Posts Tagged ‘Sun Bowl’

29 Mar

UTEP Museum To Celebrate 100th With Book

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

© by Ray Sanchez 02.16.14

Have you visited the UTEP Centennial Museum now that the school is observing its 100th year of existence?
If you haven’t, you’ll find it a treat.utepmusemphoto
When I dropped in the other day I had a ball going through the entire museum but headed directly to the sports section first. Can you believe there’s a display of some of the football equipment worn by Ken Heineman in the very first Sun Bowl football game in 1935?
There’s also a display of Bob Beamon’s world record long jump of 29 ft. 2 ½ inches in the 1968 Olympics. Part of that exhibit is a photo of him taken during his leap but more than that, there’s a strip on the floor showing exactly the distance he covered in that jump. You’ll be amazed at how far he really “flew.”
There are also other displays, photos of years gone by, film of the 1966 Miners who won the NCAA basketball championship and film of the history of the school.
It’s easy to get to the museum. Get on Sun Bowl Drive, turn onto University Avenue, if there’s a guard tell the guard you’re going to the museum and the museum will be just a block on your right hand side on the corner of University Avenue and Wiggins Road.

NEXT THURSDAY, Nov. 20, will be a special day for me there. Kaye Mullins, administrative assistant of the UTEP Centennial Museum, called and invited me to have a signing of my new book, “The Good, the Bad and the Funny of El Paso Sports History,” and perhaps give a little talk at 4 p.m. that day.
Needless to say, I accepted the invitation.
I know you’ll enjoy the museum.
And the book, too. After all, there’s a lot about the history of UTEP in the book — how the school began and how sports started and evolved through the years. It also includes some of the Miners’ greatest games, athletes, coaches and administrators and how they made it all happen.
What’s more, it would be great to meet you.

TRIVIA QUESTION: What was the first name of Major League legend Dizzy Dean? Answer at end.

HERE’S A LITTLE more on Santa Teresa Country Club and its potential restoration:
A fellow golfer who used to own a home there, Richard Blizzard, says he got it straight from Dona Ana County officials that the man who bought one of the three parcels that includes one of the two courses is part of a group that includes some folks from Mexico. He says the group has first rights to the other two parcels (the second course and the part that includes the clubhouse) and is probably planning to take over the whole thing and develop it.
“I’ve seen a couple of tractors out there,” Blizzard says, “so like it looks like they’re serious.”

VINCE KEMENDO, former El Paso businessman, is retired and now living in New Braunfels, Texas. But he still keeps up with the Miners. He wrote:
“I watched the UTEP/East Carolina basketball game on Fox Sports … It reminded me that the UTEP players do not have their names on the back of their jerseys while most other college teams do. This was also the way it was when (Don) Haskins was coach.  I wonder why that is. Do you know? … UTEP wore white uniforms–visiting team–and ECU wore dark uniforms. Do you know why that was?”

I CHECKED with the NCAA. In football, the home team must wear white jerseys unless both teams agree otherwise on special occasions. Basketball rules are little more lax. The rule states that the home team will “generally” wear white jerseys. So its’ all up to the participating teams.
As for players’ names on back of the jerseys, that’s up to each individual school. Miners team coach Tim Floyd being a disciple of Haskins, it’s natural that he follows Haskins’ example of no names.

ANSWER TO trivia question: Jerome.

21 Jan

The Stars Aligned Right For Hyundai Sun Bowl

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

bernieHyundai Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas must have some lucky stars. How else can you explain how he keeps coming up with such good matchups?
Just about everyone had given up on ever seeing Notre Dame play in our El Paso classic, but there the Irish were at Sun Bowl Stadium on Dec. 31, 2010, beating University of Miami to the delirium of local fans.
It wasn’t easy getting the Irish. The results from different games during the season had to come out just so and the stars all had to be aligned just right.
They did.

THIS YEAR it looked again like the Hyundai Sun Bowl was going to wind up with a lousy matchup. Oh, Southern Cal was an okay choice but a credible opponent didn’t seem likely. Many things had to happen on Saturdays during the season and the stars had to aligned just so again for the Sun Bowl to wind up with the right combination.
They did — and with a couple of added twists.
The contract called for the Sun Bowl to get the fourth place team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. North Carolina was on sanctions by the NCAA and University of Miami had put itself in a similar spot. Neither was available
Because of the sanctions, Georgia Tech got into the ACC conference championship game and gave highly regarded Florida State a tough, tough battle. Way down in the contract, the Sun Bowl found a little clause that said it could have the conference runnerup.

SO THERE we were last Monday with another fine Sun Bowl matchup. Despite a 6-7 season record, Georgia Tech turned out to be more than just a good Hyundai Sun Bowl opponent for USC. Georgia Tech stomped the Trojans, 21-7.
The trouncing was much to the delight of most of the 47,922 spectators who had been turned off by demeaning comments about El Paso by USC players. They apologized but one fan leaving the stadium was overheard saying, “You’d think the USC coach would have instructed his players not to make comments like that.”

I CONGRATULATED Bernie Olivas on this year’s matchup and told him he either had lucky stars or he prayed a lot.
With a twinkle in the eye and a hint of a smile, he said, “I pray a lot on Saturdays.”

TRIVIA QUESTION: When was the first Most Valuable Player selection made in the Sun Bowl and who won it? Answer at end.

I HAD NEVER felt so sorry for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo as I did in the last game of the regular season against Washington last week. How he must hurt.
If only he were half a tick of a second slower on his pass releases no telling how many more games he could have won during his career. Maybe even a Super Bowl.
But he’s too impulsive, too trusting of his receivers. He often throws the ball to the spot where he expects them to be instead of waiting a half tick of a second to make sure they’re there. Result: Interception after interception.

AND THE FINAL interception he threw against Washington in the fourth quarter that doomed the Cowboys was also because of that half tick of a second. Romo thought the defender on his left was going to blitz as he had been doing all night and threw the ball there. Instead the defender stayed back and made an easy interception. Had Romo taken that extra half tick of a second to make sure the defender blitzed, but didn’t, he could have adjusted.
They say greatness is a matter of inches. I’ll always think Romo missed greatness by half a tick of second.

ANSWER to trivia question: Quarterback Dick Shinaut of what was then Texas Western College, now UTEP, won the first award in 1954. He completed 11 of 17 passes for two touchdowns to lead the Miners over Southern Miss 37-14.