It is one thing for an athlete in an individual sport to talk about internal competition. It is another thing entirely to witness it.
Whipping winds and otherwise inclement weather tore a hole in the fabric of the UNM Football Indoor Practice Facility Thursday, calling into question the safeness of the Lobos’ structure after a report back in January said there were flaws in the design of UNM’s $7 million facility. The Lobos’ facility was evaluated by Chavez-Grieves Consulting Engineers Inc., a local engineering firm, after the Dallas Cowboys’ facility collapsed during a thunderstorm back in May 2009.
If San Diego State head baseball coach Tony Gwynn is considered one of the greatest batters in the history of MLB, that doesn’t mean his knack for clubbing balls has suddenly transferred to his players. The Aztecs are not hitting the ball like their head coach once did back in his hey-day with the San Diego Padres.
If you want the answer as to why Daniel Gonzalez has played in 89 straight games as shortstop for the UNM baseball team, just ask head coach Ray Birmingham. “Gonzalez can play shortstop,” Birmingham said about the senior.
The Lobos showed no mercy to the Red Raiders in Tuesday’s matinee duel. The UNM baseball team played Texas Tech at Isotopes Park, sealing the deal with one big inning. Tech’s sunny day was ruined by a six-hit, nine-run fifth inning by UNM and resulted in a 16-8 Lobo victory. The Lobos added four runs in the bottom of the seventh, and Rafael Neda hit a stand-up double to score two runs and UNM added two more with a Red Raider error on pitcher Justin Cooper to extend a 12-3 lead in the eighth inning. “I like to have a team that you never know who is going to be your poison that day, and that has happened every day this year,” said UNM head coach Ray Birmingham.
The arc of their careers makes it conveniently appropriate for the cult of sports writers — unified in theme and thought — to bill this first-round NBA playoffs series as rising star versus falling star.
The UNM women’s softball team fell 9-5 behind a five-run inning from Colorado State Sunday at the UNM Softball Complex, completing a two-game sweep by the Rams. Head coach Ty Singleton, echoing John Madden’s obvious and direct style of quote, summed up the weekend in which the Lobos dropped two games and fell to 10-29 overall. “Colorado State played better than we did,” he said.
Welcome to the NFL fraternity, Erik Cook. The UNM football team’s former center was the 27th pick in the seventh round (229th overall) during the 75th annual NFL Draft.
It is silly to make comparisons — Jodi Ewart is the measurement of success. “You have people that are mathematical geniuses,” said UNM women’s golf head coach Jill Trujillo.
Little-Kid Syndrome persists into adulthood. We’re all guilty of it. At one time or another, we’ve all idolized professional athletes.
It was just that kind of night for the Lobos. Nothing would or wanted to bounce in the UNM baseball team’s favor, even a late Lobo rally in the eighth inning, which ended when Alex Allbritton hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. The Lobos never recovered and faltered at the hands of San Francisco, 9-5, on Tuesday at Isotopes Park. But like an old broken-down record, the pitching kept playing a bad tune. The Lobos substituted three pitchers Jacob Nelson, Gabe Aguilar and Oscar Almeida in the bottom of the sixth inning that resulted in two hits and one run by the Dons. This was before, the fourth pitcher of the inning, Jason Oatman, sat down the last two batters of the San Francisco’s line up.
Like a Halley’s comet sighting, a win for the UNM softball team is a rare occurrence. But in a game that went the distance — all seven innings — the Lobos turned in a less-than meteoric finish, tailing off like a falling star in the speckled horizon.
As if it sensed the weather turning, the UNM tennis team finished TCU quickly 6-1, almost exclusively in straight sets.
It was a colossal loss for Coppin State. All day at Lobo Field, the Eagles endured apathetic pitching, nowhere-to-be-found defense, all while struggling to get runners on base. Did we mention the bad pitching? The UNM baseball team racked up 29 hits to Coppin State’s seven while running the Eagles out of Albuquerque, 29-3, on Sunday at Isotopes Park, part of a three-game sweep. UNM head coach Ray Birmingham said his players had a team meeting on Sunday morning, and, as a result, put together an error-free performance against Coppin State. “It was a big pow wow, actually, a couple of big pow wows,” Birmingham said.
Surrounded by Washington D.C.’s political breeding grounds, UNM head football coach Mike Locksley inescapably learned the art of shaking hands and kissing babies. How else could Locksley convince five-star offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandijo to visit UNM during Saturday’s Cherry-Silver scrimmage after the Lobos’ 1-11 season? Ask Kouandijo, and he’ll enlighten you.
Mission somewhat accomplished. The UNM football team ended its spring practice sessions on Saturday with the annual Cherry-Silver scrimmage. The Cherry squad took care of business, downing Silver, 21-7, in a low-scoring, defensive affair at University Stadium. Head coach Mike Locksley hadn’t viewed the scrimmage tape yet, but he said it was a good culmination of spring ball. “I thought that, for the most part, we got a lot of things we wanted to get accomplished this spring,” he said.
Having won it twice before, Jodi Ewart was hardly lauded a dark horse to win the individual title in the Mountain West Conference Women’s Golf Championship at the Bayonet & Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside, Calif. Yet, even favored, Ewart continues to amaze.
It’s the same recycled storyline, devoid of plot and tension. The downtrodden UNM softball team, 10-26 overall and 0-6 in the Mountain West Conference, was train-tracked 9-1 by Utah in a shortened, five-inning affair on Saturday at the UNM Softball Complex.
Instant gratification is an unfortunate byproduct of living in a microwave era. In that regard, Lobo football head coach Mike Locksley’s glass-half-full approach has, so far, worked against him. With great aplomb, Locksley defiantly professed to be a handyman when he was hired in December 2008 to refurbish a well-erected foundation.
The UNM softball team increased its losing streak to 10 after a 10-5 loss to BYU on Thursday. BYU started right off the bat, bringing in four runs in the first inning.
Solutions by The State News
