KEVIN LOVELL, general manager of KVIA-TV, commenting on last week’s column where
I told how much I love El Paso, said I should also have pointed out what a great time it is to be an El Paso sports fan right now. He’s right, what with:
- UTEP going to play Utah State in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 20,
- Our Sun Bowl coming up with two fine teams with sparkling 9-3 records, Duke and Arizona State, on Dec. 27,
- Canutillo High School becoming the first El Paso County high school to make it to the semi-finals of the state football playoffs,
- Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino which started live horse racing last week expecting a grand season
- And, heavens to betsy, El Paso now having a Triple A baseball team and stadium.
Our cup runeth over.
TRIVIA QUESTION: Can you name an athlete who played both in the National Basketball Association and Major League baseball in the 1980s? Answer at end of column.
CHARLES HILL, El Paso historian who works as a football and basketball statistician at UTEP, also commented on last week’s column: “The best reason for living in El Paso is the people of El Paso. Visitors to our city always comment on how warm and welcoming the people of El Paso are. It’s true. We may not have the best economy, or beaches or other great tourist attractions but we do have the best people in the country.”
ERIC ALWAN, publicity director at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, has become quite an orator. He is so excited about the 2014-15 live horse racing season which opened last week that he went into mythology at a pre-season press conference last week. He said Sunland horse racing has grown so much in stature throughout the industry that it is “like a rising Phoenix.” And he added that the Grade III $800,000 Sunland Derby on March 22 has become so popular that he expects not one, but two, airplanes full of horses to come from out of town for the big race. Now that’s what I call colorful talk.
DID YOU KNOW? Department: Bob Stull, UTEP athletic director, has had a hand either as a coach or in his present position in the last six bowls the Miners have participated in. He coached the Miners to the Independence Bowl in 1988 then hired Gary Nord who took the Miners to the 2000 Humanitarian Bowl, Mike Price who took the Miners to three bowls (Houston in 2004, GMAC in 2005 and New Mexico in 2010) and now Sean Kugler who is taking the Miners to the Gildan New Mexico Bowl Dec. 20.
FRED ALBERS, sports director at KTSM-TV, came up with a great idea while covering PGA tournaments for NBC Radio. He picked up a flag at each of the four Majors (the Masters, British Open, U.S. Open and PGA) and had each one signed by the winner of each tournament. Then he had the flags auctioned off at the banquet preceding the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic in November. They brought in a nifty $20,000 for the First Tee of El Paso program run by his wife, Kristi.
.AND YES, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. If you want to watch UTEP play University of Arizona in basketball next Friday night then go watch UTEP play Utah State in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl the next day there’s a charter bus that’ll fit your needs for a mere $100. The price includes bus ride, a bowl game ticket and a tailgate party. The bus will leave El Paso at 6 a.m. on Saturday and return after the bowl game. Interested? Call the UTEP Alumni Association at 915-747-8600.
ANSWER to trivia question: Danny Ainge, who played basketball for the Boston Celtics and Sacramento Kings and baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays