RICKAROO - The New Mexico Sports Place

When I chose to retire this summer after 41 years at the Albuquerque Journal and eight as the Journal’s University of New Mexico football beat writer, I knew what I was giving up. I was OK with that — at least, with most of it. I was aware that in upcoming seasons, starting with last week’s game in Madison, Wis., the Lobos would be playing at some of college football’s most celebrated venues and compelling atmospheres: Wisconsin. Notre Dame. LSU. USC at the L.A. Coliseum. UCLA at the Rose Bowl. I would be passing up those opportunities. I was OK with that. A press box is a press box, and when you’re covering a game, rather than watching from the stands, you don’t get the full flavor. And most if not all of these games, like UNM games I covered at Texas, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M, promise to be lopsided losses for the Lobos and not particularly pleasant to write about. In two of every four years, as the Mountain West Conference inter-divisional schedule rotates, the Lobos wo...

Some thoughts on the New Mexico Lobos’ 45-14 loss at Wisconsin on Saturday: In this cyberspace last week, I flatly stated that the talent gap between Wisconsin and New Mexico was greater than that between New Mexico and Incarnate Word. Upon further review, I believe I was wrong — but by how much, I’m not sure. It’s fun, and fair, to speculate how much better the Lobos might have done had starting quarterback Tevaka Tuioti not left the game with an injury early in the second quarter. That, however, falls into the category of ifs and buts. Tevaka or no Tevaka, the Badgers’ superior personnel on both sides of the ball was going to be decisive in the end. No doubt. Sheriron Jones, in unexpected relief of Tuioti, obviously did not play well. His three turnovers were instrumental in turning a close game into a 31-point laugher. But, if Jones is the starter Saturday against New Mexico State, and if he knows he’s the starter and gets the first-team reps all week, I believe he’ll do well ag...

We’ve all seen Academy Awards shows, right? Each year, the losing nominees, however disappointed they might actually be, smile and applaud for the winner. They’re actors, right? But I’ll never forget Burt Reynolds’ reaction in 1998 when Robin Williams for “Good Will Hunting” and not Reynolds for “Boogie Nights” won the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role: pure, unvarnished devastation. Reynolds, a wonderful actor when he was given the chance to be, died on Thursday, Sept. 6 at age 82. Too often — and I guess this was partly his fault — Reynolds was dismissed as a comedy/action star who, like John Wayne and sometimes James Garner, was dismissed as basically playing himself. Just a big, good-looking guy whom women wanted and men wanted to be. Clearly, this haunted him throughout his career. I remember seeing him on a talk show, noting that his former girlfriend Sally Field — who’d begun her career on TV as “The Flying Nun” — had metamorphized into an Oscar winner in “Norma Ra...

Some thoughts regarding the New Mexico Lobos’ 62-30 opening-night victory over Incarnate Word on Saturday: The talent gap that exists between UNM and its next opponent, Wisconsin, is greater than that between UNM and Incarnate Word. Next Saturday’s game at Camp Randall promises to be the every bit the bloodbath one would expect.  Of course, giving up 30 points to an FCS team that went 1-10 last year is cause for grave concern. Yet, UNM’s defensive performance was not as bad as those 30 points — and even the yield of 566 yards —might suggest. After UIW kicked a field goal to trim the Lobos’ lead to 28-16 with 1:01 left in the second quarter, UNM held the Cardinals scoreless for the next 20:51. During that span, UIW managed just 44 yards on 18 plays. The Cardinals’ last two touchdowns, and 161 of those yards, came against a UNM defense populated almost totally with backups. You like to get your backups experience, though you might wish they’d played better than they did. And, e...