Thomas Bulger - The Daily Lobo

Sports

Football: After loss against rivals, Gonzales guarantees a bowl game

Thomas Bulger | September 18

The University of New Mexico lost 27-17 at home against the New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday, Sept. 16. Going into the game, the Lobos were favored to win by 2.5. Head Coach Danny Gonzales fell to a 1-2 record against the Aggies while Aggies Coach Jerry Kill advanced to 2-0. NMSU Head Coach Kill had experienced health issues early in the week and it was called into question if he was able to coach the game. During the game, Kill was struck by a football and fell to the ground but immediately stood back up and went looking for a referee to fight for his players. In his post-game press conference, Coach Gonzales still had unwavering confidence in the team.

Sports

New look for offense wins their first game of the season

Thomas Bulger | September 11

The University of New Mexico’s football team defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 56-10. It was the home debut of the new offense led by Bryant Vincent at offensive coordinator and Dylan Hopkins at quarterback – both transfers from the University of Alabama, Birmingham. The Golden Eagles play in the Ohio Valley Conference in Football Conference Subdivision. They haven’t had a winning season since 2011. There were 17,279 fans in attendance, which is the most in a home opener since 2018.

Sports

OPINION: 2023 Lobo’s football schedule predictions

Thomas Bulger | August 14

The University of New Mexico football team will begin to get back on track after a 2 - 10 season last year. This year on their schedule, six of the teams they played against went to bowl games, two were last season division winners and three are teams that go by the nickname “Aggies.”

Opinion

Opinion: Albuquerque should be a target for WNBA expansion

Thomas Bulger | July 5

The Women’s National Basketball Association season is in full swing and nearing the league’s All-Star game on July 15. While the league celebrates their top talent, it is a good time to recognize what the gauntlet athletes have to endure to reach that point. With only 144 roster spots across the 12 team league, talented players are waived before they get a chance to develop. Just 15 players from the three round draft made the roster for the team. In the cutthroat league, prospects have to help their teams win from the jump. With limited spots, teams will opt for players with no weaknesses, which leaves players like Brea Beal without a team.

Sports

NM United: Zach Prince steps down

Thomas Bulger | June 6

New Mexico United's head coach and technical director, Zach Prince, left his position on June 3 to pursue a different position. The news broke, following a 1-0 loss to rival El Paso Locomotive FC. A statement from team owner, Peter Trevisani, was released Saturday night that thanked Prince for his time with the team.

Culture

Alex Maggs aces his senior year

Thomas Bulger | May 8

Four years ago Alex Maggs found himself in the desert 4,888 miles away from his home in Birmingham, England. Since then, Maggs has grown as a tennis player and a student. He finished the season on the all-conference team for his play in the doubles matches and is graduating with a GPA of 4.06. Maggs first picked up a tennis racket when he was five years old in an after-school program. He said he tried many different activities, but it was tennis that stuck with him.

Sports

Baseball: Lobos sweep series with a walk-off

Thomas Bulger | May 1

The Lobos swept the California State University, Fresno Bulldogs culminating in a Kyle Smith walk-off in the third game. In a critical series, the Lobos took control and passed Fresno in the standings and took the season tiebreaker over them. They are now 10-10 in conference play. UNM won by doing what they do best: hitting. Going into Sunday, April 30 the team had a batting average of .332, the third best in the nation. The team scored 39 runs on 49 hits in the series. Lobo, Reed Spenrath talked about the team's ability on offense. In the second game the Lobos went full offense getting as many hitters in the lineup as possible. This led to Spenrath playing his first collegiate game at right field and was proud his coaches trusted him to play both in the infield and outfield. After the interview his teammates were eager to debut his new nickname "The Tarp" because he covers the whole field.

Sports

Men’s tennis: Lobos finish regular season undefeated

Thomas Bulger | April 24

The men’s tennis team defeated the University of Nevada, Las Vegas 4-1 to go 6-0 in conference play. The Lobos had clinched the first seed in their previous match against San Diego State University. They will now advance to the semifinals in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team hopes to win the conference tournament for the first time since 2009. The last time the Lobos were both tournament and regular season champions was 2004.

Opinion

OPINION: NIL collectives are fan exploitation

Thomas Bulger | April 24

How much does a fan owe their team? Unconditional love and support? Buying concessions at a game? $10 a month until the end of time? University of New Mexico head football coach Danny Gonzalez recently announced a partnership with 505 Sports Venture Foundation — a local nonprofit dedicated to getting student-athletes endorsements and name, image and likeness deals — to create a new name, image and likeness collective with a subscription-based model. An NIL collective is a pool of money made up of smaller donations from fans and boosters. The money is then distributed to the players with the use of a third party to work around the fact that universities can’t pay their players directly.

Sports

Men’s tennis: Lobos are regular season champs

Thomas Bulger | April 20

The men’s tennis team dismantled the San Diego State University Aztecs 4-1 to remain undefeated in conference play and clinch the regular season championship. The Lobos had their trophy waiting for them after the match and will move on as the one seed in the conference tournament. On Thursday, April 20 everything went in the Lobos favor. With two matches left in the season, both the University of Las Vegas and Boise State University were upset, and fell to two losses on the season which left the Lobos in control of their destiny. The win moves the Lobos to 5-0 in conference play.