Joe on utepia

Stull and Washington job

Bob Stull's name has resurfaced as a candidate for athletic director at the University of Washington, where he was once a football offensive coordinator and later an athletic department fund raiser — a raiser of millions of dollars.

Long shot for UTEP's AD? I don't think so.

Last week UW Interim AD Scott Woodward, a favorite for the full-time position, said he was not interested. And UW President Mark Emmert said the qualifications for the job have changed since the last time it was open, and given to the now-departed Todd Turner.

The job description seems to have changed to favor Stull, if he's interested.

According to Bob Condotta at the Seattle Times:

The job had been to reunite an athletic department wracked by scandals and inside confusion. Now, Emmert is saying the job description calls for someone who can reunite the fan base and raise a lot of money, especially for a needed renovation of the school's old football stadium. That will require many millions.

Condotta's list of possible choices would be the last list of possible choices when the job had been open:

Mike Cragg, an assistant AD at Duke, who's a Washington grad.

Chris Hill, the Utah AD who reportedly turned down UW the last time.

Jim Phillips, the Northern Illinois AD.

And Stull.

Note: Stull was the final engineer of the Larry Durham Center, turning it  from talk to a reality. Under Stull there's the new softball complex and now the construction of a new basketeball practice facility.

I'd say if Stull still wants that one more big challenge before he retires, he'd be going after the Washington job big time. It would be a chance for a big feather in his cap and a whole lot more money than he's making at UTEP in his pocket.

Time Warner/Comcast & UTEP on TV

Perhaps the new partnership between Comcast and Texas Time Warner Cable could be the link to getting more UTEP football and basketball games on TV?

Comcast-Charter Sports Southeast will televise three Marshall football games this fall. That was announced today (Thursday).

Both Marshall and UTEP are in Conference USA, which has that TV deal with CSTV, which is owned by CBS ...

Just thinking now:

The Brut Sun Bowl on CBS could be the Brut Sun Bowl on CSTV after the contract with CBS Sports runs out after the 2009 game.

When the Sunnies signed their present deal with CBS some felt it would be the last. (We'd figured ESPN would pick up the game).

CBS takes a hit when it interrupts its soap operas to televise the Sun Bowl at noon on Dec. 31, often a weekday. This year it's a Wednesday.

We've seen ABC use it's myriad of ESPN channels to do some of its sports ventures. And it has worked out well. Most homes get at least ESPN and ESPN2 on their basic cable package.

This could be the wave of the future — networks using their sports arms for games that have been on the main network all these years.

The problem with Time Warner/CSTV is that CSTV is not offered on TWC's basic package.

Maybe the Time Warner/Comcast technology can overcome that?

Miner bloggers' dementia

Over the years, I've often thought some of the e-mailers, and now bloggers, are really just teenage boys on their home computers, cola and chips at the elbows and their mom yelling at them to get off the dad-blamed computer and go out and get some exercise.

When I read that some Utepia bloggers actually believe the refs are rooking UTEP, the above comes to mind. C'mon. Go out and get some exercise.

Also, any blogger who's serious about UTEP having a shot at playing close with Texas next football season ... ahem, you're demented.

Back to UTEP getting shafted by the refs:

Remember one of Haskins' last years as coach when he was able to point out that the opponents shot something like triple the number of free throws as his Miners?

That was the year the Miners could not - absolutely could not - mount an inside game. The offense was all on the perimeter, where you don't get fouled very often (I believe Jim Bice was the point guard that year). Haskins was well aware of all that. But he knew most fans wouldn't catch on, and they'd help yell at refs during games. Helps the atmosphere in The Don.

Some teams play a style of ball that doesn't tend to pick up fouls. Sometimes just jacking up a wild jump shot doesn't give the other team any time to foul you. Sometimes poor footwork on defense is the culprit.

Refs don't rook anybody. You can't stay in the business if you rook people and play favorites.

Now go out and get some exercise.

Good move, UTEP

UTEP had it all wrong, but at least, as Athletic Director Bob Stull said, "Listened to what fans are telling us" and addressed "those issues."

Some ticket prices are going down, as are RV tailgate fees and rules. And it won't cost $20 a game to park in the new garage, anymore It'll be less. Good moves, UTEP.

Now the next fan-friendly move is for UTEP, and all of Conference-USA, to get out of that awful TV deal with CSTV. We're not getting any games on basic cable, and that's a shame. Yes, CSTV gives each C-USA school a lot of money for exclusive rights. But not a lot of people get to see the games. It's so important that youngsters see all the road games so they can pester Dad into taking them to the home games. That's how fans are born, cultured and eventually hit up for money.

But the home issues — tickets, fees — are being rectified, and that's a needed start.

Here's what put UTEP in its fan-unfriendly situation. It thought it could ride the prominence of Football Coach Mike Price, who's prominent, all right. Raise ticket prices (nothing lower than $20). Get as much as possible from the RVers. Just sock it to El Pasoans while saying costs here are still lower than at other places.

True. And it's that UTEP needs more income so it can pay Price if he meets incentives on his contract.

But it all led to bad blood. And it's never a good move to have more and more fans disliking the way they are treated.

Good move, UTEP. You probably got a lot of fans back.

Nebraska AD

So much for Bob Stull being on a short list for the AD job at Nebraska. Tom Osborne will continue to serve in that position until 2010, the AP has reported.

Stull to Nebraska?

Could UTEP's Bob Stull be Nebraska's next athletic director? Some here think he's on the short list to replace Steve Pederson.

This would be the best time for Stull to leave UTEP, if he wants to continue his career elsewhere. That's because:

• Not much more can be done at UTEP, at least facilities wise. Maybe the last project are skyboxes for the Sun Bowl.

• There's not much more money to squeeze out of El Paso's rich guys. The bigs have already been hit up. They've built the Durham Center and the Helen of Troy Softball Field and Complex. The Foster/Stevens basketball practice facility has broken ground.

• Right now football is down and basketball is a big question mark. If things get worse in either sport, Stull gets blamed. There's already grumbling about the higher costs for tickets. Attendance is way down from the 45,000-a-game averages. Yes it's getting hot for Stull as fans are getting hot under their collars.

• A minor point is Stull's roots are in Iowa, which is next door to Nebraska (he began his coaching career at Dubuque High in Dubuque, Iowa).

Bringing Nebraska football back to the top is a challenge that can be met. There's history and money galore in Nebraska. It's the only football program in the state. Nebraska has, and can continue, to win national championships. No such opportunity exists at UTEP.

Sez here, if Stull is offered the job he takes it.

Favorite Miners, Aggies

Good suggestion by a blogger: Favorite all-time Miners and Aggies. Here are mine. Who are yours?

Note: I'm not going by all-time best players. These are players that stood out for individual attributes:

UTEP Miner basketball:

As a player Greg Foster (late 1980s) was quite scowly, I thought. All those guys were, Hardaway, Davis ... Now I have a lot of respect for Greg, who had a solid NBA career with several teams and is back in El Paso as a family man and businessman. He's quite active in the community. I've always taken note how much more friendly players are once they leave sports. I don't know Greg well, but the times I've talked with him, and seen him around, I've been more than impressed.

UTEP Miner football:

Jon Dorenbos, early 2000s (now deep snapper for NFL Eagles). I covered so many losing football teams in my sports tenure (1966-2005) that I (we) sports guys wound up talking a lot to kickers and snappers. Usually I hadn't ripped them in columns, like I did coaches and quarterbacks. So they weren't mad a me. They just stand around on the sidelines during practice, having done their kicking/snapping work before the other guys got onto the field. Dorenbus was a smart, level-headed student and we loved to hear him talk about magic. He is a professional magician, having done gigs in Vegas and other big places. One day he was telling us about deft fingers, and how he was practicing the art of pickpocketing, or ringpicking, as part of his act. You know, handing the person her wedding ring — that she didn't know he had taken — as she leaves the stage.

NMSU Basketball:

Steve Colter, early 1980s, is what college is supposed to be all about. He grew up in college in both mind and body — and you could see the big, big difference in his confidence level as he headed toward becoming a senior. He was always a great kid, but real shy, until his senior year. He grew into a vibrant part of the community as a senior, as well as became a solid NBA player. It's a good feeling to watch a person grow up in college.

NMSU football:

Jack "Scooter" Warren, early 1970s: Just a down-to-earth person who was a good receiver. Sometimes people feel like college athletes are different, not just common guys like the rest of us. Scooter bridged the gap. (He is also one of the few who knows which of his teammates raw-egged the inside of my car one night. He still won't tell).

Great athletes?

Regarding recent blogger talk about the great athletes at UTEP as compared to New Mexico State: Please come down to Earth.

Name a great athlete at either school, ever, and there is a special story on why he wasn't at one of the big amenity/luxury schools.

In general, great athletes don't sign with either UTEP or NMSU, or any of the mid-majors, unless something not so good happened to them.

Start back in the 1960s: Both schools got great basketball players because other conferences weren't recruiting blacks — UTEP's Jim Barnes and New Mexico State's Sam Lacey in basketball, as two examples.

Usually the great athletes around here:
•Had to go to a junior college to get grades, which turns off the big football and basketball schools.
•Blew out a knee in high school and fell off the recruiting lists.
• Had some boys-will-be-boys problems off the court.
• Signed with big schools, didn't like it there for one reason or another (playing time, usually), and came here because other big schools don't want guys with only a year or two worth of eligibility remaining.

Here are some other examples (good-news examples):

Tim Hardaway (1985) wasn't recruited. A big kid from his school was. Hardaway, small and thin, came with the big center/power-forward guy, who was kicked off the team during the Christmas holidays his freshman year. He's now listed as one of the three "others" on UTEP's stats that season.

Antonio Davis was a swimmer in high school and had the worst hands I've ever seen on a basketball player. His hands were sponsored by Jobe Concrete. But he worked hard here and had a good NBA career.

Here's who I think was the most-acclaimed athlete and one of the real good-news stories ever for UTEP — Greg Foster.

Everybody wanted Foster, when he was an Oakland high schooler in the 1980s. The 6-11 center signed with UCLA, didn't like it there and came here. He turned out to be a good on- and off-the-court asset for UTEP. He had a good NBA career and is now back in town as a family man and businessman.

There's a story, there's always a story.

Nate Archibald had some grade problems. Back in the late 60s, when UTEP was an independent and had "anybody-can-get-in" eligibility requirements, Archibald had to go to a junior college for a year before even UTEP could take him. He became a UTEP asset as an NBA Hall of Famer, and he's helping kids back home in New York.

Yes, there are UTEP athletes in the NFL. Brian Young is a great good-news example. He played high school football at Andress, and came to UTEP quite unacclaimed.

No, no, no. There is little chance any great player falls through the cracks and is not recognized as a great talent by the big schools. The bigs simply thought they have better recruits and was Young that year.

You can probably name quite a few great athletes at UTEP and NMSU, too.

But you can't name many players picked in the first round of a pro draft: Barnes (late 1960s) for UTEP and Lacey and Jimmy Collins for NMSU in 1970. Hardaway was a First Rounder in 1989, having made himself a great player under Don Haskins. Archibald was a Second Round pick in 1970.

All had stories.

UTEP quarterback

It's apparent local UTEP football fans have a more accurate description of senior quarterback Jordan Palmer. It's still "wait and see" in Minerdom, whereas some of the national pundits are thinking he's one of the best quarterbacks in college football. Nah.

When Palmer can always be counted on to lead the offense down the field, in the clutch, and against a good team, then he may be among the elite. He has the 6-5 height, and for 235 pounds he's not necessarily slow afoot. He built his own arm strength while at UTEP.

But, oh, those interceptions — 19 last year and 18 the year before. And, oh, those two regular-season losses in a row and then a blowout loss to Toledo in the GMAC Bowl.

Bottom line: Palmer has to have a great start this season if anyone is to rightly call him one of the NCAA's best quarterbacks for 2006.

 

Welcome to the UTEP Sports Blog

UTEP sports blog: Joe Muench has been a sports writer and a sports editor in El Paso for decades, but he’s best known as the columnist everyone loves to talk about. His UTEP athletics blog starts up the conversation again.