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Keeler: CU Buffs, Travis Hunter overcome trashy Texas Tech fans, Big 12 refs, tortillas to control College Football Playoff destiny

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Keeler: CU Buffs, Travis Hunter overcome trashy Texas Tech fans, Big 12 refs, tortillas to control College Football Playoff destiny


Is that a tortilla in your pocket, Travis Hunter?

Texas Tech threw everything it had at the CU Buffs. And we do mean everything. Shallow crosses. Wheel routes. Flatbreads. Water bottles.

With 12:12 to go in a bizarrely played and even more bizarrely officiated 41-27 CU victory on Saturday, things devolved to the point where Red Raiders football coach Joey McGuire grabbed the public-address microphone at Jones AT&T Stadium.

“Hey … students!” McGuire shouted. “Stop throwing stuff on the field! Please!”

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Early in the first quarter, Hunter picked up a tortilla that had drifted onto the field. The best player in college football, who apparently also hates littering, promptly stuck it in his pants.

With 1:18 left in the third quarter and his Buffs up 31-20, Shilo Sanders spotted a water bottle thrown his way. The CU safety grabbed the thing and lofted it back into the stands.

Big 12 refs had about as much control of that tilt as Mr. Toad did his Rolls Royce. CU and Tech combined for 23 penalties and 186 yards in sins. It was the kind of afternoon where, if McGuire and CU coach Deion Sanders weren’t such good friends, someone would’ve started swinging fists or folding chairs by the fourth quarter.

The Buffs’ cooler heads prevailed. Despite the chaos, CU (7-2, 5-1 Big 12) moved into sole possession of second place in the conference with three games left to play. The Buffs extended their road win streak to four straight for the first time since 1996. They survived a 13-0 deficit in the first quarter, and shook off 15 minutes straight of getting punched in the kisser.

But more impressively, they endured a barrage from some of the trashiest fans in college football.

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Throwing tortillas? That’s cute.

Throwing a water bottle? That’s assault.

Lubbock didn’t like the refs, so it lost its cool. It didn’t like the scoreboard, so it lost its dang mind.

“I had a vape given to me, (a) water bottle given to me and a beer bottle given to me,” McGuire said later, according to KTXT-FM. “I’m shocked we didn’t get a penalty.”

Travis Hunter (12) of the Colorado Buffaloes runs for a touchdown during the second half of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium on Nov. 9, 2024, in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)

Tech officials were lucky someone wasn’t seriously hurt. While Red Raider fans struggled to grasp common decency and sportsmanship, Tech’s offensive and defensive lines struggled mightily with CU in the trenches.

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Tech tailback Tajh Brooks, who was averaging 5.3 yards per carry at home before Saturday, was limited to 4.4 per tote on 31 attempts. CU piled up 10 tackles for loss and sacked Raiders QB Behren Morton six times.

Just like the road demolitions of UCF and Arizona, the Buffs had several players take turns with the crowbar. Amari McNeill, a transfer from the Tennessee Volunteers, racked up 1.5 sacks, along with three stops for losses. Linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green, another transfer, picked off a Morton pass, while edge rushers Arden Walker (two sacks) and Keaten Wade (1.5 sacks) combined to take the Tech QB down 3.5 times between them.

This one didn’t feel like so much of a game as it did in installments of a mega-bucks movie franchise. Each quarter had a tone, a big bad and emotional twists all its own.

The opening stanza belonged to the hosts. Tech came out of the gates doing its best North Dakota State. How do you mess with a Robert Livingston defense early? Attack the safeties with crossing routes and make those downhill linebackers have to cover receivers leaking out of the backfield.

Down 13-0, CU didn’t force a three-and-out until the first play of the second quarter. Offensively, the Buffs were just 1 for 7 on third downs at the half.

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Eventually, though, both teams reverted to type.

The Buffs outscored the Red Raiders 10-0 in the second quarter and 21-7 in the third. Tech came into the weekend leading the Big 12 in penalties per game (7.8). After just three flags over a relatively peaceful first and second quarters, the hosts committed four penalties in the first 12 minutes of the second half.

Back-to-back face-mask and holding flags late in the third stanza took a CU drive from first down at its own 38 to a fresh set of downs at the Tech 27. Shedeur took care of the rest, hitting Will Sheppard for 17 yards and then from five yards out on a perfect lob to the back right pylon — a score that put CU up 23-20 with 4:25 to go until the fourth period.

At the same time, Kansas was busy doing CU a giant solid against Iowa State. The Jayhawks’ 2-6 record as of Saturday morning was deceptive — KU entered the weekend ranked No. 36 nationally in ESPN’s Football Power Index, better than Arizona State (38th), Wisconsin (39th), Cincinnati (40th), UNLV (42nd) and Michigan (46th). Five of those six Jayhawks losses had come by six points or fewer.

KU took it out on Cyclones at Arrowhead Stadium, holding on for a 45-36 win that wrested control of second place, and an inside track to the Big 12 Championship, out of ISU’s sweaty palms.

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Rock Chalk in Kansas City will be the Buffs’ problem in two weeks, although it’s a delicious one. Because CU controls its own destiny now. And said destiny is on the express lane to Dallas, Coach Prime’s backyard, and to a berth in the Big 12 title game.

Anything this league’s thrown at CU, the program’s found an answer for. Bottles included.

On Saturday, the Buffs handled trash the way a College Football Playoff team should.

They took it out.

Anquin Barnes Jr. (92), Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig (7), and Tawfiq Thomas (95) of the Colorado Buffaloes celebrate during the second half of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium on Nov. 9, 2024 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Anquin Barnes Jr. (92), Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig (7), and Tawfiq Thomas (95) of the Colorado Buffaloes celebrate during the second half of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium on Nov. 9, 2024 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)

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Denver, CO

Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others

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Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others


Denver police are searching for suspects in a Saturday night parking lot shooting that killed a 16-year-old and wounded three men, at least one of whom is not expected to survive, according to the agency.

Officers responded to the shooting in the 10100 block of East Hampden Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, near where East Hampden intersects South Galena Street, according to an alert from the Denver Police Department.

Police said a group of people had gathered in a parking lot on the edge of the city’s Kennedy neighborhood to celebrate the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when the shooting happened.

Paramedics took one victim to a hospital, and two others were taken to the hospital in private vehicles, police said. A fourth victim, identified by police as 16-year-old William Rodriguez Salas, was dropped off near Iliff Avenue and South Havana Street, where he died from his wounds.

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At least one of the three victims taken to hospitals — a 26-year-old man, a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man — is not expected to survive, police said Tuesday. One man was in critical condition Sunday night, one was in serious condition and one was treated for a graze wound and released.



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Denver, CO

Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines

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Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines


The new year in Colorado brought new restrictions for people who vape in Denver. As of January 1, a voter-approved ban on flavored nicotine products is now in effect in Denver, prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products within city limits.

Just outside the Denver border, vape shops say they’re already feeling the ripple effects.

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At Tokerz Head Shop in Aurora, located about a block and a half from the Denver city line, owner Gordon McMillon says customers are beginning to trickle in from Denver.

“I was in shock it passed, to be honest,” McMillon said. “Just because of how many people vape in Denver. But we’re hoping to take care of everybody that doesn’t get their needs met over there anymore.”

One of those customers is Justin Morrison, who lives in the Denver area and vapes daily. He stopped by the Aurora shop a day after the ban went into place.

Morrison says the ban won’t stop him from vaping. It will just change where he buys his products.

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“I’m going to have to come all the way to Aurora to get them,” he said. “It’s pretty inconvenient. I smoke flavored vapes every day.”

The goal of the ban, according to public health advocates, is to reduce youth vaping.

Morrison said flavored vapes helped him quit smoking cigarettes, an argument frequently raised by adult users and vape retailers who oppose flavor bans.

“It helped tremendously,” he said. “I stopped liking the flavor of cigarettes. The taste was nasty, the smell was nasty. I switched all the way over to vapes, and it helped me stop smoking cigarettes completely.”

McMillon worries bans like Denver’s could push some former smokers back to cigarettes.

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“If they can’t get their vapes, some will go back to cigarettes, for sure,” he said. “I’ve asked people myself, and it’s about 50-50.”

While McMillon acknowledges it will bring more business to shops outside Denver, he says the ban wasn’t something he wanted.

“Even if it helps me over here in Aurora, I’m against it,” he said. “I feel like adults should have the rights if they want to vape or not.”

More than 500 retailers in Denver removed their flavored products. For many, they accounted for the majority of their sales. Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment says it will begin issuing fines and suspensions to retailers found selling flavored tobacco products.

Both McMillan and Morrison say they’re concerned the ban could spread to other cities. For now, Aurora vape shops remain legal alternatives for Denver customers.

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Despite the added drive, Morrison says quitting isn’t on the table.

“It’s an addiction. You’re going to find a way to get it. That’s why I don’t see the point of banning it here,” Morrison said.

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Denver, CO

Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy

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Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy


Denver will be the site of the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy.

Funding for the project was approved by Denver voters in the Vibrant Denver Bond measure.

The vision is for the embassy to welcome Native people back home to Colorado.

On the snowy day of CBS News Colorado’s visit, Rick Williams observed the buffalo herd at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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“These animals are sacred to us,” said Williams, who is Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne. “This was our economy. They provided everything we needed to live a wonderful lifestyle.”

Rick Williams, president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy, looks at buffalo at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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Williams is president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy.

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“‘Homeland’ is a special term for everybody, right?” Williams asked. “But for people who were alienated, for American Indians who were alienated from Colorado, they don’t have a home, they don’t have a home community that you can go to, this is it. And I think that’s sad.”

The First Creek Open Space — near 56th and Peña, near the southeast corner of the Arsenal — is owned by the City and County of Denver and is being considered for development of the embassy.

“To have a space that’s an embassy that would be government-to-government relations on neutral space,” said Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore, who represents northeast Denver District 11. “But then also supporting the community’s economic development and their cultural preservation.”

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Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore speaks from the First Creek Open Space in northeast Denver about the possibility of building the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy at the site.

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Gilmore said $20 million from the Vibrant Denver Bond will support the design and construction of the center to support Indigenous trade, arts, and education.

“That sense of connection and that sense of place and having a site is so important if you’re going to welcome people back home,” added Gilmore.

“What a great treasure for people in Colorado,” Williams said as he read the interpretive sign at the wildlife refuge.

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Rick Williams, president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy, reads a sign at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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He said the proposed location makes perfect sense: “Near the metropolitan area, but not necessarily in the metropolitan area, we would love to be near buffalo. We would love to be in an area where there’s opportunities for access to the airport.”

The Denver March Powwow could one day be held at the embassy.

Williams dreams of expanding the buffalo herd nearby and having the embassy teach future generations Indigenous skills and culture.

The concept for the embassy is one of the recommendations emerging from the Truth, Restoration, and Education Commission, a group of American Indian leaders in Colorado who began to organize four years ago to study the history of Native Americans in our state.

And the work is just beginning.

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“We have to think about, ‘how do we maintain sustainability and perpetuity of a facility like this?’” Williams said. “So there’s lots of issues that are going to be worked on over the next year or so.”

Williams added, “One day our dreams are going to come true, and those tribes are going to come, and we’re going to have a big celebration out here. We’re going to have a drum, and we’re going to sing honor songs, and we’re going to have just the best time ever welcoming these people back to their homeland.”

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s staff sent the following statement:

“We are excited about the passing of the Vibrant Denver Bond and the opportunity it creates to invest in our city’s first American Indian Cultural Embassy. We are committed to working hand-in-hand with the Indigenous community to plan and develop the future embassy, and city staff have already been invited to listen and engage with some of our local American Indian groups, like the People of the Sacred Land. We are not yet at the stage of formal plans, but we are excited to see the momentum of this project continue.”

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