The PAC Podcast - Episode 3: The Rams

Learn about the colorful history that took the Colorado State Rams from the 19th century to the PAC-12 including a stolen hat, a Vietnam War boot, an Olympic champion and the murder of a mascot! 

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What do a stolen hat? An Olympic champion, a boot worn in the Vietnam War, and the murder of a mascot have to do with the Colorado State Rams? Stay tuned.

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From the Gulf to the Pacific, and from Canada to Mexico, this is the Panic Pumpkin.

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Pack it up, pack it in. Let us begin again. Welcome back to the Pac Podcast episode three, which is all about the Colorado State Rams and their very colorful journey to get to the Pac-12 as one of the newest members. But before we get to that, I did want to let you know that the Pac-12 sports calendar has already started. We are 26 days as I record this away from the start of the Pac-12 football season when the Fresno State Bulldogs will take on the U.S. Seat Trojans here in Los Angeles. But the other sports have already, some of the other sports have already begun. Men's soccer and women's soccer have already started playing exhibition matches under the Pac-12 banner. And women's volleyball will be starting very soon, as well as cross country. So Pac-12 sports with some of the new members already taking place. Very exciting. Good to see the action already on the pitch, soon to be on the court and on the track as well, and then on the football field. So the Pac-12 is obviously underway. Media days have taken place at all the different schools around the Pac-12 by now. And it is exciting times to be a Pac-12 fan. And especially exciting times for the Colorado State Rams, who is the focus of today's show. Now they got started back in 1879, the school did, and it had a variety of different names. I excuse me while I read them because they are quite long and it's had quite a history of nomenclature to get to Colorado State as we know it today. It started in 1879 as Colorado Agricultural College. And then in 1935, that was in 1879. In 1935, it changed its name to a very easy to say and easy to remember, Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. That name lasted until 1950 when it became Colorado Agriculture and Mechanical College. And then in 1957, thankfully, they changed the name to Colorado State University, which is the name we know it by today. They currently have over 34,000 students, and the campus is located in the beautiful city of Fort Collins, Colorado, which, if you have not been to, I highly recommend a trip to Fort Collins and Colorado in general. Absolutely beautiful part of the world. Now keep in mind, this school was opened in 1879. Completely different existence for those students than the 34,000 that are currently on campus. Obviously, that goes without saying it was a long time ago, but it's really, you have to remember that in 1879, there was no electricity, there was no phones, there was no radio, obviously no television. People got their primary news if they could read, they got their primary news through newspapers and telegrams, and a completely different existence for those first students than what we see today. And yet, that is where the foundation of the university we are all going to be watching this fall and for seasons to come got started. So quite a journey for the Colorado State University Rams. The school athletic programs, by the way, were not always the Rams. They were known as the Aggies until 1957. And that is why, if you go to Fort Collins or if you see some scenics of the area, there's a massive A on the hills in Fort Collins. That was his that is for the uh the A of the Aggies as their previous name. Uh they started playing in the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of Colorado, also known as the Colorado Football Association, back in 1893. So they're going back into the 19th century of their football history. Then they joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 1909. In 1938, the RMAC broke up and became two conferences. Colorado State joined the Mountain States Athletic Conference, also known as the Skyline Conference. But back in 1968, they wanted to join the Western Athletic Conference, but did not have the facilities required. They didn't have a good enough uh place to play. And so they built two fill facilities in order to join the WAC, and they did so. And then in 1998, they, along with a lot of other teams that are currently in the Pac 12, left the WAC to join the Mountain West. They remained there until now when they are in the Pac-12. Their current university president is Amy Parsons, and the current director of athletics is John Weber. He's been on the job since 2024. Obviously, there's a lot of history there. I remember them from the WAC, and that gets us to our first story from the open about the stolen hat. So I went to Fresno State from 1992 to 97. In 1994, I was an intrepid young reporter for the Daily Collegiate and a sports reporter for KFSR, the campus radio station and campus newspaper. So, as such, I had a press pass to all Fresno State sporting events, and that included a football game between the Fresno State Bulldogs and the then top 20-ranked Colorado State Rams in the nation. They were, I believe, I think they only had one loss on the season. And earlier in the year, they had beaten sixth-ranked Arizona that season. Sonny Lubick was their head coach, I think. Anywho, uh, they were playing Fresno State with a chance to clinch the WAC title and advance as the WAC champions to the Holiday Bowl. They did that, an absolutely thrilling classic 44 to 42, typical WAC football back in the day. I hope we see some of that in the Pac-12. I hope we get the high-flying offenses, high-scoring shootouts that we used to see in the WAC back in the day. But anyway, they win 44 to 42. They clinch the WAC championship and a trip to the Holiday Bowl. I go into the Colorado State locker room to interview some of the players after the game. It's obviously a celebration. They're handing out hats. They give me, because they saw just people walking through there, everybody walking in got a holiday bowl hat. I took it and didn't, you know, wasn't thinking much of it, and then got over and was interviewing the quarterback of the team when he asked, uh, where was his hat? They had run out of hats. I tucked it under my jacket, my vert, my hat, and uh quickly left. So after all that, with a one-loss record, top 20 in the nation, quarterback of the Colorado State Rams did not get a holiday bowl hat, although I'm sure they somebody got him one eventually. But I did. I walked out of there with a hat, he did not have one. I always remember that. And that is the first story of the many that we will tell here on that. And that gets us to the second story, actually, because it's about the mascots for Colorado State. So over the years, obviously they were the Aggies, they didn't always have a ram as their mascot. In fact, their first mascot was a literal black bear that was somehow uh docile enough that it was seen wearing sweaters on the sidelines of some of the sporting events, a live black bear uh from 1909 to 1919. But also during that time in 1912, a bulldog that belonged to a student became an unofficial mascot. It was named was Peanuts because as it walked around campus, students would feed it peanuts, and it was a beloved bulldog that was on campus, and it would go to games, and that was the unofficial mascot of the Colorado State at the time. What were they in 1912 at the time? That was the unofficial mascot of the Colorado State, no, Colorado Agricultural College. So, but then sadly, in 1918, Peanuts was found poisoned and killed. He was dead, and the suspects they never proved it, there was never any trial or conviction, but these suspects are believed to be supporters or students of the Colorado Buffalo. Uh, there was a rivalry, obviously. We're going to get into the rivalry, but that was there was some sort of beef going on between the two schools, and so some students allegedly came over from Colorado University and poisoned poor Peanuts and killed him. And uh after that, after Peanut's tragic death, an alum of the university donated another bulldog named Gallant Defender, and he became the unofficial mascot. But in 1946, a Ram became the official mascot and was named Buck. The current mascot is named Cam the Ram. That's the one you're going to see on the sidelines in the uh in the costume and on the uh sidelines at the basketball games. And uh his name reflects Colorado State's history in that the letters of his name, C A M, stand for Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College. So a little bit of history to Cam the Ram's name. Uh the university official or university president at the time officially named him Cam the Ram during halftime of a basketball game in 1954. So his name actually predates the name Colorado State University, because that did not come around until 1957. So three years before that, Cam the Ram was born. Uh Cam is reportedly escorted in style by volunteers. The uh the actual Ram, which is also known as Cam the Ram, uh, is escorted around in style by student volunteers known as Ram handlers. So if you see them on the sidelines, the live Ram is Cam the Ram. I believe the costumed version is Cam the Ram as well. Obviously, they're different uh entities, different beings, different souls, different spirits, but both Cam the Ram and a lot of history into that name. So uh, and I do like that they're one of the few universities in the Pac-12 that have a live mascot. Obviously, there is no cougar that I know of. We're gonna get to Washington State in a few episodes. Uh, no Bronco that I know of, no beaver that I know of. There is a bulldog, we'll get to that for Fresno State. Uh, and an Aztec, that'd be a tough one. Uh, an Aggie, that'd be a tough one. But uh, there's definitely a Ram at Colorado State. As for their rivalries, we talked about the one with Colorado that led to the murder of poor Peanuts. Well, that is the Rocky Mountain Showdown, and that is whenever Colorado State and in-state rival Colorado get together in football. It's known as the Rocky Mountain Showdown. The Rams and Buffaloes regularly face each other in all sports as well. For 10 years, the two teams met in Denver at the home of the Broncos for a neutral site game, which produced the largest crowds to witness college sporting events in state history. The border war is the other rivalry, and that's the one I think is one of the most fascinating and cool rivalries in all of college football. It's between Colorado State and Wyoming. They're very close to each other. Fort Collins in northeastern Colorado and Laramie in southeastern Wyoming, very close to each other. And they've had the border war. Going back to the 19th century, it is the longest rivalry in each school's history, dates back to 1893, and uh, I think it is the most intense rivalry even against Colorado. Since 1968, those schools have battled for the bronze boot, which is a traveling trophy and is a battle boot worn in Vietnam by Colorado State ROTC instructor Dan Romero when he was fighting in that conflict. In 2020, officials at the Colorado State restored the bronze boot to its original glory so that it could be fought over for generations to come. So you will see that at the Colorado State Wyoming game this season. Whichever team wins will celebrate with the bronze boot and take that home for bragging rights for the next year. Uh that there is a tradition as well in that rivalry before the game even begins, a couple days before the game begins. At the at half, I guess, uh midfield of the visiting team. So let's say the game is going to be played in Colorado State in Fort Collins, at midfield of Wyoming's football stadium, their ROTC members have a ceremony, hand off the game ball to one of the ROTC members who then breaks out in a run along with some other flag bearers and supporters from the ROTC and runs the game ball to the state border, where they are met by Colorado State's ROTC members. There's also a cannon there that is fired by some dignitaries. A ceremony is held, they hand over the game ball. The game ball is then run by the Colorado State ROTC members to the game itself and is handed over for kickoff. So that is the tradition. And then, of course, if the game was in Wyoming, it would be reversed, start in Colorado State, end in Wyoming. But a very cool thing that you can follow along online. They will talk about that uh in the days coming up to the game. So if you're following them on social media or their YouTube, you can look up that uh that run. It's very cool and one of the best traditions, I think, in college sports for my money. The Ram Falcon Trophy is the final rivalry that Colorado State has. That is uh originated in 1980 and it highlights the football series between Colorado State and the Air Force Academy. It's a wood-carved trophy produced by a local artist named Bill Rage, W-R-A-G-E. The Air Force R O T C detachment on the CSU campus initiated the creation of the trophy. So those are their three uh big rivalries. I would rank them probably in intensity. Colorado and Wyoming are probably a very close 1A, 1B, depending on the era and the uh the current students, the current atmosphere. But uh, and then the Air Force, I would think, would be a bronze medal in that rivalry. Now, as far as famous Olympians, there's one that stands out as the most famous athlete of all time from Colorado State, from my money, and that's Amy Van Dyken, the Olympic swimmer. She was obviously a collegiate champion and all-American. And then in 1996, during the Atlanta Games, she won four gold medals, became the first U.S. woman to ever win four Olympic gold medals in one game. She is one of the most decorated women athletes of all time, one of the most successful women of athletes of all time. She ended up on a Wheaties box, she ended up on the David Letterman show. She was a national hero for about for that summer, certainly, and was one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time and is a proud Colorado State alum. Glenn Morris was the first Colorado State star athlete, or as it was known when he attended it, Colorado State College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts. He competed in the 1936 Olympics, which was known for a much more famous U.S. athlete. But Glenn Morris uh competed in the decathlon, not only won the gold medal, but set the world record at the time. And uh he's also a very accomplished Colorado State alumni. We also have Paralympic athlete and Colorado State graduate Aaron Popovich, who not to be confused with the one that had the movie made about her, but uh this one probably should have a movie about her because she competed in six swimming events at the 2020 Beijing Paralympics, medaled in all six, four gold, two silver. Previously, she had competed in Athens, Greece, and uh this uh later went competed or in the uh in the Sydney, Australia, uh in 2000. So three-time Olympian, now has 14 gold medals in her career and two world records. The only football player of note that I think you would know the name of right off the bat, Shaq Barrett, played at Colorado State, former linebacker. He helped both the Broncos and Buccaneers win Super Bowls in the NFL. Obviously, many other players have gone on to the NFL as well, but that was the biggest one of note. I did not recognize a single NBA player as alumni, though the school has sent players to the association. But if you're a WNBA fan, you are certain to know the name Becky Hammond, as she is an absolute legend in the WNBA. She was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame back in 2023, went on to be become the first full-time assistant coach in any major American sports league when she joined the San Antonio Spurs coaching staff in 2014. She's currently the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA. If you watch games at the Moby Arena, which is where they play their basketball, in Fort Collins, look for her number 25 hanging from the rafters, Becky Hammond. As for championships, they've won quite a few, 15 in football, most recently being 2002 in the Mountain West. Women's basketball, they have 11, most recently being this past season. They won the Mountain West regular season and conference tournament. And men's basketball, they have six, most recently being two years ago when they won the regular season championship and conference tournament of the Mountain West. And in softball, they have six, most recently being in 2019, when they won the Mountain West Championship. They have not had a baseball team since 1992, so they will not be competing on the baseball field in the Pac-12. But that is a look at the Colorado State Rams, a little bit of their history. I believe I touched on everything: the stolen hat, the Olympic champion, the Vietnam era boot, and the murder of a mascot. So all the answers from the open have been provided. Next episode, we are going to be talking about the Dallas Baptist University. Uh, and they are simply a baseball team in the Pac-12, but still a Pac-12 member. So we're going to get to know them. After that, we'll be Fresno State, then Gonzaga, as we continue to get to know some of the schools in the Pac 12 leading up to the kickoff in September of the Pac 12 football season. I thank you very much for joining me. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you will join me for a next episode of the PAC Podcast.