried to make a return, but was tackled in his own end zone for a one point safety.
Although exceedingly unlikely, college football's rules also allow the defensive team to score a one-point conversion safety on a PAT or conversion try. One possible scenario: Team B blocks Team A's extra-point attempt, and a player on Team B picks up the loose ball and runs towards the opposite end zone. Before reaching the goal line, he fumbles the ball and it is recovered by a player from Team A, who then voluntarily runs into his own (Team B's) end zone and is tackled. Team B would score one point for the conversion safety and the score would then be 6–1. No team has ever scored a defensive conversion safety in a college football game. However, the rule is notable as being one of just two ways a team may finish a game with a score of exactly one point in American football. The second way is a forfeit in American college or high school football. For example, when Team A forfeits, the final score is 1–0 for Team B.
Trivia Answers
CU—None other than Hale Irwin; in the third round of the 1967 NCAA Championships at Shawnee-on-the-Delaware, Pa., he recorded a 65, which would create plenty of slack for him as he still claimed the title even after shooting a 79 in the final round.
Who Am I?—Richard Rokos. He is entering his 20th season as CU’s head ski coach. A native Czech, he escaped that country’s communist hold and fled to America (the Detroit area) in 1968 and has remained here since.
Music—The movie? Goodfellas. The song? Then He Kissed Me. The scene? When Henry (Ray Liotta) walked Karen (Lorraine Bracco) the back way into the Copacabana night club. And for those who remember Get Shorty (John Travolta, Rene Russo, Gene Hackman), Travolta went to see A Touch Of Evil, or as he said to Russo, "Want to go see Charlton Heston play a Mexican?" The latter is an Orson Welles classic.
Name That Tune—Bruce Springsteen’s classic, Sherry Darling.
“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.
