Stephens: Rocky Mountain Showdown is CU's cry for attention

CSU must be the little brother.

It's the attention-receiving, athletic-achieving school of choice for residents of Colorado.

So, naturally, what does big brother do when he's no longer the golden child? He throws what amounts to a temper-tantrum, making claims so outlandish that we have no choice other than to listen. We shouldn't, but we give in anyway.

Rick George, whose 18 months as the University of Colorado athletic director have been spent fundraising and watching his revenue sports tumble, said Wednesday that he has no plans to continue the Rocky Mountain Showdown beyond the contract's end date in 2020. He cited one party's refusal (presumably Colorado State University, though neither side will admit it) to bring the football rivalry game back to campus locations from Denver as to why it will end.

That story again: A 54-year-old man became the center of attention on National Signing Day, not the 18 kids who thought CU would be a good place to fulfill their lifelong dream of playing college football.

Oh, how the once-above-average have fallen.

Why else would George throw such a fit?

George was hired to replace Mike Bohn only because CU saw the successful model CSU built with its now-former athletic director Jack Graham. Graham was a former CSU quarterback and a businessman with no prior experience in athletic administration. George was the director of football operations for the Buffs under Bill McCartney before becoming a successful businessman himself.

Unlike Graham, who hired Jim McElwain and Larry Eustachy in his first six months on the job, George's moves have lacked the same significance. The $143 million athletic complex expansion with a long-overdue indoor practice facility will be nice but are again afterthoughts behind the $220 million on-campus stadium scheduled to open in Fort Collins in 2017.

Six games are left on the current Rocky Mountain Showdown contract. Six. And why did George feel the need to huddle with reporters before the signing day press conference?

"As part of our release on signing day, we were putting out a release that our season-ticket holders would have the option (for an extra single-game ticket at Folsom Field instead of attending the Rocky Mountain Showdown)," George said. "We've had so much negative feedback from our base about that game and playing it in Denver, so we've listened to them."

Of more than 22,000 football season-ticket holders, how many fans don't like to see the Rocky Mountain Showdown in Denver?

"I don't know what the percentage is. We'll see, I guess, how people respond to this offer ... I don't know what percentage," he said. "We haven't really measured a percent of our ticket holders. We just know what we hear on a continual basis."

Moving the Rocky Mountain Showdown out of Denver doesn't benefit either school. That goes for the 2020 game the Rams have the option to play in Fort Collins — CSU interim athletic director John Morris said he doesn't see any reason why it'd be played elsewhere. But playing here at least gives the Rams a chance to flex some retaliation for CU hosting three games in Boulder instead of Denver since 1998.

Attendance has dropped since the rivalry was at its peak in the early 2000s. More than 75,000 fans attended the Rocky Mountain Showdown in 2002 and 2003; the 2014 edition was the first meeting since 2010 that attendance broke 60,000. But the average of 62,900 that have shown up for games in Denver since 2003 are still more than Folsom Field (53,613), Hughes Stadium (32,500) or CSU's new on-campus stadium (40,000) can accommodate.

There's demand for this game, and George wants it gone because he and what could easily be described as a vocal minority aren't getting their way.

Remember what happened the last time the Rocky Mountain Showdown went on extended hiatus in 1959?

It took a threat from the state Legislature to convince athletic directors Fum McGraw and Eddie Crowder to meet at the McDonald's at the Longmont exit on Interstate 25 and reconcile their differences. They resumed the series in 1983.

Even at that time, it was Crowder and CU who were reluctant to play the Rams. Thirty-three years later, the Buffs are again trying to weasel their way out of a rivalry, just like they did with volleyball in 2010 by refusing to renew the contract with CSU, a program that's made 20 straight NCAA tournaments.

George said he isn't concerned about what it looks like CU is doing and that the school isn't seeking financial gain from not playing the Rams. Nor is he concerned about Legislature intervening. If the capitol does force the schools to play, it wouldn't be unprecedented. The governor set up the Florida-Florida State series in the 1950s and legislation introduced two years ago could cost Texas or Texas A&M in scholarships should they refuse to play.

If the Rocky Mountain Showdown isn't going to be played on campus, George said he wants to schedule teams from the Midwest or South, where he says CU's recruiting is focused. But 66 percent of players the Buffs signed since joining the Pacific 12 are from Colorado, California or Arizona — where they play every year. It doesn't add up.

The Rocky Mountain Showdown lacks a title sponsor, but the game isn't about money. CU fans don't want it played in Denver, but they made up more than half of last year's attendance. The school needs to respect its recruiting pipeline of the Midwest and South, where in five years it's signed five players — two coming from junior colleges?

No. CU has fallen out of the state spotlight quicker than Dan Hawkins removed it from national prominence, and George was eager to have anyone pay attention to big brother.

"I never said the series was dead. I just said, at this time, we have no intentions of extending the agreement. And particularly in Denver. We wouldn't extend playing in Denver — at all," George said. "I think that's a start, moving it back (to campuses), but look, I don't think I need to make a decision today about what we're going to do in 2021."

Nor did you need bring it up.

For insight and analysis on athletics around Northern Colorado and the Mountain West, follow sports columnist Matt L. Stephens at twitter.com/mattstephens and facebook.com/stephensreporting.