There is one thing the Colorado State University Rams are passionate about, and that’s school spirit. With that, their animosity for one school runs high: the University of Colorado Boulder.
Everyone can appreciate a good rivalry, especially those from Colorado’s biggest universities. Saturday, Sept. 14, will go down in history as the first time the Rocky Mountain Showdown was hosted at Canvas Stadium. CSU took the week before to get students excited for the event, one way being Grill the Buffs.
Ad
“(The Rocky Mountain Showdown) is one of the biggest football game days we’ve ever had at CSU,” CSU President Amy Parsons said. “It’s a historic day.”
In preparation for the event, Associated Students of CSU ordered 3,500 burgers and, with the help of the fall concert series, were able to have several food trucks and bands ready to entertain the night.
The event started at 4 p.m., lasting for a total of two hours. To kick off the event, CSU’s cheer team and band performed while the first batch of students got their free burgers. Later on in the night, guest speakers, such as ASCSU President Nick DeSalvo and Parsons, got to share their excitement during the event.
Along with Funky Business and The Burroughs was special guest DJ Jason Green. Green was ASCSU’s president 2006-07, and it was under his administration that the first Grill the Buffs event took place.
Last year was the first time in five years CSU was able to bring back this event, but this year will be the last for awhile. DeSalvo encouraged students to make this Grill the Buffs “extra, extra special.”
“Given that this is the last … Grill the Buffs … event ’til 2029 for the football teams to play against each other, it was really important for us to kind of go big or go home,” said QueNique Blake, ASCSU director of traditions and programs.
More than 3,500 participants were expected to attend the event, so when the free burgers ran out, the food trucks were ready — one of them being Mary Mountain Cookies, run by Mike Neal, otherwise known as Cookie Mike.
“CSU reached out to me because I’m a part of the Lagoon (Series),” Neal said.
Neal also said he looked forward to “selling a ton of cookies” to Grill the Buffs attendees.
Ad
Despite an abundant number of students arriving within the first 10 minutes of the event, the line only started forming 10 minutes prior to the event.
The first students to line up were Cecilia Nemeth, Safwan Ahmad and Ethan Kennel.
As they expressed their excitement for the event to come, Kennel gave his best advice for the game, telling students to “be safe and have a good time.”
Reach Sophie Webb at life@collegian.com or on Twitter @sophgwebb.
