The NCAA announced UNM is one of 19 Division I universities to earn certification without conditions. After the an extensive audit spanning 18 months, the NCAA determined UNM had a strong record with governance and commitment to rules compliance, academic integrity, equity and student-athlete well-being.

Acting UNM president David Harris stated in a news release issued by UNM, "This is an outstanding accomplishment. To be granted certification with no conditions means the quality and integrity of the UNM athletics program is recognized and applauded by peers on a national level."
UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs, who just took over the Lobos program in June, added, "The NCAA certification process is exhaustive and thorough and to receive certification without conditions says a lot about the way this department has been run in the past. It's a testament to the coaches and staff at the University of New Mexico."

Posted by ilimon at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bad news for the Lobos fans who kept bugging me to find out how much DirecTV would charge viewers for the Mountain, the new regional network from CSTV devoted to Mountain West Conference athletics. Darris Gringeri, DirecTV's vice president for public relations, said the network has no plans to add the Mountain to its channel lineup and doubts it will happen any time soon. Mountain West Conference and UNM officials remain confident CSTV and Comcast, which now owns 50 percent of the Mountain and is handling distribution deals, will make sure the Mountain finds a home on DirecTV before the start of the football season.
Here's my story from today's Tribune with all the details.

And since I know you are going to ask, this Web site has contact info for DirecTV and this one has contact info for Dish Network.

Does any of this change how you view the Mountain West Conference's deal with CSTV? Post your thoughts in the comments section of the blog.

Posted by ilimon at 02:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The UNM Alumni Letterman's Association announced today it will award 15 scholarships to athletes who exhausted their eligibility but need a fifth year to complete their degrees. The following athletes were awarded the scholarships:

Ryan Barba, baseball
Becca Barras, diving
Jay Choi, men's golf
Dirk Grimm, skiing
Maja Kovacek, women's tennis
Kelsey Leckovic, swimming
Cassidy Lespreance, swimming
Abbie Letz, women's basketball
Robyn Miller, swimming
Heather Morsilli, swimming
Jeff Rowland, soccer
Nicole Ryan, volleyball
Chelsea Sondrup, volleyball
Janice Tosa, track
Gladys Weidt, skiing

Posted by ilimon at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

UNM sophomore safety Blake Ligon waived a court appearance Wednesday and entered a not guilty plea on misdemeanor charges stemming from an altercation with bouncers and Albuquerque police at a Downtown nightclub earlier this month.

Ligon, 20, and teammate Herbert Felder, 20, were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and failure to obey police following a disagreement at the 18-and-over Colosseum nightclub at 1:40 a.m. on July 7 -- early Thursday morning. The players are accused of arguing with police and failing to leave the sidewalk outside of the club. Officers used pepper spray to detain the athletes and arrested them.

Felder entered a not guilty plea last week and both players' cases are being set for trial separately. Rudy Chavez, a defense attorney representing Felder, said both players are innocent and police overreacted. Phillip Sapien, Ligon's attorney could not be reached for comment.

UNM football coach Rocky Long has said he will wait until the court cases are resolved before taking any disciplinary action against the players.

Posted by ilimon at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, not to me, but I try not to take it personally.
Ex-Lobo DonTrell Moore has been ducking my calls since he got snubbed in the NFL Draft, but the Trib has a great news partnership with KRQE-News 13 that allowed me to bring our readers a DonTrell Moore update.
DonTrell is friendly with Van Tate and his crew, so he granted an interview while visiting his family is Roswell earlier this week. Van invited me over to look at the raw footage of interview, and I was able to compile this story for today's Tribune.
I thought the most interesting part was DonTrell's decision to go all-or-nothing with the NFL. If he makes it, he's happy. If he doesn't, he said he won't bother with the CFL or arena football. Instead, he's shooting to be a real-life CSI guy. Interesting choice.

Posted by ilimon at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Western Athletic Conference announced its 2006 football media poll, and the Aggies landed in ninth place. The last-place ranking is no surprise after New Mexico State went 0-12 last season. Here are the rankings:

Rank Team (First Place Votes) Points
1. Boise State (36) 432
2. Fresno State (9) 380
3. Nevada (4) 349
4. Hawaii (1) 306
5. Louisiana Tech 256
6. San Jose State 153
7. Utah State 147
8. Idaho 134
9. New Mexico State 93

The media also selected Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan as offensive player of the year and Boise State linebacker Korey Hall as defensive player of the year.

Posted by ilimon at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's not every day I can type in that headline, but former BYU star and Lobo nemesis Erin Thorn earned the No. 1 spot on ESPN's Top Plays Monday night. She came off the bench to score 19 points for the New York Liberty, including a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to end the first quarter and midcourt heave she threw like a soccer inbound play that beat the buzzer to end the third quarter. Despite Thorn's impressive outside shooting, the Liberty lost 71-89 to the Connecticut Sun.

Posted by ilimon at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Herbert Felder waived his appearance in Metro Court and entered a not guilty plea Friday. His case is being set for trial. I wrote a story for today's paper about Felder, who faces misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and failure to obey police during an altercation outside a Downtown nightclub July 7. Rudy Chavez is representing Felder and offered some insight into his client's perspective on the charges.

Posted by ilimon at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I tried to answer a few more questions readers had about getting the Mountain in today's Tribune. CSTV and the Mountain will be available on the digital classic package, which costs $60.49 per month. Conference and CSTV officials promise the Mountain will be available on satellite, but no official deals have been announced yet.

One other interesting development in this deal is Comcast acquired 50 percent of the Mountain and will oversee operations, although the network still will be available to other cable and satellite service providers.

That's all for today.

It's my 26th birthday, and I'm not spending it anywhere near work.

Posted by ilimon at 03:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The first coaching change of the Paul Krebs era at UNM is under way.
Softball coach Kim Newbern resigned Wednesday and said in a statement released by the university she will pursue interests outside of coaching.

Rumors of players unhappy with the coach surrounded the program, which enjoyed some short-lived success during the past year but never finished higher than fifth place in the Mountain West Conference during her tenure. Newbern went 94-137-1 in four seasons leading the Lobos, including a 19-60 mark in conference play.

Krebs, who has been the athletics director since June, said Newbern chose to resign and he does not foresee any other coaching changes on the horizon.

UPDATE: Here's a story I wrote for Thursday's Tribune about Newbern's resignation.

Posted by ilimon at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

UPDATE: Here's a story with more details. Check out Thursday's Tribune for more developments.

Comcast just announced it has reached an agreement with CSTV to carry both CSTV and the Mountain in Albuquerque. The cable provider also will carry both networks in Colorado and Utah.
The Mountain is CSTV's new regional network devoted exclusively to Mountain West Conference coverage. Nine of the University of New Mexico football team's 12 games are slated to be carried on the Mountain. CSTV and the Mountain will be available in Albuquerque through Comcast's digital package.

Posted by ilimon at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

During his state of the Mountain West Conference address, commissioner Craig Thompson promises he will soon be making a big announcement about CSTV and The Mountain being available in have the league's markets. He declined to elaborate and when pressed for more details said, "What's the slang they say . . . stay tuned. Unfortunately we're hanging people out there, but that's the best I can do."

My best guess is that the deal involved Comcast because the company seems to have the best relationship with CSTV and covers the most league markets. Here's a brief summary of Thompson's speech I wrote for today's Trib. And here's the video of his speech, which was streamed on the Mountain West Conference's Web site.

Posted by ilimon at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know it's painful for many of you to consider, but I suspect you might actually agree with Richard Steven's column today about the preseason football polls.

Posted by ilimon at 02:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've got an update with Lobos Kole McKamey and Quincy Black reacting to the preseason Mountain West Conference rankings.

Posted by ilimon at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Mountain West Conference announced the University of New Mexico football team was picked to finish fifth by selected members of the media. Senior offensive tackle Robert Turner was the only Lobo to earn pre-season all-conference honors.

Here's the pre-season team rankings:
1. TCU
2. BYU
3. Utah
4. Colorado State
5. LOBOS
6. San Diego State
7. Air Force
8. UNLV
9. Wyoming

And here's the pre-season all conference team list:
OFFENSE
WR Brian Hernandez Sr. Utah
WR Johnny Walker Jr. Colorado State
OL Robert Turner Sr. LOBOS
OL Jake Kuresa Sr. BYU
OL Herbert Taylor Sr. TCU
OL Tavo Tupola Sr. Utah
OL Jason Boone Jr. Utah
TE Jonny Harline Sr. BYU
QB John Beck Sr. BYU
RB Curtis Brown Sr. BYU
RB Kyle Bell Jr. Colorado State

DEFENSE
DL Tommy Blake Jr. TCU
DL Chase Ortiz Jr. TCU
DL Gilberto Perez Sr. Air Force
DL Jesse Nading Jr. Colorado State
DL Antwan Applewhite Jr. San Diego State
LB Cameron Jensen Sr. BYU
LB Beau Bell Jr. UNLV
LB Jason Phillips So. TCU
DB Eric Weddle Sr. Utah
DB John Wendling Sr. Wyoming
DB Marvin White Sr. TCU
DB Eric Wright Jr. UNLV

SPECIALISTS
P Jimmie Kaylor Jr. Colorado State
PK Sergio Aguayo Jr. UNLV
Ret. Brent Casteel So. Utah

What do you think of the list? Are rankings fair to the Lobos?

Posted by ilimon at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I caught up with former Lobo Mark Walters while he was working as a ref at Hoop It Up this weekend.
He is heading to camp Thursday, where he hopes to get a contract offer from a European team.
"My agent has been working on it for and feels real good about my chances," Walters said. "I know a few are interested, but I won't know anything for sure until later this week."

Posted by ilimon at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hundreds of teams will Hoop It Up at this weekend's basketball tournament.

Tribune reporter Justin Coons and photographer Jakob Schiller will be covering the tournament and offer updates on the new Tribune Sports Extra blog, but the real bonus will be getting a chance to come meet the Trib sports staff. We'll have a tent in the sponsors area. You can share your thoughts about our coverage and suggestions about what you'd like to see in the future.

IF YOU GO
What: Hoop It Up
Where: Expo New Mexico
When: Saturday-Sunday
Times: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Meet The Trib: Trib staffers Iliana Limon, Richard Stevens, Phil Parker and Mike Garcia will be on hand at the event for both days in the sponsors' area. Come by and give The Linz some lip.

Posted by ilimon at 03:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I rarely link to message boards because the Trib has certain standards about language and fairness in reporting that, for better or worse, don't exist on fan sites. I'm making an exception today because of an extremely interesting post by former UNM assistant coach Mike Terry on Loboland.com. I obviously can't verify that entry was posted by Mike, but it sounds like him and I can't imagine why anyone would fake such passionate and extensive remarks. I've never seen this kind of a response from anyone related to UNM athletics before, and I think it provides great insight into coaches' perspectives on the scrutiny that goes with the job.

Posted by ilimon at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Former Lobo Brian Urlacher's NFL career may be smoking right now, but things are still a little rough off the field. The Chicago Sun-Times offered this update on Urlacher's court battle with Tyna Robertson, a woman who gave birth to his son 13 months ago. The parents are disputing custody rights, with attorneys trading barbs along the way.
Urlacher lives with his ex-wife and two daughters in Lake Forest, Ill., while Robertson and the baby live an hour and a half away in Joliet, Ill. You have to give Urlacher credit for trying to maintain an active role in his son's life, but the legal battle isn't pretty.

Posted by ilimon at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wrote a story about Sandia wide receiver Michael Scarlett commiting to play for the Lobos. In addition to talking about his close relationship with his father, who is on leave from Iraq, Michael had some interesting things to say about other New Mexico high school players who could be joining him in on the UNM roster.

Posted by ilimon at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UNM announced major changes to its men's basketball price structure.
School officials said the plan was to make it more fan and family friendly. This is the first time anyone in Lobos athletics recalls making this many changes to men's basketball prices.

UPDATE: Here's the story I wrote about the changes, with comments from Ritchie McKay and other people involved in setting up the new ticket structure.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I wrote another story for Thursday's paper about the new ticket structure marking a major change in the way the UNM Athletics Department does business.

So, what do you think of the new ticket pricing plan? Will you attend more games next season as a result of the changes? If you dropped your season tickets in the past, will this bring you back?

Posted by ilimon at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'll be on 1310 The Ticket today at about 12:20 p.m.
Ray Z called to see if I could talk about the CSTV stories I wrote last week.
Then he found out I'm filling in on all beats for the Trib, so we should be covering all kinds of topics.

Posted by ilimon at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few more Lobos got into trouble with law early Friday morning.
I had a story in today's paper about Blake Ligon, 20, and Herbert Felder, 20, who were arrested and face misdemeanor charges of disordely conduct and resisting a police officer after refusing to leave the Colisseum nightclub in Downtown Albuquerque. The club is open to those 18 and older.
Police used pepper spray to subdue them and they were booked in the Metropolitan Detention Center on the lowest bonds I've ever seen -- and I covered the police beat for two years. Ligon paid $50 and Felder paid $75 to get out of jail.
The football team has had a rough streak with four arrests during the past 11 months, but to be fair, Ligon and Felder were charged with extremely minor offenses. If they had calmed down when police showed up, they probably would not have been charged with anything.
Rocky said the players have lawyers and told a vastly different story than the one outlined in the police report but declined to share the details. He expects the case to be resolved within two weeks and will decide discipline at that point.
My guess is that the guys will face in-house discipline but will stay on the team. Their roles as potential starters next season probably won't be jeopardized, but they certainly won't enjoy the extra running and other discipline that definitely will be imposed by the coaches.
Rocky also said the coaches constantly talk with players about behaving well, especially during the off-season when they have more free time on their hands.
"We talk to them all the time, but they're young and sometimes young people make mistakes," he said.

Posted by ilimon at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While UNM debates changing lowering men's basketball ticket prices, the women's hoops rates aren't budging. I wrote a story for today's paper outlining the ticket rates for the 2006-07 season and the logic behind holding steady with the same prices.
New Athletics Director Paul Krebs said he doesn't anticipate dramatically changing the prices any time soon.
Coach Flanagan seems to be happy with the decision not to raise ticket prices, although he said he would have liked to see the pirces on the family plan drop.
Do you think the UNM women's basketball prices are set at a good rate or would you like to seem drop? Is it a good bargain or are the price increases set a few years back still bothering you?

Posted by ilimon at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I wrote a story for today's Tribune on Danny Granger's basketball camp, which is set for July 24-26. Most Lobo fans have heard about the camp, but one of the guys organizing the camp had some nice comments about Danny's love of Albuquerque and the state of New Mexico.
It's interesting that UNM fans and parents are willing to pay up and support multiple UNM camps, along with camps run by former Lobos Brian Urlacher, Kenny Thomas, Jordan Adams, Melissa Forest and now Granger.

Posted by ilimon at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wrote an update on Aleem Harris, the Lobo safety who was charged with five felonies following a fight with his ex-girlfriend in March, for Saturday's Tribune.
Aleem is stuck in legal limbo.
His case hasn't budged in the legal system since he was arrested. Harris was suspended from the football team as soon as coaches learned of the charges, and he can't be reinstated until the case is resolved.
Unless the charges are dropped, it seems unlikely Harris' case will be resolved in time for the 2006 football season.

Posted by ilimon at 05:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I haven't had a chance to post a farewell note to Trib hoops all-star Jeff Carlton. He left last week for greener pastures in Fort Worth, Texas. I miss him already. He did a great job covering Lobo men's basketball and was an even better co-worker.
Jeff welcomed me warmly when I made the big jump from the Trib's news side to sports. I could count on him for endless jokes, which was invaluable when I logged a ton of hours on the job as football spilled into women's basketball season and women's basketball spilled into spring football.
When I got really sick last summer, Jeff shelved the smart aleck remarks and went out of his way to make sure I had all the support I needed to get back on my feet.
So thanks a million Jeff and good luck in my home state.
The congrats go to Jeremy Fowler, whose life is completely changing in a two-week span.
Jeremy is marrying Hannah Coughlin today in Albuquerque. The happy couple will be moving into a home they just bought when they return from their honeymoon in Hawaii. And to top it off, Jeremy will be taking over the Lobo men's basketball beat when he gets back.
Talk about a crazy July.
Good luck to Jeremy and Hannah as well. We all wish you well on your new life together.

Posted by ilimon at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New Mexico State linebacker Shana Leaupepe, 21, died Friday in Long Beach, Calif., after he was shot in a drive-by shooting.
Leaupepe was set to anchor the Aggies' linebacker corps this season and the man expected to fill Jimmy Cottrell's shoes as the start of NMSU's defense. Here's the story on his death from the Associated Press via ESPN.com. And here's Leaupepe's bio from the New Mexico State Web site.
He redshirted last season and never played a game for the Aggies.

UPDATE: Here's the latest from the Las Cruces Sun-News. Sports edtior Geoff Grammer reports Long Beach police don't believe Leaupepe was targeted in the the shooting for any reason.

I'll continue to post more details about the shooting as they develop.

Posted by ilimon at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lobo hoops guru Jeff Carlton left to Texas last week and newbie Jeremy Fowler is getting married Saturday, so I'm filling in for a bit.
In a surprise to no one, especially Lobo fans, the Pacers exercised Danny Granger's contract option Friday. Granger posted a strong rookie season, averaging 7.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season. He is in line to join Indiana's starting lineup at small forward with Peja Stojakovic's move to New Orleans via free agency.
The Pacers aren't making the same gamble with Granger, signing him through the 2007-08 season. Indiana also picked up former Colorado center David Harrison's contract option through the same time period and cut former Notre Dame standout Chris Thomas, whose chances of making the roster suffered because the Pacers are loaded at point guard.

Posted by ilimon at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Tribune recently launched a new monthly project called First Friday. It's a four-page special section in which we examine different sports issues and trends.
This month we took on speed. The spread included three articles with ties to UNM athletes. The first one was an article describing ways athletes can improve speed, centering on incoming Lobo freshman cornerback Jerrell Miller. Then we had a story about New Mexico native Jackie Gallegos and her remarkable recovery from a car crash. And finally, I wrote a story about female athletes improving their speed.
I talked with Aaron Day for the article, and he shared some interesting thoughts about the women's basketball team that didn't make it into my story.
He said during his time at UNM, Mandi Moore and Melissa Forest made the best strides in terms of improving their speed. He said Mandi had a steady four year progression, completely changing the way she ran and dramatically improving her speed by her senior year. He said Melissa came in for extra work during the summer before her senior year, helping her end her career with the Lobos on a higher note than most people anticipated.
In the article, Aaron said most women coming into the program don't have proper running form and waste a lot of energy that cuts down on their speed. He works on conditioning with the team, but it takes a long time to break that form and install new habits.
He said it usually on takes a few weeks to get 15-year-old girls to learn proper running form, but it can take college students months to get it down because the bad habits are part of a routine and hard to shake.
Aaron already works the team pretty hard during the off-season rotating weightlifting and conditioning drills five days a week. The only time he can really work on form is usually April, but it's typically not enough time to make drastic changes.
Mandi and Melissa are done with their extra workouts, but a new Lobo has spent extra time with Aaron this summer. Sophomore-to-be Angela Hartill has been working with Aaron on improving her running form. He said her biggest problem is that she can maintain good form until she gets tired, then she slips into some bad habits. The extra work should pay off for both Angela and the Lobos next season, especially since the team is lean on experience at center.

Posted by ilimon at 05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I wrote a story today following up on the vacancy left by former assistant coach Mike Terry, who took a promotion as the top women's basketball assistant at Kent State.
Some fans already are clamoring to see Mandi Moore on the sidelines or Tiffany Scaglione promoted to fill that slot. Although Flanagan talked about going younger with a strong floor coach, I don't think he'll quite go that direction. I think some coaching experience will be recquired, although he has done plenty of things that have surprised me in the past.
He won't start looking at applications until August, so it gives you plenty of time to kick around some theories about possible replacements.

Posted by ilimon at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The University of New Mexico will host first and second round games of the women's NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2009. Last year NCAA officials awarded UNM the 2008 tournament games and this week they decided having UNM host those games back-to-back years was a good idea.
I have to say as a reporter that UNM typically has one of the best-run sites for both men's and women's basketball. Covering the men's and women's first and second rounds and regionals multiple times has been one of the ridiculous perks of my time in Albuquerque -- both way back when I was working at the Daily Lobo and now at the Trib. The UNM staff working the NCAA weekend is helpful, efficient, friendly and well-organized. I also don't mind that The Pit is five minutes from home.

Posted by ilimon at 03:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Right before the Fourth of July extended weekend, I cranked out some stories updating the status on CSTV and its regional network, The Mountain, which will handle the majority of Mountain West Conference coverage.
One of my stories ran in our news section and outlined the trouble people may have finding The Mountain, a network that will carry nine of the UNM football team's 12 games this season. We're down to 58 days before football season and Comcast still doesn't have a deal to carry The Mountain. It's not available on DirecTV or DishNetwork yet either. Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson promised all would run smoothly and people in MWC markets would get The Mountain, but it seems like they're cutting this awfully close.
Then I wrote another story for sports about the impact the MWC's deal with CSTV and The Mountain has had on the Lobos. Apparently, it's been good for recruiting but men's basketball coach Ritchie McKay noted his team still needs some face time on national television and can't just be shelved on a regional network.
And finally, we had Richard Stevens giving his take on the deal. He doesn't think it's a good deal, arguing it hurts the Lobos' national profile.
I know that was a lot of heavy reading to go with all the hotdog eating and fireworks, but I'm curious what fans think of this deal.
Does it make you nervous or are you excited about the first year of watching the Lobos on CSTV?

Posted by ilimon at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Assistant UNM women's basketball coach Mike Terry took an assistant coaching job this week with the Kent State women's basketball program. He already has left New Mexico and is joining the Kent State staff in the heart of the summer recruiting season.
Terry worked with the Lobos for three seasons, working with guards in practice and oversaw the women's basketball camps. He also helped with recruiting, putting together scouting tapes and film exchange with other teams.
UNM coach Don Flanagan plucked Terry from the high school ranks. Terry and his wife, Ronnalee, were co-head coaches at The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Florida. He amassed a 153-31 record in six seasons, including a perfect 60-0 district record. Mike Terry also coached the dominant AAU team, the Florida Starzz.
So where does that leave the Lobos?
Flanagan has been a bit non-traditional in the past and was willing to pick up high school coaches who were unproven at the collegiate level, most likely because he was hired from the high school ranks.
With the Lobos steady improvement and Top 25 ranking it owned for much of last season, he probably could land a high-profile assistant. He also knows raw talent when he sees it and seems to care a lot more about chemistry than a dazzling resume. And he has a ton of former players -- Tiffany Scaglione, Mandi Moore, Abbie Letz and Jana Francis to name a few -- who want jobs with the program but Flanagan can't pay them all.
This should an interesting hire.

Posted by ilimon at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)