Posts Tagged ‘the Bad and the Funny of El Paso Sports History’

2 Jan

Books of ’66 Miners Signed by Haskins Found

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

by Ray Sanchez 12.13.15

Sometimes you get lucky. '66book.jpg

I went to clean out my storage room the other day and lo and behold, there, under a pile of other books, were four brand new hard cover copies of the book, “Basketball’s Biggest Upset,” signed by late coach Don Haskins..

“My God,” I thought, “What a treasure.”

If you know local sports history, “Basketball’s Biggest Upset” is the most comprehensive history ever written about the Texas Western Miners’ march to the 1966 NCAA basketball championship and led to the movie, “Glory Road,” being made.

It has more details than any other book written on the subject and includes bios of all the players, how the big games were won and a play by play description of the title game against University of Kentucky.

I found other “Basketball’s Biggest Upset” books, both hard cover and paperback, but only those four were signed by “The Bear.” 

BUT WHY am I telling you all this? It’s because the downtown El Paso Public Library has invited me to make an oral presentation of the history of El Paso sports, including the 1966 Miners, and at the same time have a book signing. The event will be held next Sunday, Dec. 20, at the downtown El Paso Public Library. 501 North Oregon Street, at 2 p.m.

donhaskinsWhat with Christmas and the 50th anniversary of the Miners’ amazing 1966 victory coming up next year, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

I mean, UTEP will be celebrating the Miners’ championship next year and the surviving members of the ’66 team will be present and honored at the men’s basketball game against Western Kentucky on Feb. 6 at the Don Haskins Center. Wouldn’t it be great to have a copy of a book for the Miners to sign? 

THE FOUR books signed by Haskins will be up for auction at the oral presentation and book signing at the El Paso Public Library downtown next Sunday but if you’re not lucky enough to get one signed by Haskins you can get an unsigned one. If you want a special and unique gift for someone, it’ll be hard to find a better Christmas stocking filler.

I’ve also had many requests for copies of my latest book, “The Good, the Bad and the Funny of El Paso History” and “Haskins: The Bear Facts” and those, too, will be available along with other books I’ve had a hand in writing or producing. 

TRIVIA QUESTION: Of all the players who have played Major League baseball, Hank Aaron ranks first alphabetically. But can you tell me who comes in second? Answer at end of column.  

IT’S GOOD to see local athletes receive their due. Don Maynard, one of UTEP’s greatest football stars, has been chosen the 2015 Legend of this year’s Hyundai Sun Bowl game which will be played Saturday, Dec. 26.

Maynard helped UTEP to victory in the 1957 Sun Bowl then helped the New York Jets to victory over Baltimore in one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history in 1969.

I’ve written countless stories about Maynard some of which are included in some of my books. He made receiving look easy – and fun. My favorite story about him is that he was so fast that he would mutter “beep-beep” as he flew by pass defenders.

 

AND HOW’S this for more excitement to the holiday season? Live horse racing returns to Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino on Friday, Dec. 18. We’ll see the finest horses, owners and trainers in the Southwest competing for big purses on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays through April 19.

As I’ve noted before, with UTEP, the El Paso Chihuahuas, our high schools, Sun Bowl, beautiful golf courses, great weather and Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, my sports cup runneth over 

ANSWER to trivia question: Tommy Aaron, Hank’s younger brother.

2 Jan

Readers Express Their Love of Nolan Richardson

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

by Ray Sanchez 11.29.15

It seems like everywhere I go people are talking about the question and answernolannow.jpg article with Nolan Richardson that appeared in the Oct. 19 issue of El Paso Inc. And oh, the emails and comments on Facebook.

For good reason. Richardson is undoubtedly El Paso’s greatest native combination athlete/coach.  He not only excelled as an athlete at Bowie High School and UTEP but went on to coach Western Texas to the national junior college championship, win a National Invitation Tournament title at Tulsa University and win a NCAA title at University of Arkansas.

Nolan let out his inner most personal feelings in the article, and fans seemed to like that. Following are some of the comments I received:

 

TONY JORDAN: “You really got the best out of Nolan in that addicting interview. It was so enjoyable I couldn’t get enough. My brother, Phil Jordan, played ball against Nolan both in high school and college and always said he was the toughest guy to defend. My greatest moment with Nolan was back in 1985 when Paul Moreno, Dr. Pablo Ayub and I held a fund raiser at Caravan East for the devastation that the earthquake in Mexico City had caused and who shows up out of the blue but a true El Paso hero, Nolan Richardson That moment is to this day and forever engraved in my heart. Only you could have gotten an interview like that. We needed to know. El Paso thanks you.”

 

JAY TAVREZ directed his email directly to Richardson: “Coach, when our junior high coach would take us to watch Texas Western when the games were played at the (El Paso) Coliseum you were our favorite player. In one game, you were submarined and landed on your head and all of us thought you were seriously hurt, but after they tended to you, you got back on the floor and continued having an excellent game! You were not only a great athlete, you were the toughest one we had seen! Thanks for giving so much back to your communities!!!!!”

 

RICHARD GLANCEY: “ (Richardson is) one of the greatest persons I have ever known. His loss of his daughter had a tremendous effect on him and his family. Yes, Nolan, I remember playing golf at Ascarate and afterwards you had a beer and a chaser. God Bless this dear friend I have not seen perhaps since his daughter’s funeral that I flew in for.”

 

RANDY SANDERS: “What a great guy! When I was a kid my dad would leave work early so we could get a seat in the tiny Bowie gym and watch him play basketball.”

 

GEORGE SAENZ: “Nice job in interviewing Nolan, I got to meet him two years ago and had a good conversation and a few drinks with him at Adrians.”

 

LUIS ZUNIGA, a longtime sportscaster at the Spanish language KINT station, even took to Spanish to express his feelings: “Excellent interview Ray. Sin duda alguna que Nolan es, y sera siempre, el emblema y embajador de El Paso a donde quiera que vaya. He is a class guy. Tuve varias oportunidades de entrevistarlo durante mis dias en KINT TV-26. Felicidades para ambos.”

(Translation: “Excellent interview, Ray. Without any doubt Nolan is and will always be the emblem and ambassador of the passage to wherever I go. He is a class guy, I had several opportunities to interview him during my days in KINT-TV, Channel-26. Congratulations to you both).”

 

THE ABOVE comments are just a few of the emails I received. Many other folks came up to me and told me personally what great esteem they feel for Nolan.

I feel so proud to have known him since he was only nine years old and hit a homerun in Little League. I actually gave him his very first writeup.

Nolan Richardson personifies all that is good about athletics.

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.