I am a Buffalo.
I was 9 when I saw my first CU game. It was 1981 and a friend and snuck in to watch the Buffs play Jim McMahon and BYU. I don’t remember if we jumped the fence or ducked through the open ambulance gate in the North-West corner of the stadium, but we sat in the area that is now visitor seating. At that time, CU traveled to and from the locker room via the same ramp that visiting teams do today. BYU won, and the team left the field in their powder blue, we lined up along the railing to give the team high-fives. Despite the loss, I like to think they appreciated the support.
That is when I experienced my own Mean Joe Green – Coca Cola moment. One of the players, high-fived me, stopped, took off is wrist bands and game them to me. They were light blue with a white stripe – god-awful ugly by today’s standard, for in 1981, those mothers were bad ass! I wore them around for the entire week, telling everyone who would listen, that a CU Football Player gave them to me.
That was the moment I became a Buffalo, and I have been a Buffalo ever since.
I was a Buffalo when joined the Ralphie Stampeder Club in ’82 and ’83 (kids under 12 got tickets to 4 home games, a soda and a hotdog for $15).
I was a Buffalo when, at age 12, I sold sodas in the stands (“Coke here – One Dollar!”). I got “promoted” the next two years. I got assigned to work in Balch filing the sodas and loading hotdogs into their packaging. But it wasn’t a promotion to me. I liked being outside, in the stadium watching the game and being among the fans.
I was a Buffalo when my high school team attended the Buffalo Skills camp each summer. I played receiver in a wishbone offense, so Soupy Campbell was my guy. He stopped by the camp one day to talk with the receivers group and I saw his hand, gnarled from so many jammed fingers and broken bones. Those were receiver hands, and I wanted mine to look just like them.
The summer between my junior and senior years in high school, Ariel Solomon and Greg Gould painted my house. I think I spend every minute talking to them about football and the Buffaloes.
I was a Buffalo when I turned down a scholarship to CSU in favor of going to CU.
I was a Buffalo in college, I watched pre-season practices and waited in line for the media guides to go on sale and when I drove 16 hours to see my first road game Austin my freshman year; when I danced and screamed on Pearl Street after the 1991 Orange Bowl and the Miracle in Michigan.
I was a Buffalo in 2004 and 2005 when I defended the players against labels like “rapist” and “thug.”
I was a Buffalo in 2005 when living over 1,500 miles away, and amidst a media lynch mob seeking to destroy the program that I loved, I bought my first season tickets.
I am a Buffalo, and it rips my heart out that we are about to finish our 4th consecutive losing season. I have seen this team rise from the depths of the early ‘80s to national prominence in the ‘90s and back again.
Through it all, I have been, and I will remain, a Buffalo. I will cheer for CU, I will sing the fight song and I will proudly proclaim: I AM A BUFFALO!
Anyone who suggests that I should boycott the team, not renew my season tickets, not wear Black and Gold, or wish ill on Colorado Football in any way, shape of form, I say this:
**** You! I AM A BUFFALO!!!!
I was 9 when I saw my first CU game. It was 1981 and a friend and snuck in to watch the Buffs play Jim McMahon and BYU. I don’t remember if we jumped the fence or ducked through the open ambulance gate in the North-West corner of the stadium, but we sat in the area that is now visitor seating. At that time, CU traveled to and from the locker room via the same ramp that visiting teams do today. BYU won, and the team left the field in their powder blue, we lined up along the railing to give the team high-fives. Despite the loss, I like to think they appreciated the support.
That is when I experienced my own Mean Joe Green – Coca Cola moment. One of the players, high-fived me, stopped, took off is wrist bands and game them to me. They were light blue with a white stripe – god-awful ugly by today’s standard, for in 1981, those mothers were bad ass! I wore them around for the entire week, telling everyone who would listen, that a CU Football Player gave them to me.
That was the moment I became a Buffalo, and I have been a Buffalo ever since.
I was a Buffalo when joined the Ralphie Stampeder Club in ’82 and ’83 (kids under 12 got tickets to 4 home games, a soda and a hotdog for $15).
I was a Buffalo when, at age 12, I sold sodas in the stands (“Coke here – One Dollar!”). I got “promoted” the next two years. I got assigned to work in Balch filing the sodas and loading hotdogs into their packaging. But it wasn’t a promotion to me. I liked being outside, in the stadium watching the game and being among the fans.
I was a Buffalo when my high school team attended the Buffalo Skills camp each summer. I played receiver in a wishbone offense, so Soupy Campbell was my guy. He stopped by the camp one day to talk with the receivers group and I saw his hand, gnarled from so many jammed fingers and broken bones. Those were receiver hands, and I wanted mine to look just like them.
The summer between my junior and senior years in high school, Ariel Solomon and Greg Gould painted my house. I think I spend every minute talking to them about football and the Buffaloes.
I was a Buffalo when I turned down a scholarship to CSU in favor of going to CU.
I was a Buffalo in college, I watched pre-season practices and waited in line for the media guides to go on sale and when I drove 16 hours to see my first road game Austin my freshman year; when I danced and screamed on Pearl Street after the 1991 Orange Bowl and the Miracle in Michigan.
I was a Buffalo in 2004 and 2005 when I defended the players against labels like “rapist” and “thug.”
I was a Buffalo in 2005 when living over 1,500 miles away, and amidst a media lynch mob seeking to destroy the program that I loved, I bought my first season tickets.
I am a Buffalo, and it rips my heart out that we are about to finish our 4th consecutive losing season. I have seen this team rise from the depths of the early ‘80s to national prominence in the ‘90s and back again.
Through it all, I have been, and I will remain, a Buffalo. I will cheer for CU, I will sing the fight song and I will proudly proclaim: I AM A BUFFALO!
Anyone who suggests that I should boycott the team, not renew my season tickets, not wear Black and Gold, or wish ill on Colorado Football in any way, shape of form, I say this:
**** You! I AM A BUFFALO!!!!
Last edited: