Plati on Hawkins, CSU, money and academics

CU sports information director Dave Plati talks Buffaloes with BuffCity Breakdown and shares his insight with you. Now in his 22nd year as SID and his 28th year of affiliation in the department, the man knows a little CU football. He also has extensive experience being associated with the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies and the Bolder Boulder.

Ready?

Let's roll.

BCB: To what would you compare the reaction of Saturday's loss (to Montana State) to in your tenure at CU?

Plati: Not much. The media is bigger than it was it was 25 years ago and the angles (of stories) are more negative. All I know is the team I saw on Saturday probably could beat 40 Division 1 -A teams. They had more speed than I imagined and in most mismatches between levels of teams it is a speed issue.

BCB: Is (coach) Dan Hawkins as unique a personality with his philosophy and approach as you've seen or met?

Plati: I tell people he is part (Bill) McCartney and part (Rick) Neuheisel. He is old school in his approach and the way he speaks, how he fires up a team and he's hip. He's up-to-date on new-age technology, sort of like Rick.

BCB: What will Hawkins' biggest challenge be in building this program?

Plati: No one thing. I think the little things added up over time. He has to build back the recruiting base, handle the restrictions with it, as we don't have the 5 wild cards anymore (players now have to more stringently meet both NCAA & university admissions requirements and not just NCAA demands). We don't have carte blanche like we used to.

BCB: Describe the evolution of the CU-CSU series.

Plati: It wasn't a hot commodity until the late 1980s. We didn't sell out a CSU game until 1992 at Folsom Field. It took a while to get going because we didn't play (each other) every year for a while.

BCB: Do you like the game opening both school's year or being the second game or is the thought of moving it, if possible, to the end of the season interesting to you?

Plati: Most rivalry games are conference games and this isn't. That's why they are usually played at the end of the season. Personally, I like it (CU-CSU) as the last non-conference game. You lose the game now and you're sluggish for a while. As the last non-conference game, you have to pick yourself up right away.

BCB: Few know CU history like you, Dave, and few likely know better that Hawkins' losing debut doesn't necessarily portend doom for his tenure, does it?

Plati: It's overblown. One new coach has won his season opener since 1932. That was Neuheisel and he was on the staff the previous year. Dallas Ward was a good coach. Bill Mallory was a good coach. McCartney was a good coach. Gary Barnett won two Big-10 titles at Northwestern. We've hired coaches with great pedigrees and all lost their first game.

BCB: Has money and academics made winning much more difficult? Are those two factors too big of obstacles to overcome?

Plati: It can if we let it. It might be harder to cross bridges here. We have handicaps other schools don't have but we have things other schools don't have, like scenery and academics, which are second to none. There are examples of good schools winning with academics (requirements). The money wars are primarily in the Big 12 South division but money doesn't buy love, money doesn't buy happiness and money doesn't buy championships. Oklahoma doesn't win a championship every year, Texas doesn't win a championship every year and they won't win one every year.

TheTruth...BCB thanks Plati for some clock, insight and being candid.

Questions and comments to thebuffalotruth@yahoo.com.