Slow-’Pokes: Dallas ends dismal year
The Dallas Cowboys’ season came to an end on Sunday. (Insert sarcastic claps and enthusiastic high-fives here.)
Anyone with a pigskin pulse knows the ’Pokes had some serious issues at quarterback after a season-ending injury to starter Dak Prescott in Week 5. If you count trick plays drawn for punter Chris Jones and receiver Cedrick Wilson, six Cowboys attempted at least one pass in a disappointing 6-10 season.
Still, Dallas could have won the NFC East Sunday with a victory over the New York Giants and a Washington loss to Philadelphia. But the Cowboys lost to the Giants, 22-19.
One of Prescott’s backups was Garrett Gilbert, who is well-traveled during his career. He was a five-star recruit for the University of Texas and ultimately transferred to Southern Methodist, but not before he played for the Longhorns in the 2010 BCS national championship game against Alabama.
Gilbert was drafted in the sixth round in 2014 by the St. Louis Rams, beginning a meandering pro journey. He has bounced from the Patriots to the Lions to the Raiders, then the Panthers, Browns and this season the Cowboys. He also played for Orlando in the Alliance of American Football, leading the league in passing yards in 2019.
Gilbert joined the Cowboys in October off the Browns’ practice squad. He had one start in Week 9, passing for 243 yards and a touchdown in a near-upset of then-undefeated Pittsburgh. He never saw the field again as Andy Dalton returned to finish out the year.
Gilbert has an indirect tie to Santa Fe, as his wife is the daughter of the man married to the interim president of St. Michael’s High School, Leslie Romero Kilmer.
Hannah Robbins was just offered a scholarship to play women’s basketball at Florida Atlantic.
Why is that relevant here? To Lobo fans, her dad, Rob Robbins, is one of the most popular players in the history of New Mexico basketball. A standout guard at Farmington High School, Rob went on to a stellar fouryear career in the 1980s with the Lobos.
Hannah is a 6-foot junior at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix. A shooting guard and small forward, she spends most of her free time playing for AZ Elite, a club team whose alumni includes five who made it to the WNBA, seven who won Olympic gold medals and nearly 200 who received college scholarships — including at eight schools in the Mountain West Conference.
You know who could use some of that Rob Robbins grit right now? The Lobos.
Beaten by double digits in all four of their Mountain West games, they are killing themselves with poor shooting at the free throw line and from 3-point range. Saturday’s 84-74 loss to Nevada was actually their best performance of the season, but ended at the worst possible time for local news agencies.
The game tipped off at 8 p.m. and ended after 10. The team’s postgame Zoom press conference began at 10:31 — near deadline for The New Mexican. Players Isaiah Marin and Keith McGee fielded a handful of questions before head coach Paul Weir took his turn a few minutes later.
Weir sat behind the mic for a little over three minutes, taking just two questions as reporters transcribed notes from the game and the players’ answers. Before he could take a third question, Weir walked off after a quiet pause of just a few seconds.
It wasn’t quite the memorable storming off on Dec. 11, 2018, when Weir’s Lobos blew a 17-point lead at home to Colorado. He cut short his press conference then by slapping a palm onto the media table before walking out.
Weir’s actions Saturday were just another sign the frustration over subpar play is starting to extend beyond the locker room. Considering the next four games are against league-leading Utah State and then a road trip to UNLV, it could mark the start of a trend.
The New Mexico State Game Commission will hold a virtual public meeting Jan. 15 and one of the topics is a proposal to double the fee for the habitat stamp to fish, hunt and trap on U.S. Forest Service or BLM land.
The commission will consider doubling the stamp’s cost to $10, a move the NMWF estimates will generate $4 million, at minimum. The increase would allow the state to maintain upkeep of habitat improvement projects in a time of prolonged droughts and elevated expenses.
According to the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, the current $5 stamp program raises approximately $1 million each year. That cool million comes with federal matching funds that can raise the total to as much as $3 million.
If you’re an outdoors enthusiast who is not yet at your quota for Zoom meetings, this one may be worth the time.