Primordial Chaos

Yeah, I've got b-ball fever something fierce, I know. And yes I remember how I thought sports weren't worth watching, shut up. :P I'm putting my Stats class to good use though!



The latest addition to my car:

Tomorrow is also another Lobos game at 7 pm, this time against Creighton. Some people think this will be a challenging game for the Lobos, but I'm doubting that. They're 4-5, and they don't really have a defense for us and our heavy artillery, and especially not our two lefties that seem to confound everyone, Roman Martinez and Darington Hobson, AKA Ro and Butter. Especially Ro, he can shoot 3s even at funky angles and around people, hell even from the back corner. Butter pulled off a 35 foot bounce pass that went right to Brown's hands and Brown finished with a lay up. It was a seriously impressive pass. Things like that and how smooth he pulls them off is probably why they call him Butter. :P

Now, I don't think they have a chance based on their previous games' play styles/methods, but in a huge fit of basketball nerdiness, they mathematically are the underdogs. (I knew that statistics class would come in handy.) I was on a couple of their fan forums, and one guy asked if they stood a chance against the Lobos on Saturday. Someone else replied "yeah, maybe if the whole team gets H1N1". So their fans are thinking the same thing.

Now, mathematically and defensively they're in a difficult position. The 3rd strike against them is THEY ARE PLAYING IN THE PIT AND HAVE TO SIT IN FRONT OF SECTION 26. That's a pretty big strike, especially if I'm sitting so close. They're in trouble. ;)

Noon tomorrow the Heels play Texas at Texas, and I'm not expecting a win just based on how both have played and ranked this season. Mathematically it looks even worse for the Heels than comparing how each team has played this season. I WANT them to win, but I think it'll be a difficult game. Heels had a fucking impressive team last year and they won the national championship, but this year you can tell they're still trying to figure each other out as a team. They've got a few younger players too, and it takes a season or two to where teams have really gelled together. (Besides the Lobos this season, geez.) That being said, they'll be going to the Big Dance and will do rather well. Though the pressure of measuring up to last year's team is probably pretty heavy. I can see Lobos and the Heels both in the Sweet Sixteen. Will they play each other? Who knows. I'd feel so conflicted if they do, but I'd be Lobos all the way. Heels won the damn thing last year anyways. :P

The game for us Lobos after Creighton is Texas Tech, a game that has already SOLD OUT. It'll be two ranked teams going head to head, and Texas Tech is ranked pretty close to us in the polls, we're 19 on both and they're 16 on one 20 on the other. Like I mentioned before, if someone is gonna hand our ass to us for the first time this season, they're one of the few who have a good shot at it. However, they're playing on our turf, a sold out and full to capacity Pit. Oh, and I'm sitting right there. :P I'm REALLY looking forward to that game, it'll be the first real challenge for the Lobos as a ranked team. And that ranking has made the target on our backs a little bigger, plus everyone wants to be the one that gave us our first loss. I'm expecting a really great game. (Statistically, we have the advantage. Yes, I calculated that too.)

Now, Texas A&M was our second ranked team we beat, and despite it being played on a "neutral" court, the damn court was 100 miles away from their campus. Totally not neutral. But we pulled out a win after a messy second half, and yay for us. Well, their coach, Turgeon (AKA Turd to any Lobo fan) complained that there was only a crowd of 7,757. He also said he was too nice of a guy to say yes to playing us, and that the win was an early Christmas present for the Lobos. He also said he's mad at himself for playing that game and regrets it. Also said he needs a big name school for his fans to get excited, and that no one cared about him playing New Mexico. Said he needs a school like Duke or Carolina (AKA The Tar Heels) and that's the type of team he should have played. Also was grumbling about losing to a 19th ranked team.

HOLY SHIT, what a sore loser! First, his home games average about 6-6500 people. This crowd was about 7500. He was mad that when he played a better known team last year there were 17k people. About 200 of those 7500 were Lobos and mostly family and friends since we have a few players from the area. And that win was a present? Like he just handed us the win or something, in the last 10 seconds we were only up by ONE. We played hard for that win, and to have this asshole trash us and our win like that is just poor sportsmanship. This isn't some fan, THIS IS THEIR COACH. But as a gentle reminder, we were UNRANKED when we kicked your ass and your loss to us made you DROP A FEW RANKS. Our win is what helped us get our ranking, so this guy is a jackass.

Now our coach, Steve Alford, is a guy who runs his program with pride and class. His response:

"I’m confused by it, I really am,” Alford said of Turgeon’s latest comments. “We play other BCS schools, Cal and Texas Tech, and for whatever reason, Mark has chosen to demean us and what we are about and what the Mountain West Conference is all about."
"It’s a game we wanted because we have a lot of Texans to go back to that area. I said it after the game, ‘We’re not Duke, we’re not North Carolina, but we are New Mexico.’ And it’s obvious that Texas A&M is not Duke and North Carolina either."
"And if there’s any kind of Christmas present, it’s that we handed them a Christmas present in that they were ahead 2-0. We’re not going to sit back and let these so-called BCS schools turn their nose down to us."
Turd also tried to say he lost because of bad scheduling. Alford replied "No, you lost the game because you got beat by a better basketball team."

I don't think Duke and North Carolina would disrespect us if they lost to us. I also don't think they'd want to play someone who throws tantrums in the press, they're class acts for the most part. Though NC's coach Roy Williams threw a fan out of the game for heckling. He better hope to god he doesn't ever play the Lobos, cause he'd have an aneurysm. 

"We are New Mexico" has become our slogan and rallying cry. Because the team, the fans, the coach and the university community won't let these big name teams look down on us and we won't let these teams talk trash about us in the press. There's a strong sense of pride in this year's team, and for a COACH to talk like that because he's mad he lost to a then unknown team is not a good way to display what kind of sportsmanship you represent. Now that he's opened his mouth, coaches around the country are putting HIM down for being a poor sport and making his program look bad. Who would want to play a team where the coach goes to the press and starts making excuses and demeaning your program because he lost? Geez. I just can't believe that bs came from their coach. That's really sad.

There's a Bulgarian proverb going around the university:
"If you call one wolf, you invite the pack."

Damn right you do.

~A.