IN A WOLF PACK
out in the wild, a rambunctious, out of control pup quickly gets nipped into his place by the alpha wolves. If there’s an outside force which blocks the occurrence of that normal, pack-regulating process, confused, dispirited pack anarchy is the likely outcome. Expect more failed hunts.
YOUR CHRISTMAS DAY article on Coach Gene Pino was outstanding. His strength and spirit is something many of us have admired long before his ALS diagnosis. It has always been a pleasure to run into him and his devoted wife, Sadie, at unexpected moments. Our friendship dates back to my days as a girls’ basketball varsity assistant at Del Norte HS from 1985-88. I enjoyed watching Coach Pino’s practices, talking shop, and witnessing his epic battles with district rival Farmington HS, coached by Marv Sanders and featuring Rob “Duke” Robbins. It was also during this duration that he married Sadie and started a family. It is obvious from James Yodice’s report that many of us have been blessed by Gene Pino’s presence. You’re my hero, Coach.
—Mario X. Martinez
IT’S TIME TO HAVE a player/ coaches meeting and find out what the hell the problem with our LOBOS is. A shake up of the starters is adamant! These kids lack a lot of fundamental work, platter rotation is a problem and defense is truly a problem. Let us not forget our coaching staff is being out coached game after game. What is going to happen if we don’t get our s— together, we are going to have another miserable season and more loses at home. Also, if these coaches don’t get their stuff together, attendance will go down even more than it is right now. All I’am saying is enough is enough and the excuses are enough, fix it!
— Tommy
I CAN’T BELIEVE all the front runners that follow the Lobos; they’re all experts! True, we’ve hit a pot hole on the road but, consider the number of new players on the team. Last year, we had scoring problems once Cullen got hurt in the UMass game. It’s a long season and they’ll be fine. The coaching staff is hard at work correcting the physical and mental lapses they are encountering. As a native New Mexican from Los Lunas, I follow UNM religiously. While I live in Florida, I already have my reservations for the MW Tournament in Las Vegas. Go Lobos!
— Sal Artiaga
RALPH, DENNIS FRANCHIONE built up the Lobo program and you should be thankful... He left for the Dallas area to coach at TCU where it was said he had more talent within a few miles of his front door than you’d find within hundreds of miles of UNM. Anyone who knows football knows that.
— Fran
THE BEST THING about watching the Lobos vs. Cougars was seeing Silvey Dominguez on the bench as a member of the Cougars coaching staff. Silvey is from Grants and played on the 1970 state championship team coached by Ron Bohls.
— Claudie/Rio Rancho
BOWL CAPSULES — What’s at Stake — who’s kidding who — what’s at stake is how much money the schools can make from having their teams play during the holidays while all the rest of students/faculty/staff get some R&R.
— BigChris