A win by UNM senior javelin thrower Anthony Fairbanks broke the gloom of a rainy day at the Don Kirby Memorial Invitational. Three lightning delays halted action for more than an hour and a half at the UNM Track Stadium, but Fairbanks wasn't affected by the distractions.
Home sweet home - at least for the weekend. The UNM baseball team is glad to be back in the Land of Enchantment after a three-game losing streak that rode from the edge of the Sierra Nevadas to the Great Plains. UNM dropped a 12-11 decision to BYU, only to follow that with two losses to Nebraska, 4-2 and 9-5.
Gobs of money aside, ESPN is the Republican Party - in short, an arrogant organization that no longer thinks it needs its constituents' input to remain in power. It just takes a keen eye to recognize it. In addition to its daily broadcasts, ESPN's supplementary online coverage has crippled and essentially stamped out real sports journalism.
No theatrics, no anxiety - the UNM men's tennis team already knew it would be in the NCAA Championships field. After winning the Mountain West Conference on Saturday, the Lobos won't forget to pack the sunscreen, because they are headed to sunny Los Angeles to take on Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on May 9.
It's been an up-and-down season for the UNM softball team. But there have been more valleys than peaks for the Lobos, and UNM stands at 11-32. After dropping a game to San Diego State 10-4 on Friday, the Lobos were swept in a three-game series against UNLV 8-4, 12-1 and 10-4.
The parallels are all there. On Sept. 8, 2002, the Houston Texans became the first team in 41 years to win in its expansion debut, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 19-10. Sunday, former UNM cornerback Glover Quin, the first person in his county to play Division-I football, reached the summit of football and is surely the first person from his small Mississippi county to be drafted in the NFL.
The University of New Mexico boasts the motto "Everyone's a Lobo!" - and by everyone, it means only football and basketball players. The distribution of funds among the 19 varsity sports at UNM is uneven. In fact, few sports receive full benefits. The athletic administration demands sportsmanship and fairness of its UNM athletes on the field, but it can't seem to demonstrate the same accountability from its office.
The UNM men's tennis team is the 2009 Mountain West Conference champion. Senior Miles Bugby clinched the win in a third-set tiebreaker at the No. 3 singles position to give the No. 2 seeded Lobos a 4-3 win over top-seeded Texas Christian University on Sunday at the Jerry Cline Tennis Center.
New York media, here DeAndre Wright comes. Wright, who said he wasn't anxious before the NFL Draft, won't be scared when he faces the media frenzy. Despite his shy disposition, Wright said he will handle the pressure of the Big Apple with the same approach he used heading into the draft: Ignore it.
Glover Quin's stomach is probably tumbling like a washing machine on spin dry. He's one step away from realizing something that almost never came to fruition. Quin has a hulking physique - his biceps ripple. He's a junior college kid. He knows the definition of hard work.
Away from the cacophony of Radio City Hall, away from the backdrop of madness that surely will become the 2009 NFL Draft green room, DeAndre Wright will be in Maryland, Va. - his hometown - spoon in hand, crunching and munching on a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Forgive San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg for being fed up with the hype. Better yet, don't blame him. The gushing infatuation with the 103-mph right hander is downright ridiculous. Strasburg doesn't seem tailored to fit in his own shoes. It sounds odd considering that you buy shoes that fit you.
In Friday's story about SDSU's Stephen Strasburg, it was reported that he struck out only 20 batters. He has 121 strikeouts, after fanning 14 batters in Friday's game against the Lobos. The error was made in reporting.
Whether Lobo head coach Mike Locksley knows it, he's a psychologist at heart. During Saturday's Cherry-Silver scrimmage, the UNM football team reinforced the findings of renowned psychologist Robert Zajonc, who in 1965 accounted for the duality of the social-facilitation effect.
The UNM football team's final spring practice finished in stirring fashion, with the Cherry-Silver scrimmage coming down to a last-minute field goal. In contrast to last year's 35-7 Cherry win, this year's game highlighted a balanced mix from both squads.
Rafael Neda took care of business for the UNM baseball team when it mattered most against San Diego State on Sunday at Isotopes Park, giving the Lobos a 2-1 series win. On Friday night, Lobo fans witnessed a pitching duel for the ages. Top prospect Stephen Strasburg shut out the Lobos in a 1-0 victory for the Aztecs, but the Lobos struck back, taking Game 2 12-4 on Saturday.
Godlike NFL figure Vince Lombardi sent his Moses, Bill Walsh, down this past Tuesday and handed the American sporting community his equivalent of the Ten Commandments. It's called the 2009 NFL regular-season schedule. The schedule, which was announced on April 14, couldn't have come at a better time.
Murderers Row, meet Stephen Strasburg. San Diego State's right-handed pitcher will face the Lobos' batting lineup today. Strasburg has been portrayed as something of an urban legend, a pitcher harkening back to a story Sports Illustrated concocted about a hard-throwing ace named Sidd Finch, whose fastball whizzed by at 168 mph.
If you were to compile a list of adjectives to describe last year's UNM football team, chances are you wouldn't use words like "balanced" or "high-scoring." More than likely, you'd describe them as a smash-mouth, lull-you-to-sleep-then-catch-you-snoozing team.
It's true. In certain cases, prayers are better left unanswered. Such is the case of Isiah Lord Thomas III. Thomas has been given a chance at redemption. Tuesday, news broke that he will be named head coach at Florida International University. He will replace Sergio Ruoco after five straight losing seasons.
Solutions by The State News
