You gotta hand it to the Denver Post, Colorado's flagship newspaper. Old habits apparently die hard. The Post has been considered somewhat of a joke among Colorado Buffaloes fans for their lack of coverage of the University of Colorado, the state's flagship university for years.
Today, in response to the Buffs' big win at Stanford, they tossed a very backhanded compliment toward the Buffs and Colorado's home grown Phillip Lindsay by writing an article about him.
The article featured this photo by Ben Margot of the Associated Press. Photo has been cropped for space.
The Denver Post caption to the photo reads:
Colorado’s Nick Fisher (23) rushes against Stanford during the first
half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, in
Stanford, Calif.
It's been a few years since I was in the newspaper business, but it seems to me that a caption about someone named in the title of the article should not get the name wrong.
Colorado fans were shocked when Mark Kiszla wrote a positive article about the Buffs last week, since he customarily trashes them. Some even joked on some of the fan boards and on the Daily Camera's Buff Zone Chat that an imposter had posted under Kiszla's byline.
Some say it might be a simple mistake, but the Post has been atrocious for years before this season in their coverage of Colorado Buffaloes Football.
To give credit where it is due, however, Nick Kosmider has done excellent work this season as the primary beat writer covering the Buffs.
One final note -- I posted on the Denver Post comments section shortly after the article was published, and three hours later the caption still identifies Lindsay as Nick Fisher.
Like I said... Old habits die hard.
The Colorado Buffaloes traveled to Stanford and beat the Cardinal for the first time since joining the Pac-12. It was the second consecutive home loss for head coach David Shaw, who came into the game with a Stanford record of 58-16 (with only five home losses) since taking over as head coach in 2011.
The five points scored by Stanford represented the fewest that Stanford has scored in the Shaw era, and the fewest since they scored only 3 points against Arizona State in 2007. More importantly for the Cardinal this year, the team has scored only FOUR offensive touchdowns in the last 5 games.
Colorado, on the other hand, shook some monkeys off their backs with the win. California, one of their prime recruiting grounds, has not been kind to the Buffs over the years. The Buffs came into the game having won only TWO out of 23 games in the Golden State.
The Buffs also managed to win despite some serious problems. Two drives with "first and goal" ended with the Buffs missing chip shot field goals. Another field goal of slightly longer also missed the mark. Things were so bad that punter Alex Kinney attempted a field goal after Chris Graham missed his first two attempts. Kinney's attempt missed as well.
It was a sign of how things have changed for the Buffs. Over the years since joining the Pac-12, a major breakdown in any aspect of the team usually led to yet another big loss.
That is not the case now. Jim Leavitt's defense played lights out, causing multiple turnovers and keeping last year's Heisman runner-up Christian McCaffrey under wraps for the most part. A full 40% of Stanford's points came on a safety when the Buffs opted to give up the two points with 8 seconds remaining rather than try to punt out of the end zone.
Mike MacIntyre's Buffaloes now leave California with a 6-2 record, bowl eligibility, and first place in the Pac-12 South heading into their "bye-week" before hosting UCLA on national television on Thursday, November 3. Things have most definitely changed for the Colorado Buffaloes.
The way things have been going, Folsom Field should be packed to the hilt for the game. The Buffs are marching inexorably toward their goal of playing for a Pac-12 championship, and at this point they control their own destiny with three of their last four games being played at the most beautiful stadium in the country, Folsom Field.
More posts to come as stats and info becomes available.
My father Fred and I first stepped foot on "The Farm" (more commonly known as Stanford University) on September 19, 1970 to watch a game between Stanford and San Jose State.
For years already in my young life, my father had been taking me to Arizona State University football games at Sun Devil Stadium, less than five miles from our home in Scottsdale. Shortly after moving from Arizona to Silicon Valley, my Dad managed to get tickets to see my first college football game in California. He thought was an important game for quite a few reasons.
My father was born and raised in Winslow, Arizona, just south of the largest Indian Reservation in the United States. The Navajo Nation Reservation covers more than 27,000 square miles across a Arizona, New Mexico and into Utah. Also not far from Winslow is the Hopi Nation, whose 6,558 square mile reservation lies within the Navajo Reservation.
My father grew up with Native Americans. The Indians and the Hispanics (my father's background) made up more than half of the population of Winslow. Despite their numbers, neither Hispanics nor the Native Americans (or other minorities like Blacks) were allowed to use the public swimming pool, except for one day per week so that the pool could be drained, cleaned, and refilled before the lighter skinned folks of Winslow used the pool again. Really.
My father also spent his youth working at the family's Hubbell Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation. The trading post's founder Don Lorenzo Hubbell was married to Lina Rubi. To my father, local Native Americans were not only his neighbors, but also his friends, and they made a large impact with how he would live his entire life.
Back in 1970, the nickname of the Stanford athletics teams was the "Indians" -- and the quarterback of their team was a Hispanic/Native American named Jim Plunkett. My Father wanted to see the young man play. It represented a serious change from his youth. He and some of his Hispanic and Indian friends were denied the chance for athletic scholarships to college because of their ethnicity. So, it was Army first, and college afterwards due to the GI Bill.
My father was very excited that one of the best football players in the country was the quarterback for Stanford. And Plunkett was an Indian both in heritage and as a Stanford player. My father was very excited to see the game.
Stanford has opened the season as the #10 team in the country. In their first game, they traveled to #4 Arkansas and beat the Razorbacks 34-28. The Indians jumped in the polls that week all the way to #4 for their game against San Jose State. That day, September 19, 1970, Plunkett led the Indians to a 34-3 manhandling of the Spartans.
Those first two weeks of the 1970 season were just the springboard for Plunkett. After his Consensus All-American season, he won the Heisman Trophy and every other award imaginable on his way to being the #1 overall draft pick in the NFL the following year. My Dad was very proud.
Jim Plunkett was the first player I got to watch in person that would go on to win the Heisman. For that, old and huge Stanford Stadium will always hold a place in my heart. But that place is gone now, having been replaced by a newer, shinier and much smaller version in 2005. Stanford is no longer called the Indians. They gave that up in 1972 because some thought it was degrading. And they are no longer called the Cardinals. That stopped in 1981 because they didn't want folks to think they were birds. They have been the Cardinal (as in the color) since that time, represented by a tree for a mascot. Really.
It would have been so nice for the Buffaloes and the Indians to be on the same field once again. And I wish I could go back in time to see more college football games with my father. C'est la vie. Time goes on.
Go Colorado Buffaloes!
Update: Final score, Colorado 10-5 over Stanford.
