Dear Mr. Football: Is there a running joke about Arizona football?
A: A linebacker from Colorado and a quarterback from Arizona walked into the Union Public House bar Friday afternoon.
In the time that ex-Buffaloes linebacker Steve Doolittle and ex-Wildcat QB Jim Krohn β teammates on Amphitheater High Schoolβs 1975 state championship team β told old war stories, two groups wearing Colorado T-shirts were seated.
No one wearing Arizona paraphernalia walked through the door.
βDo you think I can get one of those T-shirts at Saturdayβs game?β asked Doolittle.
βNot if youβre going to sit by me,β Krohn said.
Krohn, who was Arizonaβs starting QB in 1978 and 1979, has 50-yard-line season tickets on Row 54, just beneath the press box.
Doolittle, who led an awful 1-10 CU team with 114 tackles in 1980, is Krohnβs guest; he knows how the reeling Wildcats must feel, but it is Krohn who best knows what football purgatory can be.
βMy son, Jeff, was ASUβs starting quarterback (in 2000 and 2001),β he said with a half-laugh. βIt took me a long time to be able to pull a Sun Devil T-shirt over my headβ
Dear Mr. Football: Is there life after a bad football season?
A: Krohn survived the NCAA scandal that brought down UA coach Tony Masonβs program in 1980, and led to a two-year NCAA probation. He is president and CEO of Alliance Residential, a Phoenix-based property firm with a portfolio of more than $15 billion.
Doolittle, whose last two CU teams went 4-18, played in the NFL and USFL and became a Hollywood actor in both movies and television. He lives at Venice Beach, California, and has property in the Virgin Islands.
βMy last coach at Colorado, Chuck Fairbanks, walked into the locker room at halftime when we were losing 52-0 to Oklahoma in 1980,β he remembers. βHe was smoking a cigarette and squinting at us out of one eye.
βHe said, βMen, have you ever been behind 52-0 before?β Nobody said a word. And then he said, βI havenβt, either.ββ
The Buffaloes lost that day 82-48.
Thatβs the UA locker room this season minus the cigarette.
Dear Mr. Football: Why does the Pac-12 insist on 8 p.m. kickoffs?
A: Follow the money. At last weekβs Arizona-WSU game, there were 16 TV commercials requiring 38 minutes, and that doesnβt include halftime. In those 16 commercials, there were 34 products advertised.
Can you imagine the money spent to advertise one game? DISH Network had six 30-second ads. Opus Bank had five 30-second spots. Microsoft, Coors and Farmerβs Insurance all had four 30-second ads.
It is often ridiculous and repetitive. When WSU scored to take a 55-7 lead, a GEICO commercial showing raccoons eating garbage was aired for the next 30 seconds. Thatβs my interpretation of the Late Late Show in Pac-12 football: Raccoons eating garbage.
Dear Mr. Football: Who is the best locker room orator in the Pac-12?
A: There is Coloradoβs Mike MacIntyre and then itβs a big drop to the runner-up, Arizona Stateβs fire-and-brimstone Todd Graham. None of the leagueβs coaches have MacIntyreβs zeal for putting the moment in perspective.
MacIntyreβs post-game speech after the Buffaloes won at Oregon was a classic. βYouβve been to hell and back!β he told his team, teary-eyed, voice breaking. He completed his oration by saying βThis is just one game but, boy, was that one game a lot of fun!β
MacIntyre wonβt likely get to the College Football Hall of Fame because it requires a 60 percent career winning clip to get there. But his reconstruction jobs at San Jose State, from 1-12 to 11-2 in three seasons, and his current re-do at Colorado, from 10-27 his first three years to No. 16 in the AP poll, rank with any coaching performance in history.
At last yearβs Arizona-Colorado basketball game in Boulder, I watched MacIntyre and his wife enter Coors Events Center at tipoff, walk past the CU bench and up an aisle to his seats. No one stopped him or said hello. I found myself thinking he had bitten off too much. No wonder the school had not extended his contract beyond 2018.
Now if MacIntyre walked into his schoolβs basketball arena, they would stand and cheer. Expect the Buffaloes to soon extend his contract through 2021.
Dear Mr. Football: Is MacIntyreβs son, Jay, good enough to be in the lineup?
A: Jay MacIntyre was offered scholarships by Lipscomb, Montana, Wyoming and Indiana State. Itβs not unlike Rich Rodriguez giving a scholarship to his son, Catalina Foothills quarterback Rhett Rodriguez. Eyebrows arched in the recruiting community.
But as a redshirt sophomore, Jay has earned an identity, catching 17 passes for 188 yards. He belongs. Coloradoβs incredible media relations department discovered that Jay is one of 84 players in FBS history to play for his father. Hereβs the best three in conference history:
1. J.K. McKay, USC. Johnβs son, a starting receiver for the Trojansβ 1972 and 1974 national championship teams, was MVP of the 1975 Rose Bowl and caught 88 career passes. He became an attorney and most recently was USCβs senior associate athletic director.
2. Aaron Price, Washington State. Mikeβs son was the Cougarsβ placekicker in 1992 and 1993 β he kicked a 47-yarder with 31 seconds left to beat Arizona 23-20 in 1992 β and he kicked 30 career field goals. He later coached for his father at UTEP, as well as at Tulane, Idaho State and now is the offensive coordinator at Humbodt State.
3. Danny Kush, ASU. Frankβs son kicked the famous, winning field goal at the 1975 Fiesta Bowl to beat Nebraska 17-14 and cap the greatest season (12-0) in Sun Devil history. Danny has since worked for Nokia, Motorola and even NASA. He is a project manager for Wells Fargo telecommunications.
Dear Mr. Football: Who is Arizonaβs quarterback of the future?
A: Itβs unfortunate that itβs not Steven Montez, who rescued the Buffaloes when starter Sefo Liufau was injured. Montez passed for 957 yards and rushed for 220 in games against Oregon, OSU and USC.
Montez, a 6-foot-5-inch, 225-pound redshirt freshman from El Pasoβs Del Valle High, projects as an impact QB in the league for the next three seasons. He surely wouldβve agreed to play at Arizona but the Wildcats didnβt recruit him.
Montezβs father, Alfred, was best friends with Bobby Felix, a dynamic running back from Sunnyside High School and the Starβs 1991 Southern Arizona Player of the Year. They planned to coach together after playing at Western New Mexico with current Del Valle football coach Jesse Perales.
Felix tragically died when he was only 31, and his plans to coach with Montez and Perales died with him. Ultimately, Montez was offered scholarships only by Colorado, New Mexico State and UTEP.
Dear Mr. Football: Can Arizona beat anybody?
A: The Wildcats canβt expect to beat anybody with a scoring defense ranked No. 116 of 128 FBS teams. But worse, they have created just 10 total turnovers this year; the fewest in school history is 11. Thatβs a football death sentence.
In 1985, Arizona intercepted 24 passes and recovered 17 fumbles, or 41 turnovers. A year earlier it had 37 total turnovers. No wonder they contended for the Rose Bowl both seasons.
Colorado beat Stanford last month because it intercepted three passes and recovered a fumble. CUβs turnovers? Zero.
A reverse of that is what it would take for Arizona to beat the Buffaloes. Not bloody likely.
Buffaloes 31, Wildcats 20
