Pac-12 Media Day Plati-'Tudes
July 31, 2015 | Football
Welcome to a notes and comment column in its 15th year, penned by CU Associate Athletic Director David Plati, who last week began his 32nd year as the Buffaloes' director of sports information.
Plati-'Tudes No. 100 ... and my 33rd conference media day (22 in media day format, 11 in the old Big 8 Skywriters Tour; see below) ... Okay, I know; it's been over a year since my last P-'Tudes, just so much going on but eventually they will return on a much more consistent basis (and I am now 5-for-5 penning one from the Pac-12 Media Day(s)...Speaking of 100, the Pac-12 will turn 100 years old this December 2; the conference was formed in 1915 in Portland, when California, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington decided to create the league, first called the AAWU (Athletic Association of Western Universities) ...
It was great to catch up with Oregon coach Mark Helfrich, who was CU's offensive coordinator under Dan Hawkins from 2006-08 before returning to his native state in the same role for Chip Kelly; he was promoted when Kelly left for the NFL in 2013 ... Also touched base with the legendary Keith Jackson; we try to go to lunch every year but he's been fighting some health issues; he's hopeful that he'll be improved in a month or so in time to celebrate his 86th birthday in September. He told me of my Buffs to remind our coaches that, “Big fast guys beat little fast guys every time, so go get 'em in recruiting.” Very KJ ...
| Trivia Questions |
The opening four mind teasers:
CU—This has happened just twice in CU history and is a rarity practically everywhere in college and pro football. What did Jon Keyworth, Paul Arendt and Ward Walsh accomplish in the 1970 game at Air Force?
Who Am I (CU)?—I transferred to CU from junior college after attending high school in Seat Pleasant, Md. (DeMatha High School) ... I wore No. 2 as a junior and No. 33 as a senior ... I led the Big Eight Conference in blocked shots, and with a teammate finishing right behind me, it was the first time in 40 years the same team provided the top two shot-blockers in the league ... After basketball, I decided to become a thespian, and have appeared in a few movies and on television in shows like Law & Order ... My son played in the Pac-12 just signed an NBA contract ... Who am I?
Music—“Love one another” were the final words spoken by this mega-musician, whose favorite food were egg sandwiches. Who said it?
Name That Tune—From what song is this lyric passage from: “In a couple of years they have built ... A home sweet home ... With a couple of kids running in the yard ... Of Desmond and Molly Jones.”
*******************************************************************************
| Quick Hits |
Mike MacIntyre took the podium on the main stage last of the six coaches designated today, and had nearly 40 minutes of questions thrown his way (none of which, thankfully, were about “ deflategate”) ... The USA Today/Coaches poll was released on Thursday, with six ranked teams in the top 25 on the CU schedule: No. 5 Oregon, No. 10 USC, No. 14 UCLA, No. 16 Arizona State, No. 21 Stanford and No. 22 Arizona (and Utah coming in at No. 30).
| Pac-12 Media Day / One-Liners |
Our players came in on Wednesday, and being a school/media function, we could take them to dinner; senior offensive tackle Stephane Nembot had a hankering for an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. Well, that didn't exist but we did take him and linebacker Kenneth Olugbode to a sushi place in Manhattan Beach (near LAX). The kicker to this story: Stephane only liked sushi that was cooked, he doesn't like raw fish ... All 24 players representing the schools here once again headed to Jimmy Kimmel's concert series after interviews, so no doubt look for “selfies” they took with the late night star on their Facebook and/or Instagram pages ... The Pac-12 had 45 media members vote in its preseason poll, and CU was voted sixth in the South Division for the fourth straight year; with 46 points, that means CU received one fifth place votes and the remaining 44 for last. Once again, motivation for a team that might now be ready to show the football world how improved it is ... Oregon (37 first place votes) and USC (32) were selected as the division favorites, with USC getting the nod to win the league title game (by a close 21-17 margin).
| Pac-12 Media Day / Thoughts From Hollywoodland |
Nembot, who is from the area, will gain from the exposure which will help him in our quest to earn him some postseason recognition and has a great backstory being born in Cameroon and not playing football until his junior year in high school (plus he gets a free trip home to see his family which he rarely can afford). Olugbode? Well, he was our leading tackler last year and is a leader on our defense. And both were very popular interviews on Thursday.
Games: There were a few fun games for the coaches and players, such as the putt-putt challenge, smashing logo piñatas and that bean bag toss game. Nothing breaks up the monotony of doing 70 interviews like tossing a bean bag into a small hole from 15 feet or so away.
Topic of the Day: Perhaps the most common question of the day that many coaches were asked was if the Pac-12 South is the toughest division in college football (essentially versus the SEC West). Most either said yes or that it was hard to make comparisons, but the division is right there. What didn't come up much if at all was the cost-of-attendance that goes into effect this Saturday (August 1). The players had a few about if Utah was our rival.
L.A. Story Was Not Accurate, Part II: Remember Steve Martin's 1990 move, L.A. Story? Well, it wasn't accurate last year nor this year. He played a weatherman, and in all his reports, he noted how the high here every day was going to be 72. In 2014, the temperature reached 94 and 88 our two days here; this time around, it was 88 and 87 and a little muggy until sunset.
| Pac-12 Networks Update |
The second question commissioner Larry Scott had at his state-of-the-Pac-12 address was about ... the Pac-12 Network and DirecTV. He expressed optimism since the deal for AT&T to purchase DirecTV was recently approved, and if/when added to the satellite network, the Pac-12 Network would be available in at least five million more homes in the conference's footprint and up to 22 million more nationally. However, no discussions have taken place just yet so there is nothing definitive to report at this time. But our three-plus year battle to get on DTV could finally end sooner rather than later. (And the third question for the commish—on possible Pac-12 expansion: not going to happen, schools are happy. Scott said to sum it up, “We are delighted with 12 and have no intention to expand.”)
| Big "Eight" Flashback |
I had the privilege of attending a Big 8 Skywriters reunion in Kansas City earlier this month; it was arranged by former Big 8 Service Bureau head men Jeff Bollig and Bill Hancock (yes, that Bill Hancock of the College Football Playoff staff) and longtime assistant Tracie Dittemore. It was an outright blast; the story-telling was off the charts, not only about what happened in the 30-plus years of the Tour, but just reminiscing in general about the good 'ol Big 8. It was a special group, the eight of us (schools; there were over two dozen people who came to the two days of events). While a lot of work for the SID staffs (and more for CU's since they spent two days in Boulder every year), what is now lost with these cattle-call media days are the relationships that were developed when anywhere up to three dozen sportswriters and sportscasters spent time in each Big 8 town, meeting the entire coaching staffs and several administrators. The Tour died in 1995 ahead of the formation of the Big 12 (a dozen cities would be a bit much to visit), combined with travel budgets for the media dwindling. Times have changed, and we'll never revert back to the old Skywriter format, but we all got so much more out of it than we do now with everyone going to one site.
| World University Rankings |
The University of Colorado came in ranked No. 54 in the world in this year's CWUR 1,000 (Center for World University Rankings); if memory serves, that's up from the mid-60s last year. The Pac-12 has eight of its schools in the top 75 (Stanford #2, Cal #7, UCLA #15, Washington #31, USC #51, CU #54, Arizona #68, Utah #70 ... the others: ASU #97, Oregon State #260, Oregon #339, Washington State #380). Among the other Power-5 conferences, the Big 10 has 10 schools in the top 75 to edge out the Pac-12, though that includes their two most recent members (Rutgers at 50, Maryland at 72). The ACC has four schools in the top 75 (Duke tops at #28), the SEC only two (Florida #60, Vandy #69) and the Big 12 just one (Texas #30). Now, these lists aren't the end all; I think most would argue that the toughest academic school in the state is Colorado Mines, and it came in at #365; but it's always nice when your school is ranked high. See the list and what it is based on for yourself: http://cwur.org/2015/.
********************************************************************************
| The P-'Tudes Mailbag |
A: Well, as Lee Corso would say, not so fast, my friends... The two series are unrelated, other than the fact by filling our opening in 2022 with the Falcons there's no room for CSU that year. We'll play both AFA and CSU in the same year (2020) for the first time since 1958; that's something we really don't want to do very often since we only have three non-Pac 12 games to schedule every year. We have one opening in 2023 and at least two if not three in every year starting in 2024 and beyond.
At some point, Rick George and CSU athletic director Joe Parker will sit down and talk about the future of the series. Two years off in the rivalry might also serve to revitalize it a bit, as will the likelihood that future games between the two will be back on the campuses.
When Mike Bohn was our athletic director, since he spent nine years in the Springs on the Air Force staff, he had plenty of contacts there. The interest was minimal at first, but was still there; so we spoke with them from time-to-time, but nothing really progressed. With the scheduling frenzy going on right now, Rick George green lighted approaching the Falcons again (plus they were under new leadership). It then really boiled down to what it always does--having dates that worked for both schools. Air Force had to do one tweak to make it work and once done, we were able to pull the trigger to revive a rivalry that was very competitive most years between that first game in 1958 and the last meeting in 1974. (Incidentally, the contract was signed by all parties last week.)
Q: What gives on the Hawaii game starting at 1 a.m. eastern (disclosure: I live in New Jersey); no chance for an earlier kick?
A: When we approached Hawai'i about moving the game up to Thursday from Saturday, one of the caveats was to have kickoff start at 7 p.m. local time, when people are off work and Honolulu's rush hour has died down which should help attendance. It's awkward, no doubt, but a rarity; the 11 p.m. MST tipoff against Auburn in men's basketball last November was a huge hit, and it too was on a weeknight (Monday). So when it's such a novelty, we're hopeful that most of our fans will embrace it knowing that it certainly won't be a regular occurrence. With Labor Day the following Monday, many people also take off Friday and make it a four-day weekend, so the late kickoff could help “kick off' their holiday weekend.
*********************************************************************************
| This P-Tudes Number: 478 |
The “Conference of Champions” (that would be the Pac-12) has now claimed 478 NCAA championships, still well over twice of that over any other conference. League schools won nine during the 2014-15 athletic year, including a pair by the Buffaloes: men's cross country defending its 2013 title and the ski team winning its third in the last five years (all in the east; CU hosts the 2016 affair at Steamboat Springs).
| Trivia Answers |
CU—Each gained 100 yards rushing: Keyworth (18 carries for 124 yards, 2 TD, Arendt (23-116, 1 TD) and Walsh (15-101, 0 TD); the only other time it happened was at Kansas State in 1954 (Carroll Hardy 10-238, Emerson Wilson 7-124, Frank Bernardi 9-113 ... and yes, that was 26 carries for 475 yards by the trio combined, or 18.3 per attempt).
Who Am I?—Poncho Hodges. (Ted Allen was the other player who teamed with Hodges for the shot-blocking feat; his son is Josh Huestis, a Stanford grad who just signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder).
Music—George Harrison of Beatles fame. He died on November 29, 2001 from complications of lung cancer at the age of 58.
Name That Tune—From 1968, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, by The Beatles. A track on the infamous White Album, it was not released as a single in either the United States or the United Kingdom in 1976 (it peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Top 100); it was not sung by Paul McCartney in concert until 2009, but now is a regular song on his set list (Yeah!).
“Plati-'Tudes” features notes and stories that may not get much play from the mainstream media; offers Plati's or 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.
