Stardate 111808.1035

• The head football coach for the NM Lobos resigned yesterday. They had a bad year. I remember Rocky Long as the quarterback for NM when I was in high school, and welcomed him as the head coach in what seems like just yesterday, but was actually eleven years ago. He accumulated a 64/69 record in those years and they were in a few bowl games, which UNM hadn't been to previously in some time. True the number of bowl games increased especially with the New Mexico Bowl, played here in Albuquerque, but he is the winningest coach in UNM history. We don't have a history like Nebraska or Texas or BYU. Lobo fans are long suffering. Seasons where they were 1-11 or 3-9 were the norm. UNM was once up over Arizona State 27-7 and half time and lost 63-27. That's our history.
• Rocky Long could have simply announced his retirement, said a few nice things and left it at that. My take is that he's burned out. Understandable all in all, but he lashed out at the fans. I'm sure he feels great frustration that attendance in his tenure wasn't higher and that kept him from attracting greater attention on a national scale. I attended a UNM home game against Texas Tech where there were more fans from Lubbock than Albuquerque, and it was a shame to essentially have the crowd against you at home. I just wished he'd decided to leave the school, city and the die hard fans with a little more dignity than this.