Keeler: CU Buffs fans perplexed at Bill McCartney statue location outside Folsom Field: ‘Shame that he’s not out in front of the stadium’

BOULDER Coach Mac stood shoulder-to-shoulder with two large black fenceposts Saturday That part broke Bob Shorman s heart a little I m OK with it being on the practice field the Boulder resident a CU season-ticket holder since notified me before the Buffs took on Arizona State on Senior Day As we looked across the street from the Wesley Foundation United Methodist Chapel across Folsom Street and into Franklin Field Bob shrugged Maybe it could be over at the entrance at Franklin Field over there he explained Even the concourse on the field level I would much rather see it over there But I don t know that our input would change anything The Buffs long-promised statue of ex-CU football coach Bill McCartney statue was unveiled early Friday night Although If you happen to blink walking around CU s football footprint you ll miss it Really if you don t go inside Franklin Field you ll supposedly miss it entirely The statue is tucked into in the far northeast corner of the Buffs outdoor practice field Aesthetically it was gorgeous with CU s all-time winningest football coach standing with arms folded against a golden Flatiron sunset Geographically Geographically it was curious at least to the Buffs fans I spoke to Saturday Bill McCartney is the face of this activity really disclosed Dan Kothenbeutel of Montrose a CU season-ticket holder since And it s a shame that he s not out in front of the stadium It really is As a longtime Boulder resident Dan used to climb the trees that were adjacent to Folsom in the s to get a glimpse of CU tussling with those Oklahoma and Nebraska teams of old It this point it would have been a great time to put him right out front of Folsom Kothenbeutel commented Where he deserves to be From Shorman s tailgate at the Wesley Chapel directly across the street from Folsom Field he literally had one of the better street-level citizens views of the display even if the line-of-sight was directly at Coach Mac s left ear from about yards away The location of the statue was a joint decision of the McCartney family the athletic department and the donors who paid for it There was concern given specific of the campus backlash against honoring McCartney that the statue would be a target for protests Or just drunk undergrads being drunk undergrads All of which is thoroughly understandable But to Kothenbeutel s point wouldn t a spot inside Folsom either at field level or on the concrete plazas facing the field from the Dal Ward Athletic Center or the Champions Center be just as secure And more public-facing Something Buffs fans could see on the regular They should have possibly put it inside the stadium by the Buffalo statue Sean Hedges CU class of advised me I mean he s the all-time winningest coach in the scheme s history You need to kind of represent that in the stadium Or name the field after him or something like that And it s kind of sad that it took this long too it took him passing to completely get recognized which is not fair to him He should have been able to see that in person too On one hand Coach Mac is overlooking the practice field as he should Forever watching the activity he put on the map and stamped into the national conversation The symbolism is poetry All business former CU tailback J J Flannigan advised me before the statue was unveiled at a private ceremony Friday Get the job done Work hard That s what he was known for If you messed up halfway through practice he declared We re starting over We didn t want that Put the work in know your assignments and let s get back in the locker room Did we complain Yes But we liked being out there and playing for national championships even better In McCartney got the Buffs over the line and into the immortality It s still the preponderance latest national football title won by any current Big member Since the announcement of the statue this past spring the Buffs have deferred to the McCartney family and to the donors who paid for it Which is also why the unveiling was a private one with roughly in attendance including current CU coach Deion Sanders and the Buffs squad according to the university I feel like more Buffs fans would have shown up for that Hedges announced I know they had a bunch of defense Friday night because they were worried about people doing something with it But I think enough people would have shown up and shown their respect When plans for the statue were communicated earlier this year particular campus voices recoiled in disgust citing McCartney s work with the Promise Keepers and a speech at CU he called homosexuality an abomination against almighty God CU s apprentice body president Boulder faculty assembly chair Alastair Norcross and the staff council tri-chairs sent a letter to chancellor Justin Schwartz not long ago seeking countermeasures for honoring McCartney That included annual awards of for staff and faculty and an annual scholarship for students for who promote locality belonging a nod to Coach Mac s championship The university on Friday distributed a response in a letter from Schwartz saying he would be open to discussing it further Norcross communicated me he and the Chancellor have had several conversations about the matter This is and everyone is going have their own opinion and everyone is going to have their individual thoughts on different things Flannigan declared I required to be here honor the coach and that s what this is about It s not about how he felt about religion or marriage or sexual orientation This statue is not about that There is a time and a place for that debate and that argument and that s fair for anyone to have that opinion against honoring him This statue unveiling is really about honoring the man as a coach and what he meant to the players he coached Hey there are statues that go up in America and statues that come down for reasons we have to make sure we keep things in perspective when it comes to things like honoring a coach and what he s done If there s no Bill McCartney here you don t know much about CU