Posts Tagged ‘sports’

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.

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.

6 Jul

El Paso’s Jack Welch Hot on, Off the Course

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

jackwithtradetools06.30.13 by Ray Sanchez

Short shots:

JACK WELCH, El Paso golf guru/musician, set a personal golf record the other day at Dos Lagos Golf Course. He birdied five holes in a row on the back nine for a score of 31.
Besides teaching golfers the intricacies of the golf swing, Welch has been packing them in with his music on Thursday nights at the Sunland Winery. In fact, he’s been such a hit he will soon also be performing there on Saturday nights beginning July 6.

INCIDENTALLY, I was surprised with the size of the Sunland Winery, located at1769 Victory Lane, when I visited there recently. I thought it was just a, well, a place that produces wine. But it’s a huge building that also has a room for Spanish and English classes, another section to teach painting and a big section for transferring paintings and photos onto canvases.

TRIVIA QUESTION: This might be a little tricky. What National League first baseman won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1947? Answer at end.

LAST WEEK’S column about Ron Gillett being batboy for the New York Yankees when they played in El Paso in 1951 was well received. In fact, Pete Ciccarrelli, a former El Paso Herald-Post sports writer turned public relations man, emailed me from out of town and called it “fabulous” because it was a story of great human interest. What kid wouldn’t like to be batboy for the New York Yankees?

SO HOW MUCH is the ball autographed by Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto and other Yankees of that era that Gillett owns worth? I did a little googling and found that a ball autographed by just Joe DiMaggio is worth $1200, and there are a bunch of them available. But how about one autographed by DiMaggio and other big stars of that era like Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto and other greats? Should be worth much more.

I WAS SURPRISED how many people are still around who attended that Yankees game and other games involving major league teams more than 60 years ago in El Paso. Julius Lowenberg, who was so successful as a coach at Canutillo High School that the school named its football stadium after him and his lovely wife Irene, recalls seeing fastball pitcher Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians strike out El Paso players in the late 1940s.

BY THE WAY, Julius Lowenberg is a member of the Cathedral High School Alumni Association and says the group will have a very special guest at its monthly breakfast on July 13: Dr. Diana Natalicio. Am I lucky? Julius invited me to attend.

UTEP HAS lost another basketball player due to an incident in a bar. Why, people ask, don’t these young athletes stay away from potential trouble? Don’t they get counseling? I would think they do, but it’s been happening since I started covering sports 63 years ago.
Really, though, as a matter of fact the great majority of athletes I have found to be good, solid people.

AND A RECENT headline read: “Cohen Stadium could become an adventure water park.” Which led a friend of mine named Ron to groan. I paraphrase: “We’ve been told to conserve water. I took it seriously and did some changes at my house toward that end. Now, they’re telling me they’re going to put in a water park at Cohen Stadium?”

ANSWER to trivia question: Jackie Robinson. He became better known as a second baseman but he played first base his first year with the Brooklyn Dodgers because Eddie Stanky was playing second base then. The following year Stanky was traded and Robinson was moved to second base.

4 Jul

Nate Archibald, Kimani Jones Recalled by Sports Fans

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

a href=”http://el-paso-sports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/nate.jpg”>NateOne of the best parts of my job is hearing stories from sports fans.
Remember Nate Archibald? He was so little and so skinny they nicknamed him “Tiny.” But oh, what a basketball player. He led the Miners to the Western Athletic Conference championship in 1969 then went on to a career in the National Basketball Association that was so outstanding he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
Don Haskins wrote in his autobiography that he fell in love with Archibald from the moment he scouted Archibald his senior year in high school. There was another player on his team scouts were after and, wrote Haskins, “there was little Archibald on the team, all arms and legs.” But Haskins saw the talent in him and brought him to UTEP.
Haskins found him to be one of the hardest workers he ever coached. “If we had practice at 3:30 p.m. he would show up at 11 a.m.,” he said. “An when I left the office at 8 o’clock at night he would still be out there on the floor practicing.”

THESE MEMORIES were brought back to me by Bob Nitzburg, veteran El Paso sportscaster and advertising executive. He’s now a consultant with Entravision. Following is a story he sent me:
“A longtime friend of mine, Marty Blake, died recently at the age of 86. Marty spent 15 years as the general manager of the St. Louis Hawks who later relocated to Atlanta. For the next 35 seasons he was the NBA’s director of scouting.
“I first met Marty at Memorial Gym in late November of 1969 before a UTEP-New Mexico State game. He was there to scout two Aggie stars, Jimmy Collins and Sam Lacey. A year later the duo became first round NBA draft choices. I suggested that Blake take a look at a guard on the other team. That was Nate Archibald. Nate and I had a special bond because he and my father both went to DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. I told Marty that if coach Don Haskins had let him loose on the opposition ‘Tiny’ probably would have scored 30 points a game.”
“As Miners fans know, Archibald was drafted in the second round by the Cincinnati Royals. After a 14-year NBA career he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
“Glad I had that chat with Marty Blake.”
It’s fascinating how things and people are connected to each other.

kjones<AND HERE’S another nice story which was pointed out to me by another sports fan, Manny Ontiveros, a member of the board of directors of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.
Remember Kimani Jones Young? He was a star basketball player at UTEP in the 1990s. But in 1999, a year after he graduated, Young was arrested. In his possession were 96 pounds of marijuana. He wound up in prison.

YOUNG HAD had seemed such a nice person that El Pasoans, and his own family members, were shocked.
Young was, too. He couldn’t believe he had gotten into that business. He confessed and decided to change his ways.
Since then, he has worked steadily to make up for his misguided ways. He got into coaching and worked his way up as an assistant coach at Florida International.
Last week University of Minnesota announced that Young would join the staff of new Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino. The details of Young’s past came up again.

MINNESOTA athletic director Norwood Teague acknowledged it. He issued the following statement: “President Eric Kaler and I each spoke at length with college presidents and athletic directors at schools employing Coach Young and received assurances that Kimani was a positive influence and leader for their programs and student-athletes.”
Ontiveros wrote, “It’s a good step up for him.”
Yes, and it’s good to know people can do well when given a second chance.

4 Jul

Film Of Troopers’ March To The Title Captivating

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

steveyellenHave you seen “March of the Troopers,” the film about Eastwood High School’s 1976 state basketball championship team? I have. It’s captivating. And it keeps getting viewers at Premiere Cinema in Bassett Center.
My wife and I were there on a Thursday and were surprised that even on a weekday afternoon there were several other people in attendance.
To say that re-living that wonderful season 37 years later by watching and listening to the key members and other participants of the team was a thrill would be an understatement. It even brought tears to my wife, Helen. “To see how these beautiful young men performed touched my heart,” she said.
I must admit I got a little choked up myself.

CHARLIE MINN, the nationally renowned documentarian who also did a similar film about the Socorro High School Bulldogs winning the state baseball championship in 2009, puts great effort into his projects. Gathering film of years gone by and interviewing so many participants is no easy task.
He had to have some good local help, of course. One who not only worked behind the scenes but was prominent in the film was Steve Yellen, who does UTEP basketball games on radio with Jon Teicher. Yellen talks so well and is so easy on the eyes that he keeps you spellbound.
The Troopers’ march to the championship that year, as the film reveals, was all about teamwork. Coach Bobby Lesley talks about each of the players and the role they played. You’ll also get to see what all the players looked like then and look like now. And you’ll love what they have to say. I highly recommend it.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Which team won the very first World Series in 1903 and whom did it beat? Answer at end.

DID YOU KNOW? Department: Steve Yellen, a wealth advisor with the investment firm of Morgan Stanley, is an outstanding contributor to the community. He’s served on several boards, including Kids Excel El Paso, and helps local non-profit organizations around the world. Steve is also director of the Price’s Mini-Dribbler Basketball program and “Basketball in the Barrio” camp. He and his wife, Tracy, have two children.

SOME FOLKS are wondering why a documentary film hasn’t been made about the Bowie High School Bears who won the state baseball championship in 1949. I put the question to Charlie Minn. His answer: “That was so long ago there’s no film of the games.”

HERE ARE some recollections and more information about Cathedral High School swimming by someone who was there in the old days, Rene Vela, class of 1955: “The old building that housed Cathedral High was actually the old Catholic Community Center and, yes, it did have an indoor swimming pool in the basement. … At that time there was no swim team although some opted to take swimming as part of P.E. exercises. I also swam there before I entered CHS. The swimming pool no longer exists as it was filled in and now is a storeroom. It seems that the pool was on its last leg and would cost too much for repair and maintenance….”

JACK WELCH, El Paso golf guru/musician, is a popular guy. He’s had some serious hip problems the past year and people keep asking me how he’s doing. I’m happy to report he’s back in action, giving golf lessons out of his Honors Golf Academy during the day and entertaining folks with his keyboard, saxophone and singing at night. He’s currently performing his exceptional musical talents on Thursday nights at The El Paso Roadhouse, 5500 Doniphan.

ANSWER TO trivia question: The Boston Pilgrims of the American League defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League, five games to three.

11 Mar

Semko, Kaplowitz Among Hall of Fame Nominees

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

Sgenesemko

kaplloeven candidates were nominated for induction into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame at a meeting last
Monday. Most had been nominated before. A familiar name was Gene Semko, a UTEP graduate who
has become one of the top football officials in the country. Nominated for the first time was Steve Kaplowitz, one of the most versatile journalists in El Paso sports media history.
There were three nominees for the coach-administrator category, two for the media category and one each for the officials category and the posthumous category. Strangely, no athletes were nominated at the first meeting.
More nominations are expected at the next two nomination meetings. They’ll be held at 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 18 and March 4 at First Christian Church, 901 Arizona Avenue. Each resume must consist of 60 copies which will be distributed to members of the board of directors.
Following are last Monday’s nominees:

COACHES/ADMINISTRATORS
Russ Vandenburg, who played football one year under UTEP coach Bobby Dobbs before a second concussion ended his playing days. He then went on to coach football and track at Burges High School before turning to business and becoming one of the city’s and UTEP’s biggest backers of sports both financially and otherwise.
Roy Culberson, a former Bel Air High School three-sport star who played football at New Mexico Highlands University but graduated from UTEP in 1971. He went on to coach at Andress and Eastwood High Schools and be an assistant coach at UTEP. He also coached at University of North Texas before becoming associate athletic director there then athletic director at Montevallo University and Jackson State University.
Jimmy Melendez, the successful baseball coach at Riverside High School where he won four bi-district championships, seven area titles, seven region quarterfinals, one region semi-final, one region final and is one of only four El Paso coaches ever to make the Final Four at the state tournament.

OFFICIALS
Gene Semko, a Burges High School and UTEP graduate who went on to become one of the top football officials in the country. He worked in the Western Athletic Conference for seven years and has worked in the Big 12 Conference since 2004. While in the WAC, he worked in the 1997 WAC championship game, the 1998 Cotton Bowl and the 2001 Motor City Bowl. And while in the Big 12 he has worked 10 Bowls, including the 2008 BAC national championship game between Ohio State and LSU and the 2012 BCS national championship game between LSU and Alabama.

MEDIA
Steve Kaplowitz, one of the most versatile journalists in the history of El Paso. His daily weekday KROD sports talk show has been a great asset to the El Paso sports scene and he’s also done play by play of both football and basketball games, worked in television, writes a weekly sports column, hosts the El Paso Sports Expo and has hosted various other major local sports events.
Eric Alwan, the director of publicity at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino who has become one of New Mexico’s race callers. He gained national fame early in life when his father, Dick Alwan, taught him to handicap horses races. He showed such an unusual talent that by the age of eight he was appearing on national television shows.
 
POSTHUMOUS
Robert Rapanut, one of the most popular equipment managers at UTEP who passed away in 2003 while on the job. He was such a big booster of the Miners and so inspirational Rapanut was awarded the game ball from football coach Charlie Bailey after UTEP beat Brigham Young University one year.

11 Mar

Fulton, Payne Parting Ways at Sunland As Friends

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

smilingpayne

stanfultonHarold Payne, who announced he will retire as general manager of Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino on April 1, wants it known that he and owner Stan Fulton are parting on good terms. “He was always supportive,” Payne said. “I am leaving as one of Stan’s friends and he as one of mine. I wish him and Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino all the best.”
 
TRIVIA QUESTION: Who scored the winning touchdown in Baltimore’s overtime victory over the New York Giants in the National Football League championship game in 1958? There was no Super Bowl then. Answer at end.
 
THE PRO SHOP at Santa Teresa Country Club has been closed for at least a week. That hasn’t stopped some golfers from playing. “At least we play for free,” one said. One former employee guesses that the courses may be put in “moth balls” for a while. Meanwhile, dining facilities remain open.
 
I WAS IMPRESSED with McKenzie Moore from the first time he hit the hardwood at UTEP this season. He reminds me a lot of Fred Reynolds, who was a super star for the Miners in the 1980s. Like Reynolds, Moore is perfectly built for the sport, has excellent moves and can fly through the air to dunk the ball. But I didn’t know he was so talented he could also make a three-pointer from near half-court to win a game like he did against East Carolina last weekend. On the road, no less.
 
THE EL PASO Athletic Hall of Fame will begin accepting nominations for induction this year beginning Monday, Feb. 4. Got someone you want to nominate? Easy. Get up 60 copies of a resume and show up at one of the three meetings. Besides Monday, Feb. 4, other nomination meetings will be held on Feb. 18 and March 4 at 5:15 p.m. at First Christian Church, 901 Arizona Street.
 
GRUMBLES ARE beginning to be heard about banning football because of all the serious injuries. That’s pretty drastic. Maybe rules can be modified to ease all the pounding. Any ideas?
 
MANY FOLKS who showed up at Ventanas Restaurant at Sunland Park recently were so disappointed there was no longer buffet-style dining they turned away. But, says food and beverage shift manager Luis Moreno-Cano, business is beginning to pick up again. My wife and I along with friends Tommy and Art Johnson went there last week and enjoyed being waited on, the food was good and by the time we had finished ordering a la carte the bill was about the same as the buffet price.
 
HE’S AT IT again. El Paso’s James Arthur Lyle has won another title. He is the age 65-69 champion of the Southwest Challenge Series, a duathlon and triathlon championship. It’s the oldest and largest duathlon and triathlon series in the world. Lyle was the age group winner for the 17th time and took nine multi sports competitions. All in all he has competed in 307 triathlons so far.
 
AND I WAS broken hearted to hear that El Paso sports radio and TV personality John Garmon was killed in a pedestrian accident last week at the age of 72. He was such a nice, easy going, friendly fellow people were just naturally drawn to him. I knew his father, the late Jake Garmon, well. He was the head pro at Valdespino Golf Course and then at Ascarate Golf Course when I was taking up golf in my early 20s. Jake gave me my first golf lesson. May John and his dad have many happy rounds of golf among the angels.
 
ANSWER to trivia question. Alan Ameche

11 Mar

Haskins Told The Real Story Behind ‘Glory Road’

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

coachhaskinsWith movies about El Paso sports in the news, I find that there are still misconceptions about how the movie “Glory Road” about the 1966 national champion Texas Western Miners came about. Some think it was based on the book of the same name.
Not so. That book came out after the movie in an effort to cash in on it.
I was going through some old files and found a story by El Paso Inc. columnist Sam Kobren. He interviewed Don Haskins, who coached the 1966 Miners, shortly before Haskins’ death and Haskins told exactly how the movie happened. The story never appeared in any sports section or any other sports news outlet so few sports minded folks read it.
To set the record straight, I’m reprinting here the story – the real story – of how the movie “Glory Road” really came about. If I get credit, so be it.
 
“By Sam Kobren
“… Two things remain to be told before the book is closed on ‘Glory’ Road,’ the movie. How did Walt Disney Pictures happen to get the rights to produce it and who was responsible for calling Don Haskins’ interest to it?
“And more than that, who convinced Haskins to listen to Disney’s pitch after a half dozen or more studios and scriptwriters had bugged him over a period of four or five years and all had been turned down by The Bear?
“That’s the best chapter of the story.
“… No one was able to do that until Christopher Cleveland, a well known Hollywood scriptwriter, managed to wrangle an interview with Haskins. It evolved one Sunday morning when Haskins got a call from Ray Sanchez, a longtime El Paso sports writer and columnist for El Paso Inc…
 
“SANCHEZ WAS having breakfast with Cleveland at the Camino Real Hotel. Cleveland had read Ray’s book, ‘Basketball’s Biggest Upset…’
“Cleveland was inspired by the story and thought it would make a good movie. He persuaded Sanchez to call Haskins and ask him to the hotel to discuss it with him.
“Haskins was not interested and told Sanchez to forget about it. He had just turned down a major studio’s offer and was fed up with scriptwriters and producers. None of them were willing to do it his way – the way it really happened …
“Sanchez persisted. He said he was impressed with Cleveland and convinced Haskins to at least come down and give him 15 minutes.
 
“IT DIDN’T take that long…. He (Cleveland) proposed doing the movie for Disney but admitted he couldn’t guarantee the studio wouldn’t make some changes. Haskins was swayed by Cleveland’s integrity …He felt Disney’s reputation would ensure the movie would be more family oriented and kids would be able to see it.
“No crime, no sex, no drugs.
“…Several months later a deal was struck with Disney. And as they say, the rest is history.
“That meeting at the Camino Real was the first step that clinched the deal with Disney.
“’Ray Sanchez was totally responsible for Glory Road being produced and shown as close to the way it really happened as Hollywood would allow,’ Haskins said.”
End of story.
 
ALL I CAN SAY to Haskins’ last sentence is “Wow.”
I worked as a consultant on the movie, was given a bit part in it, all the actors were provided with a copy of my book “Basketball’s Biggest Upset” and I even helped some with the screen play. I also made a little nest egg for my retirement by selling the rights to my book to several other studios before Disney came along.
Still some members of my family and some friends, including Haskins, don’t think I got enough credit for the movie. I wasn’t invited to the Hollywood and New York premieres or the meeting of the team at the White House. Haskins didn’t make those events, either, because he was so ill. No doubt he would have invited me.
It’s okay. Nothing helps me sleep more soundly at night than Haskins’ compliment.

2 Jul

OLD LETTERS SHOW DOBBS’ LOYALTY TO MINERS

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

Mike Dobbs, son of former UTEP football coach Bobby Dobbs, was cleaning out his desk and going through some old boxes at his home in California recently when he found some things that belonged to his late father.

One was his father’s playbook that guided the Miners to some of their greatest victories in the 1960s. Oh, how some coaches would love to get their hands on that.

He also found letters his father wrote when he turned down an offer to coach Army and decided to stay at what was then Texas Western College.

Mike writes, “What struck me so deeply about reading these (3) letters, all dated April 21, 1966, was dad’s profound loyalty to Texas Western College, his sense of moral obligation to TWC and the City of El Paso and his need to have a clear conscious by not leaving Texas Western College.”

MIKE ADDS that he also got chills reading a letter his father wrote to Vince Lombardi explaining his decision to stay with the Miners.

His father wrote, “ … we were in the middle of spring practice, and all my coaches wanted to go with me. The program here (at Texas Western) could have been hurt severely, and for this reason I could not leave with a clear conscious. In any event, I made the decision the way I thought was right.  I feel that my decision will be vindicated, and I will never look back or second guess.”

Bobby Dobbs turned the Miners’ losing program completely around in 1965, going 8-3 and beating TCU in the Sun Bowl. He was 6-4 in 1966 then went 7-2-1 in 1967 with a win over Mississippi in the Sun Bowl. He retired as coach of the Miners in 1972 and never coached again. He passed away in 1986.

The letters that his son found add to the wonderful legacy Bobby Dobbs left at UTEP.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Can you name two players who have hit three homeruns in a World Series game? Answer at end.

SANTA TERESA Country Club members keep wondering what’s to become of their golf course and other facilities. Will the club be sold? Will things get worse or better?

I ran into owner/operator Greg Collins at lunch the other day. He seemed genuinely upbeat. “Things are getting better, things are getting better,” he repeated with a smile but without elaborating.

Members are keeping their fingers crossed that some day the club will be restored to the jewel of a facility it once was.

DAVID LATTIN, to no one’s surprise, has been inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame along with four other Miner stars. Big and strong, he was the axle of the 1966 Miners team that won the NCAA basketball championship.

I was also especially glad to see Andy Everest among the inductees. He was one of the first football stars I covered after joining the El Paso Herald-Post as a rookie sports writer.

Everest sort of took a back seat to the Miners’ outstanding backs, Fred Wendt and Pug Gabrel, of that highly successful1947-51 era. But like Lattin in basketball, he was the big man of the football team. He played center on offense and opened those big holes for the runners to go through. And he was a fearsome linebacker on defense.

Other inductees this year are Gary Brewster (basketball), James Munyala (track) and Kim Turner (track).

All five will be inducted as the 11th class of the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, at UTEP. For more information contact the Miner Athletic Club at (915) 747-8759 or mac@utep.edu.

ANSWER TO trivia question: Babe Ruth did it twice (in 1926 and 1928) and Reggie Jackson did it once in 1977.

2 Jul

Fixing a Horse Race All But Impossible Now

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

El Paso golf guru/musician Jack Welch was signed to perform his marvelous musical talent at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino for a couple of days recently so my wife, Helen, and I thought it might be a good time to visit there. Besides enjoying Jack’s singing, keyboard playing and saxophone magic I could sniff around and find out how the natives are feeling about the recent problems with fires and allegations of race fixing.

My wife was sort of scared that the place was in shambles and fires were still raging. Not so. In fact, we found it the usual pines-filled, relaxed, happy resort it’s always been – albeit growing. The section where the main fire occurred wasn’t all that big and had been contained.

 

AS FOR THE allegations of race fixing, racetrackers may be worried about horse racing getting a black eye but Ruidoso natives and local newspapers didn’t seem concerned at all about the charges. There was little news about it in local newspapers and store clerks, hotel hosts and the man on the street seemed totally oblivious to it all.

How hard is it to fix a million or more dollars race like the All-American Futurity? All but impossible these days.

In a 10-horse field you would have to bribe nine trainers and/or jockeys and on top of that ask them to give up their share of the purse, which could amount to more than a hundred thousand dollars.

 

OR YOU COULD try to bribe the gate crew to open nine gates later than the one where the horse you want to win comes out of, as is alleged in this case. Trouble is, it’s all mechanical and all gates open at the same time.

On top of that, races are on tape and the stewards review every step, every second, every instance of every race.

Some have been reviewing the video of the start of the alleged “fixed” race over and over again and have found no evidence that the gate in question opened even a millimeter of an inch ahead of the others.

So it looks like the fellow who was overheard saying he “fixed” the race that way was just blowing smoke.

 

TRIVIA QUESTION: There are two Division I college teams which have the nickname of Red Raiders. I’m sure you know Texas Tech is one. Who is the other? Answer at end.

 

A BONUS of our trip to Ruidoso was that Jack Welch invited me to play The Links golf course. What a treat it was to be hitting fairway shots off real grass.

Welch, despite having had several surgeries within the past year, is still a super golfer. He was just three over par.

Me? I, uh, had a lot fun.

 

SPEAKING OF golf, whoever said that sport is 90 percent mental and the other 10 percent is in your head was right on. Tiger Woods started last week’s U.S. Open by playing conservatively, just hitting “stingers” and keeping the ball in play.

Saturday, he was like a wild man, blasting drivers all over the place as if he was trying to overpower the long, long course. Wrong decision.

It was good to see a good looking young man like Webb Simpson win, though I admit that at my age I was rooting for the older guys like Jim Furyk and Ernie Els. I can relate more to them.

 

SPEAKING OF good-looking young men, world middleweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is in that category, too. I mean, that young man could be in movies.

I’ve heard nothing but raves about how the June 16 title fight held here looked on HBO.

Hey, anything that makes El Paso look good is okay.

 

ANSWER to trivia question: Colgate.

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