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Sound off on who will win the CU vs. CSU showdown

Contributed by: Jeff Thomas on 8/24/2006

Editor's Note: YourHub.com staffers Kevin Villegas, a CU-Boulder grad, and Seth Davis, a CSU grad, gave their opposing arguments for why their school will win the upcoming Rocky Mountain Showdown on Sept. 9 at Invesco Field at Mile High. To give your take on the game, go here.

Pro CU column:
I waited until November of my senior year in high school to decide where I wanted to go to college. I didn't want to leave the state, but I also wanted to feel like I had some semblance of autonomy from my single mother.

My girlfriend at the time decided pretty much the same thing. We both wanted to go to a university, and although Colorado has its fair share of them, the choice only really came down to two: CU and CSU. I guess I wrongly assumed that we'd be making the same choice.

So imagine my surprise when she came up to me shortly before Thanksgiving and told me she was going to CSU.

I gaped at her, mouth wide open. "Are you kidding me?" I asked her. She replied that she wasn't and that CSU was a good choice.

"Why?" she asked. "You want to go," she snickered, "to CU?"

I was so mad at her. We were supposed to go to school together, get our degrees at the same time and get married. That was the plan. And now here she was, flexing her neo-feminist muscle. Well, I thought, I'm not going to a town like Fort Collins for four years. My best friend isn't a cow and I don't chew tobacco.

So you see, this happens to many dozens of Colorado 18-year-olds every year. It's no wonder there is a rivalry.

It's finally the time of year that I love: football time. Every September, kids make the trek from Fort Collins or Boulder, beer coolers in hand, to Invesco Field at Mile High for the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

Our assured victory isn't nearly as simple as a conference thing, even though the Mountain West is like Pee Wee football compared to the Big 12. It isn't even as simple as the tried and true talent issue, where CU has it and CSU doesn't. No, our victory lies in the little things, things that people sometimes overlook when talking about a rivalry.

There are four reasons why CSU will fall under our mighty sword.

First, the fight songs. Now, after four years of sitting next to the band, I have to say that I know the CU fight song really well, despite the presence of inebriating beverages. Our fight song is full of strong, powerful words that bring emotion and tears to the average football fan: fight, victory, mighty sword, shoulder. CSU's song has a lot of words like stalwart, asunder and ram. Sounds like someone is using the thesaurus a lot to try and compete with our four Nobel Laureates.

Most versions also feature the word buffaloes, although they have replaced the word "buffaloes" with "opponent's name." Ten thousand kids screaming, "Tear the opponent's name line asunder" doesn't work very well.

Next, famous quarterbacks. Bradlee Van Pelt. Kordell Stewart. Enough said.

Finally, the Hawk. We have a new coach. Dan Hawkins isn't your regular coach. He likes to skydive. He isn't above doing things a little bit differently. Plus, he has a penchant for winning. Boise State, the small university that no one has ever heard of, garnered first place votes in the AP poll while he was there. CSU has Sonny Lubick. Sonny is a great guy and undoubtedly a Colorado football legend. But he's been at CSU for 12 years. It ended horribly for CSU last year with a 50-31 shellacking from Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl. Talk to me in December when Hawk has led CU to eight victories and the Holiday Bowl and CSU can't make a bowl appearance for only the third time in the last 12 seasons.

I will concede that CU has a depleted and oft-suspended secondary, an iffy-at-best starting quarterback and is learning a new system with growing pains like Andre the Giant must have had. But CSU just can't compete with CU's superior talent. It must be hard to have humble pie year after year after the CU game.

Sept. 9 is not far away. But CSU probably wishes it were.

Pro-CSU column
Sept. 9 can't come soon enough. After a couple years of near misses against CU, CSU has a stalwart team that, on paper, is capable of tearing the Buffs asunder and ramming the ball down their throats. I will go on record here as saying that I will honor any wager with my CU-alumni colleagues here at YourHub.com.

Kevin Villegas, if you're reading this, name the stakes and I will accept.

Quite a few of my friends went to school in Boulder, a mistake I try not to hold against them. I actually don't have a problem with them until the CU-CSU game rolls around, and then anything related to Buffaloes begins to grate on my nerves. Buffalo Bill is long gone, but even he gets under my skin. I don't really buy into the whole tobacco-chewing rednecks vs. unhygienic trust fund hippies trash-talking. It doesn't matter to me whether a CU fan is a hippie or a ninja or a 92-year-old woman. Come football season, it's on.

In response to my co-worker's column, here are four reasons why CU will leave Invesco Field with the bitter taste of defeat (and turf) in their mouths:

CU's fight song sounds more like that of a team desperate for a win and trying to boost its confidence. It's like the guy standing in front of the mirror, fogging up the room with his cologne and smoothing his eyebrows before he goes out for a night on the town, saying, "Come on, you can do this, don't be nervous, the ladies are going to love you." Sounds a little like CU is trying to cover up feelings of inadequacy. And just as the guy repeating his self-help mantra probably won't end up with a date, CU probably won't end up with a win this year. CSU's song, on the other hand, basically says we're going to march down your field, make your defense look silly and deposit the football in your end zone. CSU doesn't need to talk itself into playing; the team just does it.

I will concede that CU has the upper hand when it comes to claiming famous alumni quarterbacks. Luckily, James Cox is not famous and will be picked on by the Rams worse than Pamela Anderson at the Comedy Central Roast.

Dan Hawkins has proved himself to be a different kind of coach who has the potential to lead the Buffs to some great seasons - just not this season. Joining a team that has been embroiled in controversy and has a questionable offense is a tough task for any coach. Sonny Lubick, however, knows his team well, has a lot of talent to work with this year and should be able to produce a winning season.

CSU did lose some key players last year, but the ones who are replacing them could be just what the team is looking for. Caleb Hanie is a big, physical quarterback who should be able to shrug off some of the hits that Justin Holland couldn't. Kyle Bell, still just a junior running back, had a breakout season last year and should attract some attention away from the receivers. And CSU's secondary has enough experience and talent to make the Buffs' Cox think twice about doing anything besides handing the ball off.

We'll find out who the better prognosticator in the office is on Sept. 7. Maybe I'll even invite Kevin to watch the game at a sports bar with me as long as he doesn't cry when CU loses. That would just be awkward.

To give your take on the game, go here.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Jeff Thomas has posted 1629 stories and 83 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Jeff Thomas's average story rating is 4.73.
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