Touch down in New Mexico and coaching rumors

Just got into Albuquerque where it’s a sunny, beautiful day. I over-dressed for the weather and it is hot, hot hot.

Interesting couple of pieces in the local newspaper here. Now that Rocky Long is gone, the Lobos are going back to a 4-3 defensive front. To do so, they’re going after D-linemen and just got a commit from Lackawanna (PA) College, a JC transfer named Peter Gardner. Gone is the 3-3-5 Rocky loved so much here but I’m sure he’ll stage it at San Diego State where he’s the coordinator.

Also, Albuquerque Journal columnist Rick Wright had an interesting column today on religion in sports.

I bring this up in memory of Austin Collie. There is a certain rival whose fans go into a fit whenever there is a discussion about Collie. They simply love to attack the guy since his “magic happens” quote from two years ago.

Anyway, here is the piece by Rick. It is entitled “Religion, Sports Are Almost Inseparable.”

Before I get to that, I’ve just learned that former Cougar offensive lineman Louis Wong, the head coach at Timpview High School, could become the O-line coach at Utah. He and Kyle Whittingham are friends and it might be a way to get Wong in the red fold. The final word would likely come from Utah’s new offensive coordinator, who should be named soon (generally it is the pick of the coordinator as to who he wants to work with).

Wong, and specifically Timpview High, has been a strong feeder school for Cougar recruiting dating back to many players including Harvey Unga. How this prospective hire would impact that tradition remains to be seen since many Timpview athletes are tied to BYU not only by proximity but by their interests growing up near campus. A lot would depend on the replacement, if Wong leaves for Utah.

One thing is certain, Timpview has created a dynasty in high school football over the years and BYU has benefited from it – and it hasn’t all been the Reynolds’ brothers.

Here is Wright’s piece:

By Rick Wright
Of the Journal
Years ago, during my cub-reporter days, I interviewed a high school basketball player who profusely thanked his coaches and teammates for helping him lead his team to a victory that night.
Then, he added just before I put away my pen and pad, “Most of all, I want to thank God.”
Dutifully, I included that remark in my story for the following morning. For doing so, I was chided by a more experienced reporter. A rookie mistake, he said.
What did God, he wanted to know, have to do with the outcome of a basketball game? Did God assist on any of the young man’s baskets, or design a half-court trap?
Let the kid thank God all he wants, my colleague said, but keep it out of the newspaper.
God, sports and the sports media: it’s a curious mix with no rules. And, lately, God and sports have been much in the news.
In the past week, USA Today’s sports section published separate columns profiling Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and University of Florida QB Tim Tebow. Warner carries a Bible while doing postgame interviews; Tebow has Bible verses printed on the eye black he wears during games.
Here, from a column by Paola Boivin, is a quote from Warner: “If you ever really want to do a story about who I am, God’s got to be at the center of it. Every time I hear a piece or read a story that doesn’t have that, they’re missing who I am.”
Christine Brennan led her column on Tebow by writing, “The old argument that sports and religion should not mix is getting a workout from quarterback Tim Tebow, who wears his religion not on his sleeve, but on his eye black.”
Go ahead, if you wish, thinking sports and religion shouldn’t mix. But don’t think they don’t mix, because, however uncomfortably, they do. Is there any walk of life that religion doesn’t touch? No.
Separation of God and newsprint isn’t always the right answer, either.
I certainly don’t believe God guides free throws or diverts field-goal attempts – do you? Often, though, sports stories transcend sports.
In 2005, I wrote a story about Dan Buzard, then the women’s basketball coach at Eastern New Mexico University. Brain cancer threatened Buzard’s life (he died in 2007) and had left him functionally blind. Without the support of his family, friends and his faith in God, he said, he couldn’t have coped. How can you not write that? I did.
Few New Mexico public figures have taken more heat for airing their religious beliefs than did former UNM men’s basketball coach Ritchie McKay. But when does news judgment become censorship? At some point, you just let the man talk and let him deal with the consequences.
Out of curiosity, I checked the Journal’s electronic library to see how effective my God-reference filter has been since 1995.
Not very.
Olympic high jumper Trish Porter of Albuquerque, on her decision to return to competition at age 40: “God gave me a gift. … That gift was dying inside of me if I wasn’t using it.”
Las Cruces boxer Austin Trout, on his quest for an Olympics berth in 2004: “I just need to stay focused, keep my mind and heart right, and God will bless me.”
Myself, in a column about boxer Johnny Tapia after his alleged suicide attempt in 2003: “Whatever happened, your recovery surely qualifies as a gift from fate, perhaps, or from the God you say you believe in but whose blessings you so often have flouted.” And so on.
Anything wrong with that? I don’t think so. If religion is a part of life, and if sports is, they’re a part of each other.
But if you’re a Cardinals fan, and if Kurt Warner leads your team to the Super Bowl, please, don’t thank God.
Just thank Kurt.