Davie: ‘Have to be proactive’
Mental health just one of many issues, he says
University of New Mexico football coach Bob Davie voiced his reaction to the Journal’s report this week that Albuquerque state senator and former UNM football player Mark Moores plans to try again during the 30-day legislative session to appropriate state dollars to pay for mental health counseling for student-athletes.
The Lobos’ football team is playing against Air Force on Saturday, a game that was originally scheduled for Nov. 9 but moved to Saturday due to the death of UNM 21-year-old defensive lineman Nahje Flowers on Nov. 5. Albuquerque Police later determined Flowers’ death was due to suicide.
“That’s just one issue that just became very public because of a tragedy,” Davie said. “That’s just one issue of student-athlete welfare that needs to be addressed. A lot of times it’s easy to be reactive. I’ve said this since I’ve been here, we have to be proactive.”
Davie said he has made others at UNM aware of the issues needed to be addressed but declined to reveal those issues publicly.
Moores had included $357,00 for nutrition and behavioral health services for UNM student-athletes in an appropriations bill passed during this year’s session, but Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham used her line-item veto authority to delete the funding from the legislation, the Journal reported.
UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez also stressed that funding for mental health services has been and is needed.
UNM offensive lineman Teton Saltes, who has expressed interest in working to improve mental health services at UNM, has been involved with suicide prevention and awareness on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and other tribal areas.
Saltes tweeted at governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday: “Hopefully (Lujan Grisham) won’t cut the funding again... since it’s evident that it is needed.”
The 30-day legislative session starts Jan. 21.
ATTENDANCE: UNM needs to average 13,300 in attendance for the final two home games in order to reach the average of 15,000 for six home games to meet the NCAA requirement, UNM deputy athletic director Dave Williams said on Thursday.
UNM entered the season needing to average 15,000 once in a two-year period, meaning 2018 and 2019.
If the Lobos fail to meet the NCAA’s requirement, they can fall into noncompliance, Nuñez said, and could potentially be ruled ineligible for postseason football competition in 2020.
If the Lobos don’t average 13,300 over their final two games, Williams said, “We have discussed the what-if scenarios and have strategic options. But we hope to not have to use them.”
As of Thursday, there were 10,500 tickets sold for Saturday’s game, Williams said.
There were 23 people who asked for a refund of their tickets for the UNM game against Air Force originally scheduled for Nov. 9, Williams said.
NOROVIRUS: One in every 10 cadets at the Air Force Academy has been struck with a stomach flu since late October, the Gazette in Colorado Springs reported.
At the Academy, “400 cadets have been sickened with norovirus, the other 3,600 have stayed in class and kept up with military training. All cadets live in two dormitories on the campus, which features a single, massive academic building and one massive dining hall,” the Gazette reported.
Norovirus symptoms include nausea and diarrhea.
The Air Force Academy football team does not report or release injuries or illnesses, said Troy Garnhart, Air Force associate athletic director of communications.
The norovirus “has worked its way through some members of the team, but nobody that is slated to travel to UNM has it,” Garnhart said in an email.