INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE    December 20, 2025      Chuck Neinas   (UPDATED)   I was horrified to hear the news of Chuck Neinas' death last week.    My sympathies to his wife, economist Patty Pacey, and his family.      As you undoubtedly know if you're reading this, Chuck was a giant  in college sports. My friendship wth him included working with him to produce the manuscript that is in my computer, and also printed out and dropped in 3-ring notebook that's next to me on my den desk.    "The Memoirs of Chuck Neinas."   That's just a working title, and as I've looked over the manuscript again in the last week, I've been reminded of what a fascinating life Neinas led. His autobiography is riveting. Still. After all these years. And that's a story on its own.   Our paths had crossed over the years, most notably during my stints at The Sporting News and the Denver Post, before Chuck reached out to me in early 2003 to say he liked my newly published first  book, "Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming." He knew many of the major figures in it. Then when my second book, 2004's "Third Down and a War to Go," was connected to his native Wisconsin, he let me know he appreciated that one, also.    Chuck became a great friend. Make no mistake: I don't want to overstate how close we were. He had so many friends and  Chuck was a great friend of anyone he knew. Including me.    We stayed in touch and had periodic social lunches. We met at many spots in Boulder and the Denver area -- and in between, most often Gordon Biersch in Flatiron Crossing. We last caught up over lunch in October, at one of his favorite spots, Olive Garden in Westminster. (He loved those breadsticks and the bottomless salad.)    He enjoyed calling me "Scribe."   His dark secret was that the college football guru was an NHL nut. I mean a real NHL nut. The kind whose satellite car radio was always was tuned to NHL Radio. And he would plan and take trips to the World Cup of Hockey.     In 2009, Chuck asked me to work with him in the crafting of his memoirs. I said sure. He acknowledged that he had grown accustomed to hearing family members or friends insist, "You should do a book." Yet he had to be talked into it, mainly because he at times was uncomfortable with discussing his pre-career background and his personal life.   I was proud that he came to me.   He made it clear from the start that he didn't consider the project to be a prospective New York Times best-seller, or even a publishing  property at all. It was a way to pass down his story to his family. That stance hardened as time passed.     Starting with a session lasting several days at Chuck and Patty's second home in Beaver Creek, I hit "record" and Chuck and I talked. For about six months in sessions usually at their primary home on the north side of Boulder, I asked Chuck prompting questions and listened with rapt interest as we progressed through Chuck's life. I transcribed the tapes, did supplemental or confirming research to fill in blanks and wrote. It was in Chuck's voice and predominantly in his words. I organized them. Most important, I enjoyed getting to know Chuck even better and also telling his story. Or perhaps I should say "stories," because they just kept coming.     The resulting manuscript was amazing stuff.    He was raised in Northern Wisconsin. He was a Naval Seaman submariner on the USS Queenfish and USS Tilefish during the Korean War era. That was especially significant because Chuck considered the Tilefish captain, Giles Featherston Bunn III, a leadership role model for the rest of his life. Chuck was the Wisconsin Badgers' young radio voice. As an NCAA exec in a very small shop under the flighty Walter Byers, Chuck ran the NCAA Tournament as it progressed to Madness. He was the Big Eight and Big 12 commisioner in stints many years apart. He was the head of the rebellious College Football Association after his fallout with the NCAA and the lawsuit that ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court and led to the end of the NCAA's TV monopoly and to much wider exposure. ("Game of the week"? No more. Instead, we have "The 374 Games of the Week.") After the CFA's mission was deemed accomplished, Chuck was the head of Neinas Sports Services, serving as a consultant in coach searches -- many well-known college coaches were hired on his watch --  and athletic department evaluation as he was billed as one of the most influential and powerful figures in sports. He even served a stint as  stockholder / acting CEO and chairman of the board of Ascent, overseeing the Nuggets and Avalanche after a sale was scuttled and the franchises and arena were in limbo until Stan Kroenke purchased them in 2000.    I know I've left much out in trying to jam everything in that paragraph, but those are the highlights.   Chuck eventually gave the resulting manuscript a complete read-through and made mostly minor changes, usually for the sake of diplomacy. And we were done. He made it clear he was very happy with the manuscript, but he was even more insistent by then that he was doing it for his family. That was in line with his original reticence to "do" the book. He got it down on paper, so to speak. He had done his duty. That was 16 years ago. By then, I had done several books for multiple publishers and could have explored possibilities for Chuck, but I respected his wishes.       Perhaps twice a year, usually as an afterthought  as we walked to our cars after lunch, I told Chuck that if he ever wanted me to do additional interviews with him, update the manuscript and help seek out a publisher for him, to let me know.    I didn't bring it up after that last lunch at the Olive Garden.   *   *   *    My 2023 Institutional Knowledge commentary on Chuck Neinas reflecting on the state of the CU program and of college football is HERE    My extensive 2011 Denver Post profile of Chuck Neinas as he served as interim Big 12 commissioner is HERE    *   *   *       In 2016, Chuck provided a blurb for the cover of my seventh book, "March 1939: Before The Madness."   That praise, I always will treasure.