Albuquerque Journal

SPORTS SPEAK UP!

- Sportsspea­kup@abqjournal.com

THE LOBOS can’t make a layup. I’m reminded of my junior high coach who conducted tryouts by putting all of us in a layup line. Those who missed a layup were immediatel­y cut from the team. Harsh. As for the poor 3-6 record matching the 197980 Lobogate team, the difference there is that this eventual 6-22 team played before an average of 14,838 fans which ranked 7th in the nation — and would be only several hundred fans shy of a sellout for every home game in the current renovated Pit. Sadly, how times have changed. — Joseph

WE’RE ALL just going to have to face it ... this Lobo men’s team just isn’t very good. They have a few good pieces, but this year is going to be sub-.500 for sure. Coach Weir just didn’t get a chance to get on an even playing field with recruiting.

Next year should be a better recruiting year along with the two transfers he already has here. I look for 2019-20 to be a banner year. Takes time to build.

— MarkD

CONGRATULA­TIONS to NM State’s football Aggies, a Land of Enchantmen­t team which will play in a bowl again on Dec. 29 after waiting 57 years! Many of us remember “The Team The Pros Watch” as Sports Illustrate­d dubbed them in 1960. That year the Sun Bowl matched them against Utah State . ... Before a sellout crowd (and me!), the Aggies won, providing a fabulous sports legacy for their team,

school and our state. Now the Arizona Bowl has matched the two teams against each other again. Go Aggies! — A Lobo Alum and Fan, Michael Rosenberg SINCE OKLAHOMA crushed Ohio State earlier this season, why would they have any right to be in the college football playoffs? — meant2be

LOBO FOOTBALL: Coach Davie fires his lead offensive coach and a defensive back coach to correct a losing season? The reason the Lobos had a good 2016 was because Coach Davie was still using recruits brought in by the coach before him? Coach Davie’s problems have always been the ineffectiv­e defensive front and the linebacker­s and he has not recruited well

there. The two quarterbac­k offense and players who fumbled too much was a head coach problem. Time for Coach Davie to do as the UTEP basketball coach just did — retire. — Jonathan A. in Moriarty

Jonathan: The 2016 UNM football roster did not include a single player who was brought in by Mike Locksley, whose last year here was 2011. All players recruited to UNM by Locksley had exhausted their eligibilit­y by 2016. — Rick, Journal

THE ONLY OPINIONS about bowl games that matter are the players’. Ask them if they want to quit right now, or stay together as a team for another month, make one more trip, play one more game, then quit. You’ll get 100 percent for the bowl game. Any bowl game. — Bennett

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