When people think of college sports teams in Colorado, the first one they think of is the Colorado Buffaloes football team. The Buffs are far and away my favorite team. I've loved them since I was a little kid; I was just becoming conscious of sports, just starting to watch games and follow teams, when the 1991 Colorado team burst on the scene and won the national championship.
I'll literally never forget it. I used to watch Eric Bieniemy, the great running back, every Saturday. I'd go to the playground with my friends afterward and try to imitate his moves, but there was no imitating that great running back.
A few years later came Rashaan Salaam, another great running back who won the Heisman trophy. When I was a kid that's what Colorado football stood for. There were championships, Heismans, great games (remember Kordell Stewart's Hail Mary against Michigan?), and great memories that will never fade. And they haven't faded, even as the program has faced some ups and downs in the years since. I still watch them every Saturday, and some day I hope to pass along my love of the program to a son.
I love everything about the team – even Ralphie, the mascot. (Ralphie is a live buffalo who runs out onto the field prior to every home game.) There are some other great programs in the area, and even at Colorado (the basketball program's glory years with Chauncey Billups are never far from my mind), but none matches the Buffs football team. It's the area's pride.