What a wonderful morning/afternoon in The Pit
parking lot.
The green chile was hot, the hash browns, eggs, and bacon was cooked to
perfection as The Red Menace hosted yet another tailgate party before a
Lobo
hoops game. I must really pump up the boys and gals of Section 26 for
not only
getting this started but also really starting to make it a regular
event. Was
really cool to see everyone eating, drinking, and having a good time…
Of course it was also great to see special guests
come
around Football Coach Mike Locksley came for a visit accompanied by OC
Darrell
Dickey, DB coach George Barlow, C/Guards coach Mike Degory, Coach Gavin
Bevis…
What made the entire time so fun was that the coaches were there just
to have
fun, “We came out today as fans,” said Coach Locks. “We just want to
show our
support.”
Still, if football coaches are around, you know
that fans
have questions as I tried to grab as much information as I could from
Coach
Dickey while Coach Locksley attacked a breakfast burrito.
I learned a lot in
just the few minutes I spent with Coach Dickey as he explained the type
of
players they are looking for, what they are hoping to accomplish during
spring
and summer workout program… A couple of my biggest questions were
running
backs, if he and Coach Locks preferred the quick shifty backs, the big
bull
backs… Coach Dickey said we love versatility in our running back corps,
we want
the quick shifty guy but we also like a guy that can break arm tackles
and take
the ball right between the tackles and with a gleam in his eye he
said…. “That
would be James (Wright)”
Well
I cut Coach Dickey loose to some other folks which was
a mistake as I could talk to him all day long about football… I did
leave him
with this.
We’ve
been watching football here a certain way for near a
decade now, and while I did enjoy every minute of it, it will be
exciting to
watch how these coaches conduct practices, interact with one another
and their
players, and everything else. Coach Dickey said, “This is a great
place, the
kids are really working hard and have great attitudes that is something
the
previous staff should take pride in. These are good guys and we spring
ball
will be fun.”
It
was off to The Pit as the entire Locksley entourage
descended upon The Pit. “I really want to be next to Snake,” said Coach
Dickey.
And that is exactly where he ended up as Coach Dickey on the front row
with
Snake.
“Man
Locks is the man!” exclaims UNM super fan Snake. “I
love that he is down here hanging out with the people. Mike Locksley is
the people’s
champ!”
Coach
Locks and Dickey just didn’t go down there for face
time as they were caught plenty of times jumping up and down with
Section 26,
screaming, chanting, holding up the paper, doing the free throw wave,
and of
course shouting out when Tony Danridge threw down the monster alley-oop
dunk!
As we all know the Lobos trounced SDSU 75-49 but one of the highlight
of the
day for Section 26 was Coach Locks and Dickey.
Section 26 founding member Mackenzie Bishop, “I
loved having
Coach Locksley sit next to me. We talked about football, basketball,
and all
kinds of things. The guy was really cool and really liked that he was
hanging
out with the students.”
Props
to the coaches for coming out to The Red Menace
tailgate party and watching the game with Section 26, today the UNM
football
coaches created Lobo fans. Today they officially became one of us…
And the
closing words go to Coach Dickey on getting
his wish to stand next to Snake during the game. “He is crazy!”
exclaimed
Dickey. “I really had a lot of fun with Snake, let’s just say I’m glad
he is on
our side!”
The face only a mother, 18K plus screaming Lobo fans, Lobo football
coaches, Gov. Bill Richardson, Paul Krebs, and SDSU's assistant coaches
could love!