BOULDER — Finn’s eyes, wide and wonderful, twinkled under the Mile High moonlight as the young girl took the stage for the first time.
“So this,” Finn’s brother Beckett explained beneath him, softly, “is the new Ralphie.”
Finn is 4 years old. Beckett is about to graduate from CU with a degree in information sciences. The folks were in town for Family Weekend, and the soon-to-be Buffs alum wanted his baby brother to see history up close.
The pair wandered down to the field gate at section 102 Saturday night, near the away bench, a few minutes before the Buffs and Wyoming Cowboys locked horns at Folsom Field. Beckett descended with Finn on his shoulders, no easy feat, with father, Mark, spotting them a yard or so away.
“She looks pretty timid,” Beckett said of Ralphie VII. “I can’t imagine that many people staring at you.”
Looks can be deceiving.
The new Buffs mascot opened her CU tenure by exploding out of the gate — and with the kind of gait that would make Rodney Stewart proud. Ralphie VII took to midfield as if shot out of a cannon, then somehow seemed to pick up speed after making the turn.
In other words, she’s got her groove back.
We missed her, didn’t we? The classic her. The her that’s not “indifferent” to running, at any rate.
CU Buffs football without Ralphie is like Abbott without Costello, Laurel without Hardy, Lemmon without Matthau, Farley without Spade, Stone without Parker, Kyle without Cartman.
They’re better in tandem, inseparable partners stampeding into history.
“We actually read an article on it this morning about (her) making (her) debut today,” Tanya Seeds said of Ralphie VII, the live buffalo mascot making her debut before CU and the Wyoming Cowboys met under the lights.. “I just think it’s fitting for Wyoming to be here for the debut of it.”
Full disclosure: Seeds is a Poke. Big-time. Cowboy to the core. Son Tegen is a UW defensive lineman.
But get this: After a three-hour drive south from the family home in Douglas, Wyo., to Folsom, the first thing Tanya, her husband, Jack, and daughter, Ellie, did after passing through the southwest security checkpoint was huddle up in front of that famous Ralphie statue for a beaming selfie.
Fame recognizes fame.
“We do think it’s really cool to see it live,” Tanya said of their tip of the ol’ cowboy hat, “because it is brand new.”
Deion Sanders made America stand up and pay attention to Saturdays (and some Fridays) in Boulder again. Love them or hate them, the Buffs have become can’t-miss TV.
But Ralphie, bless her, was the one who put CU on the map to begin with. Is there any better tradition in college football than watching the Buffs run behind their snorting, charging namesake?
The lead tuba player at Ohio State doesn’t weigh 700 pounds. Howard’s Rock at Clemson isn’t a moving target. Boomer and Sooner at Oklahoma don’t come with horns. The kids jumping around at Wisconsin aren’t doing it in the middle of the playing field.
“It’s cool that we’re here to support the Pokes and you guys have a new buffalo running,” Jack Seeds noted. “And hopefully you guys can maintain the power of the pokes that deliver that buffalo.”
Amen. Buffalo handling is dangerous business. For her “career,” per CU athletics, Ralphie VI — Ember to her fiends — ran 25 times total, 24 of those during home games. The Buffs posted a 12-13 record after her runs, 12-12 at Folsom.
They start ’em young in Boulder and hope they’ll grow into the pomp and circumstance. Alas, after a few seasons, Ralphie VI seemed to lose interest.
The running joke for her lack of running is that she did hail from Nebraska, after all. Not that it did the Cornhuskers much good the last time they visited. But omens are omens.
CU posted a 39-37 record at all venues from 2008-19 when Ralphie V (aka “Blackout”) ran pregame. The Buffs went 31-34 at Folsom during the “V” Era.
As winning goes, Ralphie VII doesn’t have a terribly high bar to clear. Karma, though? Karma’s different. Since a Ralphie rambled across Folsom Field for the first time in September 1967, CU put up a sterling 5-1 record in live mascot debut runs.
“Well, it’s a new journey for us,” she said. “We are excited to be part of (the Ralphie debut). But I think it’s like any mascot. We’re just here to win.”
With that, Tanya laughed. Prime Time is temporary. Richer or poorer, through thick and through thin, Ralphie is forever.
Forever fast. Forever proud. Forever running through a little boy’s dreams.
“What did you think of her, Finn?” I asked the youngster.
A tiny smile.
“I think,” Finn replied, “I think … she’s … good.”
Those eyes twinkled again. Brighter this time.