Editor,
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the Daily Lobo’s Ryan Tomari a UNM student? Whatever happened to school spirit? What’s wrong with rooting for the home team through the best, but most importantly, through the worst?
As if UNM’s athletic reputation isn’t already dangling by a thread, Tomari has managed to bring down Lobo sports even more. It seems unusual to me that the Daily Lobo’s voice has so little pride in its own sports teams. I think we’re allowed to be a little biased here, seeing as UNM is reporting on behalf of UNM, but maybe Tomari never really was rooting for the home team in the first place.
Speaking specifically of last Thursday’s article on the Lady Lobo vs. Oklahoma State NIT semi-final game, I almost had to do a double take of what paper I was reading. There was no focus on the Lobos’ defensive efforts to hold OSU point guard Andrea Riley to 6-of-22 from the field, only an emphasis on Riley tiring out Lobo point guard Amy Beggin. Tomari was quick to criticize coach Flanagan’s “incorrect” 3-point shooting stats by stating, “Flanagan was mistaken about his team’s 3-point shooting abilities. … The Lobos finished hitting only six 3-pointers of the 27 attempted.” Only it was obvious in the press conference that Flanagan was talking about the second half of the game when he said the Lobos were 2-17 from 3-point range. And who could forget the cutline under Amanda Best’s picture claiming, “Amanda Best shoots a basket while Oklahoma State’s Heather Howard blocks the ball.” If I remember correctly, Best had a number of aggressive drives with the majority ending in baskets, if not fouls. And after looking at the game’s stats, OSU’s Howard ended the night with zero blocks. Best ended the night tying her career scoring high of 15 points. But which statistic was highlighted?
It’s just sad to me, a member of the Lady Lobo basketball team, seeing this type of press when UNM’s reputation is suffering enough. When your own school doesn’t even believe in your team, it’s easy to question who will. We work really hard to maintain a positive image for Lobo athletics only to get struck down by our school newspaper. Bad game or not, it’s okay to cut a little slack for your lovely Lady
Lobos, Ryan.
Jordan Unverzagt
UNM student
