Sports Writer to Be

The Sportswriter to Be was on the radio this morning. The Mut Man gave me a call for his Saturday morning show for a little of my uh . . . uh . . . EXPERTISE concerning the Class L season so far. I don't have a transcript of what I said this morning, but if I can get one, I will post it.

Bob Ryan wrote a follow-up column to his February 5th rant against the bells and whistles of modern sports. He didn't use my letter in his column, which would have been cool, but you can read what he wrote in the Globe today here.

The Sportswriter to Be now has his high-speed hookup in his home in Dover. So there will be a lot more after-hours posting on this site.

The Sportswriter to Be took his act on the road today, or at least was supposed to. No pre-game analysis here, it looks like most of the high school basketball schedule has been postponed for tonight. It's just as well, snow has hit the area pretty hard. I was supposed to cover Pinkerton-Dover for Friday Night Lights, but that's off, so you will just have to entertain yourselves.

Valdez wrote in yesterday with an article about a friend of our old High School Foootball show on 610 in Albuquerque. Rio Grande's quarterback, Doug McDaniel is also a star basketball player on the Ravens' team, and a pretty good kid. He was featured in the Albuquerque Tribune yesterday, in an article by Jeff Carton that you can read here. We interviewed him one night during the Ravens' improbable 6-0 start to the 2002 season, and he was probably sitting in the old house featured in the article. He was polite and well-spoken. (Took me a while to find this link because the Tribune's website blows.)

Enjoy the article. Here's what Valdez had to say: Happy Birthday, by the way, Valdez!

Glad you liked the article about Doug McDaniel or D-Mac if you will, as he is called around RGHS. It does kind of make you hope that Rio Grande would go all the way this year and win it for his sake. Unfortunately, I believe theirs is a case of too many cooks spoiling the soup. They are loaded with talent but do not play well as a team. Their fundamentals are also questionable. I have never seen a team miss more free throws in critical games then Rio Grande. On the other hand, they have been in all their games with stronger opponents this year (Sandia, Cibola, Eldorado, and Valley, the latter two being in the APS tournament). In fact, they have had chances to win all these games, but poor foul shooting, needless fouls, and/or violations of some sort, like a traveling call, have led to their defeat. If they could put it all together they could be in position to win it all. I think they need to win against Valley tonight. That will be critical. I am also interested to see how Eldorado does against Hobbs in Hobbs tonight. Can they win it? Probably not. They are on the road, they are still young, and they have to deal with Hobbs anger plus winning on the road at Hobbs is tough. But no one gave a young Sandia a chance last year either. Santa Fe goes up against La Cueva as well, a team that they have come close to beating. Santa Fe has been in all their games this year, whether it be against La Cueva, Sandia, Rio Grande, etc...The only game they have truly beein blown out against is the Capital game. Capital is the #1 team in 4A.

The following dialogue from sportswriter2b.blogger.com is brought to you by Quality Milk. Quality Milk: Everybody's choice. And now, spokesman for Quality Milk and the entire line of Quality Products: Palms!

It's funny that Valdez assumed that BU has a football team. Or it's funny that he knows they don't. Either way, it's funny that an employee of Chester College of New England had a
part in killing BU football.

UNH seems stuck. Can't get the Bonner's or the "good" Friel's and the high
school hoops scene in NH is far from robust. So when they go outside to
recruit, they get the 4th guy off the bench on the runner-up team in another
state's Div 2 tourney. And the program is most likely losing money. I don't
usually use this, but it makes me feel a little like this :>(

NCAA hoops is interesting. UNH could make it to the Final Four and compete
with Duke, UConn, Kansas etc. But, they are at such a disadvantage due to a
myriad of factors that they have no real shot and will NEVER get a chance to
cut down any nets on CBS.

This isn't true for UNH hockey. They can and have and will continue compete
in hockey for a legit title.

UNH cannot compete with Florida State or Notre Dame football, but it's
because they are in a different division and there is no delusion that they
will ever be in the Cotton, Sugar or Sportswriter2b.blogspot.com Bowls.

When the UNH men's cagers play those early season gimme games for other
teams it's a lot like watching those nature shows when the mountain lion
finds the helpless little rabbit. There is a slow motion chase that lasts
about 15 seconds. You think that maybe the rabbit can make it! It's smaller,
and fast and yikes! That was quick, the poor bunny is already dead.
Sometimes the really, fast and smart rabbit does make it for a while. UNH
however is the rabbit that has already had it's feet cut off and sold as
good luck charms.

Your plan for a new NCAA structure may be a good idea after all. UNH hoops
won't appear as sad and such a waste of time/money/rabbits.

*****

Palms,

Your points are good. I am fascinated just by the fact that UNH basketball even exists, and it emphasizes the scope of NCAA Division I Basketball. That the UNH team is actually a part of a league that has 326 teams in 47 states is amazing. And that they aren't even in the top 300. Next week, UNH hosts Vermont, who played an early season game at UCLA (and who could very well be playing in "the dance" later this year). The Pauley freaking Pavilion, and they only lost by one. They have trips to Pauley and Lundholm on their schedule. Doesn't that just blow your mind? I'll have to look up other UNH home opponents and see where they've been.

As for high school basketball in NH, there is plenty of talent out there. Like I said, forget about the players that are going to larger schools. Just concentrate on the ones that are D-1 material and get them to come here. There is no reason that the roster for UNH should have at least five native NHers.

JD

The Rankings are in . . . thanks to Valdez, here are the top 5 for New Mexico boy's basketball, class AAAAA (large schools):

1. Cibola (Albuquerque)
2. Eldorado (Albuquerque)
3. La Cueva (Albuquerque)
4. Valley (Albuquerque)
5. Rio Grande (Albuquerque)
Also receiving votes: Sandia (Albuquerque), Hobbs, Alamogordo

*****

Whoa, whoa whoa! You mean to tell me the top six teams in the state are all from Albuquerque? And that three of the top five (Cibola, Valley, Rio Grande are in District 1? And that one of the top five teams in the state is going to be left out of the playoffs? And that we're looking at a possible tournament of Cibola, Valley, La Cueva, Sandia, Eldorado, Hobbs, 'Gordo and one of the Cruces schools (I assume), with Rio on the outside looking in? The District 1 tournament is going to be EPIC. Anyone have a cheap ticket to New Mexico?

******

You got it! That is the way it is this year. Rio was the preaseason #1 with people talking about how invincible they were but they could potentially not make it. Cibola has been pretty consistent even though Valley took care of them. Valley has been flying under the radar until recently. I do plan on going to as much district tournament as possile. It is tougher to get into gyms this time of year but I will do my best to get into all games. Last year, I waited 2 hours outside Valley's gym to get into the Valley Cibola game. Intense.

Busy day on the Blog! Brennan "Palms" Palmer chimed in on Bob Ryan's article. Read on for my and Valdez's thoughts on UNH "basketball".

If you're reading this blog, join the dialogue! Email me at UNMdoyle98@hotmail.com

Were we not just talking about the Gahden and all the bells, whistles and annoyances?

Me thinks Ryan has a bug in one of our cars. If he writes about how hates/likes when people sing wildly out of tune when no one else is in the car, the bug is in my Corolla.

Palmer

Thoughts on the Boston University-New Hampshire men's "basketball" game last night in Durham, New Hampshire:

I went to the Boston University-UNH basketball game last night and this morning I am still trying to figure out why. UNH got smoked 70-50. They are completely inept. They just can't make shots! And the crowd was sparse and lethargic. I only went to the game because I had the night free and I needed a college basketball fix. It makes me wonder, what is the point of having a basketball program at UNH? Keep in mind that this is a team that has NEVER competed for a conference title. When I was there in '94, they made a brief run, and the year after that came in second place, but that's it. Oh, it was tough to watch last night. It's easy to say, hey, who cares, UNH is a hockey school anyway. But so is BU! And for that matter, so is Maine, Vermont and Northeastern and all four of those schools sit atop the America East.

On the other hand, BU entered the game ranked 109th or something like that, which is actually HIGHER than the Lobos, if only slightly. So you have to figure that the Lobos would have fared just as well last night against the Wildcats. UNH was at #301. But you have to wonder what BU is doing in the America East. They are a huge college with very low overhead in their athletic department since dropping football in the mid-90s. They are in a huge, sports-crazy metro area. Why are they not in a slightly more prestigious conference like the Atlantic-10 or C-USA? Then you have Boston College out there in Newton, half the size of BU, playing in the Big East and soon the ACC. Makes you think.

And another thing that got to me. UNH has ONE player from NH on it's roster. This is something the people of New Hampshire, let alone the sports fans, should be outraged about. If you recruit the best players from our state, at least the ones that don't commit to more competitive schools, and we still stink, then that's one thing. But to actually go out of state and recruit players that generally just stink up the place is outlandish. The only NH player on the team is this guy named Keith Friel, whose father used to the the head coach at UNH, and is considered the First Family of New Hampshire basketball. I think he walked on, and I think his older brother went to Notre Dame or something.

*****

Valdez's Response

Well, at least you can say that you attended a UNH game this season. It is too bad that hoops at UNH is down. It seems like they made their decision to concentrate on hockey though so at least you have that to keep you warm on those lonely winter nights. Maybe BU values being successful at many sports. I too have seen many hoops games where the Terriers excel. How is BU's football team. That could be the factor keeping them from other conferences. It seems to me that UNH should have been hitting it hard to sign Luke Bonner but they let him get away, much like UNM football let Allan Branch get away. Branch signed with Michigan yesterday and people were still holding out hope that he would renig on his verbal committment and become a Lobo. But it was not to be

Dude, you should put the prep basketball rankings for NM on your blog. You can pretty much get them from the El Paso Times, the Amarillo Globe, or the Lubbock Avalanche Star. If you sense some sarcasm in my voice, you got it pegged. The Journal seldom publishes the polls and when they do, it is always like a week late.



*****

That's just the thing, though. UNH isn't "down" in basketball--they're program has always had a commitment to sucking. And BU has had success in basketball despite putting a low emphasis on athletics. They dropped football and baseball about ten years ago. This year they had a chance to finally position their basketball teams into mid-major status; with all the shuffling of conferences around the US, there was a place in the Atlantic 10 for the Terriers. But they decided to stay with the America East, which is good for the other schools in the conference. Now that Vermont is joining Hockey East in 2006, BU, Northeastern, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are all in the same conference in basketball, hockey and football (except BU). So that's a good solid block of five schools, and I think they should all strive to stay together no matter what the landscape of college sports becomes in the next decade or so.

What bothers me about UNH's attitude in basketball is that they don't seem to realize what a great game basketball is. There are people, myself included, who view Division I college hoops as a great entertainment option. And it's not so much that they're bad, it's that they just don't seem to give a sh*t. This is their 100th anniversary season, for crying out loud! There's a history there, that HAS to mean something! And forget about players like Luke Bonner and his brother Matt--those dudes are going to bigger programs, and that's fine. Just like one has to accept the fact that Allan Branch is going to Michigan--if you're that good, you deserve to go to a bigger program. But come on, you have to at least give young athletes in your state at least a reason to believe that it's okay to dream about playing for your state U. The Lobo football team seems to be taking steps in that direction. But UNH basketball seems to be light years away from that. PS--I have been meaning to ask, does Michael Monnette still play for the Lobos? I noticed Ashcraft from La Cueva was getting significant minutes the other night, was he a walk on like Monnette?


As for prep rankings, I would be happy to put them on the blog. You send them, I'll put them on. And as for showing people my blog--thanks! If you have any friends who happen to be sports editors looking for a good columnist or who, show it to them as well!

Happy Birthday, Sports Writer to Be! With that out of the way, I fired off an email this morning to Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe. He only gets like a thousand responses a day, so I am SURE he will read mine, but I thought I would respond to his column nevertheless. You can read his online column here.

Here is my email:

No, you're not alone, Bob, and I am sure your inbox is flooded with people who feel the same.

As a young man following the Celtics in the 1980s, it was not lost on me the contrast between the atmosphere of the old Garden and arenas such as LA and Phoenix. I went down to Landover, Maryland in 1994 to watch a Celtics-Bullets game with my father and noticed that the Bullets, when introduced, would bring out all the bells and whistles: lights off, loud music, fireworks, spotlights, etc. And I thought to myself: wait a minute, this team stinks! The Celtics should be the ones with the fireworks. Only when I got older did I realize how cool it was that the Celtics and the old Garden avoided all those things and let the game sell itself.

Lots of interesting sports news in the journal today. Starting with Lobo basketball: I still find very interesting people's opinions on Lobo basketball. The debate now seems to be centered on concession prices, the student section, McKay's tenure, and Channel 13's delayed broadcasts. All legitimate complaints, except concession prices. Those are high everywhere, and it speaks to the lack of sophistication among most Lobo fans that they don't realize this.

As far as McKay is concerned, I know you are a big McKay guy, but now I am not so sure. Like I have said, I have long been warning against falling prey to the "we're one big-time coach away from the promised land" mentality, but, as much as I hate to say it, McKay might not be the guy. Again, I agree that fans need to be more patient, and there's a lot more wrong with this program than just the coach. But if he doesn't win a road game this year, the University is totally justified in letting him go. And why can't we attract a big name? I am sure there are plenty of coaches out there who would love to come to Albuquerque. The weather's great, the arena is great, the city is great and the team is in a highly-rated, highly-competitive and growing conference. If the only issue is money, you know there are some Lobo supporters up in Santa Fe who will do whatever it takes to appropriate the funds needed to bring someone in.

Regarding everything else, I spent the better part of last night composing two letters to Sports Speak Up (under my pseudonyms) that I think are pretty good. The second one is about the football halftime show.

To Paul and Pat of Albuquerque: I agree that money is a huge element of any athletic program's success. But what I think many Lobo fans have been craving for some time is a vision that looks beyond just dollars and cents. AD Rudy Davalos just doesn't seem to get that. He doesn't seem to realize that the University and the basketball-loving fans of this state have forgotten why they love this game in the first place. They have forgotten what it is like to cheer for a program that brings the sheer joy of basketball to the floor, every time they run down the ramp of our storied arena. If bringing the students down to the front row causes the program to lose a few precious dollars, so what? It would make the students happy. It would make the team happy. It would bring excitement and a sense of community to the student body. It's their team, and should be treated as such. Isn't that the reason college athletics exist? Rudy, if you're reading this, I implore you: please, please PLEASE put the students back on the floor, and put the games on a television station that carries the games live. New Mexico basketball fans are among the most loyal and dedicated in the country, and they deserve to be treated as such.

Kirk, Albuquerque

With regards to the debate surrounding the controversial Super Bowl Halftime Show: no argument here--it was crass and dumb. To all who were offended, here's a suggestion for next year: have a halftime show of your own. When halftime comes, after the game analysis, turn off the television for thirty minutes. Spend some quiet time with your family. Do a crossword puzzle. Read a short story. Take a walk. That way you won't waste a hlaf-hour of your life by watching yet another pointless halftime show. And don't worry, the game will still be there when you get back.

Greg, Albuquerque

As for high school hoops, I didn't catch any last night, but right down the road from me in Durham, the Oyster River girls beat Hollis-Brookline 64 to 19. That would have been fun to see, one team get their heads handed to them. Still don't know what I will be covering this weekend, but I hope to find out today.

JD

******

Response from Valdez:

The Concession thing is a sore spot for many but the fact of the matter is that Lobo Men's team has not had a sell out in two years and in order to run a legit D1 program, you need to pay them. The same debate emerged when the Topes got going. My advice for those people not wanting to pay the prices is go to Chilis or Applebees before the game. You will probably get a better meal and more food than you would for a $4.00 Lobo Dog, a $2.00 Nachos, and a $3.75 coke. The Channel 13 issue is a bit more serious than just delayed broadcasts from what I understand. KRQE's contract ends later this year and they are having serious problems where the Network is concerned. CBS has given them a hard time about preempting national telecasts and programming for Lobo football and basketball games, hence the tape delays. The article I read the other day indicated that the Lobos may not have a deal in place for next year although Davalos said that someone would step up.

The biggest criticism of McKay is that he is too nice and his players are too nice. People have taken alot of shots at him for him being Christian too as well as many of his players. My position is that you have got to give him three years minimum to see what he can do. Keep in mind he had no one last year. He still played with Frans people and the scholarship situation forced him to play with walk-ons. He is getting his recruits now and could be able to turn it around but I have to stress patience. You are right about the money - who are we going to bring in? And what coach is out there now? Will the coach of Gonzaga or Marquette leave those emerging programs to come here? I know many people who wanted Rob Evans from ASU and that turned out to be a fiasco - remember Evans said he had been offered the job but Davalos said he was not. Give McKay one more year. His team is young, he has got some good recruits on the way. A road win will happen.

Your letters are good and to the point. As far as HS hoops go, the 64-19 score is almost identical to the way the Raton girls got worked the other night. I actually think it was 64-19. I have been following girls hoop a bit more this year and I have noticed alot of teams struggle to score. One team got beat 100 - 8 earlier this year. Last night I had wanted to go to the SFHS-Abq. High game, which ended up going into 3OT with the Dogs winning. It was snowing when I left work and the reports called for a huge storm so I decided to get home. The snow stopped a few hours later. Hobbs won the other huge game in the state last night against Clovis. So Clovis has a hill to climb. Eldorado is still #1 in that district with a huge game in Hobbs on Friday in front of 8,000 screaming 'necks.

P.S. A buddy of mine and I were talking about McKay the other day. My friend made the point that McKay was basically an interim coach last year. He really could not recruit and could not get alot done. My friend's point was that this was really McKay's first year where he has all the resources of recruiting at his disposal. Let's see what happens from here. The Lobos are young, not incredibly deep, but good things can potentially happen. If we blow out McKay at the end of this season, we start all over again. The nature of UNM's program is that we will not enjoy immediate success with any coach. We need a comprehensive rebuilding process that is occurring with Ritchie McKay. Plus the guy sits by me at Church so that is pretty cool.



*****

Valdez,

Your points about McKay are well-taken. It's unfortunate that people are taking shots at his religion, but they may just be skeptical because Fraschilla had the perception of toting a Bilbe around when it was convenient, mentioning his religion when he got into trouble, and being seen during the lunch rush at Fuddruckers conducting a Bible study group. All I am saying is that if a better coach became available, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the Lobos went for him. But so, so much more needs to be addressed before they can even think about making a run at the MWC title, Top 25, tournament, Sweet 16 and Final Four.

As far as Channel 13 is concerned, this is an issue that needs addressing and fast. I have heard that CBS are real hard-asses about what affiliates can show and what they can't. Remember when NBC had the NFL, and channel 4 used to run the "You Pick 'Em" Poll to decide which NFL game to show on the second half of the doubleheader? CBS gives no such freedom, which sucks for Albuquerque. So perhaps the Lobos need to get their asses on KASY or WB 19, or KASA or something like that. Or create their own cable network, which is getting easier and easier to do these days. But Rudy will obviously go where the money is, and gladly agree to let KRQE show the games at a slightly higher rate even if it means all the delays.

My sports thoughts for the day, in the form of an email to Valdez. He wrote yesterday about TCU joining the Mountain West, and how that affects the conference's standing with regards to the BCS; Air Force's rise to the top of the Mountain West basketball standings, and of course a little High School basketball:



There is no way adding TCU makes the MWC a BCS team. There is no hope for the Mountain West ever getting into the BCS the way it stands now. The schools in the conference are just too small. That's what it comes down to and that's what everyone seems to forget. They just don't bring in the dollars to the big games. The only hope for the MWC is that somehow the structure of the college football heirarchy is changed, and that either a) a tournament comes to fruition, giving an automatic berth to three or four mid-majors every year, and then hoping one of them becomes the Gonzaga of college football once every four years or so, (not very likely) or b) they restructure the BCS, expand it to five or six games and give a berth to the MWC Champ, the WAC and MAC champ (highly unlikely) or c) restructure the ENTIRE bowl system, keep the BCS as we know it but include the mid-major conferences in better bowls, like the Gator, Outback and Cotton bowls. That I think is the most likely scenario, and the most legitimate beef the non-BCS schools have. It is ridiculous that schools like BYU, TCU and for that matter the Lobos, can only dream of the Liberty or Motor City bowls. And finally, the non-BCS schools can help themselves by proving themselves on the field. How many years in a row now has it been that a non-BCS team has gone into late November undefeated, creating buzz and a "the BCS is Crap for excluding us" mentality, only to blow it to a lower eshelon team?

As for Air Force, is Clark crazy? It's GREAT for the league. Of course, there will be some negative nellies out there who claim that for Air Force to rise to the top, it must be because the other teams in the league are falling apart. But did anyone ever consider that Air Force might be playing with heart, determination, and, for once, talent? Unfortunately, I think it's just a matter of time before they start losing, and they probably won't make the tournament. The only thing that will make them be remembered is if they make the tournament and win a couple of games. Then they'll be the darlings of college basketball. But if they don't, I am afraid their quick start this season won't be remembered.

Finally, dude, you gotta check out some hoops this weekend. What could prevent you from going? I was thinking of checking out the Dover girls tonight, as the Dover high school is right down the street from our new house. But the Portsmouth girls are undefeated and at home tonight. So I might check them out. But I also have a lot of unpacking to do tonight so I should probably get to that. And UNH, the three-hundredth best basketball team in the United States, is at home tomorrow night against BU, and despite my vow to boycott UNH hoops this year, I would like to check out at least one game.

By the way, that game I covered Friday night? Trinity won it 96-60.




Valdez's Reply

When you stop and analyze it, I really don't feel that TCU brings much. They have had some good football years but not still have not beat a really good opponent.Nor are they highly regarded by the Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska types who really don't schedule them. Their crowds are not that big, contrary to what Davalos says, they hardly rate in Dallas Metroplex sports coverage, and the rest of their teams are terrible. I am not sure where Davalos is getting his information about the MWC becoming a BCS conference but I think it is just a bit too optimistic. The MWC needs to add one more team. Why not Fresno State? I agree. The MWC won't be considered seriously until the whole post season of college football is restructured.

Well the Lobos lost again last night 72-68. The overtime show was ugly. People are really frustrated with the road woes. They are not really showing too much patience either. This is McKay's first year with his group and he has some good players on the way. If he can land Dunn from Arizona via Hobbs, so much the better. Air Force did lose last night to UNLV, who looked like they finally figured out what AFA has been doing. It was too bad because I wanted to see them run the tables with the exception of the UNM game. I agree with you. Clark is off base on this one. How could AFA not be good for the league. Anyone who has watched AFA play has seen that they have a game plan and they execute well.

I would like to check out hoops on friday night but I have this little birthday thing going. Rio Grande is playing Valley in what could say tons about how good Rio is and play a major role in determing district seeding. A loss here and Rio is looking at having to beat Cibola two more times, potentially to get to state. In other Rio news, Kelley Wilson is one of the leading candidates for the head coach job at Carlsbad. I thought he might apply being from there and the fact that C-bad has more resources and more money than his stint at RGHS. Plus, Rio is returning no one, although their freshmen team was City Champs and a whole crop of YAFL teams that represent RGHS have won City titles by running the same system. It would be too bad if they lost him.

*****

Perused the Sagarin College basketball ratings earlier today, something I always enjoy doing. To me, it's absolutely fascinating that of the 326 NCAA Division I basketball teams, spread out among 47 states, that there exists a method to rank each one compared to all the others. And it shows the wide range of schools that make up Division I. For instance, Nos. 216-18 are Mercer, Yale and Cal-State Fullerton. How different could those three schools be from one another. Anyway, I picked out a few notables and here's what Brennan had to say about each one. Funny stuff. *--He went to Marquette, which beat Louisville at Louisville on Saturday.

My breakdown of your notables.

1. Duke -- I'm fine with this. So many upsets this week, Duke held on, they should be #1.

5. Louisville lost to an unranked team! How are they still 5th?

14. Wisconsin -- I guess people still feel like the Big Ten MUST be good, so this I'm fine with.

23. Air Farce -- Er Force. Wait, if I make fun will I be put in a holding cell near Cuba?

46. Wisconsin-Milwaukee??? I think even Potsie and Ralph Malph would have a problem with this ranking.

56. BC -- I'll defer to Teddy Serandis on this one.

63. Marquette -- they just beat #5 at home! How are they still 63rd?

109. BU -- I have nothing good or bad to say about BU. Wait, their Pres only has one arm!

118. UNM -- Man, Boy Scout Troop 118 rocked in 1988.

143. UVM -- Best team in America East! Who cares!

189. Aggies -- I hear they have a fine agricultural program at NM ST.

243. Maine -- Bad, but not as bad as...

300. UNH -- UNH is better than 26 teams? NO WAY. N-O W-A-Y.

326. NC AT&T just isn't the same after all the anti-trust/monopoly/degregulation stuff.
*******

Valdez had this to say

I have to admit that Air Force seems to be for real. If they win tonight at UNLV they may be able to solidify their position in the MWC. They have proven they can win on the road. I am actually suprised the Lobos are that high.

John also noted that Bob Clark, radio host in Albuquerque does not think Air Force's showing this year is good for the Mountain West. To have such a poor program at the head of the conference is not good in the long run for the conference. I will have more to say about this tomorrow.

The Patriots did it! On Adam Vinatieri's last-second kick, the New England Patriots took their second World Championship in three years, in almost the exact same fashion they did two years ago. Not the blowout I was hoping for, but what a game! Had a great time watching it with Marisol, Brennan, Dawn, Scott, Jacqueline and Nicole. Here is what I wrote to Valdez this morning, after a few taunting emails.

Now, for my unbiased (or at least as unbiased as possible) review of last night's game. I absolutely without question would have given the MVP to Delhomme, despite the losing effort. I am not sure if there is a rule that the MVP must come from the winning team, but if you look at who was the most valuable player TO HIS TEAM last night, it was Delhomme. He singlehandedly put the Panthers back in it. His passes were beauties all. Those three drives in the fourth quarter, had he been doing that the whole game, the Panthers would have DESTROYED the Patriots. But I guess you have to give it to someone, and Brady was it, but that pick he threw in the endzone, which lead to the Panthers taking the lead three plays later, was inexcusable.

After he put the Panthers up 22-21, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I thought the Patriots were going to "Red Sox" it away. But they didn't. I was talking to a friend at lunch today and he said that had the Red Sox been in last night's game, they wouldn't have made the last second field goal. I said, yes, they would have made the field goal, but would have given up a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff. Imagine if that would have happened. I was surprised they didn't squib it, but imagine if He Hate Me had broken through and scored, game over. That would have lived in Boston sports history for a long, long time.

My friend Brennan and I are contemplating whether or not to go to the parade tomorrow. It should be fun but it will be packed, and probably pretty cold and uncomfortable.


JD