Posts Tagged ‘Ray Sanchez’

19 Jun

Kanof Has Brought Joy to El Paso Sports

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports. Tagged: , , , .

By Ray Sanchez 03.22.15

Wow. What a great group of inductees to the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame this year. I mean, briankanofphotothey’re not only outstanding in their fields but they’re all so personable you feel like you want to go up, shake their hands and give ‘em a hug.

Really.

You’ll get to meet them, greet them and honor them at the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame’s annual banquet on April 29 in the Signature Room at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. This year’s inductees are, in alphabetical order:

Long distance runner Ruben Dominguez, official Bob Geske, photographer Brian Kanof, incredibly successful Coronado High School tennis coach Jerry Pippin, long distance runner Paul Pearson, former UTEP football coach Mike Price and all-around athlete Ed Stansbury.

 

I’VE LISTED their accomplishments in previous columns, and you’ll get to know more about them at the induction banquet or in future stories. But at the risk of sounding a bit prejudiced because he’s with the media, let me write a bit more about Brian Kanof here. I’ve known him intimately for many years.

Kanof has recorded much of the history not only of sports but of all El Paso during the past 49 years. He’s done photography work from the ground and from the air for businesses in the process of building the city.

 

AND OH, WHAT joy he’s brought to sports. He’s recorded so many great moments it would be impossible to list them all here. Remember the picture of Don Haskins with his hands up in the air and looking like a bear? He took it. Remember the one of world long jump record holder Bob Beamon flying through the air that appeared in Sports Illustrated? He took it. I could go on and on.

He’s shot photos for UTEP, the Sun Bowl, local and national publications, major national outlets and personally covered local and national events in just about every sport.

He’s one of our greatest treasures and I can’t tell you how happy I am to see him get his due.

 

TRIVIA QUESTION: Can you name two brothers who fought for the heavyweight championship (not against each other) during the first half of the last century? Answer at end of column.

 

JUST WHEN you think the $800,000 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino can’t get any better, it does!

This weekend’s Sunland Derby, which will be held Sunday, drew one of the best thoroughbreds in the nation: Firing Line.

Firing Line, ridden by one of the greatest jockeys ever (Gary Stevens) and trained by Simon Gallaghan, is so good he’s ranked sixth in the nation. That makes him the highest ranked thoroughbred ever to run at Sunland. What’s more, he’s so good he lost by a mere head twice to the No. 1 horse in the country, Dortmund.

Think of it: We will be able to see this super star, Firing Line, right here in our own back yard.

 

NEEDLESS to say, Firing Line was made the favorite in the Sunland Derby. He’s listed at 8 to 5 but will probably go off at even lower odds.

Not that he won’t have opposition. Owners have entered seven other horses to run against him, probably hoping for a miracle.

Why is Firing Line entered in the Sunland Derby? It’s because the race is so highly regarded it’s been designated as one of the races that can qualify a horse to the Kentucky Derby if it wins.

And how about that, sports fans?

 

ANSWER to trivia question: Max and Buddy Baer. Max won the world championship by knocking out Primo Carnera. Buddy lost to Joe Louis in his quest for the title.

19 Jun

UTEP Coach Price Nominated for Athletic Hall

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports, Ray Sanchez. Tagged: , , , , .

by Ray Sanchez 03.08.15

Mike Price, who won the hearts of El Paso with his coaching and engaging personality, is mpriceamong nine new nominees for induction into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.

Price took over the football reins at UTEP in 2004 and immediately turned the Miners’ fortunes around. Taking over a team that had gone 2-11 the year before, he led the Miners to an 8-4 record and an invitation to the Houston Bowl. He repeated the 8-4 record in 2005 and received another bowl bid, this time to the GMAC Bowl.

All in all, he won 48 games during his nine year career with the Miners and took the team to three bowl games. His 48 victories rank second only to the 66 by coach Mack Saxon, who coached the Miners in their infancy, and his three bowl games ties Mike Brumbelow’s record for most bowls by a UTEP coach.

 

BUT THERE’S more to Mike Price than coaching. His warm, friendly disposition fit in nicely with the El Paso population. I like to refer to him as “everybody’s favorite uncle.”

What’s more, he was an innovative type. El Pasoans will forever remember his coming onto the field at football games holding up a real miner’s pick. The pick soon became a symbol of the school and can now be seen on lapels and autos and billboards.

El Pasoans love Mike Price, and he loves us back. Although he had gained national prominence as national Coach of the Year at Washington State University in 1997, he decided to make El Paso his permanent home after giving up coaching in 2012.

 

THE NINE new nominees bring the total this year to 17. Voting for induction by the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame board of directors will be held March 16 at First Christian Church, 901 Arizona Avenue. The induction banquet will be held April 29 in the Signature Room at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.

Following are the eight nominees besides Price who were presented at the final nominations meeting last Monday, in alphabetical order:

 

RUBEN DOMINGUEZ, former cross country and mile high school state champion at Austin High who later was an alternate member of the 1975 UTEP national champion cross country team.

 

BRIAN KANOF, professional photographer who has captured some of El Paso’s greatest sports moments, including one of long-jump world record setting Bob Beamon that appeared in Sports Illustrated and one of Don Haskins that led to Haskins being known as “The Bear.”

 

KARL KIELICH, a member of the United State Bowling Congress who is credited with helping to bring the organization’s national tournament to El Paso this year. He has been involved as a bowling official 30 years.

 

JOE OVERTON, former Coronado High School baseball coach who produced some of El Paso’s outstanding college players and won the district title with a perfect 14-0 record in 1984. He also coached the offense of the Coronado football team that won six consecutive district titles from 1977 through 1982.

 

PAUL PEARSON, a long distance runner who was so outstanding he was inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 along with other members of the 1974 indoor NCAA championship team. He had multiple high finishes in national meets.

 

JERRY PIPPINS, Coronado High tennis coach whose players have won 16 straight district titles. His record at Coronado is 156-0 for fall tennis and 354-43 overall.

 

ED STANSBURY, one of the greatest all-around athletes at Irvin High School. He starred in track, football and basketball. He later played football as a starter at UCLA and was signed by the Houston Texans in 2002 and the Seattle Seahawks in 2004.

 

RUSS VANDENBURG, who played football for UTEP during its golden decade (the 1960s) and later coached at Burges High School where his track teams won district titles. Among other positions, he currently holds a seat on the UTEP development board.

 

NOMINATED previously were Ray Adauto, Eric Alwan, Roy Culberson, Bob Geske, Shawn Lehigh, Matt Simon, Scott Stein and Brian Young.

8 Feb

The 81st Sun Bowl Game One of Best Ever

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports. Tagged: , , , , .

sunbowllogo by Ray Sanchez 01.04.15

A game for the ages.

How else can you describe last week’s 81st Sun Bowl game? This was Ali vs. Frazier duking it out and Affirmed and Alydar battling nose and nose down the stretch in Triple Crown races.

And the finish was as stunning as Bobby Thompson’s last inning homerun in 1951for the New York Giants against the Brooklyn Dodgers or Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary last-second winning touchdown pass for Boston College in 1984 against University of Miami.

This year’s Sun Bowl didn’t end with an offensive play but with a spectacular defensive one that was just as emotional. Arizona State’s Kweishi Brown intercepted Duke quarterback Anthony Boone’s pass in the farthest corner of the end zone with just seconds on the clock to give Arizona State a 36-31 victory.

The entire game was such a back and forth battle with neither team giving up that many of us felt it was a shame for either side to lose.

The game is certainly one of the greatest in Sun Bowl history.

 

CONGRATULIONS to El Paso Times photographer Rudy Gutierrez, who caught the game-winning interception on his camera for posterity. What tremendous timing it must have taken. The photo shows the ball in the interceptor’s hands and is so clear you can see the two players’ faces.

It has to go down as one of football’s greatest sports photos.

 

SPECIAL NOTE: Demario Richard of Arizona State scored four touchdowns in the game to tie a Sun Bowl record for most points scored by a player. But El Paso’s Jesse Whittenton, who played for Ysleta High School before joining UTEP, still holds the record for most points accounted for by a player. He accounted for 35 points with three touchdowns passes, two rushing touchdowns and five extra points in the 21st Sun Bowl against Florida State in 1955. Such a performance may never be duplicated.

 

AND A SPECIAL thanks again to all the people who volunteer to make the Sun Bowl game so attractive. Scores of El Pasoans give much of their time without pay to make visitors welcome, help the media and direct folks to the proper places. It makes one’s heart throb with pride. I especially missed Mr. and Mrs. Charles Garcia, who had been media hosts for years at the Hawthorn Suites. Mr. Hernandez, 58, died of a heart attack. I was happy to see his memory honored at this year’s game.

 

TRIVIA QUESTION: Paul Bryant won 323 games as a coach. Can you name the four colleges with which he won those games? Answer at end of column.

 

HERE’S WHAT I’m looking forward to in 2015:

  • UTEP winning the Conference USA basketball championship and going into the NCAA playoffs. I think there’s a good chance.
  • The resumption of play by the El Paso Chihuahuas. What fun that will be.
  • Watching Sean Kugler coach the UTEP football team next fall. He did so well this season.
  • The addition of Major League soccer to the El Paso sports scene. We can dream, can’t we?

 

A RESIDENT of Santa Teresa Country Club came rushing up to me the other day happy as a lark. He said it’s almost a sure thing that Santa Teresa will be declared a village and thus won’t be annexed by the city of Sunland Park.

Oh, yes, and did you know “Taco Night” is still being held on Wednesdays in the Santa Teresa clubhouse? Yessir. What’s more, the bar is open at night.

29 Dec

It’s a Great Time For El Paso Sports Fans

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports, Ray Sanchez. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

by Ray Sanchez 12.14.14

KEVIN LOVELL, general manager of KVIA-TV, commenting on last week’s column wherehappyminers 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

23 Nov

College Football This Year A Feast Of Goodies

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports, Ray Sanchez. Tagged: , , , , , .

By Ray Sanchez 11.23.14

Has 2014 been a great college football season or what? It’s been a delicious smorgasbord of close games, upsets and improbable utep logocomebacks. Former major powerhouses like Alabama, Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Florida State have had to share the spotlight with lesser lights like TCU, Mississippi State, Baylor and even Arizona State

Florida State has remained undefeated but it’s been frightened so often it’s a miracle its fans haven’t suffered heart attacks.

All season any number of teams could claim they’re No. 1. All of which will make for one of the most exciting finishes to the season ever.

 

AND THEN there are the UTEP Miners. Many people, including me, scoffed when my crystal ball predicted they would win six games this year, but there they are today with six wins and bowl eligible.

That makes the 2014 season even more thrilling. Now, people are asking which bowl will pick the Miners. The best bet is the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque. That would be neat what with a nifty payoff of $456,250 and close enough for El Pasoans to drive to.

But wait a minute. If the Miners can win their final two regular season games against Rice and Middle Tennessee they could go to an even bigger, richer bowl.

Either way, things are rosy.

 

TRIVIA QUESTION: Which professional team was the first to put emblems on the helmets? Answer at end of column.

 

SPEAKING OF trivia questions, ours have become quite popular among some readers. A pretty young lady came up to me the other day and said she looks forward to the trivia question in my column every week. However, she confessed that she cheats. “I look at the answer at the end of the column right away after I read the question,” she said with a big smile, “I can’t wait.”

 

PICKING AN all-star team in any sport is a tricky thing. There’s no way you can please everyone. I know. I’ve been picking such teams for more than 50 years.

So it was no surprise to me that there were a few complaints that some players were left off UTEP’s Centennial All-Star teams. The most complaints I heard in football concerned Harvey “Pug” Gabrel, who would have set a national single game rushing record in 1949 but for a great act of sportsmanship. When coach Jack Curtice offered to give him the ball often in the second half against New Mexico State so he could set the record he turned it down, saying he didn’t want to pile up the score on the hapless Aggies. It cost him the title.

 

BUT OVERALL, the folks that picked the Centennial all-stars, and they did it without the help of the media, did a fine job. The all-stars were embraced and highly applauded when they were introduced at last week’s football and basketball games.

Personally, the selection that warmed my heart most was that of Ernest Keily. He was the pulling guard on the Miners’ great teams of the late 1940s. He’s the one who cleared the way for Fred Wendt’s national rushing title in 1948 and would have paved the way for Gabrel the next year. Pulling guards so seldom get attention. What’s more, Keily and I were schoolmates at El Paso High School in the early 1940s.

 

THE RESPONSE to the offer by Mesa Publishing to hand deliver my latest book, “The Good, the Bad and the Funny of El Paso Sports History,” to anyone within the El Paso city limits was surprisingly good. Most of those who ordered by calling me at 915-584-0626 or emailing me at rayf358@yahoo.com got autographed books within 24 hours. The offer still stands, Mesa Publishing says.

 

ANSWER to trivia question: The Los Angeles Rams in 1948.

 

23 Nov

98-Pound Ex-Jockey Now World Lifting Champ

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports. Tagged: , , , .

by Ray Sanchez 11.16.14mkb110713

Loretta Hardy is somewhat of a legend at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, which opens its live horse racing season Dec. 5.

Loretta has had quite a career in the sport. Her husband, the late Fred Hardy, was one of the most successful jockeys and horse trainers in the history of the Southwest.  Loretta took up training herself and turned out some winners, too. She has been a member of the horse racing family at Sunland Park Racetrack since it opened in 1959. She and her husband made El Paso their home then and she’s still working at Sunland today at the age of 85, staying busy as a ticket seller.

As the live horse racing season approaches, please excuse her if she brags a little about her son, Kyle Hardy.  You see, Kyle, 66, is now a powerlifting world champion in his age group. He capped off his career in that field with a 337-pound bench press at the International Powerlifting League World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, last year. And now, adding to Loretta’s joy, Kyle and his wife are coming to El Paso to spend Loretta’s 86th birthday and Thanksgiving Day with her. Her birthday is the day before Thanksgiving.

AS REPORTED in the Albuquerque Journal, Kyle’s success in lifting is astonishing considering he weighed 98 pounds when he was 16 years old. He had dieted so he could follow in his father’s footsteps and become a jockey. But that future ended when he started eating ice cream after his tonsils were removed. He liked it so much he began to put on weight. As he grew up he worked for his parents’ training stables, served three tours in Vietnam and became a world history teacher at Truman Middle School in Albuquerque.

In his spare time he took up weightlifting and you should see him now. He’s 5 feet 6 inches of solid muscle with a big chest and huge arms.

He says his wife, Sandra, wasn’t much impressed with his powerlifting career until they went to Las Vegas. “Then she thought it was cool,” he said.

His mother, Loretta, seems pretty cool about it, too.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Joe Namath led the New York Jets to a Super Bowl victory. But can you name the team he was on when he ended his NFL career? Answer at end.

SO WHAT does my crystal ball think about the UTEP women’s basketball chances this coming season? I hated to ask, but readers are wondering and I had no choice. I took it out of its drawer and put the question to it. “There you go bothering me again,” the obnoxious orb said. “So now you want to know how the Miners’ women’s team is going to do.”

It cleared its throat and continued, “Well, it looks like a tough go after last season’s performance when they even sold out the Don Haskins Center. I never thought I’d see the day. But the team has lost three key players – the point guard, a forward and the post woman. Those are crucial positions.

“BUT, AND this is an important ‘but,’ the Miners have a great coach in Keitha Adams. She’s won three conference championships and two NCAA bids and reached the finals of the WNIT during her time with the Miners. She’ll come up with something. The cupboard isn’t completely empty. She has an experienced guard returning and seven players between 6 feet and 6-feet-3 plus promising newcomers.

“Maybe no NCAA is in the cards this season but there’ll be plenty of victories.”

I thanked the crystal ball and, gratefully, put it back in its drawer.

ANSWER to trivia question: The Los Angeles Rams.

23 Nov

Here Are Other Former UTEP Football Greats

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports, Ray Sanchez. Tagged: , , , , .

by Ray Sanchez 11.09.14

My selection of Jesse Whittenton as UTEP’s best football player ever drew quite a few comments from readers — and not a singleutep logo one disagreed with the selection.

C.J. Hill, a statistician at UTEP football and basketball games and longtime follower of the Miners, did point out some other outstanding players, however. Here’s what he wrote:

 

“THANKS FOR the article on Jesse Whittenton. I defer to your wisdom about Whittenton being UTEP’s all-time greatest player as I never got to see him play in person. I do remember seeing him play for the Packers in the early 60’s and he was a great player. I can’t say that I remember all that much as I was only 7 or 10 years old at the time.

“UTEP has certainly had its share of great players. Fred Carr was probably the best that I have seen and he was also a gifted basketball player that played for the Bear in the year following the NCAA championship.

“Other great Miners that I have seen were George Daney, Thomas Howard, Seth Joyner, Quintin Demps, Chuck Hughes, Don Maynard, Charlie West, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Bob Wallace, Billy Stevens and many others. I would say that Fred Carr and Charlie West were the best Miners that I have ever seen in person. I didn’t get to see Don Maynard in person but of course I remember his great career with the (New York) Jets.”

 

ANOTHER READER, Alton Setliff, wrote, “He (Whittenton) was an absolute stud!  He had great presence about him as well, but not the arrogant type; he was just a plain ol’ great athlete.”

Jose L. Torres, who inspired my column on Whittenton, wrote, “Ray:  That was a superb story on Mr. Whittenton. The things I learn about El Paso sports from you are great. That is why I always sat next to you while we both were covering Miner games.  I’m so glad you are still writing books.” He added that he rates Chris Jacke as the best field goal kicker the Miners ever had and Tony Tolbert as the best defensive end.

 

THE MOST touching email came from Whittenton’s wife, Barbara:

“I just came across the article you did about Jesse in El Paso Inc. I can’t thank you enough for remembering him.  He was such a special person who I still miss every day.  He always said you were one person who supported him throughout his career.  Again, thank you so very much.”

Jesse Whittenton passed away two years ago.

 

TRIVIA QUESTION: With this year’s World Series just over, this is timely. Can you tell me who was the winning pitcher in the longest World Series game ever? Answer at end.

 

WAYNE KNOX, 76, a well known bowler from El Paso, passed away in Temple, Texas, on October 22 of pancreatic cancer. Wayne was the son of Jo and Leonard Knox and was an outstanding bowler who during his career bowled four perfect games of 300. He is survived by his wife, two sons, five grandchildren and his sister, Evelyn George Seybold of El Paso.

 

GOOD NEWS concerning my latest book, “The Good, the Bad and the Funny of El Paso Sports History.” People still tell me they want to buy a copy, especially with Christmas coming soon. You can still get the book on Amazon.com or at Barnes and Noble Booksellers but it’ll take a while.

However, Mesa Publishing, located in El Paso, is now offering to hand deliver an autographed copy to your door anywhere within the El Paso city limits. You can call me at 584-0626 or email me at rayf358@yahoo.com, and I’ll sign it, tell Mesa Publishing and you’ll have it in a day or two.

Now that’s what I call service.

 

ANSWER to trivia question: Believe it or not, it was the immortal Babe Ruth. He pitched a 14-inning complete game for the Boston Red Sox and beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-1, in 1916.

23 Nov

Crystal Ball: UTEP Basketball to Make NCAA

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports, Ray Sanchez. Tagged: , , , , , , .

by Ray Sanchez  11.02.14

Everywhere I go these days, El Pasoans are coming up to me, smiling and saying, “How ‘bout them Miners?”ray's crystal ball

For good reason. The UTEP football team, which many fans expected to do little this season, is off to a stunning start. Not counting the two “money” games they played against Texas Tech and Kansas State, the Miners were 4-1 going into this weekend. (Okay, okay, if you count the “money” games they were really 4-3).

Still, the Miners have been a big surprise to almost everyone – except my crystal ball. It predicted the Miners would win at least six games this football season. I had been hesitating to take my crystal ball out of its drawer and ask it about the upcoming UTEP basketball season because it’s so obnoxious I knew it would start bragging about its football prediction. It always brags when it’s right and makes excuses when it isn’t.

BUT WHAT could I do? The Miners open the basketball campaign in a couple of weeks against Washington State and readers are already asking me for its pick. So I opened the crystal ball’s drawer, held my nose and took it out.

As expected, it jumped out hollering, “I told you so, I told you so. You doubted me about the UTEP football team, didn’t you? Admit, admit it.”

I felt like punching it in the nose – if it only had a nose. I said, “Wait a minute. The Miners haven’t won six games yet. Anything could happen.”

It replied, “Yeah, but you know it’s all but a cinch now, don’t you?”

“Okay, okay,” I said. “I admit I doubted you, but can you just settle down and give me your thoughts about how the Miners will do in basketball this coming season? They open on Nov. 14 against Washington State.”

IT STILL HAD an obnoxious smirk on its fact but it did quiet down a bit. It cleared its throat with that disgusting officious tone it always uses when predicting, and said:

“You think the Miner football team is good? Wait ‘til you see the basketball team. The Miners are not only going to have a winning season, they’re going to the NCAA tournament.

“Coach Tim Floyd is loaded. He not only has two of the best players in Conference USA returning in Julian Washburn and Vince Hunter, both 6 feet 8, but he has 7-1 Matt Wilms, 6-10 Cedric Lang and 6-11 Hooper Vint back to handle the boards.

“Guards? C. J. Cooper will be in his senior year and the Miners have reportedly rounded up some fine young recruits. I don’t put much stock in recruits because one can’t tell how newcomers will do. Some will flop and some will surprise and become stars.

“BUT THE POINT is the Miners have the nucleus of an outstanding team. So-called experts have picked the Miners to finish second behind Louisiana Tech in the conference, but the Miners could very well finish on top. Either way, I’m picking the Miners to make the NCAA tournament.

“Now can I go back to sleep? You make me work so hard and give me so little credit. I don’t know why I even talk to you.”

I scoffed, “Work hard? My God, you’re in your drawer sleeping all year except for the few times I ask for you predictions.”

That got the crystal ball’s dander up. “Sleeping? I’m in there thinking, idiot. Why do you think I give you such good information?”

I laughed, picked it up and put it back in its drawer. “Go back to sleep,” I said, emphasizing the word sleep.

19 Jul

When Bill Squires was El Paso’s Football Idol

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports. Tagged: .

youngsquires07.15.13 by Ray Sanchez
When I entered El Paso High School as a 14-year-old freshman in the fall of 1941 everywhere I went throughout the school I kept hearing the name Bill Squires. He seemed to be every young girl’s dreamboat and every young boy’s idol.
And for good reason. The year before, as a junior, he had quarterbacked the Tigers to their greatest football season ever, winning not only the district championship but also the bi-district playoff.
His coach, Jewell Wallace, called him “the finest high school passer I’ve ever seen.” And Wallace, a former coach at TCU, had seen plenty of good ones, including legendary Sammy Baugh.

SQUIRES AND the Tigers tied Big Spring 27-27 in the 1940 bi-district game but advanced on penetrations. Then, in the quarterfinals, they lost, 27-0, to eventual state champion Amarillo in an ice storm in Amarillo. It was so cold players had to wear gloves. Despite the handicap, Squires completed 27 of 42 passes.
Perhaps his best game that season was against a very tough Pampa Harvesters team. In that one, Squires connected on 22 of 29 passes.

THE TIGERS didn’t win the district title during Squires’ senior year in 1941 but he continued to set passing records, throwing up to 40 passes in one game and completing most of them.
He was named to the All-District football team again and continued to get raves throughout Texas.
His passing overshadowed the fact he could also run like the wind. He was the district champion in the 100 yards dash and was a member of the 440 relay team that made the state meet.

AMONG HIS awards, he was named the Most Valuable Player in the district and received honorable mention on the Texas All-State High School team in 1940 and as a senior he was chosen to play in the Oil Bowl Game between Texas and Oklahoma.
He is still the only quarterback to have led El Paso High School past the bi-district playoffs
Yes, colleges came calling. He accepted a full scholarship to SMU but whatever bright football future was ahead for him was ended by a serious knee injury.

BUT WHY, you ask, am I telling you all this? Because, as readers of this column know, I like to keep reminding you about some of our old time sports stars.
Squires, 88, is not in the best of health at this writing. He is on oxygen all the time. But he is mentally okay and is usually in his office in the mornings.
He had quite a career away from sports, too. As his wife, Kathleen Squires, says, “he continued to be an involved, committed and hard-working citizen of El Paso.
“After leaving Continental National Bank, which he chartered in 1973-4 and served on the Board and as president until 1983, he ran unsuccessfully for the El Paso Westside alderman post. The next three years were spent at his home in Alto (Ruidoso) where he skied in the winter and golfed all year (as much as possible), maintaining his scratch golf handicap.”

THEN, SHE ADDS, “Boredom set in, so he studied for and took the exam to get into law school. Upon applying, he was accepted at two law schools – choosing the University of San Diego. In May, 1989, at 65 years old, after four years of study, he received his J.D. degree from the University of San Diego Law School, and he took and passed the California Bar exam before returning to El Paso.
“In early 2003, he sold his home in Jardines (El Paso), where he served on their Association’s Board, and moved to Las Cruces, where he created a governing body for that new neighborhood association. He served on the Las Cruces Airport Board for six years from 2004-2010 (also as chairman). He continued to play golf, at least weekly, at El Paso Country Club with his regular group until about 2008, and his membership at El Paso Country Club is active to this day.”

BILL SQUIRES is now relatively inactive but continues to enjoy reading, television, sports and visits of his children, thirteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this extraordinary man as much as I did bringing him to you.

11 Mar

Cathedral Swim Team Awes All of Texas

Posted by EL PASO SPORTS in El Paso Sports, Ray Sanchez. Tagged: , , .

swimmeetIt won’t come as a surprise to say I love sports. I’ve been writing about them since a freshman in college. Youth sports, however, have held a special place in my heart.
I bring this up because after I learned one of my grandsons had made it to the finals of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) State Swimming and Diving Championships in San Antonio last week my wife and I hopped a plane to attend.
carloscloseupTo see these scores of youths giving their all for their particular schools was a sight to behold. No matter how far ahead or how far behind they were swimming their hearts out.

ONE OF THE biggest surprises to me was the complete awe in which Cathedral High School of El Paso is held by parents, coaches and participants from all over the state. When the folks I met while there found out I was from El Paso, they immediately wanted to talk about the Irish. Why is the school so dominant in the sport, some asked. A couple of them simply shook their heads when they found I was from El Paso as if to say, “Oh, no, here goes Cathedral again.”
Sure enough, Cathedral won the team championship again. For the 27th time, and in a romp.

THE BEST answer I could give as to Cathedral’s dominance was that swimming has been a major sport at the school since I can remember. And it seems like it’s had a swimming pool forever. I recall swimming there even before I was a teenager in the 1940s.
And through the years the school has had a succession of outstanding swimming coaches, not the least of which is the present one, Jack White.
In short, Cathedral High School has always put an emphasis on swimming, built up a tradition and they’re reaping the benefits.

AND HOW DID did my grandson, Carlos Sanchez, do? He did great, thank you. A junior, he swam the third leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay team for Nolan Catholic High School of Fort Worth. When he jumped in his team was fourth but he got them up to second, just half a second away from first, and the team eventually finished fourth.
Regardless of the outcome, my heart was pounding with pride and brought a tear to my eyes. Like the other youths, he had given his all for his school.

TRIVIA question: Who is the shortest player in NBA history to win the rebounding championship? Answer at end.

SEVEN MORE candidates for induction into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame were nominated last Monday. The next, and last, nominations meeting will be held March 4 at 5:15 p.m. at First Christian Church, 901 Arizona Avenue. Nominations are open to the public.
The latest nominees:

Larry Hernandez, one of UTEP’s biggest fans who has helped plan events and trips for El Pasoans. His supporters made what is perhaps the liveliest presentation ever at the meetings. It included video, a huge banner and many folks speaking on his behalf.
Buryl Baty, the late Bowie High School football coach who turned in one of the greatest coaching performances in the history of El Paso but died in an automobile accident.
Shawn Lehigh, veteran baseball umpire and basketball referee.
Gary Crossland, former athlete, coach and football official.
Bob Azar, one of El Paso’s greatest sports promoters.
Matt Simon, former University of Washington and Baltimore Ravens assistant coach.
Frank Del Toro, former youth, high school, college and professional baseball player.

ANSWER to trivia question: Charles Barkley at 6 feet 6 inches.

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