Okay, it's alma mater time. Being a graduate from the University of New Mexico doesn't mean much to the rest of the country. Fortunately, I decided to make my home in the same city as the college, Albuquerque. Having two liberal arts degrees did refine my intelligence to a somewhat sophisticated level but did very little to help me land employment. I drive a cab these days, which has a lot to do my driving record and nothing to do with my education level. Once a person leaves school, it's strange that one of the few attachments that remains is following the athletic achievements of the school long after you leave. I still root for Clovis High School in their competitive endeavors as well.

Since I went to UNM, there has not been a ton of stuff to cheer about athletically. Our sports programs have a knack for coming up short in the big games. Our football team went to three consecutive bowls and lost them all. Our men's basketball team made the big tournament last year after a long stint of mediocrity and promptly lost in the first round. The women's basketball team is ever up and coming (even ranked this year!), and while they have mastered the Mountain West Conference, they have one sweet sixteen appearance to show for their efforts. So out of the blue, where did this championship caliber soccer team come from?

It turns out, it came from Albuquerque. Instead of all the best talent going off to other schools, the coach, Jeremy Fishbein, got a bunch of townies to stay home and make a quality team where they grew up. What a concept!

Last year, UNM shocked a few teams with some quality wins, and even got into the big tournament as a low seed despite winning the Western Federation of Universities (or whatever it's really called). They played on the road for their games and eventually lost on penalty kicks to Virginia. Up and coming was Lobo soccer, but we had heard that phrase with every other sport my university offers.

This year, something was different from the get go. The Lobos beat the number one ranked team at the time in Indiana. They beat another ranked team in Penn State. They won their first ten game with most of them on the road. Despite a couple mid-season slip ups, this team was really good. They received the second seed in the NCAA tournament with home games throughout the tournament if

They rallied from two goals down in one game to win on penalty kicks. They won in overtime in another. They sold out the soccer complex with five thousand rabid soccer fans for the final home game and kicked their way to the final four in North Carolina. On Friday night, it was impossible to get into a bar in the university area. The game was not televised on basic cable, which meant to see the game, you had to have the supreme sports package or go to the bars. The Lobos won an ugly physical game with Clemson, 2-1, and now face Maryland later today for the championship. It's even on basic cable TV!

I could go into my personal experience with soccer. I could pontificate on my glorious game winning goal for the Raiders against the rival Kickers when I was twelve years old. I could wax poetic about the beautiful game, and how anyone can play it: man or woman, big or small, every race and color and style on the globe. As long as you can run and kick a ball, it's within your ability to play a little soccer.

But deep down, I know that's not what this column is all about. It's really about my alma mater having a really good sports team. If there's won thing I've learned about Albuquerque, it's that they love a winner. It doesn't really matter what the winner wins at as long as they win. This is probably true about your hometown too.

So here's to the University of New Mexico Lobo Soccer Team. You've made it to the big game. Even if the final score doesn't go your way, you've made your hometown proud, just like every team sports team should try to do.

Chris Jungle still kicks a ball in the park every now and again. P.S.--The final score of the championship game was Maryland 1, UNM, 0