By Sean Keeler, Denver Post
BOULDER — If you’re wondering just how far this has spread, just how deep it goes, Thanasi “Saki” Mihalakos has a little Buffs story he’d like to share.
Saki Mihalakos is a jeweler in north Florida, a former University of South Florida safety-turned-coach and a friend and business associate of the Sanders family. A few days back, he was asked to speak to a group of kids, aged 7-ish to 14-ish, at a local Pop Warner League — impart a little wisdom, talk a little shop.
One of the coaches introduced him as the diamond guy. You know? The one who put the bling on all of Shedeur Sanders’ things.
Suddenly, all these tiny, skinny left wrists popped up in the air and started flexing, almost in unison. It was as if they were standing in front of an imaginary Arizona State student section at Mountain America Stadium, getting the last word.
“They were going crazy, throwing their wrists up,” Mihalakos told The Denver Post earlier this week, chuckling at the recollection of a bunch of kids impersonating Sanders, CU’s junior quarterback. “Because it motivates these guys.
“The younger generation, they know who Shedeur is. They’re tuned in. They know. I just do the watch (flex) and those kids were going crazy. That’s something that has become a staple now.”
It’s a staple in Duval County, for pity’s sake. A staple some 1,765 miles from Folsom Field.
From Florida to Oregon, the Buffs have become a national staple, too. A national story. And now that we can add Time magazine and “Saturday Night Live” to the club, an honest-to-goodness national pop culture phenomenon.
Deion Sanders’ Buffs (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) come off their midseason bye next Saturday with a visit to No. 25 UCLA on ABC, the program’s fifth appearance on a national television broadcast this season. That’s already the most national TV appearances for one autumn in CU history, passing four in 1990 — the last time the Gold and Black won a national title.
But seriously: SNL? The Buffs? How did we get here after just seven weeks? Let’s just say Coach Prime ain’t the only one who’s kept receipts.
Sept. 2: CU 45, TCU 42 — “Do you believe now?”
Deion Sanders has always known how to make an entrance. In hindsight, we should’ve expected the same from his Buffs coaching debut.
Coming into Fort Worth, Texas, against the defending College Football Playoff runners-up as 20-point underdogs, CU didn’t just play good — the Buffs racked up 565 yards on total offense, 510 of them through the air. CU looked good, too. Pristine in white, slick and tight. Sanders coached in a white Nike CU hoodie. The players wore white helmets, white jerseys and white pants with glittering gold numbers and black trim. As the Buffs enthralled Fox’s “Big Noon Saturday” viewers by rallying to win a wild, 87-point shootout, fans were almost as excited about their new look.
CU officials told The Post that September 2023 was the biggest single month for sales in the history of the Buffs’ online team store. Sales topped the previous high month, which was December 2022, when Sanders was hired away from Jackson State, by 53% and bested sales for September 2022 by 1,220%, a Buffs spokesman said. Four of CU’s five biggest single-day merchandise sales days took place in September.
Fans who were still on the fence decided to hop on to the Coach Prime bandwagon after that opening win. CU officials said Sept. 2, and particularly the hours immediately after the win in Fort Worth, turned into the biggest day for ticket sales in Buffs history that didn’t involve a sports-specific sale or season-specific ticket window. The Buffs went on to sell out the remainder of their season — home games vs. USC, Oregon State and Arizona — during a fortnight stretch from Sept. 7-19.
Sept 9: CU 36, Nebraska 14 — Huskers go down, TV ratings and admissions go up
Come for the show, stay for the party. More people watched the Buffs throttle the hated Cornhuskers on Fox — another “Big Noon Saturday” showcase game — than had watched all ratings-reported CU football games in 2022, according to SportsMediaWatch.com.
The Week 2 showdown between the old Big 12/Big Eight rivals drew a reported 8.73 million viewers. The five Buffs games that were featured on ESPN-related, Fox-related or CBS-related networks in 2022, per SportsMediaWatch.com, totaled 4.24 million viewers combined. (Pac-12 Network viewing figures are not Nielsen-rated, and therefore not reported.)
A rising football program is the kind of tide that lifts all boats, and a CU spokesperson confirmed a comment by Buffs chancellor Phil DiStefano that applications to the university are up approximately 40% over last year. CU expects more specific details on that front after mid-November, including which regions new students are specifically applying from.
Sept. 16: CU 43, CSU 35 — A Showdown so bright, Prime wore shades
Chase Fisher, CEO and founder of Blenders eyewear, was looking to partner his company up with a dynamic sports personality. Fisher’s father had tipped him onto Sanders a year ago while the latter was still at Jackson State.
“I started to see his affinity for loud, affordable eyewear, which is exactly who we are here at Blenders,” Fisher told The Post via a statement. “We started a conversation with his team, SMAC Entertainment, and it turns out that he was in the market for an eyewear deal. We started out by sending him a few different styles to test out, and things grew from there.”
CSU coach Jay Norvell gave Fisher the perfect window and weekend with which to launch their new partnership. On the Rams coach’s weekly show on the Wednesday night of Rocky Mountain Showdown Week at the C.B. & Potts restaurant, Norvell told his audience this:
“I sat down with ESPN today. I don’t care if they hear it in Boulder. I told them, I took my hat off and I took my glasses off. I said when I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat off and my glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me.”
On Thursday morning, ESPN’s social media channels picked up the quote. Boulder heard it. Everybody heard it.
Within 12 hours, a game without much narrative oomph outside the Front Range had a national subplot for the rest of the country cling to. And a cause for Buffs fans — and CU players, who generally shrugged when asked about the Rams earlier in the week — to rally around.
It also gave Fisher an opening. With both ESPN and Fox’s pregame shows setting up on competing lawns at the CU campus, Blenders announced Friday, Sept. 15, it was rolling out its “Prime 21” line of shades. Sanders had roughly 150 to present to the team during a Thursday meeting and also gave a pair to ESPN host/podcaster Pat McAfee during his appearance on the latter’s morning show.
Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com reported that within days of the announcement Blenders sold roughly 70,000 units in preorders at $67 a pop. That’s an estimated take of $4.6 million within 72 hours of its release
Fisher declined to add any specifics when reached by The Post, but noted that the Coach Prime “presale has completely shattered all expectations. This is the biggest collaboration Blenders has released to date.”
Sept. 30: USC 48, CU 41 — Ain’t Hard to Find (Celebrity Edition)
When the Trojans came to Boulder, why wouldn’t Hollywood follow? Social media caught comedy icon and USC alum Will Ferrell in a Folsom Field suite, while at least a dozen current or former NBA players, including several members of the Nuggets, roamed the sideline before the morning kickoff.
“It’s (a) quick (trip),” said Nuggets center DeAndre Jordan, one of a handful of the reigning NBA champs who made the trip up the turnpike for the morning kick.
“But also, I think it’s great for the city of Denver, the state of Colorado, just to have the notoriety (at) the college football kind of level. And it’s a great energy. The Avs won a (Stanley Cup) championship, we won a championship. These guys are coming up (to see the Buffs) … although my brother went to CSU, so he was kind of (expletive) that I went to (the game). It was cool to just be able to have that in your backyard.”
Although the Buffs’ rally fell short, the stars came out again for the Buffs’ Friday night game under the lights on Oct. 13 vs. Stanford. Notables for the last CU game before the bye, a stunning 46-43 overtime loss, included actors Cedric The Entertainer, Anthony Anderson, Luke Grimes and former Cardinal and NFL quarterback Andrew Luck.
“I mean, the energy (at Folsom) is electric, man,” Jordan continued. “So you want to be able to witness that in person, not just on TV. And just to be able to support whomever, especially in the state that you’re playing in, that’s big for the community.”
Oct. 7: CU 27, Arizona State 24 — What time is it? (Shedeur time.)
A sparkling start to the season added another shining moment — literally — in Tempe.
After driving the Buffs 50 yards on five plays in just 38 seconds to set up a game-winning, 43-yard Alejandro Mata field goal, CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders went viral when he flexed his $70,000 stainless steel wristwatch, a Royal Oak 15500 manufactured by the Swiss company Audemars Piguet, to a jeering pack of Sun Devils fans.
Back in north Florida, Mihalakos’ social media channels blew up.
“There’s been (an uptick) in people who want to be involved,” said Mihalakos, who last year “iced” the timepiece by adding 30 karats of VVS diamonds to the quarterback’s watch last year.
“They love the fact that it’s Deion and Shedeur, and they want to be involved in purchasing something or finding out what it would cost to do something (special). I’ve made some pieces for other guys on the CU team, too.”
Wideouts Xavier Weaver and Javon Antonio are now wearing some of Saki’s handiwork now, having admired Shedeur’s bling from afar. Mihalakos, CEO of Saki Diamonds, recently added the Buffs to a list of football clientele that includes Zay Flowers of the Baltimore Ravens and Kayvon Thibodeaux of the New York Giants.
“I went from being a Bull to being a Buff,” Mihalakos laughed. “It’s crazy. I’m really rooting for them. I feel like I’m a Buff now.”