Rich Clarkson/ Sports Illustrated
Colorado Buffaloes football: The birth, death, and destiny of 1989
This story idea came to your scribe in dead sleep the morning after celebrating my handsome son’s 34th birthday. For obvious reasons, 1989 is a year never to be forgotten in the McIntosh household as it commenced the journey of a dark-haired and quick-witted man who now lives in Los Angeles with his absolutely beautiful and equally-sharp wife, both writers and producers in the entertainment world. Dad and father-in-law are grateful the writers and actors are back to work,
But 1989 also represents the year the University of Colorado football program rose to national prominence and played for the first time for a national title, which Michigan and Washington will play for on the night of January 8th.
Kyle’s birth was December 23, 1989. As the “Buff Guy” for KCNC-TV, now CBS News Colorado, it was my responsibility to be present wherever the Buffaloes roamed. Excuse me for dating myself, but back in 1989, the Buffs under Bill McCartney had no indoor practice facility like today’s team enjoys. It had nothing like the facilities built under athletic director Rick George’s excellent leadership. Nope. Just an aging “Team House” located where the Dal Ward Center now stands. Cold and lousy weather? Tough. Suck it up and walk down the hill to the practice fields and get your work complete. If the weather was frightful? The team would retreat to Balch Fieldhouse. Showing off fancy facilities was not a priority for McCartney, then recruiting coordinator George and the CU staff.
Still the great athletes came from the inner cities of America: Quarterback Darian Hagan and others from south central Los Angeles; Defensive standouts Alfred Williams, Kanavis McGhee and friends from Houston, New Orleans, Dallas, and other big cities. It all came together as “One Heart” in 1989 when the Buffs ran the table in the regular season inspired by the death of their starting quarterback. The rise of Hagan as a magical quarterback and the first attempt for college football supremacy that, Buffs fans know, ended in a turnover-plagued loss to Notre Dame at the Orange Bowl.
What a year 1989 was for CU. Those thoughts were flying through my brain while gazing at my 34-year-old son across the table over dinner celebrating his birth at close friend’s who are, basically, uncle and aunt to Kyle Martirez-McIntosh. The uncle is the same dude who, in an earlier column, was exalted for emotionally destroying Nebraska from a 2001 Folsom Field seat directly behind the Cornhusker bench when Colorado overwhelmed the ‘Big Red’ 62-36.
My only son was born, the Buffs were the national story, your correspondent had a front-row seat and documentaries like the gripping “Born to Lead” were born from Sal Aunese’s tragic passing. Full disclosure, I’m a fan of the Cleveland Browns because Aunese’s son T.C. McCartney’s the team’s tight ends coach. Timothy Chase McCartney was born in April of 1989. His mom Kristy and this friend of the McCartney family text occasionally, especially after games the Browns keep winning in dramatic fashion. There’s an occasional glimpse of the bearded McCartney on the Browns’ sidelines. It always makes me think of 1989, his birth, his father’s death, Kyle’s birth and the arrival of CU as a national power for the next decade.
These memories are flooding back to an aging father while watching adult son have fun blowing out a sole candle on the delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting that Auntie Kerry whipped up specially for him. My mind floats back to ’89 again. With no indoor practice facility, the Buffs left early for Miami. I had only time to witness my son’s birth and then jump on the Colorado charter heading for the Sunshine State on Christmas Eve and final preparations for the New Year’s night tussle.
Michigan and Washington are in the spotlight this year. One will reign atop the college football world with its inspirational story of overcoming adversity and lying on the battlefield joyously after winning the final game.
Each year on the eve of the national championship? This 65-year-old mind always wanders back to 1989 and unforgettable memories of birth, death and destiny. Maybe Coach Prime takes the Buffs back to a time of a true New Year's celebration.