Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Odds, Ends From The Coaches Tour's High Country Stops
May 19, 2010 | General, B.G. Brooks
It pays to be connected, and in Colorado skiing few people are more well-connected than veteran CU ski coach Richard Rokos.
His network paid off nicely Wednesday morning when the university van he was driving on the 2010 Coaches' Tour of the state broke down just past Frisco.
Rokos, not easily fooled, figured trouble awaited when the "CHECK ENGINE" light flashed on and the power steering required a little more power than should have been necessary.
Rokos did a (legal) U turn, returned to Frisco, pulled into a service station and got a damage assessment . . . busted water pump, couple of broken belts.
With a noonish tour engagement at E-Town in Edwards to consider, Rokos made a telephone call to Sean Ramsden, a former CU skier - he was the 1993 NCAA champ in the giant slalom - who is now the ski coach at Summit County.
Within 15 minutes, Ramsden had a sub van in Frisco and the CU entourage was on its way to Edwards. The group arrived in time for lunch and for Rokos to take his turn speaking to a crowd of about 50.
Said Rokos, a familiar face in the area: "There are some people here who know me so I cannot lie. Yes, I've had many (traffic) tickets and I broke the van on the way here."
The story will have a happy ending - eventually. Parts to repair the van weren't available Wednesday, so Rokos left it in Frisco. He'll return on his motorcycle Friday, load the cycle in the back of the van and head back to Boulder.
STOP ONE, DAY THREE - After a quick swing by FSN studios in Denver, Bryon White's supremely tricked-out Buffs Bus found I-70 West and headed toward the day's mountain stops - Edwards, Vail and Dillon.
In addition to the four coaches scheduled for all days, all stops, soccer coach Bill Hempen, tennis coach Nicole Kenneally and Rokos participated in the lunch stop at E-Town.
Hempen and second-year volleyball coach Liz Kritza are of similar minds in this regard: Too many top-flight, in-state soccer and volleyball players have left Colorado, often returning to haunt the Buffs.
"When I came to CU (10 years ago) about 60 percent of the roster was from out of state," Hempen said. "In our last (recruiting) class, we signed five from Colorado . . . I'd say about 60 to 65 percent of the roster now is in-state."
Kritza has taken the same approach; in her makeover of the volleyball roster, she's started "Project Colorado" - an effort aimed at "building a fence" around the state and keeping the top prospects at home.
It appears to be working; her 2010 roster includes seven Coloradans. One of them, junior transfer Anicia Santos of Edwards, was at Wednesday's stops.
The 6-foot-2 Santos, a January transfer from Cal-Poly, is eligible to play this season, as are four other first-time transfers. The key phrase here - "first-time." In volleyball, a student-athlete can be eligible immediately after her first transfer.
"It (transferring) has become fairly commonplace in volleyball," said Kritza, whose 2010 roster now bears little resemblance to the 2009 version.
- A large part of the tour is devoted to "meet-and-greet" between coaches and fans, etc. But another unplanned purpose has been first introductions of coaches. Football coach Dan Hawkins met men's hoops coach Tad Boyle and his women's counterpart Linda Lappe on Monday. On Wednesday, Hempen and Rokos met Boyle and Rokos met Lappe and Boyle.
- Lappe's first-year promise: "We're going to play hard and take charges - they don't have a choice in that. That's my choice, and if they don't do it that way, they don't play."
- Boyle's first-year promise: "We'll play hard, smart and together . . . I learned that from Larry Brown. He said if you expect those three things from your team, you'll be OK."
- Both coaches hope to take advantage of Boulder's altitude and are aiming at scoring in the 70s and 80s.
STOP TWO, DAY THREE - This one - a quick swing by Vail's TV8 - was unscheduled, but entertaining.
With a map of his home country in the background, Rokos, a native Czechoslovakian, gave a mock weather forecast in his native tongue. (Hey, the fun never stops on this tour.)
Maybe more usable for the TV station, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, were intro spots done by the coaches and athletic director Mike Bohn, with Chip the mascot also offering his help. The promos can be run for the next six months, maybe longer.
- Of Lappe's new hires (one more is coming), the assistant assigned to work with the post players is Jenny Baranczyk. Lappe says when Barancyzk is reminded that she's entering a conference (Big 12) featuring 6-8 post Brittany Griner (Baylor), her standard reply is that she coached the last several seasons against UConn's Tina Charles, women's hoops super post of late.
STOP THREE, DAY THREE - Happy Hour at the Dillon Dam Brewery attracted about 50 Buffs fans on a typical mid-May mountain afternoon - heavy clouds, a rain/snow mix low, steady snow at higher ground. Good evening to be indoors.
When Bohn asked the crowd if there were any questions or suggestions, one came from the back of the room: "Win more games."
To which Bohn retorted, "Yeah, that's something we haven't heard all week."
Uh, right.
- Wednesday's tour featured more student-athletes than previous days. Traveling on Wednesday were long-snapper Joe Silipo, tennis players Madie Kern and Ania Anuszkiewcz, skier Erika Ghent and Santos.
Silipo, who transferred to CU after two years at Northern Colorado, initially wanted to play D-line for the Buffs and long snap. But with four-year starter Justin Drescher holding down the spot, he knew he had to wait his turn.
And when Drescher's backup, Austin Bisnow elected to leave after graduation, Silipo was waiting on deck. He snapped successfully during spring drills and eagerly awaits August camp.
Thursday's travel includes stops in Broomfield, Fort Morgan and Boyle-ville, aka Greeley - Boyle's former home.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
