Posts Tagged ‘Raysanchezbooks.com’

19 Jun

EL Paso Hall of Fame to Shine Again

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

by Ray Sanchez 04.26.15

Sports Halls of Fame have been very much in the news lately. The Texas Sports Hall of Famebpolphoto finally inducted our Nolan Richardson, the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame held its induction banquet not so long ago and is already taking nominations for next year, the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame has started planning for its fall induction banquet and is also already taking nominations.

And now comes the biggie so far as El Pasoans are concerned: The El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.

I call it the “biggie” because the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame doesn’t involve just one sport or one organization but all of them. Being inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame means you’ll be among the best of the best in all-around sports in El Paso.

This year’s induction banquet will be held this coming Wednesday, April 29, in the glamorous Signature Room at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.

 

I’VE BEEN involved with many of the local athletic halls of fame and I’ve been amazed at how many outstanding El Pasoans are willing to chip in and help. Barnard Polk, who has served as president of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame on two different occasions, including the last two years, is a perfect example.

A graduate of Austin High School and UTEP, he has worked in banking, as director of a center that aided transients, was named Austin High’s Outstanding Ex in 2012, has been a a pastoral assistant at First Christian Church and has been active in Jaycees, Sertoma Club and the UTEP Heritage Commission.

He’s added such a touch of class to the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame that it seems to have shined even more under his leadership.

 

LOOK AT WHAT you can expect at this year’s induction banquet Wednesday:

  • Mingling with eight very special inductees.
  • The introduction of special guests Marina Lee, the daughter of one of the Hall’s first inductees (Andy Cohen) in 1955 and Judy Phelan O’Connor, the daughter of the Hall’s first president, John Phelan.
  • A silent auction of some very valuable historical items.
  • A chance to thank Mr. Polk for his invaluable service to the Hall. He’ll be stepping down as president this year.
  • And, of course, a delicious meal.

Officially, the festivities will start at 4 p.m. with a press conference for inductees. There will be a social hour at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. You can start bidding for some of the auction items as early as 4 p.m. Kevin Lovell will again serves as Master of Ceremonies. Admission is only $30 per person.

 

INDUCTEES this year as reported before are long distance runner Ruben Dominguez, official Bob Geske, photographer Brian Kanof, Coronado High School tennis coach Jerry Pippin, long distance runner Paul Pearson, former UTEP football coach Mike Price and all-around athlete Ed Stansbury.

The programs at the banquet will have full resumes and photos of their accomplishments.

It’s going to be a whingdinger of a party. You really should be there.

 

LET ME ADD a bit about the two aforementioned El Paso sports halls of fame. They, too, have dedicated and accomplished leaders.

El Paso businessman Fernie Grado did a whale of a job as president of the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame last year and has passed the baton this year to another dedicated and hard-working gentleman, longtime and highly successful Montwood High baseball coach Tom Carrillo. He’s already set the dates for accepting nominations for this year.

And then there’s Jeff Darby, who handles the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame. One can only imagine what a difficult job he has as sports information director at the school but he is busy now taking nominations and setting up a meeting of the board of directors for the fall induction banquet.

El Paso has so much talent in sports that I’m forever in awe.

 

19 Jun

Richardson Accepts Texas Hall Honor With Grace

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

by Ray Sanchez 04.19.15

Nolan Richardson could have been upset. He could have been unhappy. He could have been bitter. After nolanjayall, even the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted him before the Texas Sports Hall of Fame got around to it.

Instead, he was gracious.

And so were Texas Sports Hall of Fame officials. They welcomed Richardson at the reception and induction banquet with open arms and apologized in one way or another for not inducting him sooner. Jay Black, vice president of the Hall, told me he was sorry it took so long. President Jared Mosley and master of ceremonies Brad Shram expressed regret that sometimes it takes a “long” time to induct someone.

For his part, Richardson thanked the Hall for inducting him and mentioned the delay only in passing. He said he had been inducted into 12 previous Halls of Fame which was like having a large cake and now it would have “icing” on it.

 

AND SUPER public speaker that he is, Richardson gave an acceptance speech that those at the induction banquet will long remember. He had the crowd in stitches with jokes one moment, listening with sheer rapture other times.

He introduced those at his table, which included KVIA-TV general manager Kevin Lovell, who was so instrumental in getting him inducted.

I was at his table, too, and Richardson introduced me as the one who gave him his first writeup when he was nine years old and hit a homerun in Little League.

“At first, Ray reported that the homerun went 257 feet,” Richardson said. “But (the distance) grew through the years. It became 300 feet, then 400 feet. Today (at the reception before the banquet), I asked Ray the distance again. He said it was 500 feet.”

The crowd burst into laughter.

 

IN MORE serious moments, he told of how he lost his mother at age 3 and was raised by his grandmother. He called her “the captain of the ship” and said that she told him achieving success would be up to him and him alone. He lived by that philosophy and imparted it to his players.

He praised El Paso, saying that he couldn’t have had the opportunities he had anywhere else in the country. Segregation was still rampant in the country in the 1950s but, he said, the principal at Bowie High School at the time, Frank Pollitt, opened the door for him by hiring him to teach seventh grade.

That’s all he needed, he said, just a crack in the door to success. He went on to coach the Bowie High basketball team with great success, win a junior college championship with Western Texas, win a NIT title with Tulsa and win a NCAA championship at University of Arkansas. He is the only coach in the country to win all three of those national titles at the college level.

 

OTHERS INDUCTED into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame with Richardson were Prairie View A&M and NBA star Zelmo Beaty (deceased), former Dallas Cowboys vice president of Player Personnel Gil Brandt, BYU Heisman Trophy quarterback Ty Detmer, Dallas Cowboys All Pro safety Cliff Harris, former University of Texas swim coach Richard Quick (deceased), Dallas Cowboys All Pro defensive back Everson Walls and Baylor  NCAA and Olympic 400 meter champion Jeremy Wariner.

Richardson was highly sought for interviews by the media and autograph seekers. Perhaps it was because of the long time it took to induct him or because it was the first chance for most of the media in the eastern part of the state to interview him or because of his outgoing personality.

Whatever, it’s no exaggeration to say he was the center of attraction.

 

OH, YES. A special note of thanks to Brad Shram, the legendary sportscaster of Dallas Cowboys games. He is one of the people Lovell contacted for help to get Richardson inducted and, Lovell says, Shram quickly got to work spreading the word throughout the state.

What is that saying? Better late than never?

19 Jun

Albers: A Titan in El Paso Sports Media

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

by Ray Sanchez 04.12.15

I’ve always believed that anyone who lives and works in El Paso should contribute in other ways than their job to albersphototheir hometown.

That includes members of the media.

I have tried to live up to that belief. I’ve helped start several organizations and have served on so many boards that I like to kid that I’ve got splinters in my behind.

Three past examples of those who became an integral part of El Paso and helped it grow are El Paso Herald-Post sports editor Bob Ingram, El Paso Times sports editor Chuck Whitlock and KTSM sportscaster John Phelan. They’re deceased now but they set the standard for what I’m talking about.

I call them The Titans of the El Paso Sports Media.

They were everywhere helping, encouraging, suggesting and attending meetings that made things happen in the city, like the building of the Sun Bowl, the growth of UTEP, keeping professional baseball alive, helping build organizations like the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

ADD A NEW name to that list of Titans: Former KTSM-TV sports director Fred Albers.

Like the other Titans he wasn’t just great at his craft but he got deeply involved in the community. It seems like every meeting I attended, every board I sat on, every organizational program I was in on, there he was. And what a presence he made. One could feel his genius fill the room. He was articulate, knowledgeable and full of ideas.

Albers, a native of St. Louis and a journalism graduate of the University of Missouri, came to El Paso in 1980 as a sportscaster at KVIA-TV. He was an immediate hit with his strong, clear, insightful delivery and in 1992 he became sports director at KTSM-TV.

 

HOW GOOD a sportscaster was he? So good that a few years ago he put El Paso on the world map by becoming a play by play announcer for the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour Network on Sirius XM radio. He became one of the sport’s best-known announcers, traveling throughout the world while still working as KTSM-TV sport director.

The PGA position eventually cost him his job at KTSM-TV. His PGA work took him away from El Paso as much as 25 weeks out of the year. There was a change of ownership at KTSM-TV recently and his absence was just too much. The station let him go last month.

Albers took the decision well. “I understand,” he says without rancor.

 

HIS ABSENCE will leave quite a hole in local TV sportscasting but not to worry. Albers is well paid by his PGA job and says he will continue to make El Paso his home. “I love El Paso and its people,” he says. “I’ll keep doing PGA radio and maybe I can find an administrative job at some local station when I’m not on the PGA Tour.”

If I owned a local station, I’d jump at hiring him.

Until then, we can keep enjoying Albers’ great PGA coverage on Sirius Radio station 202.

And keep enjoying just having him, his wife Kristi and their son living here.

Kristi, like Fred, is an icon in El Paso sports. She’s the only El Paso woman to win an LPGA Tour event and started the First Tee program for El Paso youths.

One can only wish them the best.

 

TRIVIA QUESTION: Can you name the player who won the Jim Thorpe Trophy as the NFL Most Valuable Player three years in a row? Answer at end of column.

 

HAVE YOU purchased your tickets to the induction banquet of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame? It’ll be held April 29 in the Signature Room at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.

Don’t be left out. It’s going to be a dandy event with seven outstanding El Pasoans honored.

For tickets, call 915-490-8156.

 

ANSWER to trivia question: Earl Campbell of Houston in 1978, 1979 and 1980-.

 

19 Jun

El Paso Swimmer Wins Two NCAA Crowns

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

By Ray Sanchez 04.05.15

Meet El Paso’s latest super star: William Licon.

Oh, you may have heard of him before if you’re a swimming enthusiast. He never swam for a high school licon photohere but instead opted to join local clubs like the West Texas Typhoon Swim Club in El Paso.

He took to swimming like a fish.

He quickly became a Swimming Junior National Team member and represented the U.S. in the 2012 Junior Pan Pac Swimming Championships. At the Junior Pan Pac meet, he tied for sixth place in the 100m breaststroke. And he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials held in Omaha, Neb. He swam in the 200m breaststroke, finishing 19th, and missed qualifying for the semi-final by three places.

SWIMMING coaches Kris Kubik and Eddie Reese of the University of Texas at Austin, one of the most successful NCAA swimming schools in the country, knew a good thing when they saw it and came calling.

Smart move. It wasn’t long before Licon started raising eyebrows and breaking Texas school records.

As a freshman at the 2014 NCAA Championships he placed fifth in the 400 IM (Individual Medley) in school record-setting time. In addition he finished 12th in the 200 breaststroke as well as 14th in the 200 IM. Prior to the NCAA Championships Licon was the Big 12 champion in the 400 IM and the 200 breaststroke.

AND THERE he was last weekend as a sophomore, all 6 feet 4 inches of him, helping the Longhorns win their 11th NCAA team championship, and doing it in record times.

On Friday, Licon became UT’s first champion in the 400-yard individual medley while beating the event’s American record holder, Georgia’s Chase Kalisz, in 3:36.37.He now ranks as the fourth-fastest swimmer ever in the 400-yard individual medley.

The next day, Licon matched up against the American record holder in the 200 breaststroke, Arizona’s Kevin Cordes, and edged Cordes by five one-hundredths of a second.

So in two days, the El Paso native won two individual NCAA national swimming championships.

Which helped the Longhorns handily claim the team title with 528 points. California, the 2014 NCAA champion, took second with 399 points while Michigan placed third with 312 points.

LICON, WHO had set other school records previously, has already been designated All-American. He holds the Big 12 title in the 200 IM with a conference record time of one minute, 41.67, which beat the time of Olympic gold medalist Ricky Berens of 1:41.92 set in 2009.

Licon is taking his successes humbly. After setting the Big 12 record, he said, “It’s kind of hard for me to soak it in right now. It feels awesome and I’m just thrilled to be up there ln the company of names on that (school records) board.”

And oh, how much more thrilled he must be today with two NCAA titles.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was known as “The Galloping Ghost” and what number did he wear? Answer at end.

ANOTHER El Paso super star, Nolan Richardson, will be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame this coming Thursday, April 9, in Waco. Kevin Lovell, general manager of KVIA-TV, and I will be there representing El Paso in general and the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in particular.

I don’t do much traveling anymore but this is one trip I have to make. I mean, I not only gave Richardson his first writeup in 1950 when he was playing Little League baseball as a 9-year-old and hit a homerun but I’ve watched him grow into one of El Paso’s greatest athletes and one of the country’s greatest coaches.

As for Lovell, he helped get Richardson elected with letters and other forms of communication and he should be there, too. Expect some great video.

ANSWER to trivia question: Red Grange, who wore number 77

19 Jun

22 Wins Not Enough For Miners’ Fans?

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

By Ray Sanchez 03.29.15

One would think that 22 wins and a second place in Conference USA would be considered a good timflorydbasketball season.

Not in El Paso. For a lot of UTEP fans, anything short of a NCAA bid is considered a failure. You should hear the complaints about the players this year. They had no heart, they gave up, they’re terrible shooters, one player complained too much and on and on.

Coach Tim Floyd had plenty of detractors, too. His handling of the players, his strategy, even his demeanor were questioned.

This is not meant as an argument with fans. Heck, I love hearing from them – both the good and the bad. It shows they care.

But, boy, are we spoiled.

 

IN DEFENSE of the players, I go back to when I was covering the Dallas Cowboys. Tom Landry was the coach then. I loved the man. He was the same when he won as when he lost.

After a key game, I asked him why the Cowboys were beaten. Without changing expression, he simply said, “The other team was better.”

That’s what happened with the Miners in basketball this season. They lost a few games to lesser teams but that happens. However, at the end the only team that finished ahead of the Miners in conference, Louisiana Tech, was simply better.

 

AS FOR COACH Floyd, I’ll let Charles Hill, a statistician at UTEP games and a member of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame board of directors, do the talking. I quote, in part:

“Quit blaming coach Floyd and the other coaches for the disappointing season … Coach Floyd doesn’t need anyone to defend him … He is one of the best coaches in NCAA basketball and certainly one of the best defensive minds in the game.

“Who do you suggest that UTEP should hire? Please don’t say Nolan Richardson. He is 70 years old. James Forbes might be a popular candidate but he is in his 60s and has never had to recruit players. Stop and think about what you are saying. The Miners will be just fine under the leadership of Coach Floyd and his staff.”

 

TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the first high school runner to break the 4-minute mile? Answer at end.

 

WHAT A THRILL watching greatness. Firing Line was a marvel of effortless speed as he left six good horses 14 1/4 lengths behind in the $800,000 Sunland Derby last Sunday. “Breathtaking,” one spectator remarked. We now have someone to root for in the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May. The Sunland victory made Firing Line, ridden by Gary Stevens and trained by Simon Callaghan, eligible.

There were other outstanding races on the card. The favorite in the Sunland Oaks, Callback, trained by Bob Baffert, was disqualified and placed fourth. “Bridge jumpers” (people who like to bet heavily on favorites — one Sunland patron bet $2000 to win on Callback), were devastated but Baffert still came up with an entry for the Kentucky Oaks. His other entry, Maybellene, finished second and was moved up to first.

 

 

ALL IN ALL, it was quite a weekend at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. Thousands of spectators overflowed the stands and the parking lot was so packed people had to park on side streets.

Another big winner was United Blood Services. The exotic Sunland Park Gala that’s held the night before the Sunland Derby benefits that organization, and is that heart-warming or what?. United Blood Services has saved countless lives through the years.

One particular example presented last Saturday included a young girl who was born premature and weighed only a little over two pounds at birth. Thanks to United Blood Services she survived and there she was on the Sunland Gala stage last Saturday – pretty as a picture, fully grown and celebrating her 16th birthday.

It brought a tear of joy to more than one attendee.

 

ANSWER to trivia question: Jim Ryun.

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.

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.

 

Newer Entries »