Fridays with Mac: Play Like A Champion

The most recent Friday with Mac was nearing conclusion when the Colorado Buffaloes Football Hall of Fame coach and yours truly strolled into Bill McCartney’s office to look at his calendar for 2021’s few remaining days. I pointed to December 23rd and announced, “That will be my son Kyle’s 32nd birthday.”

Wow. Time flies. Talking about the New York City resident’s birth back in 1989, also conjured up memories of one of Coach Mac’s ten grandchildren, T.C. McCartney. The current Cleveland Browns’ assistant coach also was born that year, in April. I can remember like yesterday the days before Kyle’s birth. The Colorado Buffaloes were gearing up to fly off to Miami for a national championship tussle with Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. As the “Buff Guy” for CBS Denver, I was going to be on that plane come Christmas Eve. Back then? Wherever the Buffaloes roamed? On the station's dime I tagged along with a front row seat in the press box and a back of the plane location on team charters. Hey, it wasn’t that bad. I got to hang with the cheerleaders.

Luckily, Kyle’s mom went into labor a few weeks early and the handsome young lad was born the day before his old man had to depart with the team. A new papa had about 12 hours to spend with a dark haired, big-eyed newborn (looked like mama) and the woman who championed through a long labor and delivered a healthy boy. Jean, thanks.

The sports enthusiast grew up a CU football fan. I can remember many road trips to Lincoln, Nebraska for heated rivalry games between the Buffs and Huskers. My late father, older brother, Kyle and I would hunker down in the Cornhusker Inn on Thanksgiving night. The Husker band would march through a popular steak house steak, Misty’s, in Nebraska’s state capitol city. Buff fans, including us, frequented the place. Hot spot. Game day morning? Kyle would don a CU football helmet and bravely stomp into Memorial Stadium. Kudos to the corn folks. Husker fans showed mercy while giving the teenager lots of good-natured ribbing for having the guts to don Buffs black and gold, including head gear into a sea of red. Fun times.

Buff fans know the progression once the only coach to lead the Buffs to a national title retired after the 1994 season. First came Rick Neuheisel and then Gary Barnett. Many good teams came from those years, including 2001.

I was blessed to also host Neuheisel and Barnett’s television shows and for some reason, Barnett felt this ol’ washed up sports guy was worthy of a championship ring from the memorable campaign where the Buffs shellacked Nebraska 62-36 enroute to the Big 12 North title. Then, in basically a home game at Texas Stadium for the Texas Longhorns, the Buffs beat the burnt orange boys for Colorado’s only Big 12 conference crown.

That ring has become a family heirloom. Kyle has stated emphatically, when his old man croaks? “I get that ring.” Yes he will. Truthfully? It’s already his. Years ago, knowing how much it meant to him, as K-Man was settling into a New York University dorm room, a sentimental old man offered the prized possession. Channeling thoughts from great moments in CU football history, when presenting the ring to the, now, entertainment industry veteran, I muttered, “I hope this inspires you to play like a champion in college or whatever future goals you seek.”

I’ve been called a lot of things in life, smart never one, but father and son quickly realized keeping a cool-looking ring in a college dorm might not be the wisest strategy. The ring returned to Denver with me. It’s his. I’m just keeping it secure until succumbing.

I look at it often, always think of Kyle, think of CU’s 2001 team and all the other great ones, including the “One Heart Beat” squad of the year Kyle and T.C. were born. “Your son and my grandson, the 89ers!,” bellowed Billy Mac from Hackensack. Amen buddy.

That year brought Ollie North and Iran/Contra, the premiere of Seinfeld and perhaps, CU’s most memorable gridiron season. Colorado played excellent football and rose to #1 nationally before losing to the Fighting Irish on a warm south Florida evening. More than a decade later, the Barnett-led Buffs claimed conference supremacy deep in the heart of Texas. I pray what this ring symbolizes will always be a healthy reminder to a smart, ambitious and creative son to do the same in whatever endeavor stirs heart and soul. Give it your best shot. Play like a champion.

You too! #goodbetterbest