Pac-12 Media Day Plati-'Tudes
July 15, 2016 | Football
Welcome to a notes and comment column in its 16th year, penned by CU Associate Athletic Director David Plati, who will later this month begin his 33rd year as the Buffaloes' director of sports information.
Plati-'Tudes No. 101 … dating back to my days as a student assistant and assistant SID, this is my 37th conference media day for football (21 in media day format, 16 in the old Big 8 Skywriters Tour; missed only 1982, when I was handling PR for the Denver Bears) … While the current format likely is here to stay, many long for the old concept where each school hosts the media because things were much more intimate (these sessions are pack-journalism and cattle calls) and the media had the chance to interview a wider variety of players and had the chance to get to know the assistant coaches. Thus things don't always change for the better … Also glad to report that former ABC icon Keith Jackson is doing well health-wise (much improved from a year ago) and turns 87 this September. Truly one of the all-time greats.
Trivia Questions
The opening four mind teasers:
CU—Colorado has played 1,211 games in its football history; by what margin have the most of those (6.1%) been decided?
Who Am I (CU)?—I played two seasons at Colorado, transferring in from junior college where I honed my skills and started to get noticed.  I was at a position at the tail-end in a decade of outright greats. I started 23 of 24 possible games, and the Buffs were 15-9 during my time there, including wins in both bowl games where we averaged 56.5 points. Who am I?
Music—Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin formed what band with what local rocker-turned-minister?
Name That Tune—From what song is this lyric passage from: "OK, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here … Two down, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth … There's the wind-up, and there it is … A line shot up the middle, look at him go … This boy can really fly."
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| Quick Hits |
The Pac-12 claimed 10 NCAA titles during the 2015-16 school year, upping the conference's all-time total to 488; no other conference won more than five … This is the earliest CU has ever participated in a conference media day (July 13-15), or 50 days prior to the start of the season; some of us all-timers would prefer the old Skywriter's format because the coverage was much more diverse with more than two players and all the assistant coaches available, but like the ditto machine, those days are long gone (no one under 35 probably has no clue what a ditto machine is/was) … Coach MacIntyre and the players here spoke often about the team's motto for the season, "WTTF," which means "Welcome to the Fight" … A few of us hung around after Wednesday night's functions, and we were entertained by Washington State coach Mike Leach. It's not an act when you see him interviewed on TV, he truly is inquisitive and loves history, especially shipwreck stories … Glad to see that the San Francisco 49ers have picked up the organizational duties of the Foster Farms Bowl, which pits a Pac-12 school against a member from the Big Ten; the game was in sort of a limbo state but was confirmed out here this week. It will be played on December 28 at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised by FOX … The Pac-12 and Twitter have agreed to stream at least 150 games/events (in addition to the 850 committed by the Pac-12 Networks); these are events that have already been produced on campus by the likes of BuffVision. Not sure if a ski meet will make it or not, a little hard to cover but could eventually be in the mix … For the second straight year, Mike MacIntyre took the podium on the main stage as the last of the six coaches designated today, and took nearly 30 minutes of questions … CU placed last in the South Division of the media poll, with 63 points; but with 33 voters, the Buffs received a good amount of fourth- and fifth-place votes, another source of motivation for the team.
| Pac-12 Media Day / Thoughts From Hollywoodland |
Why We Announced Sefo Liufau Was Cleared To Practice/Play Here: It was for several reasons; first and foremost, though he's been doing practically everything for the last month, the trainers are still closely monitoring his foot (Lisfranc injury) to be sure no complication develop. That easily was the most important thing, and we certainly didn't want to pronounce him good-to-go and then have him suffer a setback. The obvious reason was to make a bit of a splash out here, especially since he was the only quarterback here among the 12 schools.
Home Was The Training Room: Sefo was ultra-committed to his rehabilitation from his Lisfranc (foot) injury to the point where he spent less than a week outside of Boulder since he injured it last November 13 against USC. He went home to the Tacoma area just once, for Mother's Day "There's no way I wasn't going to go home for that."Â
Confidence: This was a little buried on ESPN.com, but Kevin Gemmel caught up with Chidobe Awuzie and reported this: Awuzie, an all-league pick last season, said the Buffs are beyond feeling good about just being competitive. When asked what a "win" would be for this season, he said: "There are no more moral victories. Coach [Mike] MacIntyre isn't rebuilding anymore. No, we're right there. And we believe we're right there. A win this season would be just to win."
Mr. Versatile: MacIntyre bragged at every turn about Awuzie's ability to play all three secondary positions – cornerback, safety and nickel – and how he first noticed his talent as a 9th-grader in the Bay Area. CU has a few others with versatility, especially Donovan Lee (tailback-receiver-kickoff returner) and Jaleel Awini (converted outside linebacker to quarterback/receiver on offense and a special teamer). Â
I'll Have Two Scoops of Chocolate, Please: Liufau recalled when he first spoke to MacIntyre after CU hired him as head coach in December 2012. "I was actually in Sacramento for a basketball tournament and we were in an ice cream store. He didn't originally recruit me, but said he looked at my video and thought that I would still be a great fit for CU and that they would honor the previous staff's scholarship offer. I was impressed by that and I stayed with my commitment."Â
Bowling For Dollars: Sefo was celebrity bowler and Chidobe was a celebrity "watcher" at the Matt Leinart Foundation's charity bowling event Thursday night. The affair raises money to provide disadvantaged youth the opportunity to play team sports. Sefo said he bowled two games but didn't hit 100 (I didn't want to ask if that was combined), while Chido decided to just watch (Sefo said in practice that Chido almost rolled a ball into another lane, and may not have been kidding …). Â
Since We Are In Hollywood: There are always some goofy questions, like what were their favorite Halloween outfits, etc., and this year the players and coaches were asked who would play them in a movie. Â MacIntyre and Liufau both said Matt Damon, while Awuzie went with Eddie Murphy or Idris Elba.
We Rule Again: Our media guide, rushed to be finished by July 7 to be on a flash drive here, had the most pages – 534 – with Oregon State second at 228. But it would appear that with the early deadline, most just got in what they could, and only USC (212) and Washington (210) were over 200. There is no longer a 208-page maximum, and ours actually isn't finished—it will top out at about 548 when all is said and done (we're big on history!).
| Tom Kensler |
Former beat writer and retired Denver Post reporter Tom Kensler suffered a brain aneurysm on July 6 and had two surgeries two days later. He has been in recovery ever since, and has remained in a coma though many of his vital signs are slowly improving. Tom is one of the good guys in the business; I've been posting updates on Facebook almost daily, and it's been very nice to see how many former athletes that he covered are wishing him well and are praying/rooting for him to recover. Please keep him in your thoughts.
| Preseason Award Rundown |
A few Buffaloes have made the preseason watch lists for some of college football's top postseason honors, many of which were announced over the last few days. For some, we are allowed to nominate, for others, the respective selection committees use honors from the previous season; but for all, players can be added throughout the course of the season. Here's a look at all through Friday:
- AFCA Good Works Team (community service): OLB Derek McCartney (one of 81 nominations for 12-member team)
- Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player of the year): CB Chidobe Awuzie (one of 90 on official watch list)
- Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award (most outstanding offensive player with ties to state of Texas): SE Sean Irwin (CU's nomination for the award)
- Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player): WR Donovan Lee (one of 43 on official watch list)
- Bronko Nagurski Award (defensive player of the year): CB Chidobe Awuzie (one of 88 on official watch list)
- Jim Thorpe Award (top defensive back): CB Chidobe Awuzie (one of 39 on official watch list)
- Doak Walker (top running back): TB Phillip Lindsay (one of 58 on official watch list)
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| The P-'Tudes Mailbag |
Q: Any movement on the future of the CU-Colorado State series in football?
A: Rick George (athletic director) said at his latest media roundtable (June 27) that he and CSU AD Joe Parker have discussed a home-and-home series in 2023-24; nothing has been ironed out, but we are holding dates for the Rams those years. In 2023, we open at TCU and host Nebraska, in 2024, we host North Dakota State and travel to Nebraska; the CSU games would thus fill out our non-conference schedules those seasons. But any reports in the media or on the Internet that the rivalry will end in 2020 are incorrect and that was never the case; it's just set for a two-year hiatus in 2021-22.
Q: What was the reason you flopped the Air Force and Fresno State years in football?
A: The easiest way to explain it was that we were part of a "domino" effect. We didn't need to move the games for our needs, though I think in the end it worked out all right for us on the plus side; Fresno needed an opening in 2019 to schedule an opponent that could play in 2019 if it moved a game to get them a balanced home-road schedule and in all, something like four other schools were able to complete their schedules. It happens on occasion in this business, schools helping each other out, that is.
Q: I see your golfing twins "broke up" but are back together. What happened?
A: Broke up? Guess you mean that for the first time in their lives they really spent a lot of time apart when Yannik Paul spent last year back in his native Germany while Jeremy (the older identical twin) played his junior season in eligibility for the Buffs. Yannik simply went home for some personal reasons as well as to contemplate turning professional; he decided against it and will return to CU for his final two years in eligibility. The pair have already etched their names in the CU record book and at present are the two top ranked German amateurs in the world, Jeremy at No. 110 and Yannik at No. 123 (as of July 14).
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| Things That Make You Go Hmmm... |
Sometimes it's just hard to explain to someone where an outright stupid question can even come from. Sefo was asked if he essentially jealous of Stanford's Christian McCaffrey being so good at doing interviews. He answered to the effect that he thought he was pretty good, too. Kind of puzzling, as the media has more access to our players than most schools, thus the players do more interviews and gain more experience. Both Sefo and Chidobe were easily among the most polished at such here and it showed (not that anyone was terrible—I've seen that before).
| Website(s) & Links of the 'Tude |
If you're a college football junkie, this site will keep you occupied for a while: http://www.winsipedia.com/.
| The "Big Move" |
Since my last penning of a P-'Tudes, we made the big "transition" and moved offices last October 29. All of us in sports information moved permanently into the new Champions Center; we had been housed in the Balch Fieldhouse Annex since the 1950s, when almost the entire athletic department was located there (of course back then, the administration numbered less than 10). I said goodbye to my "pet" squirrels, who I fed through the years with a variety of nuts, including macadamias on the last day (though I never really knew if a squirrel's taste buds know the difference between a peanut and a cashew). The little guys, probably of the same lineage, had been fed by those of us in the Annex dating back to the 1950s. Most of the department is finally under one roof—perhaps for the first time since JFK was president—and so far haven't complained about my music or incessant singing …
| This P-'Tudes Number: 35 |
That is CU's record for the most career starts made by a quarterback – set by Darian Hagan who was 28-5-2 over the course of the 1989, 1990 and 1991 seasons.  Sefo Liufau enters the year with 29, which stands fifth all-time; he trails only Hagan, Joel Klatt (34; 2003-05), Kordell Stewart (33; 1992-94) and Gale Weidner (31; 1959-61). Liufau has set more records (75) than any other player in CU history and has at least 10 more in his sights.Â
| Trivia Answers |
CU—The Buffs have been involved in 74 games decided by three points (opponents have the edge 38-36); there have been 69 decided by seven points (37-32 edge for the Buffs), 67 by six points (CU leads in those, 37-30) and then 62 by 14 points (CU ahead in those, 36-26).
Who Am I?—Mike Moschetti. He led CU to bowl wins over Oregon (51-43 in the '98 Aloha) and Boston College (62-28 in the '99 Insight.com). He followed quarterbacks in the 1990s that were headlined by Darian Hagan, Kordell Stewart, Koy Detmer and John Hessler.
Music—Throw in Richie Furay and you have the 60s super group Buffalo Springfield. Furay, Jim Messina, Randy Meisner (of the Eagles fame), Paul Cotton and others went on to form Poco.
Name That Tune—From the summer of 1978, kind of a trick question. Part of the late Phil Rizzuto's baseball play-by-play contained in the middle of Meat Loaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
"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. Â
