Boise State v. New Mexico State Thoughts

So, here are my thoughts regarding the Boise State at New Mexico State game that was on ESPN HD last night.

First, I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I absolutely adore HD. As strange as it sounds, but when you see a picture like that, you really do feel like you are there. I always thought that was a total cliche, and I suppose it still is, but dammit, it’s true. It really is remarkable. I would love to have a 65″ HD plasma TV to see if that is even more immersive. Maybe someday…

Of course, there are downsides to HD. For some god awful reason, ESPN kept showing us sideline shots of NMSU’s head coach Hal Mumme. My first thought was, “Nick Nolte has a brother who is a D-1 coach?”. Then I noticed something else. For those of who who didn’t catch the game, this guy wears a towel around his neck. Like a big white ‘Addidas’ bath towel. Now, you might think this is just a little quirk like when Jerry Tarkanian would chew on a towel on the bench. Not exactly. See, coach Mumme spends the games BLOWING HIS NOSE INTO THIS TOWEL. And judging by the number of times that ESPN caught this on camera (at least a dozen times. Thank you Mr. Director), he must do it about 300 times a game. Hal… one word… Claritin… it’s not expensive. I swear to god, that towel must have weighed twice as much when the game was over simply in snot accumulation. Very disgusting. Even worse, is he would playfully swat players on the backside with it when they would come off the field. Gee, thanks coach… can I have a handshake instead?

I have issue with the fans as well. They have a team that is leading the nation in passing. High powered offense. They have a national TV network coming into your house to showcase your team, the only college game at the time in the whole nation. They have a top 20 conference rival coming to town. It was a beautiful night of 68 degrees at game time. How many people show up? 16,782. That is pathetic. If you can’t get people excited for that game and come to the stadium, you might as well pack it in. Give up. I have a hard time believing that there is ANYTHING happening in the sprawling metropolis of Las Cruces NM on a Sunday night more important than that game. I know this because Boise is twice the size and there is nothing going on here Sunday nights. Hell, even the competing NFL game was a dog (Oakland is PAH-THETIC). That place seats over 30,000 and you barely get it half full? Not to mention, that many many left at half time (at least that’s what it appeared on TV). NMSU, your sports marketing department either sucks, or the entire city of Las Cruces has in fact died and been replaced with undead zombie versions who don’t give a damn about football.

Finally, the game itself. Boise State won, which is obviously the goal. But when you stop playing for 2 quarters that’s not good. If it would have been against a different opponent, we could have lost by 20. First quarter, we were up 21-0. That was solid. Then we quit for a quarter and a half. C’mon boys… I know you were playing in a mausoleum in front of zombies, but you need to bring your own energy. I think when we got up big, we kinda relaxed and let them back in the game. Really, the two bad turnovers in that time really should have been 2 more touchdowns for us the way we were moving the ball. So, that could have been 35 to 0 and NMSU might have rolled over again.

But, it was a win. And a win is a win. And I will take a win be it by 1 point or 70 points. So long as I don’t have to touch Coach Mumme’s snot rag.