July 27, 2010

By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Head coach Steve Fairchild and seniors Zac Pauga and Guy Miller are Colorado State’s representatives at the Mountain West Conference’s 12th annual football media days this week.

The group landed in Las Vegas Sunday night in time for the annual head coaches meeting Monday with MWC commissioner Craig Thompson and the rest of his conference staff. Representatives from across the conference, including players, sports information directors, and newspaper, television and radio journalists from every market, have convened at the Red Rock Hotel and Casino in northwest Las Vegas.

Pauga, a fourth-year starter and the Rams’ leading returning pass-catcher, scored a significant victory for CSU in the first organized competition of the 2010 football season. The fullback from Lakewood, Colo., rolled a 165 to distance himself from his fellow MWC players, including Heisman candidate Andy Dalton from TCU, at the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas Student-Athlete Bowling Challenge. The Mtn., which also has sent most of its people to Las Vegas, was there to capture highlights.

Miller is one of few senior starters on a Rams defense that has both experience and potential, the silver lining in an injury-riddled 2009 campaign. That defense returns 10 starters (CBs Momo Thomas and DeAngelo Wilkinson, FS Elijah-Blu Smith, SS Ivory Herd, LBs Mychal Sisson and Alex Williams, and linemen Cory Macon, Ty Whittier, Zach Tiedgen and Miller, although Tiedgen isn’t expected to play this season after a knee injury). Ricky Brewer, a sophomore All-American in 2008, also returns to his OLB spot after a 2009 season-long suspension. Miller, who began his career at CSU as an offensive lineman, played a major role in the team’s 3-0 start last season, helping the Rams gain votes in both national polls before their disappointing finish.

Following media days events: Tuesday is the week’s busiest day, as the Rams have interviews with CBS College Sports, VERSUS, The Mtn. and sportswriters and television reporters from around the conference, in addition to a press-conference-style podium session. Fans are invited to engulf themselves in all the activities. The first stop is the MWC media days football central page.

Hip hop: The Red Rock hosts countless conferences. This week, the MWC is sharing the conference space with Hip Hop International’s annual championships. On Monday, participants were in the meeting space practicing their moves. Picture a combination between the national high school cheerleading competiton and a Jay-Z music video. The meeting space is big enough to comfortably accommodate both groups.

Bircumshaw remembered back in Fort Collins: To honor his legacy, a group of volunteers organized the Rich Bircumshaw Memorial Golf Tournament, held Monday at the Fort Collins Country Club. The event included 18 holes of golf at one of the state's premier courses and a tribute dinner. Following golf, an array of items were up for grabs at silent and live auctions. The goal was to raise enough money to fund a Legacy Scholarship for CSU athletics in the name of the late Voice of the Rams, who passed away unexpectedly in the spring of 2009. Senior associate athletic director Gary Ozzello, who claims he set golf back decades, joined a foursome of Bircumshaw’s good friends, Joe Vasos from the CSU communications and creative services office, Joe Cervi from the Pueblo Chieftain, and Tony Phifer, the longtime Coloradoan beat writer that now works for the university. They were among approximately 80 golfers, including two foursomes of Bircumshaw family members. The day also featured on-course promotions, including the CSU volleyball team.

Rocky Mountain Showdown ticket update: Student tickets to the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown against CU Sept. 4 at Invesco Field went on sale last week. Less than 2,000 student tickets are left and not expected to last much longer. They are only available at a special page on CSURams.com. The Web site sold more than 3,600 on the first day they went on sale July 19. Within the first two hours that day, the entire first level of the student sections had sold out.

Preseason honors: While the Mountain West will announce its preseason all-conference teams Tuesday morning, the Rams already are getting a handful of early honors. Defensive end Eugene Daniels has been nominated as one of 112 football players across the nation, one of 57 from the Division I FBS and the only from CSU’s region, selected as a nominee for the Allstate Good Works Team. The Rams also are nominating tight end Eric Peitz for the John Mackey Award and Lowes Senior CLASS Award, Smith for the Thorpe Award and Sisson for the Butkus.

Showdown documentary: The Mtn. is doing a documentary on the CU-CSU rivalry, talking to current and former figures from both schools, including Sonny Lubick, Kevin McDougal, Fairchild, Ozzello, Charles Johnson and Alfred Williams. It’ll air later in August. Nic Hallisey, a student-assistant in the CSU sports information office, is playing a major role in producing the piece. He’s interning with the network this summer.

Indoor facility receives honor: Lefever Building Systems (LBS) of Commerce City was recently honored by Varco Pruden Buildings with the Hall of Fame award for its work on Colorado State’s new Indoor Practice Facility.  As the metal building, framing and erection contractor for this large-scale construction project, LBS invested roughly six months to erect the structure, including many innovative design features such as segmented rafters to create the radial clear span, as well as Kalwall panels to allow significant natural lighting without losing insulation value. 

Walter, Kubiak humbled by awards:  Former CSU center Tim Walter, who signed in April as a non-drafted free agent with the Chicago Bears and will go to camp with Jay Cutler’s backup (former CSU signal-caller Caleb Hanie) at the end of this week, will be honored with the first annual Keli McGregor Award. Klint Kubiak, who married volleyball player Tessa Nelson last month in Minnesota, earned the Fum McGraw Award. Both players when contacted were extremely humbled and honored.

More weddings: CSU assistant coach Dan Hammerschmidt is engaged to former CSU softball player Geri Brumit. Geri’s nephew is Rams long-snapper Tanner Hedstrom. Voice of the Rams Brian Roth and his fiancée Corinne Hofstetter have plans for a Saturday wedding. Hofstetter, a Mountain West Conference champion in the 200 Butterfly in 2003 and ’04, powered Colorado State to consecutive runner-up finishes at the MWC swimming championships during those two seasons.

New season, new mascot: Along with new football uniforms and a new Moby Arena scoreboard, Cam the Ram will have a new costume this season.

Brotherly love: Since Lubick became head coach in 1993, the Rams have had 17 sets of brothers come through the program. The latest are the Gillmores (Austin and Crockett from Bushland, Texas) and the Borckys (T.J. and Bobby from Orlando, Fla.).

Intriguing stories on offensive line: Among those battling for the four starting roles vacated on the Rams’ offensive line by players now on NFL rosters will be Justin Becker and Jared Biard. Becker redshirted as a true freshman in 2009 after a grayshirt enrollment. A second-team all-Mountain Plains League defensive lineman as a senior at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo., he actually didn’t play football as a sophomore or junior. As a freshman, he attended Bennett (Colo.) High School, on the plains east of Denver, then moved to Highlands Ranch and opted to concentrate on basketball. Biard is a descendent of football legend Jim Thorpe.

Freshmen signal-callers: For the first time in CSU history this season, the Rams are expected to have a freshman – either true freshman Pete Thomas or redshirt Nico Ranieri – lead the team in passing. A freshman has never done that before.

Phase II complete: CSU recently involved 100 percent of its football team in the second phase of Fairchild’s annual community initiative. The first phase, before spring practice, made CSU what is believed to be among the only football programs – if not the only one -- in the country with every player involved in community service. By the end of the year, every player on the roster will have made not only one community service appearance, but three. In addition to the summer phase, the Rams plan every year to use their bye week for the final community outreach. Without a bye week on the 2010 schedule, Fairchild hopes to conduct the final phase this year after the regular season.