Ralphie VI (f/k/a Ember) is retiring. CU’s press release frames it as “indifference to running” which…..yeah. Earlier this year, we wrote a piece explaining that it was long past time for Ralphie VI to retire. Check it out here:
And now for the rub: this Friday, when CU hosts Georgia Tech under the lights, the greatest tradition in college sports will be nowhere to be seen.
Listen, Ember’s retirement isn’t a surprise. She didn’t want to run. You all saw it. In many ways, her tenure has been a slow-motion car wreck. Very slow-motion. She doesn’t run until she sees the open trailer door. The handlers had to push her out of the gate. CU’s running backs actually ran for more yards last year than Ember, which is really saying something.
This was the inevitable end of a long arc that everyone could see coming.
Except those in the athletic department running the Ralphie program.
While CU’s press release announcing the retirement notes that there’s been a succession plan “for a number of months,” the plan apparently hasn’t been in place long enough. CU should have been working on training a replacement for the last several years. The failure to do so, and to have any level of redundancy within the Ralphie program, is program malpractice.
The people, structure and resources behind the Ralphie program are not a mystery. The program has named leadership, a bench of varsity-lettered handlers, and, critically, donor funding. The purpose of this post is not to dunk on leadership, but to encourage leaders to learn from this situation, and donors require that leaders learn from this situation, to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
So how do we fix this going forward?
First, CU needs to own the miss. Fans respect honesty.
Second, show the work. Weekly Ralphie readiness updates, maybe even video of training sessions. If nothing else, this will build anticipation to the new Ralphie’s debut. Turn a lemon into really, really watered down lemonade.
Third, create some redundancy within the program. Having a single point of failure is a failure of leadership. Start a 2-deep pipeline so there’s always a “Ralphie in waiting.” It’s what the job requires, and it’s exactly what BuffsBlog (and others) have been calling for.
Do this, and maybe fans will chalk this all up to a “learning situation.”
At the end of the day, we all know Ralphie is “just” a mascot. But, truthfully, Ralphie is CU’s identity. Since the late 1960s, Ralphie has sprinted around Folsom Field to the roar of “Here comes Ralphie!” She turns every home game into a ritual of goosebumps and high-fives that brings generations of fans together.
It’s a shame that won’t happen on Friday. Let’s just hope that sometime this season, when we hear “Here… Comes… Ralphie,” there’s actually a buffalo in the frame. And that she, you know, runs.
If you’re interested in sticking around BuffsBlog for a few minutes, grab yourself a beer and read 14 things we think we know before the Georgia Tech game—-
I’ll take having QBs being ready to go over the mascot being ready to go.
Me too, but it’s not a binary option.
The voice of the people telling it like it is!
Yep. Well said and good suggestions going forward. I can overlook and understand that an animal like ember just wasn’t into it. But everyone has known this for a couple of years now. What I don’t understand is why was the program was so slow to prepare a Ralphie VII, and then hold out info to the fanbase what was going on until 2 days before the home opener??
Thanks John. Anything that you can find out regarding the future of the Ralphie Program will be appreciated.
The scene of her at the Alamo Bowl should have been indelibly burned into all of our memories, most especially those that were responsible. If a university wants to be on the national stage, it has to act like it, not like a bunch of country rubes. I’m embarrassed.
The scene of her at the Alamo Bowl should have been indelibly burned into all of our memories, most especially those that were responsible. If a university wants to be on the national stage, it has to act like it, not like a bunch of country rubes. I’m embarrassed.