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.
Whatever you do, don’t get in his way. He’s a mean, brute force and a downright violent rugby player out on Johnson Field. Alex Melad, a member of the UNM club team, truly defines what a rugby player should be. “He is one of our key players on the team,” said teammate Drew Riordan.
The other five matches had ended. Tied at three, the entire UNM men’s tennis team and Boise State stood opposite each other, cheering on Lobo Jadon Phillips and Boise State’s Filipp Pogostkin as they dueled in the deciding match at the Linda Estes Tennis Center on Thursday.
UNM men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford is not a pool enthusiast. Nonetheless, he keeps aptly pocketing big-time prospects. The Lobos officially announced their five 2010 signees.
Such cavalier attire for such a momentous decision. Darington Hobson, dressed in a long-sleeved, cherry mesh shirt, black basketball shorts and retro Jordans, with shin-high Nike socks, announced Tuesday that he will forego his senior season with the UNM men’s basketball team and enter the 2010 NBA Draft. “I feel like this is what I was put on Earth to do,” Hobson said. Hobson will not hire an agent, leaving open the possibility he could return to the Lobos.
Last year, around this time, Levi Jaeckel was placing basketballs on racks and taking orders from the UNM men’s basketball team’s coaching staff. This spring, however, Jaeckel is running routes and catching passes for the UNM football team.
Just. Like. That. “One play,” said running backs coach Darrell Dickey, “and it’s done.” Suddenly and callously. Terence Brown’s story is a real tear-jerker — how he was on the cusp of becoming the Lobos’ starting running back when he was dealt an unfavorable blow last April. Almost a year to the day later, on Saturday, Brown recollected the infamous practice with precise clarity. “I remember the whole situation, the exact play,” Brown said.
Gone are the days of the composite tailback. College football no longer lends itself to a do-it-all, one-man show in the backfield.
Cameron Smith found a home with the UNM baseball team. After ping-ponging from Yavapai College in 2007 to Salt Lake Community College in 2008, Smith came to the Lobos.
The Tiger Woods fallout has been long and arduous. Pundits and sponsors turned their backs on him, and Brit Hume, in his wisdom, begged the embattled golfer to find Jesus. Now Tiger’s zombie father is getting in on it. In a Nike ad released this week, the disembodied voice of Earl Woods, Tiger’s dead dad, asks his son what he’s learned from his mistakes.
The UNM baseball team’s bats got started early and didn’t stop until the ninth inning, but neither did BYU’s.
Ray Birmingham pays little attention to BYU’s stat sheet or depth chart. Tell the Lobos’ head coach that the Cougars are 13-14 overall, he’ll tell you otherwise.
Solutions by The State News
