By Ray Sanchez 02.14.16©
One of the blessings of living a long life as a sportswriter is that you get to see many fine young athletes you knew and wrote about grow up to be outstanding members of their communities. A perfect example are the 1966 Texas Western College Miners who won the NCAA basketball championship.
I lived and wrote about them through those incredible winning days in 1966 and I can’t express what a thrill it was to see them and shake their hands again last week during the 50th anniversary celebration of winning the title.
AND OH, WHAT a show UTEP and the current Miners put on for the 1966 team. The ’66 Miners were there for two of the most exciting back-to-back games in the history of the school, with this year’s team rallying to beat both Marshall in regulation time on Feb. 4 and Western Kentucky in overtime on Feb. 6.
Then at halftime on Feb. 6, coaches from around the country, the president of the NCAA and even the president of the United States, Barack Obama, congratulated the ’66 champs. The sellout crowd went wild.
All in all, it was a week to remember.
Thank you, UTEP, for all you did to honor our 1966 champs. You outdid yourself.
TRIVIA QUESTION: The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) won the NCAA basketball championship nine times in a 10-year span. Which was the only school to win it the other time? I’m sure you know, but it’s always good to keep pointing it out. The answer, in case you’re one of the few who don’t know, is at end of the column.
LIKE I SAID above, living long is a blessing. The downside is that you see some very special people pass away. Several of the dearest people I’ve known passed away last month. You may have read their obits, but on a personal note let me tell you more about them.
ERNEST KEILY, a schoolmate of mine at El Paso High School in the early 1940s and one of the finest linemen this city has ever produced, was recruited by then-Texas College of Mines and helped the Miners to one of their most successful eras. In both 1948 and 1949 the Miners went 8-2-1 and beat Georgetown in the Sun Bowl after the 1949 season. Keily was very much a part of it. In addition, he was such a friendly person he left a legion of friends. He passed away on Jan. 14 at the age of 88.
ARMANDO SAMBRANO, affectionately known simply as “Sam,” was an exceptionally good looking man with the sweetest disposition you’d ever want to meet. A highly decorated World War II hero, he took up playing sandlot baseball when he returned from the war then became an umpire. He was such a fair and admired arbitrator he was highly sought by both amateur and professional leagues. He passed away on Jan. 16 at the age of 94.
GUILLERMO GOMEZ was an infielder and the youngest member of the 1949 Bowie High School baseball team that won the very first state high school tournament. He was only a freshman at the time but went on to become an all-district star the next three years. I remember him as a fine, young man and athlete. He passed away on Jan. 17 at the age of 82
ALLAN SEPKOWITZ was incredibly successful as a football coach at Andress High School, and I never covered a high school coach of any sport who went more out of his way to help his players and students. He was a winner both on the field and off it and left a legacy that we can all sit back and admire. He passed away on Jan. 28 at the age of 74.
I feel so lucky to have known them all.