Turn Up the Orange | UTEP sports talk

Conference USA football podcast: Can UTEP win the championship?

In the latest UTEP football podcast, the El Paso Times podcasters break down Conference USA and give their predictions on who will win the east and west divisions, plus the conference championship.

So, listen in, and see if Bret Bloomquist, Pablo Villa and Jay Koester think the UTEP Miners can win it all. Then, add your predictions in the comment section below.

To listen to the podcast, click here. (or right click, save-target-as to download)

No new job for UTEP athletics dude with long title

To quickly and belatedly follow up on the UTEP's athletics dude with long title interviews elsewhere post, it has now been reported that UTEP's senior associate athletic director over external relations Brian Wickstrom did not get the job at the University of South Alabama.

Erdmann gets nod at South Alabama

Stress-free tailgating

A novel idea is coming to fruition this fall in Auburn, Ala. And I, for one, am hoping it ends up in El Paso some day. 

The Associated Press reports that Auburn football tailgaters who would rather fork over a few hundred — or even a few thousand — dollars than pack their cars with coolers and chairs are in luck.

Auburn has partnered with a company called Tailgate Guys for fully loaded tailgate spots with prices ranging up to $4,275 for the eight-game home schedule. Individual game prices run from $300 to $1,250.

The Varsity and All Auburn packages include tents, chairs and tables set up and taken down for the tailgaters, along with a guaranteed spot. Those who really want to tailgate in style can pay extra for catering and parking.

Sound awesome to you? 

No more dealing with amateur hour tailgating crowds at UTEP games, who park two cars across five parking spaces and then place lawn chairs in five others to save space for friends who don’t arrive until hours later. Some of the more advanced hoggers bring their own orange cones. 

Then there’s the security folks who don’t seem to grasp that most of the campus is free for tailgating and try to boot you from a prime spot near Cotton Memorial that you’ve staked out for hours. And those same security folks will later try to sneak a look at your 42-inch TV tuned to the best college football action of the day as if all’s well. 

It can be a pain. And a program such as the one being implemented at Auburn would be one I’d be willing to pay for to avoid the hassle. 

Anyone wanna share their horror stories?

UTEP football's return trip to Kansas

The 2011 football schedule has been announced ... well, at least in Jayhawk land.

The schedule has UTEP traveling to Lawrence for a game on Sept. 24, 2011.

Road trip!

UTEP's athletics dude with long title interviews elsewhere

The Vanguard out of the University of South Alabama reports that Brian Wickstrom, senior associate athletic director over external relations at UTEP (whew!), is interviewing to be the next athletic director at South Alabama.

Here is their full story: Search Begins For New Athletic Director.

Wow, who even knew UTEP had a "senior associate athletic director over external relations"?

I bet Brian loves UTEP; he just wants a shorter title.

Arnett Moultrie doing well

UTEP's Arnett Moultrie is having a good summer, barely missing a double-double Sunday in the U.S. basketball victory over Greece in the gold medal game of the Under 19 tournament.

I enjoyed watching Moultrie last season and am looking forward to seeing what he can do next season with team-leader Stefon Jackson gone. It will be interesting to see who steps up.

Kansas' TyShawn Taylor scored 18 in the championship game, leading all scorers. (That's for you, "Orangefever.")

Kansas grabs UTEP recruit

The Kansas Jayhawks and UTEP Miners will battle in the Sun Bowl on Sept. 12. But the Jayhawks already won a football recruiting battle with UTEP, according to Rivals.com.

KUSports.com reports today that Antonio Burton, a safety out of Denton (Texas) Guyer High, who was also considering UTEP, Arizona, and Tulsa, will sign with the Jayhawks.