PLATI-'TUDES RETURNS!!!
A notes column penned by David Plati, who is in his 20th year as Colorado's Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations.
Welcome to Plati-?Tudes, where we won't mention Maurice Clar... or sign-off, "asking you to remember the time you've spent reading Plati-?Tudes'" Or line up against political candidates unjustly like the L.A. Times failed miserably at, or print the name and workplace of a fan that simply made a mistake like the Chicago Sun-Times. May he sue and win that one.
TRIVIA QUESTIONS... CU -- The CU women's soccer team is off to an 11-1-1 start, which included 11 straight wins. Name the last CU team that got off to a similar or better start after 13 games? Seinfeld -- I've received some complaints that these are too easy! Okay, try this one, the ?ol Kevin Bacon six degrees of separation: link (characters) Kramer to Steve Bolander. Steve Bolander? Heh heh heh"
SAD NEWS... Many of you already know that the CU family lost Bill Roe, the popular linebacker who played with the Buffs between 1976 and 1979. Bill had mounting personal problems and committed suicide on Sept. 13 in California, and was buried a week later in Denver. He was one of those people who had a way about him, an infectious smile that made whoever was with him comfortable. Just a plain good guy, and he left us way too soon. His death saddened his former teammates and those of us who went to school with him, and I think I speak for all who wish Bill would have picked up the phone and had called any of us to see if we could have helped in any way possible.
P-TUDES SURVEY... In my latest survey, I asked the Plati-?Tudes "movers and shakers" two questions. The first was when a CU football game was NOT on television, if they understood why. To my surprise, eighty percent answered yes (56 of 70 respondents); eight answered "no" and six "maybe." I've explained it through the years, but once again, in a nutshell: there are usually three standard 'windows' to televise games in the Big 12's contracts with its television partners (ABC, FOX and TBS). Those windows start at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (mountain time), with the first two often overlapping into the next window. If a game is not selected for telecast, occasionally the conference and the TV partners will approve of a local pay-per-view broadcast, but more often than not that happens for a non-conference game. They want the selected Big 12 game on in all the league cities for both exposure and ratings. Those who get mad at CU for not getting a game on are a little misguided in their belief; we are all a part of the conference package, and because of the exclusivity, the schools receive many more dollars than those conferences that allow for broadcasts across the board.
The second question was with the football team 3-3 and receiving some criticism from the local media, what's the one positive about CU athletics right now you are most pleased or familiar with. Received an interesting list of answers, with the most common referencing the success and top 15 national ranking of our women's soccer team and the fact that CU leads the Big 12. Other answers included:
? The new suites and club seats, their view ("wow") and how much more "big-time" Folsom Field looks;
? The consistently high level of achievement among teams other than the football team (e.g., women's soccer, cross country);
? The young and talented players that are gaining valuable experience on the football field;
? The women's volleyball team already within two wins of its 2002 total;
? Jeremy Bloom's decision to stay at CU and his subsequent performances;
? Joel Klatt, his performance against Colorado State and how he's responded to the pressure;
? The passing game is as good as it's been since in... with a walk-on QB doing the damage;
? The play of the wide receivers has been outstanding;
? Shawn Watson's (offensive coordinator) ability to adjust to the strength of the offensive players;
? Beating Colorado State in football;
? The nationally ranked cross country teams;
? Knowing that we're suffering growing pains now, but all these freshmen and sophomores playing means CU is going to be pretty good the next couple of years;
? The new tennis facility on CU's south campus.
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THE RUSH MESS... This is the perfect example of how some political types should just enjoy sports instead of trying to get involved. Whatever you think about Limbaugh's politics, the incident on ESPN where he was critical of Donovan McNabb was flawed in my mind of two really basic points. First, all his stats indicate that McNabb is anything but 'overrated,' which was the basis of what Limbaugh said; sheesh, the guy put up good numbers in a game he finished on a broken leg. Maybe he should have checked a media guide (guess political parties don't produce ones). Former Buff Koy Detmer backs up McNabb and is a huge fan of his; he's the kind of player on offense that makes those around him better, perhaps the best MVP quality to have. And if the (elite) media was supposedly 'desirous of a black quarterback doing well,' as Limbaugh stated in making his argument for McNabb's success, where were they when it seemed like every time he turned around, former Buff signal caller Kordell Stewart was getting criticized and treated unfairly both on and off the field? I wish someone, just once, nationally would relay to the public that since 1991, Kordell has had more offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches than most teams have had in the last 40 years (he had four QB coaches and three offensive coordinators at CU alone). Having a new coach and/or coordinator every season is going to affect the greatest of players, especially those asked to lead an NFL offense. And just who are the elite media? Aren't they the high-priced bellhops assigned to cover politics and bid to be embedded with armies? Most of the guys I know in sports aren't swimming in cash. Seems to me plenty of African-American quarterbacks have done and are doing well, especially in the college ranks, so I'm puzzled as to which media Limbaugh was referring to.
THE SCOOP ON TYLER... Former CU student Tyler Hamilton received acclaim this summer for his accomplishments in the Tour de France, prompting many inquiries to our office about his time at Colorado. He was a member of the club ski team, meaning he was on the "B" (development) team that current head coach Richard Rokos coordinated when he was an assistant in the late 1980s. Tyler never skied for the varsity, but it was at CU where he really developed his love for cycling, according to Rokos. "It got to the point where he would cycle for eight hours a day, so I knew it was a only matter of time before Tyler would approach the sport as his career," said Rokos, who coached him as a freshman and sophomore in 1988 and 1989. Hamilton finished fourth overall, 6:17 behind the legendary Lance Armstrong, who won his fifth consecutive Tour de France. Hamilton's team (Team CSC), however, won by almost 22 minutes.
T.J. CHEVY... Well, T.J. Cunningham is selling them, that is. He recently joined the sales department at Luby Chevrolet in Lakewood. Luby's been around for a long time, with Dick Fleishman as the head honcho; his son Jeff worked in CU Athletic Media Relations for three years, and Luby also happens to be my car dealer. So, if you're in the market for a new car (I personally recommend the Trailblazer, the best SUV I've ever driven), go pay T.J. a visit at 2033 S. Wadsworth and talk some CU athletics with him!
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Q & A WITH A BUFF... I was able to catch up with one of the all-time CU greats recently, when I had a chance for an extended visit with golfer Steve Jones ('81), best known for his 1996 U.S. Open victory. Steve was in town for "A Day For Les," the Sept. 29 event that raised $140,000 for a golf scholarship endowment in the name of the late Les Fowler, who played golf at CU in the 1940s and then served as volunteer coach for the Buffaloes for some 30 seasons (1948-77). It was a great event, one that brought back legendary golfers Dale Douglass and Hale Irwin, and other Buff golf alumni like Jim English, John Hamer, M.J. Mastalir, Larry McAtee, Gary Polumbus, Ben Portie and Matt Zions. Steve had elbow surgery this past Aug. 7 and is undergoing rehab, hopeful of resuming his career in plenty of time for the 2004 season.
Q: Walk through what exactly you had to have done that cut short your summer on the Tour.
Jones: "I had right elbow surgery, for tennis elbow, and they had to sew a tendon back on. They didn't know that until I was under the knife. So they shaved the whole bone and scraped a lot of junk out of there, and drained all the fluid out of there that they said was causing all the problems. They said it was going to be a four-month deal, so hopefully at that point I'll be able to start chipping and putting again. But they said it really would take an entire year for it to heal, which is usually the case any time you go under the knife. It just takes a while to heal. But hopefully, I'll be playing by March."
Q: Do you know how or when it happened?
Jones: "It's hard to tell. It never hurt me until last August or September, and the first time I remember it (the elbow) hurting was when I lifted a suitcase out of my Suburban, a 75-pound suitcase and I kind of felt something. Whether I did something before that, and there was probably a lot of scar tissue in there from all those years of playing golf, but the funny thing is they call it tennis elbow, not golf elbow."
Q: When you think of the University of Colorado, what pops into your mind?
Jones: "Playing golf. It was a great experience to play golf under Mark Simpson, we had a really good team and we played a good schedule, exactly like the football team does. It was great to always play the best because you could find out just how good you were or what you needed to do to compete with the best. That's why I support the University of Colorado, because the program keeps getting better and better and Mark does so much good here, and he had a good leader in Les Fowler."
Q: When you recall your golf career at CU, what do you think of?
Jones: "I'd say as far as playing-wise, I won my senior year the BYU and Arizona State tournaments back-to-back about a month before we went to nationals. We finished 11th at the NCAA's but didn't do as well as we could have."
Q: Any funny stories stand out from your playing days at Colorado?
Jones: "One has to be when we used to go out to Las Vegas in the fall for the Rebel Classic. Simps used to give us our per diem and expenses in advance. Well, the course where we played the tournament used to charge $2 for range balls, but by the last day, we had spent all our money on exactly what you think we would have?slot machines and blackjack tables. Mark came over and wondered why none of us were hitting balls on the range, and we always told him, ?Coach, we're trying something different and just working on our putting and chipping.? But he knew, because we also didn't have any money left for food."
Q: Any regrets about college, something you wish you could go back and change?
Jones: "No, not really. College was fun for me, but school was very hard. I admit I wasn't a big studier, and I don't know how I got through four years. I got a lot of C's, a few D's, but I managed to get through. It was tough juggling a class schedule when you had to be through by Noon, and then you go play as much golf as you could until it snowed. It was tough; it was a hard time for me. I really scoff at those people who say athletes in college have it easy. I was relieved once I was done, I played well that summer (1981) and got my Tour card that fall."
Q: How often do you get back to (your native) Yuma?
Jones: "Every other year for sure, because we do Christmas there, and we'll be back there this year."
Q: What frankly is your future in golf?
Jones: "For me, it's really day-to-day, month-to-month. If I get back healthy, I do want to play golf again. Now do I want to play on the Champions Tour when I'm 50? You know, I'm not sure. I never really wanted to, but I think now I might now that I've had practically another year off and have battled some injuries for the last two or three years. I feel like I have a lot of golf game left if I can get healthy, but if you're not healthy, it's not a lot of fun. Right now my main goal is to get 100 percent physically; mentally, I think I'm fine. Anytime you're away from golf, you get real fresh and ready to go. But physically you have to be fit, and you can't have problem elbows, knees, backs, necks thing that keep your from playing good because the other guys are just too good out there. So if physically I can get back to where I need to be, I want to keep playing."
Q: Would you like to follow former Buffs Dale Douglass and Hale Irwin in the sense that they both have had periods of domination on the Senior (Champions) Tour?
Jones: "I think I could because I feel like if my putting is good; I think recently for about four years I had a bad set-up with my body, and I just started putting last spring with my hands closer to my body, getting it more underneath my shoulders. I started putting well, and if I putt well, I feel I could win at any moment. But I have to putt well."
Q: How often do you change putters?
Jones: "I've had my Bullseye for over 20 years now, and this last year for the four or five months I did play, for about three months I used a Taylor Made putter. But I don't change very often."
Q: Does it drive you crazy when you see some guys changing putters so often, sometimes even in the middle of a tournament?
Jones: "Some guys do that a lot. If they're doing that, normally it's because they've had 50 or even 100 that they tried in the past year, and they go to one or two they like. Sometimes they're looking for anything that will help make things click. Some guys play like that. From week-to-week or month-to-month they play by changing equipment. ?I'll try this; hey this is great.' And they'll play great for a week or two then they'll toss it aside an never use it again. For me, it's really hard to believe that they can do that, but some guys, like me, just stick to one thing, one putter. When you're putting good or bad, just stick with it and you're better off."
Q: What club(s) are you most confident with?
Jones: "It used to be always the putter. My short game is always good, and I've always been good, confident around the greens. My driver in the last year, year-and-half has been pretty good. But usually it's the putter."
Q: What iron do you love to hit and what club(s) don't you like having to pull out of your bag?
Jones: "If you're talking about hitting something from the fairway, I'm probably a little bit better with the shorter irons, the mid irons. The long irons are a bit harder for me to hit real close because I don't hit the ball real high. So I think the 6, 7 and 8-irons; the 7-iron has been good to me, that's the club I hit on the last hole of the U.S. Open, my second shot I hit 176 yards."
Q: How did winning the (1996) U.S. Open change your life?
Jones: "It changed my life in many ways. Recognition, obviously. Accomplishment, my personal goal of wanting to win the U.S. Open since my childhood, playing in Yuma, doing what all kids do, saying, ?This putt is to win the U.S. Open.' Always playing those child games that you're still playing when you get older. It changed things financially, having exemptions for several years into many tournaments. But to hear your name on the first tee, ?1996 U.S. Open Champion,' that's nice."
Q: What course gives you goose pimples or fires you up the most when you play it?
Jones: "Anytime I tee it up in the U.S. Open, because most of the time it's the toughest challenge we have on the Tour. Consistently, every year it's been the hardest, so anywhere we're playing the U.S. Open gets me the most fired up."
Q: What's been the hardest course for you?
Jones: "Probably been the U.S. Open courses. I love the U.S. Open, but at the same time it's been the toughest. I've played well in two or three U.S. Opens, but I've had some bad ones, too. Anytime the rough is that tough, you have to be consistent with your back swing."
Q: And which courses do you have the most confidence on?
Jones: "I feel like Castle Pines, I've always felt like I could play pretty well there, and TPC Scottsdale. Now I haven't always played that well at Castle Pines, but I love playing there."
Q: I remember you inviting me under the ropes to walk a couple of holes with you at Castle Pines one year during the Pro-Am, and on No. 9, you said, "Excuse while I hit this shot." You hit a 7-iron about 205 yards to within six feet, I believe, and my mouth just dropped.
Jones: "You must have been my inspiration. Or you just told a funny joke."
Q: Your next accomplishment. What would you like it to be?
Jones: "Comeback Player of the Year, 2004."
Q: What major would you really like to win next?
Jones: "I'm exempt for the British Open for a couple of more years, and I'd love to win another U.S. Open, be an Andy North, win two of those. But the British Open has always been a favorite of mine. It's just such a rough and tumble golf course, different bounces. Everything is so different than what we play over here, and I've really enjoyed playing there, and the history of the game in England and Scotland."
Q: After some 20-plus years, what do you like most about the Tour?
Jones: "I think the camaraderie has been great. You get to meet so many different guys on Tour, it's like a big family out there. I have a big family on the Tour, like I have big families and friends back home in Colorado, in Montana where I live now, and in Arizona, where I had lived for 20 years. The friendships out there last forever.'"
Q: Who are you closest to on Tour?
Jones: 'I don't have any... just kidding. There are different guys; Tom Byrum, Paul Stankowski; really I could go down a list of 30, 40 players I could say, ?Hey, let's go to dinner.' That's what's fun about it, you can pretty much do that with anybody out there, and that's what I like about the Tour."
Q: Any pairings or unique threesomes stand out?
Jones: "I enjoyed in '97, when we had twosomes the last day of the Canadian Open and I was paired with Greg Norman and beat him head-to-head to win it. That was a great thrill."
Q: Ever play with Jack Nicklaus?
Jones: "Once...I played a 9-hole practice round with Jack Nicklaus and Jonathan Kaye in Jonathan's rookie year."
Q: With Arnold Palmer?
Jones: "Nope, unfortunately. I would have loved to."
Q: How about with Tiger Woods?
Jones: "Oh, yeah. I've played with Tiger several times, and have really enjoyed it."
Q: What was the goofiest thing that ever happened to you in a tournament?
Jones: "It was 1987, the week before I got married, at Colonial Country Club. On number 16, I hit the ball over the green, and had to use a putter to get it back into play. I knocked it with my putter, but it went straight up underneath a chain-link fence and went out of bounds. With a putter. I made a nice little eight on the hole."
Q: How's family life?
Jones: "My wife (Bonnie) grew up in Bozeman, so that's why we decided to move back there. I love fly-fishing and the outdoors and hunting, the kids love it. Are we going to stay there the rest of our lives, I don't know. Cy (his son) is 12, and Stacey is 10. It'd be nice to have a place in Montana and a place in Arizona."
Q: Final question. Who do stay in touch with from your CU days?
Jones: "Obviously my coach, Mark Simpson, and Rick Cramer ('82). You and I chat fairly often. I haven't spoke to Terry Kahl since he moved to Texas, but we've stayed in touch through the years. And I'll see Howdy Doan or Trevor Jones every so often in California at the L.A. Open, and it's always fun to catch up with those guys."
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THE P-TUDES PHOTO GALLERY... A couple of former CU sports info staffers sent in some pictures recently... on the left is Mike Schanno, now of Colorado Avalanche fame, with his new son Christian. On the right is former assistant SID Matt Finnigan and daughter Megan, with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson while on vacation in Las Vegas. Never at a loss for words, usually humorous ones, Finny said, "First, Megan looks genuinely scared of Tyson; and, second, Mike looks like he's pointing to her as if he is going to eat her. Next trip, we hope to meet at least one cast member from "Smokey and the Bandit."
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THE P-?TUDES MAILBAG... Some questions e-mailed in recently, the answers of which I felt were interesting or important enough to share.
Q: Charles Johnson is emphatic in his opinion that CU-CSU is NOT a rivalry. What do people at CU think?
A: As much as I like to support our former athletes, I think CJ's wrong on this one. We have lined up across from CSU 75 times in football, or more than any other team. The rivalry dates back to TWO turns of the centuries ago (1893), though it suffered from a 25-year dormancy between 1958 and 1983. I also posed the question to Gary Barnett, who in turn answered, "You're darn right it's a rivalry." Face it, when Bill McCartney designated Nebraska as our rival when he came on board in 1982, and Nebraska refused to recognize it, even though we were by definition of the word rivals, we thought of them as arrogant. So, do un to others...
Q: I've read that CU would still make more money playing the CSU game in Denver than it would in Boulder next year. Is that true?
A: I recall seeing that... I believe it was a brief one-line mention in something Bernie Lincicome wrote in one of his columns in the Rocky Mountain News. It's pretty complicated the way the last three year deal was worked out, which was very lucrative to us, but with the addition of suites and club seats, raw numbers indicate we'll likely make at least $300,000 more playing the game in Boulder instead of Denver. And don't forget, many season ticket holders want the game in Boulder. We have 27,000 season ticket holders compared to CSU's 10,000, and the end result is while all of CSU's folks get sideline seats, because we have nearly three times as many, invariably someone with a lower level sideline seat find themselves displaced to the third level at Invesco. That's the number one complaint we hear from our ticket holders.
Q: I heard a Denver radio host criticize CU for boasting about winning two Big 12 North Division titles and that a division title isn't a big deal. The anti-CU rhetoric drives me crazy.
A: I?m familiar with that, and all I can say is that it was pretty misguided. The same person likely didn't criticize the Colorado Avalanche for winning nine straight division titles in the NHL (in a division that until last year was practically Colorado's by default). If winning back-to-back division titles in the Big 12 is so easy, why has it been done only three times? And remember, they say things like that to draw calls and make controversy. You win by tuning them out and listening to music.
Q: Do you believe in the Sports Illustrated cover jinx?
A: While I don't doubt that on occasion it's been coincidental, face it, the jinx is great PR for the magazine and you can't tell me that they don't sometimes do it on purpose to drum up conversation (i.e., Jake Plummer leading an undefeated Denver Bronco team into Kansas City and then losing by a point). Of course, Plummer got hurt a week later standing up at home, so you never know...
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ENOUGH ALREADY!... A few have pined recently that men's basketball loses over $1 million and how can that be, etc. The truth of the matter is on the revenue side of the budget, there's a simple line item that reads, "Conference Distribution." That number for 2003-04 is $6,800,000, which is arrived at in the following way: football earns $5,655,000 and men's basketball $1,565,000, all through television, bowl and NCAA tournament appearance dollars (minus $420,000 for conference expense, deducted before we receive our annual check). Thus, football revenue is $18,481,875 and men's basketball $2,190,000 when taken into account. Football is nearly $11 million and basketball almost $330,000 in the black.
THE SOAPBOX
THE BOUNTY
I've been meaning to write about the alleged 'bounty' but haven't had a P-Tudes since all that came down. Some anonymous (at the time) Internet poster, apparently spent much of his free time in the summer touting some soon-to-break story that CU would be investigated for. The build up was for an alleged flyer, posted all over the Dal Ward Athletic Center, that showed CU had put a bounty on an opposing player's head.
Now that is so stupid on so many levels, you'd think it no one would believe it. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
The poster went by the moniker,"80sramfan," on one of those fan message boards for Colorado State. Of course when this guy slipped up, we were able to secure everything from who he was to whom his wife works for. I guarantee he didn't want that out there, because it would definitely embarrass her. When all was said and done, he anteed up an apology for the damage he tried to do to our program, though under his moniker and not his real name.
But the scary part is the fact that the some members of the mainstream, supposedly responsible media actually thought enough of the post to ask coaches at both schools what they thought. And it drew the expected reaction one might suspect from CSU quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt, the target of the non-existent flyer, which said we had produced a poster offering different amounts of money depending on which quarter he left the game with an injury. Never one short for a quote, he ripped into CU, which at least two local televisions played on their evening news. Never mind that they could have checked with us to see if such a flyer ever existed, as it made for a good story. Fox Sports even touted the night before both of our media days, "Let the war of words begin." Fortunately, our people were smart enough not to be suckered into making a good, juicy comment or sound bite, and CSU, with maybe one or two exceptions, didn't either. That's a credit to the quality people at both institutions.
I had a very good conversation with the sysop of the Ram board, and though not a fan of CU (it's not required, you know), he was sympathetic and agreed with much of what I had to say. The media goes to these boards looking for stories, and it's no secret that the Larry Eustachy and Mike Price stories first were aired on similar sites. The problem is, for every one of these things that might be true, 20 don't come close. Some wrote in to tell me that this same "80sramfan" was promoting for weeks we were going to have several academically ineligible players (we had zero), and that's he's been wrong on other occasions about our program and even general news items.
The danger is when responsible media don't act responsible; I mean, to create stories out of anonymous Internet postings of rumors, even though they turn out to be false? I had no less than 10 national calls on the subject, all basically asking if we actually put out a flyer with a bounty and if we had heard from the NCAA. That's not harmless; that damages reputations, and wastes a heckuva lot of time. I know I don't have that kind of time to waste this time of year putting out some prairie fire rumor started by someone throwing out falsehoods to either fan the flames of what has been a pretty clean interstate rivalry or to try and create bulletin board material for his team. Fortunately, it was killed before it did any more damage.
Some have speculated about Gary Barnett's hatred of the Internet; Gary doesn't hate the Internet, but many of us sure hate this component of it. I personally know; lies spread about myself, always by the anonymous type with nicknames like "2Buff," who would never have the courage to identify themselves by their real name or take the time to meet me in person to get the whole side of a story. They take a kernel of truth and grow it into a stalk of corn.
A side note: the following line was pointed out to me on one of these message sites tied to CU: "The CU athletic department does have an official written policy trying to force website owners or operators to give up names and addresses to it so it can retaliate for comments it doesn't like." Well, guess what? This does not exist, and never has. The one sentence in our policy he failed miserably to properly put in context is from our policy for Internet websites: "Web sites that sponsor "message boards," "message centers," or "chat rooms" where people are allowed to post anonymous information and rumors are automatically ineligible for any consideration for credentials or access." Where does it say we're forcing operators to give up this info? All we ask is if these sites want to be credentialed, that they present themselves as legitimate and responsible, listing real names and contact info like you see in the newspaper for reporters or any broadcast types who can easily be contacted at their stations. And sysops need to be editors, filtering out junk that should never be posted, much like not every letter to the editor makes it in the paper or every talk show caller gets on the air. What is so terribly wrong about this, I'd like to ask?
I won't even address the retaliation comment because it's preposterous. What a world we live in, let's protect the rights and identity of those who want to remain anonymous while they put forth lies and attacks on others. These lurking in the dark of "cyberspacers" either don't care or don't realize that friends and family members often see what has been posted about their fathers, brothers, sons, etc.
Wouldn't it be nice if these places were used for what they were created?good, legitimate exchanges of ideas?but checking them out all over the country, it seems like none have escaped it.
BCS POLLS
It's that time of year again, for the BCS polls to come out, showing your favorite team trails No. 1 by 4.3924 points. I want my idea to see the light of day?add two more human polls and scrap all the computer rankings, sans the strength of schedule computation. Two more polls by people, you say? Who? One already exists?the Grantland Rice Top 16, which could be expanded to 25; they are all members of the Football Writers Association, but don't cast their first ballot until right around now. The second would be new?a college broadcasters poll. This would be all the national television and radio announcers, people like Keith Jackson, Brad Nessler, Ron Franklin, Mike Gottfried, Verne Lundquist, Todd Blackledge, Tony Roberts, John Tautges, Fran Curci, etc. This select group sees more schools in person than anyone else, so I could see it rising to the top as the most educated of the four pretty quick, if it gets going. Heck, I'd coordinate it; that would be a blast.
BAYLOR & THE BIG 12
With the recent troubles surrounding the Baylor basketball program, some members of the media are calling for the Big12 to oust the Bears from the conference. (Locals are saying replace them with Colorado State, but that makes no sense, since Baylor is a South Division team; the only north school with any southern tie at all would be Missouri, and you have to go back to the Civil War for that connection).
First, Baylor hasn't exactly been a renegade program. These troubles they are experiencing are unique; so is the answer to bail on our Big 12 brother, or to stand by it during a troubling time? To paraphrase (I can't believe I'm saying this) the Osmonds from their 1971 hit, a couple of bad apples don't spoil the whole bunch (...girl, give me one more chance before you give up on... okay, enough of that).
Second, sure the Bears had their struggles in football and haven't been dominant in men's basketball in the seven-year history of the conference, but virtually across the board in all other sports Baylor is nationally competitive and at times dominant in the league. Sure football and the two basketballs are the most visible sports, but historically they've run a successful all around athletic program.
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WHERE THEY ARE NOW... Had an e-mail exchange with Matt Miller, CU's All-America offensive tackle in 1978 (a great year to be a freshman at CU). I asked him to update me on what he's been doing, and here was his response:
"I played in Cleveland for 4 years (mostly a utility guy, definitely not a star). When the USFL was going strong and they were buying NFL players I came back and played for the Denver Gold for the last two seasons that the league was in existence. It was fun.
"During the football off-seasons I worked as a geologist for a small oil and gas production company in Cleveland drilling shallow gas wells in southeastern Ohio. When I came back after my last season with the Gold (1985), the oil and gas industry had bottomed out and the little company I was working for was gone. Injuries had accumulated and football was done. I tried to work as a geologic consultant but that wasn't going to work. At that point I decided to go back to school. We moved back to Colorado and I enrolled at the Colorado School of Mines. I got my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in two years (a lot of stuff transferred from my CU degree). I was totally into school and I talked my wife into letting me go to grad school. We moved to Atlanta and It got my M.S. (90) and my PhD (93) from Georgia Tech.
"At that point, the professor business was looking pretty good to me so I applied for some jobs (unfortunately CU didn't have one open). But Cornell did; I interviewed and got the faculty job in the Sibley School of Mechanical Engineering, and I've been here since January 1994. In 2000, I was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. My job is split 50/50 teaching/research. My research area is materials. I am in the process of updating my webpage, but the current one has the relevant research info (http://www.mae.cornell.edu/faculty/Miller.html).
"I like my job a lot--it's an incredible challenge--like major college football. I have a very different background than most of my colleagues, obviously, but things have worked out okay. Cornell is a pretty serious research university, so I have to hustle: funding, grad students, teaching... I am still involved with football - I'm the faculty advisor for the Cornell football team (the other CU).
"I got married in 1983, while playing at Cleveland. My Browns teammate, Bill Cowher, and I married twin sisters Faye (mine) and Kaye (Cowher's) Young. They played basketball at N.C. State and later in the original women's pro league the WBL in New York. Cowher met Kaye in college. Faye was the head basketball coach at Manhattan College when I met her and she has coached a lot since we have been married. She was an assistant at Georgia Tech when I was a grad student there. She is currently the girls coach at Ithaca High School. She wrote a book "Winning Basketball for Girls". For the new edition, Brian Cabral's daughter, Mele, appeared in the instructional photos.
"I have a boy, Sam (14) and a girl Chaney (11). THE sport here in Ithaca is hockey and Sam plays that and lacrosse. Chaney plays basketball and will hopefully play for her Mom when she gets to high school.
"I follow the Buffs closely. I actually worked at Gary Barnett's football camps when he was the head coach at Fort Lewis College and I was playing in Cleveland. It was a good way to get a trip to my hometown (Durango) and to coach up some local kids. He has done an awesome job at CU. I am proud to be a Buff!
"Playing football for Bill Mallory and George Belu at Colorado had a huge impact on me and basically set me up for where I am now. Never give up and if you work hard enough you can attain whatever you dream were pretty much the mantra then and great ideas to live your life by. I played with some great men and have kept in touch with many of them, including Jim Kelleher, Dave Salvi, Steve Stripling, Art Burns and Kelly Klein."
Any former coaches, teammates or college friends wanting to get in touch with Matt can contact him at mpm4@cornell.edu.
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER... 1180. That's Joel Klatt's passing yardage at the midway point of the '03 regular season, and he's missed over two full games. It's already the 21st highest single season total in CU history, and he seems well on his way to posting the ninth 2,000-yard season in a CU career. The previous eight two grand seasons were posted by just four players: Kordell Stewart (three), John Hessler (two), Mike Moschetti (two) and Koy Detmer (one).
TRIVIA ANSWERS: CU -- Some may notice that the 11-1-1 record matches that of CU's 1990 national championship team, but the women's volleyball team won 12 of its first 13 matches in 1998 (en route to a 13-1 start) to be the most recent team to open with that kind of a start. Seinfeld -- Steve Bolander, you ask? That was Ron Howard's character name in American Graffiti. Ron's brother, Clint Howard, played a criminal who sat in the back of a police car with George and Jerry when Kramer was the subject of a manhunt in Los Angeles; and his father, Rance Howard, played the farmer in the episode when Kramer and Newman were following Jerry's mechanic, who had stolen Jerry's car (with JFK's golf clubs in the back seat; Kramer had jettisoned Newman, and the farmer's daughter wound up flirting with him).