What a smart idea. I mean, the fact that Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino is going to build its own hotel.
Heck, other smart folks have been building hotels all around Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino for years. So why not have Sunland build its own right on its premises?
Yes, that’s how popular the racetrack and casino have become. I don’t think El Paso appreciates what an asset Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino is. Not only does it attract tourists and racing fans by the thousands, it provides hundreds of jobs for El Pasoans.
And I won’t even mention what a great contributor it is to worthy causes, including UTEP and New Mexico State.
SOME PEOPLE look down on the Sunland operation because it involves gambling — but they shouldn’t. It’s entertainment. Yes, a few may overdo the betting part, but the vast majority of fans know how to handle their money. That’s why you see the same folks year after year at the track or casino.
Look, anywhere you go it’s going to cost you money. If you go to a movie, it’s going to cost you money. If you go out to dinner, or a play, or a sporting event, it’s going to cost you money. In horse racing or casino playing, besides being fun and exciting, you at least have a chance of going home with more money than when you left.
And you’d be surprised how often that happens. I know, I’ve been a Sunland fan since the track opened.
THE SUNLAND hotel will be located in its parking lot and is part of a $7 million expansion project.
It will have 79 rooms, a business center and a fitness center with track-side views and will be connected to the racetrack and casino with a bridge, just like some of the best hotels in Las Vegas.
Construction will begin in August and will be ready by the summer of 2016.
Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino director of operations Dustin Dix says he’s very “excited” about the coming hotel.
So am I. So should you.
TRIVIA QUESTION: Can you name an NBA guard who was a first team all-star for 10 consecutive seasons? Answer at end of column.
EDDIE MULLENS, former longtime UTEP sports information director, has been through quite an ordeal. I’ll let him explain in his own words:
“…If I took the time to fully explain what has happened in recent months, you would say something like: ‘why the hell did I ask!’…Seriously, to give you the Reader’s Digest version, my problem started with a botched knee replacement that required a second surgery which was still unable to correct the damage done to tissues, etc. … Then neuropathy arrived big time and I’m now wearing braces on each leg, using a walker to get around with a wheel chair in the wings … Not to mention three ER trips in 16 days with heart issues …
“But I can still laugh, joke and smile about the situation even though I no longer drive a car… I hope to be able to see you at the UTEP Hall of Fame gig (in October) … Time will make that call. Otherwise, as Mrs. Lincoln was asked, ‘Otherwise how was the play?’”
I’M PRAYING for Eddie’s full recovery. He’s a legend in El Paso sports lore. In addition to his remarkable work ethic, his similes while at UTEP added fun and enjoyment to his press releases and brought national attention to the school.
Two of his similes I remember most: 1) When he described someone being “as excited as Tarzan with his loin cloth on fire” and 2) when he said 1966 Miners basketball rebound specialist Harry Flournoy “takes everything off the boards except the paint.”
Needless to say, Mullens was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame years ago.
I’ll see you in October, Eddie.
ANSWER to trivia question: Bob Cousy, from 1951-1952 through 1960-61.
