Shea Andersen: At the Roundhouse

Hoops glory, not even gory

The annual House vs. Senate Basketball Game is not for the faint of heart, or the pure of basketball sensibilities.

First, the players do not quite represent the same pizazz as, say, any number of NCAA or maybe high-school players. But, shoot, they make it up in moxie and good spirit.

Outfits vary wildly. The House team tapped into every iota of NMSU Aggies spirit they could find, from having legendary coach Lou Henson on the sidelines helping them, to wearing Aggies jerseys.

Sen. Joe Carraro takes a moment to show off some tattoos: On one bicep, a broken heart with the name "Donna" on it. "Have you seen her?" Carraro asks. Also, barbed wire on another bicep. On his right lower leg, it says "Carraro" in gothic lettering.

The Senate boys (and lest you think this is a modern-minded body, think again; it's all guys out there) were wearing mean-looking black-and-red short/jersey combos that looked suspiciously like UNM gear. In fact, Assistant UNM Athletic Director Con Colbert was pacing their bench line, coaching the deliberative body into points.

Forthwith, a little live-ish blogging:

7:45pm I arrive at the palatial Genoveva Chavez Community Center, and immediately wish I lived near such a facility. Pools, courts, tracks, etc. Wow.
The game is already in play (hey, I was on deadline). The House is up already, about 17 to 9.

7:47pm "Dr. Don" the Capitol paramedic is on hand for inevitable pulls and injuries. He tells me he had to put a bandaid across certain, ah, explicit parts of one of Carraro's tattoos.

7:48pm House Speaker Ben Lujan has suited up! I immediately begin to worry he will get trampled.

7:52pm Halftime. The House is definitely better represented here. I mean, they have a baton twirler in a yellow "House" t-shirt and everything.

7:55pm Carraro vs. Rep. Keith Gardner: definitely a matchup for the ages. It's Shaq on Shaq out there, minus the scoring and actual basketball ability.

8pm House really mugging it up out there. They have a paper banner strung out before the court that Speaker Lujan leads them through. It doesn't quite explode open the way those pro team ones do.

8:05pm Sen. John Ryan definitely looks surprised to be here; dribbling down the court, flocked by Rep. Terry Marquardt and other Housies. He gets it to Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, a good idea. Sanchez drives right into Carraro, then gets fouled by Gardner. He goes 1 for 2 at the foul line.

8:10pm Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, a surprise hoopster! Dribbles like a demon, gets mad rebounds, actually looks like he knows what he's doing. Peels off a beaut of a overhead pass to Sen. John Grubesic.

8:11pm Senate calls a time out. Rep. Kathy McCoy leads the befuddled crowd in what looks like a wave. Toto, we're not in the Pit any more.

8:12p It's the young-gun team out there for the House: Reps. Al Park, Dan Foley, Hector Balderas. Nonetheless, Ortiz y Pino gets it, another smooth drive, passes in to Grubesic, whose basket makes it 19-12, Senate still down.

8:13pm Balderas follows up with a three-pointer! Not only can he carry memorials to honor the Fireballs, he can shoot, too!

8:14pm Most time spent on floor rolling around: Sen. Rod Adair.

8:15pm Park opens up a can of parliamentary whoop-ass and scores! Quarter is over. House cheerleaders (McCoy, Reps. Joanie Gutierrez, Janice Arnold-Jones, Candy Spence-Ezell) shake a leg or three.

8:17p.m. next quarter: A staged technical foul is called on Coach Henson, who charges the court in his wheelchair. Gardner leads House players from the bench in turning their back on refs. Lujan joins in, though he comes up only to about Gardner's shoulder, if that.

8:22pm Am I seeing things? One of the refs is part of Gov. Bill Richardson's security detail! Is he packing?

8:25pm Foley passes to Speaker Lujan! Bipartisanship rules!

8:27pm Foley does it again! Is he bucking for a committee reassignment?

8:28pm Killer matchup: Lujan vs. Michael Sanchez. Momentary confusion: who's got the ball? More to the point, who's got seniority?

8:31pm Speaker Lujan goes to the line for 2 shots. He misses both, to shouts of "Airball!" from the crowd. I later find this is his wife Carmen.

8:35pm Inbound pass goes to Sanchez, who drives hard. He's capped from behind by Gardner. Sanchez goes down laughing, a whistle is blown. Gardner is assaulted by Carraro.

8:39pm Lt. Gov. Diane Denish is spotted at the sidelines. Before a question is asked, she declares, "I'm officially neutral!"

8:45pm Game over. House takes it again, 32 to 22. Joanie "Tigger" Gutierrez bounces onto the court to congratulate her team.

AFtermath: Marquardt reports $1,000 and then some is raised for the UNM Cancer Research Center. The cause was selected after the late Rep. Ray Ruiz was diagnosed with lung cancer. His wife, now-Rep. Harriet Ruiz is in the crowd, wearing Ray's old jersey under her jacket. "He was here in spirit," she said.

Posted by sandersen at February 24, 2005 07:12 PM