Thanks Adam … and Dave … and Neill

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Thanks, Adam … and Dave … and Neill

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Recently the Buff Nation suffered a significant loss, with the passing of BuffStampede.com founder and publisher, Adam Munsterteiger (1979-2026).

As noted in a posting on the BuffStampede website by Sean Niehoff …

Munsterteiger spent the past 23 years building the preeminent site for University of Colorado alumni and fans to share their support for CU athletics and build friendships that reached beyond the pale of athletic discourse and beyond the walls of his popular website.

Friendship epitomized Adam’s life. He never made an enemy, had the biggest heart, and elevated all those around him. He mentored and platformed dozens of aspiring journalists over the years, many of which he continued to support as they became colleagues in the industry and created their own stages.

Adam was well known to members of the Buff Nation. While I did have several professional interactions with Adam over the years, it would be disingenuous for me to say that we were friends.

In fact, it was a disagreement which led to one of our first interactions, a disagreement which led to significant alterations for the CU at the Game website.

Brownie points if you remember the name Jordan Webb.

Webb was the quarterback for the Buffs for most of the disastrous 2012 season, a 1-11 nightmare which saw the end of the two-year Jon Embree head coaching experiment at Colorado. Webb did score on a four-yard run with nine seconds to play against Washington State in a game that season, the last of three Colorado touchdowns in the final seven minutes, leading the Buffs to a surprising 35-34 victory … and CU’s only win of the season.

Webb’s significance to our story is that he came to CU as a transfer from Kansas. Back in the olden days – 14 years ago – transfers had to sit out a year. There was a loophole, however, which allowed players to play immediately if their new school had a program not offered at their previous school.

So it was big news that CU had landed a transfer quarterback from a longtime rival, and Adam Munsterteiger had the scoop on the story that spring. Adam was the first to let the Buff Nation know that CU had a new quarterback for the upcoming season.

And I spread the news too quickly.

Now, Adam’s exclusive story had been summarized by someone else on social media, which led me to believe the news was fair game to post on the CU at the Game website. Adam took umbrage with me posting the news so quickly after his exclusive broke.

Adam was right; I was wrong.

Adam was trying to make a living; I was showing off to my readers.

As noted in the eulogy above, Adam didn’t have enemies, and the rift between quickly passed. I had, and continued to have, the utmost respect for Adam’s work on behalf of Buff fans everywhere. That particular event, though, changed the way I treated recruiting stories on the CU at the Game website.

Over the years, I had my own sources when it came to official visits by prized recruits, “silent commitments” made by prospects, and possible transfers. I have not, however, since 2012, posted a word about a recruit or transfer until they themselves go on social media an announce their official commitment. There have been times when I have received emails, or seen postings on the CU at the Game message board, wondering why I am so out of the loop on such important information.

That’s fine. I don’t care.

Out of respect for Adam, and in deference to him and those like him in the recruiting world, CU at the Game has not been a source of recruiting news for over a decade.

What I will also remember about Adam, and will continue to try and emulate, was his ability to be positive about the team he was covering.

For almost all of Adam’s 23 years embedded with the Buffs, Colorado football has been bad. The long run of poor play has taken a toll not only on the fanbase, but upon those covering the team.

While others, most notably Mark Kizsla (and almost anyone who wrote for the Denver Post) have gone out of their way over the years to write negative stories about CU, Adam was always a little right of center in his coverage.

To be sure, Adam was not a homer. He did not sugarcoat the problems the Buffs were having.

But he did try to find a way to give Buff fans reasons for hope; reasons to be encouraged about the next game, the next season.

He will be well and truly missed.

Thanks, Adam.

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While we are at it, there are two other individuals who have had a profound influence on CU at the Game and my writings. They are both, I’m happy to say, still with us, but have moved onto other endeavors after many years of service to the CU community.

If you are a longtime CU at the Gamer, you know I have written about – and thanked – these individuals before … but it never hurts to say “thank you” while they are still around to hear the words.

The first person I would like to thank is Dave Plati, the longtime sports information director/assistant athletic director for the CU athletic department.

Simply put … CU at the Game would not exist if it were not for Dave.

It was 30 years ago this spring when I started working on CU at the Game (Damn! Thirty years!!). The origin story for what was, at the time, going to become a book about CU football, doesn’t bear full repetition here (if you are interested, the CU at the Game origin story, “Birth of a Notion” can be found here), but Dave helped turn my idea for a book into what CU at the Game is today. Over the past three decades, Dave has encouraged me, given me some great interviews, and over the years set me up with interviews of coaches, administrators, and players.

I have always told Dave that, if CU at the Game ever turns into a book, that he would be first on the list of acknowledgements. We’ll see about the book part. My current thought … If I make it through the 2029 CU season, is I could put together a compilation of my stories from a half century of being a Buff fan. “CU at the Game: The First 50 Years” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

I have been writing about CU football now for a generation. It has been my passion, my labor of love. And it never would have gotten off the ground if not for the then CU media relations director, who took pity on my as I did deep dives into the CU archives.

Thanks, Dave.

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My other “thank you” goes out to Neill Woelk.

Neill was a longtime reporter and sportswriter for the Boulder Daily Camera, before returning some years later for a long stint as the senior editor for the CUBuffs.com website.

While I relied on the CU archives to help me piece together stats and stories for Buff games played between 1980 and 1995, every game story in the CU at the Game Archives has been written contemporaneously as those seasons unfolded. If you want to read about my (misplaced) optimism about CU in 2006 in hiring the Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins, you can go to the Archives and have a good laugh. If you want to relive the highs and lows of a given season, it’s all there, played out in real time.

And from Day One – from the first game of the 1996 season – I have tried to emulate the writing style of Neill Woelk.

For many years, I looked forward to Neill’s CU game stories in the Sunday morning paper almost as much as I anticipated the games themselves. Neill found ways to make boring games interesting, gave behind-the-scenes insights into games and their participants, and make it fun to be a Buff fan.

Perhaps my greatest compliment of Neill’s writing came without being asked.

It was years ago, early on a Sunday morning after a CU game. I was at my usual spot, in the same living room in Highlands Ranch I have used for decades to write my game stories. Brad, who had shared season tickets with me for decades, had come down from his upstairs bedroom, in search of coffee.

“Did you see Neill’s story on the game?”, Brad asked as he made his presence known. “It’s great”.

“No”, I replied without looking up, still pecking away at my laptop. “I never read Neill’s story of the game until I’ve finished with mine”.

“Oh, ‘unintentional plagiarism’. Got it”, Brad responded. “Makes sense”.

Now, I don’t know if “unintentional plagiarism” was a term known previously, or if Brad had coined a new phrase, but it was quite correct.

Neill’s game stories were always so good, I knew, consciously or not, that if I read Neill’s work before finishing mine, I would inevitably lean into whatever take on the game Neill had taken.

I have spent 30 years trying to write like Neill. If you have enjoyed some of my game stories over the years, you now know who is responsible.

Thanks, Neill.

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Memorial Day was last weekend. On all of the weekend news broadcasts, there was coverage of parades, with interviews of former soldiers, some in uniform, talking about their histories and their fallen comrades.

The message was often the same … Memorial Day is about more than cookouts and the first weekend of summer.

It’s to remember – and honor – those who deserve our praise and respect.

Let me take this weekend to remember – and honor – three men who have had a profound influence on CU at the Game.

Thanks Adam … and Dave … and Neill.

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Tags: Adam Munsterteiger, Dave Plati, Neill Woelk
This post, about the Spring/Summer game, from the 2026 Season, is filed under Article.
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