KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Norman Rockwell could’ve made a living painting the Big 12 North.
As part of our 12-part series previewing the Big 12 Conference, I just completed a “Roadwriters” tour of the North Division.
I saw old men gossiping on the stoop of Corner Sundry in Indianola, Iowa; a well in a front yard in Dawson, Neb.; an Amish family riding their horse and buggy up Highway 65 south of Chillicothe, Mo.
I had a killer vanilla malted at Cronk’s Cafe in Denison, Iowa; a homemade Swiss burger at the Buzz Cafe in Sabetha, Kan.; and the nation’s best pie, according to “Good Morning, America,” at the Sommerset Hall Cafe in Dover, Kan.
But where this part of the country goes 21st century on you is the North Division’s football facilities.
Colorado, you have some catching up to do. As you’ll read in Saturday’s paper, Kansas has flown right past CU. Iowa State is undergoing an $11.5 million stadium renovation to go with its permanent indoor facility built in 2005.
Tuesday morning, I saw Missouri’s players walk across a bridge to their $16 million, 100,000-square-foot Mizzou Athletics Training Complex completed two years ago.
Kansas State completed an $8 million renovation on a football-only complex after putting $13 million into a stadium expansion. And I don’t have to mention Nebraska, where its indoor facility could pass for a domed stadium in Division II.
I remember 1991, when Colorado’s brand new Dal Ward Center was named Athletic Facility of the Year. It’s 18 years later, and it could be renamed Dull Ward. It’s antiquated. It’s uninspiring. And it’s small.
“No question we’re playing catch-up,” said Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn, in his fourth year. “There were virtually zero capital improvements until 2006, when the bubble was built.”
And that’s temporary. Bohn has given the football team a state-of-the-art locker room and improvements to the weight room. He had basketball offices built in Coors Events Center.
But while expanding Dal Ward and building a permanent indoor football facility are on the horizon, Bohn’s priority is a basketball practice facility on the north side of Coors. He hopes to break ground within six months.
Until then, however, the Buffs haven’t played a game yet, and they’re already playing from behind.
