[NU Sports] El Painful El Paso

[Kaplan, Neil]

Could not disagree more re: El Paso.

I took my 12 and 10 year old and they had the time of their lives.  NM State
basketball v. the hated Coach Knight on Thursday.  Great arena, great
atmosphere - met the provost of the university in a pizza joint 20 mins
before the game who escorted us the back way to the arena so we did not miss
a minute.

Friendly folks in El Paso who were only too happy to let us know they have
the lowest crime rate of any city over 500K population in the country.  Yes
the Sun Bowl is a dump but what a spectacular setting and the tailgating was
convenient and fun...not to mention free parking!

Finally, yesterday an all day trip to Carlsbad Caverns which was one of the
most remarkable days the three of us have had in our lives - a memory that
we will always share.



-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Leonard [mailto:jleonard518 at yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2006 4:25 PM
To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
Subject: [NU Sports] El Painful El Paso


Fellow Wildcat Faithful,

This bowl was a bust. Unfortunately, I think what we saw 'the best' we will
ever get from Coach Walker. He may be a "good fit" for Northwestern in terms
of
running a clean, consistent program that graduates players, but in 2-3 games
each year he will be soundly outcoached. He may be good for consistent 6-5
seasons, but I don't think we'll ever see a 10-1 season from him. And, 6-5
ever
year might be all that Murphy and Beinen want. 

With respect to El Paso as a bowl destination, it has now replaced Atlantic
City on my list of worst places to visit in the lower 48. What a dump. I am
relieved that no other Big Ten school will have to go back. 

Oh, and the UTEP stadium was definitely designed and built before the
concept
of "ergonomics" came around. The corridors were narrow and cramped, and the
mens rooms were worse. It was interesting to see that when Dyche was updated
in
the late 90s that we apparently donated our trough urinals to UTEP. 

Someday we will win a bowl game, but it will take years for me to forget
about
how lame this experience was. 

Best,
Jim


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