[Woof Woof Woof]

I just found your board so at the risk of rehashing old topics, I just wanted to say that I would like to congratulate you on hiring Coach McKay. I am a life long lobo fan born and raised in NM. I now consider myself somewhat of a Liberty Flames fan now! McKay is a wonderful man and in my opinion a good coach. I know that there were some negative articles about him from Albuquerque but I would not let that bother you. He did lead us to a conference championship and NCAA tourney birth. But he is a man of high character and integrity. I met him a few times and saw him at Church a couple of times as well (Calvary of Albuquerque).

Just a little story...a co-workers young son attended Coach McKay's camp. The little guy was struggling with some of the drills and Coach noticed. After the session, he personally took the kid aside to give him pointers and personally run through the drills with him. From that day on, Coach McKay became Dylan's hero.

McKay is a strong game planner. The only thing I would like to see Coach McKay improve upon is his substitution patterns. There were some games where he would sit the hot guys longer than he should. But all in all, I am happy for Coach and hope and pray that he leads Liberty to the next level. Soucie is also a good man and I am glad he landed with McKay.

Here in Abq. expectations are high for the team. Some people think that we should be like Kentucky and Duke and hire accordingly. When McKay got hired people were expecting Rob Evans at Arizona State (a very hot name at the time) to be named coach. When McKay got hired, alot of people did not like it without really getting to know him and they chose not to like him for the duration of his stay. He took alot of heat for being a bold Christian as well, something that I though he should wear as a badge of honor.

I will be following Coach McKay and the Liberty Flames. Thank you for the opportunity to post on your board.

[Sly Fox]

Welcome to the board, Triple-Dub. We have quite a few UNM fans who have graced us with their presence this past week and you guys are always welcome.

Thanks for the vote of confidence on the coaching hire. He has certainly shown us that personality we all had heard so much about when we were researching him during the hiring process.

As for Lobo expectations, here in Texas they are viewed with perplexed amazement. For a program that doesn't exactly have a stellar resume, UNM folks sure seem to expect nothing short of Elite Eight every season despite the fact they've never sniffed that rarified air up to this point. But I guess there are worse things than having a rabid fanbase with unrealistic expectations every season.

As for Rob Evans, your fans should be careful what they wish for.

[Cider Jim]

Woof, thanks for your insider input. You are the first one I've read that has mentioned what church Coach McKay attended in New Mexico--Calvary of Albuquerque. What denomination is that, and can you provide us with a link to the church's website?

[Woof Woof Woof]

Here ya go Cider Jim..Calvary is one of the largest churches in Abq. It is a evangelical christian non-denominational church that Coach went to his first few years in town. I am not sure if he made it his home church. We have about 15,000 people and about 2,500 per service. I know he also went to Desert Springs another similar albeit smaller church. I heard his wife sang with the worship team there but I never confirmed that. The two links are below.


http://calvaryabq.org/
www.desertspringschurch.org

I know some of his players attended a church called God's House, which is a predominantly African American christian church. Ritchie McKay also spoke at an organization called Faith at Work run by the Navigators.

[Cider Jim]

Woof, you are a wealth of information! Many thanks to you. My wife is a native Texan, and we were married in El Paso, TX and honeymooned at Carlsbad Caverns, NM so I know a little bit about your neck of the woods. Please stop by the board anytime, neighbor!

[Sly Fox]

Is El Paso really in Texas? I've lived here nearly two decades and I'm still not convinced.

I'm actually somewhat familiar with Calvary. They were booming a few years ago. And let's face it, evangelical churches aren't exactly the first thing that comes to mind for most ABQers. So that's make their growth all the more impressive.

[TallyW]

Calvary churches are pretty cool... they are marked (usually) with a strong verse-by-verse type of preaching and terrific worship... casual wear, etc... They were cool long before most other denominations (including my SBC friends) caught on to what 'cool' was.

[ATrain]

Welcome WWW, and all the UNM fans as well. Thanks for the info yall have provided as well.

[ATrain]

actually, since we have this emoticon now:

[thesportscritic]

www and please stick around.

[bozlady]

Hey Cider Jim,
Since you were married in El Paso, does that mean your wife is from there??? I'm from El Paso myself. I'll be there in May to attend UTEP's graduation (my sister will be graduating from there). I'm sooooooo excited and can't wait!!!

[bozlady]

Is El Paso really in Texas? I've lived here nearly two decades and I'm still not convinced.

I'm actually somewhat familiar with Calvary. They were booming a few years ago. And let's face it, evangelical churches aren't exactly the first thing that comes to mind for most ABQers. So that's make their growth all the more impressive.

Haha! Funny! Texas Western College ("Glory Road" story) is now UTEP in EL PASO. To explain to others where El Paso is, I just tell them, "El Paso is in Texas.....about as west as you can get"

[SuperJon]

You must have a radar. Someone says "El Paso" and you come runnin.


See ya tomorrow.

[Cider Jim]

Yea, Boz, my wife is from the Northeast part of El Paso, and her mom still lives right across the street from Adress high school. My first visit there was a 36 hour Greyhound ride from Huntington, WV to El Paso at Christmas time when I was going to grad school at Marshall. Now Marshall and UTEP are in the same conference--go figure! We even went to the Sun Bowl game back in '84--Tennessee vs. Maryland. Congrats to your sister and go Miners!

[bozlady]

Yea, Boz, my wife is from the Northeast part of El Paso, and her mom still lives right across the street from Adress high school. My first visit there was a 36 hour Greyhound ride from Huntington, WV to El Paso at Christmas time when I was going to grad school at Marshall. Now Marshall and UTEP are in the same conference--go figure! We even went to the Sun Bowl game back in '84--Tennessee vs. Maryland. Congrats to your sister and go Miners!

No way!!!! My husband and his buddies went to that game too!! It was a beautiful sunny day in El Paso (so what's new) b/c we still have pictures from that game. WOW! Small world!!

Anyways, yes, I'm familiar with NE El Paso. I lived in central El Paso and graduated from Austin. My husband was stationed at Ft. Bliss and before he was sent there, he went to the Pentagon to protest his orders for Ft. Bliss....he thought El Paso was a dusty old town with people still riding horses and dusty winds with tumbleweeds blowing across the prairies. But the Pentagon said "no!" and off to Ft. Bliss he went.....never realizing he would meet the love of his life there!

[bozlady]

You must have a radar. Someone says "El Paso" and you come runnin.


See ya tomorrow.

heeheehee! "You better believe it pilgrim!!" ~John Wayne

yes indeed, we will see you tomorrow, what time? I have another practicum coming in wanting to start.

[SuperJon]

Apparently you're a popular person to work for.

I'm planning lunch time unless my math professor tells me he wants to me to make up the test I missed last week then. If it changes, I'll call you.

[Cider Jim]

he thought El Paso was a dusty old town with people still riding horses and dusty winds with tumbleweeds blowing across the prairies.

Well, you do see that on the bus ride on I-10 between Midland and El Paso, that's for sure! Our last bus stop before El Paso was in Van Horn, and the locals were still on horseback in '84.