Tue, Dec 23, 2003
Lobos go Loco in Las Vegas
Julian Dickinson
If New Mexico Lobos head coach Rocky Long thinks his players are tucked in at 11:00 p.m. every night and dreaming of their Las Vegas Bowl matchup with the Oregon State Beavers, he needs a wake-up call.
Long told the Albuquerque Journal that his team has a curfew of 11 or 12 p.m. every night while they are staying in Las Vegas. If his players made that curfew Saturday night, it's only because they got the evening's festivites off to an early start.
• Las Vegas Bowl • Bowl Central •
At about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, New Mexico football players were seen by patrons of various downtown casinos and bars, clearly intoxicated and falling all over one another.
"One guy fell backwards off his chair and his buddy had to help him up off the floor," a customer at Binions, a downtown casino not far from the the team's hotel, told Covers.com.
You would think the Lobos would have learned from their experience in the Las Vegas Bowl last year when they lost 27-13 to UCLA. The team got distracted by the lure of Las Vegas nightlife, resulting in a poor performance on the field.
Bowl history appears to be repeating itself and players and coaches can't agree on the rules for this or last year.
Senior offensive lineman Justin Colburn told the Journal that the players had no curfew last year, but Long disagreed, saying, "the curfew is exactly the same as it was last year."
Coach Long better hope the result of the game isn't the same as last year.
Lobos players told reporters this week that their experience a year ago gives them better perspective this time around. Linebacker Nick Speegle said the game is the focus this year instead of the excitement of Sin City.
"I think being here a second time changes everybody's mentality," he said. "We've already done all this stuff, seen everything."
Some players must have missed a few things last year. One Freemont Street bar was selling 60 oz football-shaped cups of beer that came with $5 refills. Players were seen drinking from the cups and going in and out of a number bars and casinos in the area. The team did not report any incidents from that night.
"It's not that we didn't try last year," said Colburn. "But maybe the way we prepared wasn't as focused as it is this year."
If that's the case, it's a miracle New Mexico players even made it to the stadium last year.
Oddsmakers have the Lobos as two-point favorites and set the total at 52.
Lobos go Loco in Las Vegas
Julian Dickinson
If New Mexico Lobos head coach Rocky Long thinks his players are tucked in at 11:00 p.m. every night and dreaming of their Las Vegas Bowl matchup with the Oregon State Beavers, he needs a wake-up call.
Long told the Albuquerque Journal that his team has a curfew of 11 or 12 p.m. every night while they are staying in Las Vegas. If his players made that curfew Saturday night, it's only because they got the evening's festivites off to an early start.
• Las Vegas Bowl • Bowl Central •
At about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, New Mexico football players were seen by patrons of various downtown casinos and bars, clearly intoxicated and falling all over one another.
"One guy fell backwards off his chair and his buddy had to help him up off the floor," a customer at Binions, a downtown casino not far from the the team's hotel, told Covers.com.
You would think the Lobos would have learned from their experience in the Las Vegas Bowl last year when they lost 27-13 to UCLA. The team got distracted by the lure of Las Vegas nightlife, resulting in a poor performance on the field.
Bowl history appears to be repeating itself and players and coaches can't agree on the rules for this or last year.
Senior offensive lineman Justin Colburn told the Journal that the players had no curfew last year, but Long disagreed, saying, "the curfew is exactly the same as it was last year."
Coach Long better hope the result of the game isn't the same as last year.
Lobos players told reporters this week that their experience a year ago gives them better perspective this time around. Linebacker Nick Speegle said the game is the focus this year instead of the excitement of Sin City.
"I think being here a second time changes everybody's mentality," he said. "We've already done all this stuff, seen everything."
Some players must have missed a few things last year. One Freemont Street bar was selling 60 oz football-shaped cups of beer that came with $5 refills. Players were seen drinking from the cups and going in and out of a number bars and casinos in the area. The team did not report any incidents from that night.
"It's not that we didn't try last year," said Colburn. "But maybe the way we prepared wasn't as focused as it is this year."
If that's the case, it's a miracle New Mexico players even made it to the stadium last year.
Oddsmakers have the Lobos as two-point favorites and set the total at 52.
