All things local
by Matt Worley
Civic pride is a strange thing. Everyone is proud of something in their community. Sometime it is the neighbor kid next door who sweeps the snow away from his neighbor's sidewalk during the winter. Maybe it's the clerk at the post office who always has something nice to say. Or other times it is that magical time in late December when the streets are lined with luminarias and groups of friends (and newfound friends) sing holiday songs. Most of the time civic pride amounts to little things. Small bursts of happiness that feel natural and seem as though they could only happen in that one blessed place.
I'm easy about civic pride, really. I can look at the mountains and feel happy about my location in life. The last few weeks have brought a lot of large reasons to be happy about living in Albuquerque--those kind of community wide events that seem to make everyone (all couple three hundred thousand) feel cuddly and warm. Because of my rebellious nature, I feel a slight abhorrence to jumping on the bandwagon--even if I've been on the wagon once or twice before. Even this curmudgeon sees the light about certain local events of the last few weeks, however, and I'll even stop mentioning them as a mysterious happening in the next paragraph.
Sports, sports, sports. Nothing brings a community together like sports--except beer. And, of course, beer and sports can be quite lethal to the hard-hearted. The University of New Mexico has been known for quite a few things over the years. A brief skirmish in the early 70s mirroring the Kent State riots. That naked guy who protested for peace right before the opening bombing rounds of the Gulf War. Luc Longley, who was downright stubborn about making it in the NBA--so much so it has been said he is the most salable asset the Bulls have at the moment.
Moments of greatness on the basketball court, usually met with a quick death in post-season championships. But the Lobos usually fared well at home--at the Pit--which was enough to satisfy a large amount of sports fans throughout the season. But this year there was reason to celebrate before Halloween on the campus of UNM. There was actually a winning football team. Suddenly every sport shop in town was broadcasting their UNM ware on late night television. Banks flew their worn Lobo flags with pride every Saturday. Our football team played on ESPN-2 twice!
Nothing against the local radio announcers (they are quite amusing--actually, they're more amusing when UNM is losing and their blaming every yellow flag on the downfall of the pigskin heroes), but it is something special when national broadcasters stumble over the names on UNM's lineup. And it becomes even more special when the broadcasters begin to feign surprise at the Lobo's dominance and technique.
So the UNM football team is going to a bowl no matter what happens next Saturday in the Western Athletic Conference Championship game. It's either the Holiday bowl or some bowl named after a web site. It's been longer than I can count since the UNM football team went to a bowl, which is to say it's been a while. This year it won't matter what happens on Saturday against Colorado State or what happens at whatever bowl they make it to. They've won the war this year, and for that, we're grateful.
The Lobo basketball team is ranked 10th or 11th in the country right now. All expectations and hopes right now. With the success of the football team on their heels, the hoopsters will have to prove their worthiness of such high rankings. We've had good basketball teams. We need a great one to fulfill our need for civic pride this year. Nothing less than a Sweet Sixteen berth in the NCAA's will do.
And a not so surprising development in the music department. One of the most talked about Albuquerque bands of the last year or two, Hazeldine, has reportedly signed a recording contract to Polygram (a big record company). While I personally am not a fan of their music, I can understand the hoopla. Not many bands from this area get signed to big record companies. I wish them the best, and hope that there won't be a big article in a couple of years in one of the local newspapers about how big record companies screw over bands.
There is a reason to cheer local success. It brings the big eye of the world over the Big Q--even if for only a brief time. We don't have any professional sports teams. No big rock stars. All the actors and artists live in Santa Fe for some reason, and while there are many large local authors in Albuquerque, writers aren't the kind of people to push waves of excitement through town. It's okay. We don't want a big spotlight shining on our neck of the woods all the time, just when we feel we deserve it.
I think this is as good a time as any to crank up the searchlights.
Matt Worley could probably name a few other local happenings that should get blown up in the national spotlight, but he'll keep his ungrateful mouth shut for now.
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