Going Home... and.... Homecoming!

Sorry for the abbreviated blog delay...

Went back to Dallas over the weekend to be in the wedding of a childhood friend. It was a blast to see everyone. Met some great folks, and saw some that I hadn't seen in eeons... What a great time.

Let's talk UTEP Homecoming. They're hosting Tulane. Tulane had their Homecoming Saturday against Army, and lost sizeably, 44 to 13. To make matters worse, they played the game at a high school stadium in New Orleans, that is also a track facility. THIS, is Tad Gormley Stadium:



In his weekly media conference, Tulane Coach Bob Toledo didn't earn a spot on the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce.



He said that his players told him that the game felt like a road game. This is what Tulane considers a road-game:



Nothing like playing on the road. Toledo also said that the grass was too high, press box was too hot and cramped, and there were divots all over the field. Toledo failed to mention that Army also played, and played well, on the same field.

In talking about his team's loss, he explained the "here we go again feeling" that we're all familiar with from the Miners end of season collapses in '05, '06, and '07. Here's the quote:

"We have a tendency, when bad things happen to us, there's a look in our eye and a feeling of `here we go again.' I see it in our fans. I see it in people who report here. It's that look of `here we go again,' instead of `hey, let's step it up, lets go.' We've got to teach the mentality and we haven't done that yet. We've got to change the mentality and learn how to compete. Just because bad things happen doesn't mean you stop competing."

Here's how UTEP wins the game, and it's twofold:

1. They do what Army did. No, they don't have a fullback to rush for 187 yards at 9.8 yards per carry. But, after 2 Tulane possessions, Army was already up 14-0, and both scores came on special teams. Army blocked a punt after the 1st possession, and then returned a fumble 81 yards for another touchdown. Get on the scoreboard quick and first. Give Tulane that "here we go again" feeling.

2. The Miner defense needs to get to quarterback Kevin Moore. The Humanities major was having a good game against Army until he took a inhumane hit. Toledo said in his press conference that Moore was never the same after that.

Toledo is familiar with the Miners 3-3-5 defense. Of course, Rocky Long taught it to Osia Lewis, and Long used to coach for Toledo at Oregon St. Lewis was also a player at Oregon when Toledo coached there. He's more than familiar with it. Can he teach it to an offense that has 4 days to learn it???

Jeremy Williams also is out. He's the offensive playmaker for Tulane. He had an operation Monday for 2 broken bones in his hand. Also, according to his player page, he's Majoring in "Media Arts". Back in the day, we called that major "Journalism."

I looked up the syllabus for the intro class, and, man. Is it just good timing or what? Now that Williams is out, he can concentrate on Friday's "Film, and Home Video" topic.... *WHEW*... Just in the nick of time...

And this is a private school??? Kids pay private school-like tuition to walk around and make home movies??? Well, before last weekend's home/road Homecoming, I hope that Williams absorbed the topic of "Recorded Music/Radio."... I'm in the wrong business. Time to start a private college, and offer classes in "Paper Airplane-Constructing Arts."

Enjoy the Win, Miners...

Re-Tread Musici.... err... Quarterback

This is for all of you that followed WAC football in the early 2000's...

Remember SMU QB Kelan Luker? One in the Art Briles Stephenville lineage of All-Star QB's??? (See Kevin Kolb, Jevan Snead, etc.)... You remember, of course, that he left SMU to play bass in a Creed wanna-be band called Submersed.



Allow your ears to bleed here:



That recently ended. At 27 years old, he's back in college football.



He's the backup quarterback now at Tarleton St. The person he's backing up???



That's former Franklin great, and 2004 El Paso City Offensive MVP Scotty Grantham. Remember, Grantham transferred there from NMSU.

It's a good read, and you can see the whole story on SI.com, where I ripped off some of the pics.

But not this one. This one's for the Cowboys fans who suffered Sunday like me:



That's All-Pro Chris Cooley. I think my gall-bladder just exploded...

Hello There My Old Friend...

3 Months??? That's all it's been? Looks like 4 times a year doth not a blog make, especially during football season!

Now that I'm getting back on the blog-scene, I'll reward the readers. No, not only with keen knowledge, not only with razor-sharp intellect, not merely with slapstick wit. I'm going to give away prizes.

That's right. You could win millions of dollars. A fleet of cars. Your own island. However, on this blog? Movie tickets, maybe a DVD every now and again. I give. That's what I do...

Onto the football season...

Of course, UTEP throttled defending CUSA Champion UCF on Saturday. I predicted that the Miners would win this game, but not 58 to 13. Nobody predicted that. Here's why it happened:

1. UCF had to start a true freshman QB in Rob Calabrese. Starting QB Michael Greco, who had been responsible for 125 yards a game (not great, but still) was out with a knee injury. He played horribly against Boston College the week before in his 1st career game, and is easy to defend.

2. Trevor Vittatoe played for the 1st time on a bum ankle.



How did that benefit UTEP? He's a VERY cerebral QB, and at times, looks like he overthinks his decisions on the field. He spent a majority of Saturday thinking of how to protect his ankle-achilles injury. How did that benefit UTEP? Vittatoe's instincts took over.

Instinctually, he might underrate himself. He won 4 of his first 6 starts as a Miner. That's early in a career, meaning it's all instinct at that point. Vittatoe has them, and on a seperate note, Calabrese doesn't. As Vittatoe's grown as a QB, as many do, he might be 2nd guessing himself in an effort to improve his game. That can sometimes backfire. It didn't have a chance to against UCF. 263 yards passing, 3 touchdowns with only 1 interception. Analyze that.

3. Defensive growth. This is the 1st game, possibly in the Mike Price Era, didn't give up a "Big Play". The "Big Play" is a thief. It steals momentum, and all of the big plays were made by UTEP. Even the Miner defense outscored UCF, 14-13. Cornelius Brown blocked a punt, and had 2 interceptions, giving him 3 for the season. That's tops in conference. He'll have a bigger test on the road next week at Southern Miss with QB Austin Davis. Though S. Miss lost to Marshall Saturday, he did throw for 308 yards.

BLOG STEW

- UTEP Kicker Jose Martinez kicks the 2nd longest FG off the ground in College Football history at 64 yards. Hard to see in that video, but he talks about it here, aud/vid taken by the GREAT Duke Keith of KLAQ fame.





- Hey fellas! Having trouble with the ladies??? Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach is here to offer assistance, so that your date doesn't end like this.



You're welcome.

BAH, BAH, BAH, IT WAS S'POSED TO BE A CURVEBALL!!!!

Mos of you know now that Rick Reilly is on ESPN, and ESPN.com. Once his contract ran out with SI, ESPN made him a flattering offer that he humbly accepted, and that brings us to date...

Currently, his article on espn.com talks about the high school pitcher/catcher combo that blatently let a fastball go by the catcher, and hit the ump in the mask. Seems they didn't like the way that he was calling the game. The kids coach thinks that they just got their signals crossed, and that the catcher was expecting a curveball instead of the fastball that the ump got.

Judge for yourself...



Pretty obvious that the catcher took a nosedive so that the ump would get hit. Reilly stated that the high school catcher involved was going to walk-on to a small college in the area... After learning of this episode, the college coach told him not to bother coming out.

Here's the kicker though...

Now the Ump involved has lawyered up. He went and got checked out at the hospital, and took an MRI. What's going to happen next? The catcher's Dad is going to have to settle with the Ump and his lawyer. The video, as you can plainly see, is too damning. The irony? The father could have to dip into the kids college fund to pay the settlement.

Maybe he can get the shortstop of the tema to cut a check for him, as he was the 15th overall pick in this year's baseball draft.

By the way, if you read the story, you see that it was the Georgia AAA State Championship game... Talk about one to remember...

I'm glad Reilly is finally at the network. It's a natural marriage, and we'll be seeing more than just a 1 page article in the back of SI.

Socorro Baseball, Spring Football, No Way Jose Canseco...

If you have yet to go see a Socorro Baseball game in action this season, do yourself the favor of catching a couple of innings...

What will you see? Offense. What else? Defense. This team is the best one that they've had that I've personally seen in the past 3 years. The difference in this team? They KNOW they're going to win. Coach Forbes has raised this program to a level unseen in El Paso, maybe ever. Of course, last week, the Bulldogs made history being ranked the top baseball team in the state of Texas in 5A. That's some heavy stuff. They host Montwood this Friday. Get to Forbes Field, and enjoy some baseball on what's supposed to be an El Paso Chamber of Commerce Postcard Day....

What a mess they have at Oklahoma St. Firing Scott Sutton after just 2 years???? HUNH??? Wasn't he supposed to be the heir apparent? HUGE mistake by Mike Holder and the folks in Stillwater. Holder was a heck of a golf coach, and is a good fundraiser. He's a VERY below average basketball coaching evaluater. Here's hoping a majority of the OSU basketball team ask for their release. Who the heck is going to want to coach for a guy that only gives you 2 years?!?!?!?! AND DON'T TELL ME BILL SELF, I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH $$$ T-BOONE PICKENS HAS!

Not a big fan of spring football. Of course, all schools have to do it. It's just yet another season for the football players. The big payoff? The Spring Game. If you're a big BCS School, they may even televise the game on THE NETWORK. What purpose does it serve?

There's nothing better than going out to these practices with a camera on your shoulder, to watch players go 1/2 speed. *yawn*. Not hating on these coaches, hating on the game...

Anyone tired of Jose Canseco yet? Hope you were able to catch him on Letterman Monday night.



I've never seen Dave grill someone like that. (Unfortunately you don't see it in the clip above). It was the kind of uncomfortable that you feel when you spill Hawaiian Punch on your rented tux...

Nothing but 2 segments of insinuaton. He's no Amazon.com....



"Vindicated?" Each one of you that buys his book is supplying him with about... what... 1/6th of a cycle of steroids??? Good times...

NMSU kicks off Spring ball Wednesday. Going to be curious to see how they look jogging, too....

And finally, Kennth Pope is a HUGE pickup for Clemson's next footall class... Any chance he's some sort of entrepreneur?????




ONLY IN AMERICA!!!

Trying to Keep Keitha... and Basically Basic Cable...

Now that the Miner Women have ended their unlikely season, it's time for a new campaign. The "bruise" has healed, and just a nasty memory now. There's no doubt that UTEP Women's Coach Keitha Adams will be a topic of discussion for openings at other schools, such as UCLA, and Arizona.

The UTEP Athletic Department needs to find a way to, "Keep Keitha." It starts with a mindset. She needs to know that she hasn't accomplished everything possible at UTEP. This program is her baby. They need to convince her not to abandon her "teen-ager". Financially, it's time top bump her up. Again. She's done the job. Pay her for it. Find a way to be competitive. I know she can't make what Gail Goestenkors makes at Texas ($900,000K-ish), but who can??? We've seen the type of player that Keitha has brought to this program over the past 2 years. That needs to continue. Keep Keitha.

Now onto the slap and tickle...

When I was sick (see below), I had 2 weeks to just sit in my apartment, and do nothing but vacuum, and watch TV. Unfortunately, when I moved to El Paso, I opted for only the basic cable that came with the apartment. I knew I'd be waaaaay too busy to spend too many a day in front of the boob tube, so I upped my Netflix account to a 3-movie rotation instead of juicing up my cable package.

Fast forward to my 2 weeks at home. I became an expert on what is played on basic cable from about 10am to midnight, and you won't believe what my top surprise was...

1. "Gone Country"- what an unexpected gem this was. This show brings in people from 7 different walks of life (or entertainment), and these "has beens" are all living together in a mansion-like log cabin, vying for a country music contract. The participants are the kicker. They consist of Bobby Brown, Sisqo, Carnie Wilson (of Wilson-Phillips), Julio Iglesias Jr., Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister), Maureen McCormick (Marsha from "The Brady Bunch"), and Diana DeGarmo
(American Idol, 2004). They're living in John Rich's house-cabin (of country music band Big & Rich), and he has them doing all sorts of chores (nothing like seeing Bobby Brown and Dee Snider clean out a horse stall). It's hard to tell when this show airs, as it airs about 4 times a day on CMT. Enjoy!

Back in the Saddle...

I've been sick the past 3 weeks with what seems to me to be a variation of the Chicken Pox. It's called Stevens- Johnson Syndrome, and it put me out for some time.

I can't begin to thank everyone that sent prayers my way and visited me in the hospital. It just re-inforces what we all know. The people of El Paso truly are special and unique.

Today (2/18) is my first day back at work, and it's nice to get back in a working routine. I know I've promised in the past to be on here more often, and now I'll be able to since I'm back at work, and am close to fixing my home computer.

Since I've been in front of the TV on the couch exclusively for the past 2 weeks, I'll post a TV schedule of the "must-see's" for people that just have basic cable like me. Nothing short of fabulous entertainment (or not).