Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)
The running of the University of Colorado's live buffalo mascot, Ralphie, is a triumphant moment, a glorious flash of the Wild West thundering across Folsom Field as a raucous crowd chants her name.
Except for that one time in 2008, when it was not that.
The setting: a spring game, an annual scrimmage that gives fans the first glimpse of the team before the season begins in the fall.
But in 2008, the players weren't the only ones making their big debuts. That game marked the first appearance of Ralphie V, the latest in a line of buffaloes that have carried the CU-spangled saddle blanket through Folsom Field.