Tag Archives: NCAA men’s basketball

Sports news

Tech took it to the limit; stand tall, Red Raiders

Well, those of us with West Texas connections, if not roots, had wanted this game to end differently.

It didn’t end the way we wanted. Texas Tech’s Red Raiders came up just this much short against the Virginia Cavaliers. The teams went into overtime in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game.

I’ve noted already that I did not attend Texas Tech. I worked and lived in West Texas long enough — 23 years — to know how devoted Red Raiders’ fans are. They love their football. They love their basketball, men’s and women’s alike.

So, the season is over. They’re cheering in Charlottesville. I hope they don’t riot, tear the place up, light fires and act stupidly. Hey, it’s the place that Thomas Jefferson called home and founded the University of Virginia.

They aren’t cheering in Lubbock tonight.

Here’s the deal. The sun will rise in the morning. The wind might even blow.

Texas Tech took it all the way to the end, and then some, into overtime.

Great season, Red Raiders. If this non-Tech dude is allowed to say it, I’ll offer only this: Guns up!

local news, Sports news

Almost time to ‘Play ball!’

AMARILLO, Texas — They used to refer to the place pictured here as the “multipurpose event venue,” aka . . . the MPEV.

It’s now gotta name. And in a little more than a day from now some guy in an umpire uniform is going to stand behind home plate and shout “Play ball!” to two minor-league baseball teams.

One of them will be the Amarillo Sod Poodles, who will open their home season in their shiny new ballpark in downtown Amarillo, just across the street from City Hall and a couple of blocks from a newly bustling Polk Street corridor.

I snapped this picture Sunday afternoon while running an errand. My wife and I came back to Amarillo for the weekend. We have to shove off Monday morning for points downstate.

I truly wish I could be parked in the stands to watch the Sod Poodles play hardball.

This is a big event for this city of 200,000 residents. It marks a huge turn around a lengthy and occasionally contentious corner toward a future that isn’t yet defined fully. I sense that it is going to be a bright one.

The Sod Poodles are affiliated with the National League San Diego Padres. They will play AA baseball, which is two steps below the Big League. The players will boast significant talent and will provide a season full of entertainment for baseball-starved fans of Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle.

Oh, but there’s minor hurdle to clear Monday night when the ump gets the game started at Hodgetown. It involves an NCAA men’s basketball tournament game that is occurring in Minneapolis at the same time. One team is the University of Virginia; the other is Texas Tech University.

You see, Amarillo sits just a bit north of Lubbock, where Texas Tech plays its home games. On Monday night, the Red Raiders are playing for their first-ever men’s college basketball championship.

I fear that some Sod Poodles ticket holders might want to sit out the home opener to watch the Red Raiders try to make men’s basketball history.

Talk about an embarrassment in riches.

Well, to those Tech faithful who have a decision to make . . . good luck. It’s your call.

I’ll be cheering for Tech’s Red Raiders to bring home the trophy. I also will be cheering for the Sod Poodles to wow ’em at home and bring back the first of many victories in this maiden season.