April 30, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
Lobo Sports Will Go On Despite Move
By Mark Smith Of the JournalI like Mike. Sounds like a slogan, huh? Thank me later, Lobo fans. I digress.
Sure, I've taken plenty of jabs at Mike Roberts, now the former voice of the Lobos, over the years. I'm sure I'll continue to do so. Maybe before this column ends.
And yes, I know his skills have diminished in recent years and he gets corrected on the air more times than he protests an official's whistle. But the fact is, there was always something about that voice that meant Lobo sports for me as a child.
Long before I ever got into the media, I listened to Mike. When I was real young, before I ever had a season ticket, I'd tune in to home games on the living room radio. If the Lobos won, my parents would let me stay up to watch the tape delay at 10:30 p.m.
If they lost, I had no desire to suffer through it again.
Wonder if those nights contributed to my insomnia.
Anyway, now Mike is gone. Not from this earth, mind you. Maybe not even from the radio airwaves. Who knows what the future holds?
And while I understand it's a sad day for many a Lobo fan, this "Save The Voice" movement is getting absurd.
Maybe, for some, it's about losing more than just Roberts. Maybe his ouster as UNM's play-by-play man— a position he held for more than 40 years— represents a lost childhood.
Of course, from what I see at games, childhood has continued well into the 30s, 40s and 50s for some Lobo fans.
Still, it's fine to respect Mike. Even to love him or idolize him.
But turning him into a deity?
I guess I missed that day in Catechism class.
Forgive and forget
Monday's Sports Speak Up!, by former UNM football player Aaron Givens— at least someone claiming to be Givens— was a bit over the edge. (Then again, it is Speak Up!).
Forgive us Mike, for we have sinned. We do not know of what we speak. Forgive us for the improper handling of our mere mortal shells. Please grant us the wisdom to right our wrongs.
OK, it wasn't quite that bad.
But it was close.
Writing on behalf of "hundreds of ex-student-athletes," Givens asked for Roberts' forgiveness four times.
I didn't know any ex-jocks fired him.
Givens also thanked Him, err, him, a least three other times for things like bringing us games through blizzards, for calling games in Hawaii and for broadcasting when "the radio was free."
I didn't realize KKOB is charging folks these days.
And I didn't know Roberts footed the bill for all those trips— be it to Laramie or Paradise. I thought the station did.
Givens' feelings, however, were touching. And he isn't alone with them.
I've received a few e-mails and copies of various Internet postings about some fans' displeasure with the dismissal. One advises to boycott advertisers. One has a petition. Still another, initiated by Lobo superfan Rudy Chavez, encourages The Voice's disciples to wear Mike Roberts masks at the UNM-TCU football opener on Aug. 30.
For a 4 p.m. kickoff?
Boy, it shouldn't be too toasty that day, eh?
Fellow booster Kurt Roth says, "That's a great idea. Some of us would look much better in masks. But it might get a little too hot."
While Roberts' ouster has made for good radio and Speak Up! fodder, it's doubtful it's causing any more cases of insomnia.
The Journal is conducting an online poll about Roberts' ejection, which only drew about 120 responses by Saturday.
The early results, published on Sunday, had 53 percent saying "Roberts is an institution and should have been allowed to remain in his position as long as he wanted." Another 19 percent said he "is doing a fine job ... don't see the need to replace him," followed by 18.5 percent who said, "It's about time. Good call, UNM!"
Only 9.3 percent said Roberts probably should be replaced, but with a "farewell tour."
On Sunday, only a smattering of people voted, keeping the percentages about the same.
Things then exploded on Monday.
Maybe it was Givens' letter. Maybe it was the online petition. Maybe it was manipulation by the powers that be at UNM and/or Learfield Communications.
OK, forget the latter.
Just ask former AD Rudy Davalos or ex-coaches Dave Bliss and Fran Fraschilla. They'll tell you they never tried to round up the posse in order to pepper the radio stations or Internet with their side of a controversy.
Whatever the case, the vote total reached 300 by Monday afternoon, and the anti-Mikes had suddenly pulled even with the "leave Mike forever" folks.
By early Monday evening, with 500 votes in, the anti-Mikes had more than doubled up the other three choices combined.
By 9 p.m., the votes kept piling up. First a Roberts' movement, then another anti-Mike burst. Back and forth it went.
More than 600 votes had been cast by 9:30 p.m.
OK, you two— enough!
"It's definitely not a scientific poll," Journal Internet guru Donn Friedman says. "It's a way to vent, and it can be manipulated."
Smokin' microphone
Will Lobo life go on without Mike? I know this is a real shock to some, but my guess is yes.
You see, I don't smoke. Never have. So maybe I don't understand the trials and tribulations a lung-annihilator goes through. I do know that when smoking was banned on planes, smokers still flew. When it was banned from restaurants, they still ate. When it was banned from bars, they still drank.
Point is, people adjust. KKOB is the only station that carries Lobo football and men's basketball. What are Lobo fans going to do? Not listen?
They'll tune in, and I'm sure whoever takes Mike's mic will be first-rate.
And maybe, just maybe, we'll get a guy who not only has Roberts' passion, but also calls the game the way it is— and not simply give minute-by-minute updates of the foul totals or penalties against the Lobos.
Look, the new guy isn't going to be anti-Lobo, I can assure that.
That's our job, right superfans?
But I also doubt the new guy will blast the refs as much either. Those orders are coming from the top.
I've spoken with UNM officials who agree with my long-time theory that much of the Lobo fans' whining and disdain for officiating stems from them being told, for 40 years, they are being cheated.
I, too, once thought that as a child.
Of course, I didn't sleep much in those days either.
And, after all, I was just a child.
I wish Mike luck and peace in the future. I really will miss seeing him at courtside, flailing his arms at the refs.
But I guarantee this won't be a huge issue come this time next year. Maybe not even come September.