Plati-'Tudes No. 114 ... Trying to be creative in week two of or "Stay at Home" state … When daytime TV offers nothing of interest – which is quite often – blast some music and sing your lungs out. Bumming a bit since Comcast jettisoned MeTV and WGN (no more M*A*S*H!), and have to wonder why he movie channels seem to run some of the better movies at 2 a.m. … So what are we in sports info doing? Updating every possible biography and working with our talented digital team on social posts and graphics.
Opening Trivia
CU—Frank Javernick did this in CU's 83-80 loss in five overtimes to Iowa State in 1960. To this day, it is one of the most amazing accomplishments in college basketball history. What did he do?
Music—In the summer of 1981, this song held the top spot on the Billboard charts for nine weeks – but in two shifts. The first run was for five weeks and was bumped by the "Stars on 45" (the version with mostly Beatles covers) for a week, it then returned for four more weeks at No. 1 until it was ousted by Air Supply's "The One That You Love." Name the song.
Name That Tune—From 1978: "I swore I would love you until the end of time … So now I'm praying for the end of time … To hurry up and arrive."
Quick Hits
Not sure anyone has thought of the all-decade basketball teams with the season cut short (all-decade football teams were all over the place last December). So in a nutshell, for the Colorado men from 2010-11 through 2019-20 I'd go with: Tyler Bey, Spencer Dinwiddie, Andre Roberson, Josh Scott and McKinley Wright (minimum two years played in the decade, thus no Alec Burks, Cory Higgins or Derrick White). For the women, Chucky Jeffery, Kennedy Leonard, Arielle Roberson, Alexis Robinson and Jamee Swan (ditto on the minimum two years, so no Brittany Spears) … I always find it interesting that when the media is dry of content, or if a tragedy should strike and/or some juicy nugget (positive or negative) presents itself, all of a sudden requests start to come in to talk to coaches and players they have ignored for the entire time leading up to it; no different this year. Now, we wouldn't mind that, but we're told that the reason they don't cover those programs is because their numbers indicate little interest in them. Yet, we still try to connect them together but often have to convince the student-athletes of why they should do it when no one cared previously.
(Were) Off To Fast Starts
We had some alums making their debuts as regulars on some of the professional golf tours, and they were off to pretty good starts until the Coronavirus derailed their tours for the foreseeable future. Sebastian Heisele ('11) qualified for full status on the European Tour, and he had played in all six tournaments and made four cuts. The lanky 6-foot-6 Buff has won 97,223 euros (the equivalent of just under $109,000), upping his career earnings over 51 tournaments to just under 400,000 euros in events he has been able to participate. Born on a semi-famous date (08-08-88, the first night game ever at Wrigley Field), the 31-year old is averaging 308.6 yards per drive (56th-best on the European Tour). Robyn Choi ('18) started her season off with a victory in her native Australia's ALPG Qualifying Tournament (210, -9), and had won just under $63,000 in four events, including tying for sixth in the Victorian Open. Jenny Coleman ('14) is in her sixth year competing professionally, and tied for 26th in that same Victorian event. Esther Lee ('17) is in her first year on the LPGA Tour, she's tried her hand in three meets but didn't make a cut.
March Madness: What If CU's Best Four Teams Played Each Other (Part I)
I thought I'd have a little fun, and have a P-'Tudes March Madness of our best basketball teams playing each other in an imaginary bracket (but starting with the Final Four). This edition, I'll do the Colorado women and come back with the men next week. I've seen all of the women's teams in person and also gathered some outside opinions. I seeded the teams myself, which can easily be up for debate (as are the results for that matter), and if there were back-to-back teams that featured the bulk of the same rosters, I selected one of those (e.g., 2001-02/2002-03 women's). This was for pure fun, not to mention some content even though imaginary as we wade through the Coronavirus.
CU Women's Semifinal #1: (1) 1994-95 vs. (4) 1980-81
Ceal Barry's 1994-95 team finished with a 30-3 record and reached the Elite Eight, where an 82-79 loss to Georgia kept CU out of the Final Four. After a 5-2 start, the losses coming to No. 4 Louisiana Tech and No. 1 Tennessee, the Buffs reeled off 25 wins a row, tying the school record for all sports (baseball won 25 in a row from 1939 into 1941). The team was 7-3 against top 25 teams, averaged 77.2 points on offense while allowing 57.8 per game. In 1980-81, Sox Walseth took over the program and led the team to a 28-5 record and its first-ever berth in the AIAW Championship (the NCAA would absorb the AIAW two years later). The team opened 12-0 and was the first to be ranked, done at the time by Mel Greenberg for the Associated Press out of Philadelphia. CU was 0-3 against ranked teams, averaged 83.9 points on offense and allowed 59.3 defensively.
'94-95 Starters: F Erin Scholz, F Jen Terry, C Isabelle Fijalkowski, G Shelley Sheetz, G De Celle Thomas (6th: G Amy Palmer)
'80-81 Starters: F Sandy Bean, F Debbie Descano, C Lisa Van Goor, G Betsy Bailey, G Laurie Welch (6th: G Corky O'Rourke)
This match-up pairs two of the best, if not the best, players in our history and CU Athletic Hall of Fame members in Lisa Van Goor and Shelley Sheetz. Van Goor would be battling Isabelle Fijalkowski down low; both were their respective team's leading scorer those years (Van Goor 18.5, Fijalkowski 16.3). I would think Laurie Welch would guard Sheetz and vice-versa, though Corky O'Rourke could slide over as well. Two very good defensive teams, I could see a rugged first half that could end in a 29-29 tie; The game remained close, neither team leading by more than five points, until the 5-minute mark, when back-to-back baskets from Jen Terry and Erin Scholz had the '95ers ahead, 61-55. In the end, I think with the '94-95 team having played a tougher schedule and the 1-2 punch of Fijalkowski and Sheetz (12.9 ppg/4.0 apg), combined with being the better free throw shooting team, eventually pulled away for a 71-64 win. Van Goor led all scorers with 27 points while also grabbing 14 rebounds, Fijalkowski tops the '95ers with 20 while Sheetz adds 17 and 10 assists.
CU Women's Semifinal #2: (2) 2002-03 vs. (3) 1988-89
A contest that matches Barry's first great CU team against one of her last. The 1988-89 team tied the second-best mark in school history with a 27-4 mark, was ranked the last two months of the year (peaking at No. 9) and hosted the first NCAA tournament game in school history in front of the first-ever sellout crowd at the CU Events & Conference Center (11,199); No. 16 UNLV ended CU's season in front of that throng, 84-74. CU was 1-2 against ranked teams, but the win came over No. 2 Louisiana Tech. CU averaged 76.1 points on offense and 65.0 on defense. The 2002-03 team, despite owning a 24-8 record, was ranked only briefly just prior to the midway point of the season. It was 2-6 against ranked teams and reached the Sweet Sixteen, where Villanova edged CU, 53-51 in the regional final. The team averaged 67.7 points on offense, allowing 58.3. Both teams were excellent free throw shooting team, matched exactly at 75.2 percent; the '88-89 team was a little bit deadlier from beyond the arc (40.8 to 37.0) and overall.
'02-03 Starters: F Linda Lappe, F Sabrina Scott, C Tera Bjorklund, G Kate Fagan, G Maria Billingsley (6th: F Randie Wirt)
'88-89 Starters: F Rosland Starks, F Tracy Tripp, C Crystal Ford, G Bridget Turner, G Annan Wilson (6th: F Gretchen DeWitte)
This game could go down many ways, but I think would be higher scoring that the first semifinal and I can't see either team pulling away. Let's have the '02-03 team ahead, 39-37, at halftime, though Maria Billingsley has had her hands full guarding another CU Hall of Famer, Bridget Turner, who scored 18 first half points. At some point, there would likely be a three-point field goal barrage of Annan "Spud" Wilson (53-of-118) versus Kate Fagan (70-of-181), and that occurred early in the second half when each team was trying to outdistance the other, but neither could. Each drained four threes in as many minutes, though Fagan also had to guard Tracy Tripp on defense. With under 5 minutes remaining, the game is tied at 70-all, and that's when yet another CU Hall of Famer Tera Bjorklund started to take over, especially on the boards. Both teams shot 46 percent, hit 80 percent of their free throws, but in the end a Linda Lappe layup with 6.3 seconds left provided the margin of victory, 83-81. Turner led all scorers with 25 points, with Tripp, Wilson and Crystal Ford each adding 12 for the 80s gang; Bjorklund led the winners with 19, along with nine rebounds (six and four, respectively, down the stretch), with Fagan scoring 16.
CU Women's Championship: (1) 1994-95 vs. (2) 2002-03
The '94-95 Buffs entered the title as the prohibitive favorite and did not disappoint. With a day between games and little time for the '02-03 team to recover from its battle to the finish, it needed to get off to a good start. Fijalkowski and Scholz combined for 16 points as the '95ers built a 24-14 lead at the midway point of the first half. Fagan's three-point shooting kept her squad in the game, as she made 3-of-5 tries with Sabrina Scott and Bjorklund scoring six points each in the final minutes, but Sheetz & Company still held a 43-34 lead at intermission. The Bjorklund bunch did their best to hang in there, but would get no closer than six the rest of the way, as the '94-95 team claimed the title of CU's best women's team in its history with an 86-75 win. Fijalkowski (who averaged 23.0 points per game in the real '95 tournament run) led five players in double figures with 27 points, while Bjorklund, Lappe and Fagan each scored 16 for the runners-up.
Ceal Barry's Thoughts: "The '95 team was battle-tested with the schedule they played. Jen Terry was that glue player that had all the intangibles that kept the locker room together! D.C. Thomas could guard a 1,2, or a 3. That team had great depth inside. Amy Palmer came off the bench, a tremendous sixth player and any number of players could lead us in scoring, and did." (Seven different players did at one time or another over the 33 games.)
This P-'Tudes Number: 12
That's the number of times in 22 seasons that Ceal Barry's teams earned a berth into the NCAA tournament. Of those 12 squads, six went on to the Sweet 16 and three of those advanced into the Elite Eight. The combined record of those 12 teams? An impressive 300–89, a 77.1 winning percentage.
The P-'Tudes Mailbag
Q: What CU team (sport) has beaten a No. 1-ranked team the most times?
A: Our volleyball team has two. Defeated Nebraska in 2006 (its only loss the entire year on its way to winning the NCAA title) and Washington on 2013 (the Huskies' first loss of the year). The Huskers were 33-1 in '06, but the Buffs got the better of them in Boulder in winning three games to two (19-30, 30-28, 15-30, 30-27, 15-12), snapping NU's 23-game win streak in the process. CU bested UW, three games to one, also in Boulder (25-17, 26-24, 15-25, 25-19). The Buffs also own two wins over No. 2 teams – against Nebraska and Washington.
Football is 0-9 against No. 1 teams (AP/Coaches), however, when we beat Nebraska 62-36 on Nov. 23, 2001, the Huskers entered the game ranked No. 1 in the BCS Standings. Football has several wins over Nos. 2 and 3; Men's basketball has one win over a No. 2 (57-53 over Oklahoma State in 1992), three wins over No. 3 and four wins over No. 4. Women's basketball defeated a No. 2 (61-60 over Louisiana Tech in 1989), and while 0-4 against No. 1's, all four losses were by six points or less. Outside of dual competitions, skiing and golf have defeated top-ranked teams in meets and tournament play.
Q: What are your personal favorite sports movies? Would like one I haven't seen before that maybe I can find while sitting at home.
A: Hmmm … my top 10 would be probably ones you've seen before: 1. 61* (story of the Mantle-Maris chase to catch or pass Babe Ruth in 1961; well done, not Hollywooded-up with fake story lines because Billy Crystal produced it and wanted it as accurate as possible); 2. Miracle (1980 U.S. Hockey team); 3. Hoosiers (C'mon. it's Hoosiers); 4. The Natural (starring a Buff in Robert Redford); 5. Field of Dreams; 6. Kingpin (well, it is about bowling); 7-10. Rocky I, III, II and Rocky Balboa, in that order (IV jumped the shark when the Politburo started rooting for Rocky and it made me skip V all together). What do I mean by Hollywooded-up? Two examples: Rudy (NCAA never had a limit on how many players you could dress for a home game; players did not stream into Dan Devine's office placing their jerseys on his desk, etc.) and We Are Marshall (student body never chanted outside their board of official meeting; and they made the school president out to be a buffoon, waiting for Walter Byers in the rain outside his NCAA office). And I've heard even Miracle strayed a bit (e.g., my first boss at CU, Mike Moran, ran the postgame press conferences, not the USA Hockey guy).
Trivia Answers
CU—Javernick played all 65 minutes in that game (or more than six players did on this year's team … and about seven minutes less than those players combined).
Music— The song was Bette Davis Eyes, by Kim Carnes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eja-popojUo).
Name That Tune—Paradise By The Dashboard Light, by Meat Loaf. Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11MzbEcHlw.
"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.
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