Albuquerque Journal

New Mexico Bowl Has Possibilities
By Greg Archuleta Of the Journal

It's that time of year again when an excitement should accompany the nip in the air, even though many people instead have a melancholy attitude.
       I refer, of course, to the third annual New Mexico Bowl (I can already hear the groans among so-called “fans” of college football in the Land of Enchantment) on Dec. 20 at University Stadium.
       Kudos to executive director Jeff Siembieda for landing the marquee football name of the Western Athletic Conference not named Boise State. The bowl announced Thursday that Fresno State (7-5) has accepted an invitation.
       By all indications, Colorado State (6-6) will be the Mountain West Conference representative — unless Siembieda suddenly changes the bowl's name to the “Air Force Bowl,” which is probably the only thing that would pry the Falcons away from the natural fit with the game called the “Armed Forces Bowl” in Fort Worth. An announcement is expected Sunday.
       I overheard a conversation this week at Liberty Gym — I mention the name as proof to my loving wife that the annual fee is not going to waste — in which someone asked why anyone would watch a bowl game featuring a 6-6 team.
       What, you can't get excited about a Rams-Bulldogs matchup? Allow me to offer some reasons to attend.
       REASON 1: Now that change is on the horizon in the direction of the UNM football program, the community has an opportunity to change its image as a basketball-only town by packing the stadium, all decked out in cherry and silver.
       Let an ESPN audience gaze in wonder at the newfound loyalty of Lobo football fans who engulf those in green and gold or cardinal red and blue.
       REASON 2: If UNM athletics director Paul Krebs is as shrewd as I think he is, he'll have the Lobos' new coach hired and ready to trot out during the game in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN.
       How fired up would the new coach be to get the program going — and perhaps stay a few years — if he saw 40,000 Lobo fans on hand to give him a hero's welcome?
       REASON 3: The new coach, in turn, immediately would have a recruiting tool that he can use to attract student-athletes by popping in a DVD of the game that shows a rabid fan base. The bowl game could be an equalizer for UNM in terms of being “a special place” against Utah, which failed in securing a bowl game in Salt Lake City.
       REASON 4: A rabid crowd just might leave a lasting impression on the Rams, who have to travel to University Stadium in 2009.
       REASON 5: Granted, 34 bowls nationally are a plethora when only 119 Division I-A programs compete, but isn't it nice to be part of such a group?
       The New Mexico Bowl can't go away this year, even if there are those in the community who still insist that it was created solely for the benefit of the Lobos.
       It wasn't, but who cares?
       May I refer you to the programs at Boise State (unbeaten for the second time in three years) and Arizona State (a 5-6 program but in a BCS conference!) and how bowl games assisted their programs?
       Not to mention the potential for out-of-town dollars to boost our local economy.
       If Rocky Long's resignation as Lobo coach last month has taught us anything, it's that the consensus wants the program to ascend to a “next level.” His comment that the community needs to embrace the program still echoes three weeks later.
       The question is: Will Albuquerque put its money — or its melancholy — where its mouth is?