Why college athletic directors get gray.
UTEP athletic director Bob Stull was hoping for an attendance of 40,000 at the UTEP-Texas Tech football game in the Sun Bowl last Saturday night. He says he tuned into the El Paso weatherman early last Saturday morning and was heartened by the news that a chance for rain that night would be zero. He emphasized that by making a circle with his thumb and forefinger. “Zero,” he repeated.
But all through the day he kept hearing on local newscasts that there was a chance for rain, including flash floods, that Saturday night.
It turned out the weatherman was right and the local newscasts were wrong. Last Saturday night turned out to be a spectacularly beautiful night, complete with a full moon.
The local newscasts about possible rain, Stull believes, took their toll on attendance. Only 35,422 spectators showed up for the game.
THERE WERE other headaches for Stull last Saturday night. The new, huge, high definition scoreboard at the Sun Bowl was as spectacular as the night – but it wasn’t working properly. It could show video of the game and the fans but no replays and other features.
And while the score of the game was big and easy to read on the middle of the board, other features on the side such as the down-and-yards-to-go turned out to be too small to clearly read.
On top of all that, some fans complained about the ticket prices to the game.
STULL, WHO has been so extraordinarily successful he’s regarded by many as UTEP’s best athletic director ever, says the scoreboard problems are being corrected and will be fully functioning this weekend and that yes, the smaller numbers will be enlarged.
As for the ticket prices, he says it’s customary for all NCAA schools to raise ticket prices for special events like the Texas Tech-UTEP football game and that the Miners kept them as low as possible. You don’t get a quality team like Texas Tech for peanuts.
STULL HAS something to smile about, though. The Miners’ football team seems much improved, beat University of New Mexico in its opener on the road and gave the Texas Tech Red Raiders a whale of a battle.
The Miners’ chances for a successful season and even a playoff spot look much rosier. That should increase attendance in future home games.
Still, I’m sure Bob Stull will keep tuning into the weather reports.
TRIVIA QUESTON: Mack Saxon won more football games than any coach in the history of UTEP football (66 in 13 years). And Mike Brumbelow has the best won-lost percentage, .651 in seven seasons. But which UTEP football coach averaged the most football wins per season? Answer at end of column.
SPEAKING OF scoreboards, the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) has finally dropped the ban against showing controversial plays, such as penalties and questionable calls.
It was frustrating to know that fans at home could see those type of replays on TV but fans at an actual game couldn’t. Those controversial plays can be shown now at all college games.
AND BOUQUETS to the Sun Bowl for picking Nolan Richardson to be the Grand Marshall of the Sun Bowl this season. I can’t think of anyone more deserving, especially since he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year. He’s one of our homegrown and homebred treasures and deserves all the recognition he can get.
ANSWER to trivia question: Bob Stull. He won 21 games in three seasons (1986 through 1988), an average of seven victories per year.