Dear Steve: Love’s gone
DEAR NEW MEXICO, I love you, but I’m leaving. Sincerely,
Steve Alford DEAR STEVE, Say it ain’t so. First Harvard, now this? If you truly loved us you would never leave.
Sincerely,
New Mexico DEAR NEW MEXICO, I’m just an Indiana country boy at heart, and can’t pass up a chance to follow fellow Indiana country boy John Wooden.
Besides, I can win NCAA titles at UCLA. I can be on ESPN. Shaq shows up at my news conferences.
At UNM, I can’t get out of the second round, I’m lucky to get on My50 TV, and even when the networks show up, “Snake” gets more air time than me.
Sincerely,
Steve Alford DEAR STEVE, Oh yeah? Well, good riddance. Besides, we know Noodles was really the brains behind the operation.
Sincerely,
New Mexico P.S., you owe us $1 million. DEAR NEW MEXICO, Noodles is a fine man and will do a great job. Go Lobos!
Sincerely,
Steve Alford P.S., $1 million? I’m no lawyer, just a mild-mannered basketball coach, but there’s no way you’re getting a million bucks out of me. DEAR STEVE, You gave us your word. We realize love and 10-year contracts don’t last forever. We understand Coachspeak.
We also realize lawyers are well-compensated to interpret contracts in ways that benefit their clients. So we don’t begrudge your trying.
Still, regardless of the date of the new deal and the whole messy 30-day notice business, you gave us your
word. You said you wanted to be here and the 10-year deal was proof.
Surely, you’re not going to let some lawyer get in the way of the good feelings between us.
Sincerely,
New Mexico DEAR NEW MEXICO, I’ve heard some of the things you’ve called me since I left, so cool the “good feelings” talk.
Tell you what, I’ll send you $200k, give up some bonuses, and we’ll call it even. Who do I make the check out to?
Sincerely,
Steve Alford DEAR STEVE, Help a fellow Midwesterner out, would you?
Students are killing me just because I went around their review board again and got the regents to raise their fees a few lousy dollars.
Fans are bristling at the prospect of season-ticket prices going up, but they don’t understand how much of a bargain it is.
Faculty and staff begrudge my $300,000 salary, but there are plenty of folks over at radiology who make more than me. And they never get insulted in Sports Speak Up!
Tuition keeps rising and Legislators keep cutting our funds. Nobody understands the pressure I’m under.
Plus, you owe me. Iowa was ready to give you the boot, but I came along and rescued you from that indignation. You had never even heard of New Mexico when I called.
Now look at you. You’re making big money at an elite program, with some thanks to me.
Besides, I could really use the million.
Sincerely,
Paul Krebs DEAR PAUL, Talk to my lawyer. Sincerely,
Steve
DEAR FORMER BELOVED COACH,
Here’s the deal: Use your charm and get those highrolling UCLA donors to fork over the million. Or: 1. Send Bryce back. 2. Steer an occasional leftover recruit (or player you want to run off) our way.
3. Make annual contributions to UNM’s lottery scholarship fund.
3. Schedule a game with us in the Pit, so we can boo you in person.
4. And, most importantly, stop saying how much you love us. We’ve moved on.
Sincerely,
New Mexico