If ever a Lobo could talk, Mike Roberts was that voice.
For 40 years, Roberts has been the play-by-play announcer for UNM football and basketball.
Last Friday, all that came to an abrupt end, when UNM informed Roberts he would not be retained.
UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs did not return phone calls Sunday.
Roberts said UNM offered to keep him on the broadcasting staff in some capacity, but he is not sure if he will accept the position.
"I'm not leaning one way or another," he said.
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With a sense of disappointment in his voice, the 74-year-old joked about his possible plans for the future
"I don't play golf," he said. "I still work part-time at KKOB radio. They're lining up some programs for me. It won't be like doing Lobo football and basketball, but there's still stuff to do."
Early career
Sports intrigued Roberts ever since he was a child.
"I listened to Harry Caray when I was just a kid," he said. "When I graduated from high school, my dad told me I had to get a job, and I said, 'I don't think I want to work.' But he said, 'How would you like to go to broadcasting school in Kansas City, Missouri?'"
Roberts accepted his dad's offer and headed out to Pathfinders School.
While he was in Kansas City, Roberts hooked up with a local radio station and started doing high school sports.
"We had to tape the games and play them back on Saturday morning," he said. "If you didn't have the right guy making the tackle or catching the pass, those kids always called you and said, 'Hey, that was me that did that, not that other guy.' So, you had to really work at being as accurate as you could."
Roberts said that's one thing he always prided himself on - being accurate.
At the request of former UNM head basketball coach Bob King, Roberts made the trek down to Albuquerque to cover Lobo athletics in 1966.
After applying for the position, Roberts was hired.
"All I ever wanted to do was be the voice of the New Mexico Lobos," he said. "And I got to do that for 40 years. You can't beat that."
Memory Lane
For Roberts, UNM was his home away from home. Throughout his 40 years of radio broadcasting for the University, Roberts has stockpiled a slew of memories - fond and somber.
Roberts can clearly recall one of them in detail.
"New Mexico was playing in the NCAA Tournament," he said. "They had Michael Cooper and all those guys. We were in Arizona and had Cal State-Fullerton down. Cal State-Fullerton came back and beat New Mexico. If the Lobos would have won that game, they were going to play in Albuquerque at The Pit in the NCAA Regionals. After that game was over, it almost felt like you got kicked in the stomach."
Roberts also remembers some classic moments for the cherry-and-silver, like in 2005, when Danny Granger scored 28 points, including the game winner against Utah in the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
"Granger took a step back, shot, and made the basket to beat Utah," he said. "Then there was Greg Brown up at BYU - New Mexico was down by three. Greg put up a shot. It didn't really have much of a chance to go in, but he was fouled and he made all three of the free-throws. The Lobos came back. There's so many of them. ... Some of them are so far back, but they still really make an impression."
It's no doubt that while Roberts may have memories of his own, he will leave a legacy behind at UNM. And in old, vintage Roberts style, he signed off - perhaps for the last time.
"So long, everybody."
