FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Today's football game between Utah and Colorado State will be coming to you live from Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium.
Which is a simple slant pattern from the Colorado State University Sports Hall of Fame, which, not coincidentally, includes a tribute to Sonny Lubick. But unlike most honorees, he has neither retired nor died.
That shopworn phrase about a being a legend in one's own time?
That's Sonny. The restaurants in town serve their eggs Sonny side up. The Weather Service is calling for crisp air and Sonny skies. Unlike other famous Sonnys (Bono, Liston) this one is much loved. Ask anyone in Fort Collins. Sonny one so true, they love you.
Lubick is among the 18 winningest active college coaches yet still has time to become one of six "Fathers of the Year" by the Colorado Chapter of the American Diabetes Association. He stops by the women's volleyball practice to tease that they aren't practicing hard enough. He chats with students on his way to a speaking engagement. In restaurants, he always accommodates Rams' fans who, even after a decade of success, marvel that CSU could still be winning.
Lubick is equally gracious with his players, from star quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt to the lowliest walk-on. Lubick insists whenever the team wins a title, everyone who had a part in the season be rewarded with a championship ring and trip to a bowl game. Five of his nine assistant coaches are CSU graduates. Loyalty is important to Sonny.
In downtown Fort Collins, the Ace Hardware store has CSU gear in the window — even though it doesn't sell the merchandise. Same for J. Pitner Clothing Co., which garnishes its display windows with CSU helmets, hats, seat cushions and jerseys. Who doesn't want to be on the Sonny bandwagon?
On campus, everyone is planning to attend. It's an event.
Used to be Saturday afternoons were gray and cold at Hughes Stadium. Now they're Sonny and warm. A $15.2 million stadium expansion is in the works.
Even with last week's loss to Miami (Ohio), and CSU's poor defensive play so far, the Rams remain the darlings of Fort Collins, and in some ways, Colorado.
"You used to go to our malls and never see anyone wearing CSU stuff, but now you see it throughout the state," says CSU associate sports information director Gary Ozzello, who has been with the school for more than two decades.
When the Rams played at California earlier this year, he was at a shopping center near Berkeley, where he noticed someone wearing a CSU baseball hat.
"I thought, 'My how things have changed,' " says Ozzello.
Despite a 2-2 start, the Rams remain the odds-on favorite to win the Mountain West Conference. In Lubick's 10 seasons, his teams have attended seven bowl games, won or shared six conference titles and beat instate rival Colorado in three of the past five meetings. The Rams attended just two bowl games before Lubick; now they are regularly in the Top 25. The Utes haven't defeated CSU since 1994.
Why Lubick fits so well at CSU isn't surprising to those who know him. Several years ago, the school held a golf event involving him and other athletic staffers, as well as boosters from throughout the state. The event was in Yuma, Colo., about 2 1/2 hours east of Fort Collins. Ozzello and three Rams' assistant coaches were planning to drive in a compact car, which made for cramped conditions. But the night prior to the event, Lubick called Ozzello.
"Can I catch a ride with you?" he said.
Ozzello explained it would be cramped for five people and that the head coach would probably want better accommodations.
Lubick said it was no problem. A compact car would be fine.
After the event, Lubick — the Sports Illustrated national coach of the year in 1994 — bought traveling snacks for everyone and volunteered to ride on the hump all the way back.
"I wonder if Steve Spurrier ever sat on the hump in the back of a car on the way back from a golf event, and was still as happy as a clam," says Ozzello.
When Lubick took over the program in 1993, CSU had had just six winning season in the previous 20 years. Colleagues told him nobody could win consistently and warned him not to the take the job; it would only lead to a firing. He listened once. When the Rams hired former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce in 1989, CSU also contacted Lubick, but the timing wasn't right. Four years later, it was.
Lubick's lack of ego made him a natural for laid back, unpretentious Fort Collins. Raised in laid back, unpretentious Butte, Mont., he earned his bachelor's degree at Western Montana and master's from Montana State. Even as a young coach he was humble and scholarly, a sort of Rocky Mountain Joe Paterno in the making. He became head coach at Montana State for three years before moving on to Colorado State as offensive coordinator. But he also made stops as an assistant at Stanford and Miami (Fla.) before getting the top job at CSU.
Early on, no one suspected a dynasty; most were only hoping for respectability. After the first couple of years, even CSU fans seemed skeptical the fairy tale would last. But the skepticism is now gone.
Lubick is an official treasure along the Front Range. Offers come to him each year from other schools, but it's doubtful he'll ever leave.
He's a legend in his own time.
Beyond that, he's happy as a clam.
E-mail: rock@desnews.com